What do you mean by stratification?

Stratification is defined as the act of sorting data, people, and objects into distinct groups or
layers. It is a technique used in combination with other data analysis tools. When data from a
variety of sources or categories have been lumped together, the meaning of the data can be
difficult to see.

Theory of Global Stratification

Global stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of individuals and groups in societies
around the world.

Classifying Global Stratification

For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the best way to understand global stratification is to think
of the world composed of three categories of nations, based on their degree of wealth or
poverty, their level of industrialization and economic development, and related factors. Over
the decades, scholars and international organizations such as the United Nations and World
Bank have used various classification systems containing three categories.
Modernization theory
Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The
"classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of
Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, and were strongly influenced
by the writings of Harvard sociologist Talcott Parsons. Modernization theory was a dominant
paradigm in the social sciences in the 1950s and 1960s, then went into a deep eclipse. It made a
comeback after 1991, when Francis Fukuyama wrote about the end of the Cold War as
confirmation on modernization theory and more generally of universal history.[2] But the
theory remains a controversial model.

This theory frames global stratification as a function of technological and cultural difference
between nations.

Pinpointing the two historical events that contributes to western Europe to develope much
faster than the rest of the world

● The Columbian Exchange refers to the exchange of diseases, ideas, food. crops, and populations
between the New World and the Old World following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher
Columbus in 1492.
Christopher Columbus is known mainly as the sailor and explorer who was in search of a faster
and easier way to reach Asia. However, his name is also synonymous with a specific event and
that is the Columbian Exchange. In 1492, when Columbus left Portugal he had no idea he was
going to find a treasure trove of new foods. In the New World, he was introduced to items such
as peppers, tobacco, and chocolate. He would bring these items back to Europe to introduce
them to society and then in 1493, he would bring items like horses, cattle, and pigs to the New
World. Throughout the Age of Exploration, explorers and colonists would continue this exchange
of crops and animals. Unfortunately though, there was a very dark downside to the new trade
routes. Diseases would end up spreading rapidly killing many Natives in the new world and
slavery would become a growing institution during this time.
● The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain,
continental Europe, and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between
1820 and 1840.[1] This transition included going from hand production methods to machines,
new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power
and water power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the mechanized factory
system. Output greatly increased, and a result was an unprecedented rise in population and in
the rate of population growth.
Why Did Western Europe Dominate the Globe?
Although Europe represents only about 8 percent of the planet's landmass, from 1492 to 1914,
Europeans conquered or colonized more than 80 percent of the entire world. Being dominated for
centuries has led to lingering inequality and long-lasting effects in many formerly colonized countries,
including poverty and slow economic growth. There are many possible explanations for why history
played out this way, but few can explain why the West was so powerful for so long.

WALT ROSTOW’S FOUR STAGES OF MODERNIZATION

1. First stage of Modernization:Traditional
● Societies that are structured around small, local communities withproduction typically being
done in family settings.
● Because these societies have limited resources and technology, mostof their time is spent on
laboring to produce food, which creates astrict social hierarchy.
● Examples of these are feudal Europe or early Chinese dynasties.
● Tradition rules how a society functions: what your parents do is whattheir parents did, and what
you will do when you grow up, too.
2. Second stage of Modernization:The Take off
People begin to use their individual talents to produce things beyond the necessities. This
innovation creates new markets for trade. In turn, greater individualism takes hold and social
status is more closely linked with material wealth.

● Urbanization increases, industrialization proceeds, technological breakthroughs

occur.
● "Secondary" (goods-producing) sector expands and ratio of secondary vs.
primary sectors in the economy shifts quickly towards secondary.
● Textiles and apparel are usually the first "take-off" industry, as happened in Great
Britain's classic "Industrial Revolution"
● An Example of the Take-off phase is the Agriculture (Green) Revolution in the
1960s.
3. Third stage of Modernization:The drive to technological maturity
Technological growth of the earlier periods begins to bear fruit in the form of population
growth, reductions in absolute poverty levels, and more diverse job opportunities. Nations in
this phase typically begin to push for social change along with economic change, like
implementing basic schooling for everyone and developing more democratic political system.

● Diversification of the industrial base; multiple industries expand and new ones take root
quickly
● Manufacturing shifts from investment-driven (capital goods) towards consumer durables
and domestic consumption
4. Fourth stage of Modernization: High Mass consumption
 It is when your country is big enough that production becomes more about want than
needs. Many of these countries put social support system in place to ensure that all of
their citizens have access to basic necessities.

● the industrial base dominates the economy; the primary sector is of greatly
diminished weight in the economy and society
● widespread and normative consumption of high-value consumer goods (e.g.
automobiles)
● consumers typically (if not universally), have disposable income, beyond all basic
needs, for additional goods
● Urban society (a movement away from rural countrysides to the cities)

Beyond consumption (the search for quality)

When proposed, this step is more of a theoretical speculation by Rostow rather than an analytical
step in the process by Rostow. Individuals begin having larger families and do not value income as a
pre-requisite for more vacation days. Consumer products become more durable and more diverse.
Young people will behave in a way where the high economic security and level mass consumption is
considered normal. Rostow does make the point that it is possible with the large baby boom it could
either cause economic issues or dictate an even larger diffusion of consumer goods. With increasing
urban and suburban population there will be undoubtedly an increase in consumer goods and
services as well.
This stage was later discussed in Rostow's book Politics and the Stages of Growth published in
1971, in which he called the stage "the search for quality"

Dependency theory
It was initially developed by Hans Singer and Raul Prebisch in the 1950s and has been improved
since then.
This theory is of the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped
states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. It is a central
contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the
way poor states are integrated into the "world system". This theory was officially developed in the
late 1960s following World War II, as scholars searched for the root issue in the lack of development
in Latin America.
What is dependency theory and Latin American experience?
Dependency theory argues that under-development as experienced in Latin America and
elsewhere is the direct result of capital intervention, rather than a condition of “lacking”
development or investment. Prebisch, Gunder Frank, and others put forth that the very same
processes that generate high-incomes in Western Europe and the United States are those that
maintain the rest of the world in a state of dependency vis-à-vis wealth extraction. Rather than
looking towards country-level characteristics to explain development, as per earlier
theorizations, dependency theory asks that social scientists reorient their analyses to attend to
the global economic forces that dictate development disparities both between and within nation-
states. In the neoliberal era, dependency theory’s key theoretical insight — that global capital
flows structure development and under-development — remains highly relevant. This essay
traces the intellectual lineage of dependency theory as articulated in Latin America, several
competing strands of thought from scholars working in this tradition, and some consequences of
dependency theory for policy praxis and social science research.
The Modern World System

In Wallerstein’s model, the periphery remains economically dependent on the core in a

number of ways, which tend to reinforce each other. First poor nations tend to have few
resources to export to rich countries. However, corporations can buy these raw
materials cheaply and then process and sell themin richer nations. As a result. the
profits tend to bypass the poor countries. Poor countries are also more likely to lack
industrial capacity, so they have to import expensive manufactured good from richer
nations. All of these unequal trade patterns lead to poor nations owing alots of money to
richer and creating debt that make it hard to invest in their own development. In sum,
under dependency theory, the problem is not that there is lack of global wealth; it is that
we do not distribute well

One of the major innovations in social science beginning in the 1970 s was Immanuel
Wallerstein’s discovery of what he called the “modern world-system.” This was the idea
of a progressively global capitalist world-economy spreading out from Western Europe
and structured geographically to exploit peripheral areas for the benefit of a capitalist
class in the core. This model proved attractive to some radical geographers because of
its global reach, historicity, critique of state centrism, and reliance on a spatial
conception of distinctive labor processes associated with different geographic zones. As
well as providing a review of the overall framework and criticisms directed at it, I also
discuss Wallerstein’s efforts at what he called “unthinking” the orthodox social sciences,
his critique of Eurocentrism, doubts about the “radical” quality of his historical model,
and the range of writing that emerged under the sign of “world-system analysis.” I close
with a discussion of the influence of the perspective in human geography, specifically in
relation to development geography, efforts at revitalizing regional geography, and
political geography. A brief conclusion suggests that the overall perspective not only has
not kept pace with “current reality” but that its conception of “hegemony” does not
account for the contemporary American impasse in the world economy as well as
Wallerstein hoped it would.

REPORTING INFOS
Classifying Global Stratification
One of the first typologies came into use after World War II and classified nations as falling into
the First World, Second World, and Third World. The First World was generally the western,
capitalist democracies of North America and Europe and certain other nations (Australia, New
Zealand, Japan). The Second World was the nations belonging to the Soviet Union, while the
Third World was all the remaining nations, almost all of them from Central and South America,
Africa, and Asia. Although this classification was useful for several reasons, the demise of the
Soviet Union by the end of 1991 caused it to fall out of favor.

A replacement typology placed nations into developed, developing, and undeveloped

categories, respectively. Although this typology was initially popular, critics said that calling
nations “developed” made them sound superior, while calling nations “undeveloped” made
them sound inferior. Although this classification scheme is still used, it, too, has begun to fall
out of favor.

Today a popular typology simply ranks nations into groups called wealthy (or high-income)
nations, middle-income nations, and poor (or low-income) nations. This classification has the
advantage of being based on the most important economic difference among the nations of the
world: how much income and wealth they have. At the risk of being somewhat simplistic, the
other important differences among the world’s nations all stem from their degree of wealth or
poverty.

Columbian Exchange Items

Goods Traded From The New World to the Goods traded From the Old World to the
Old World New World

Maize, peanuts, pineapple, potatoes Sugarcane

Tomatoes and habanero peppers Coffee

Turkeys Horses

Llamas Pigs

Tobacco Sheep and Chickens

Multiple diseases were exchanged wth in the Colombian Exchange. New diseases were so
rampant in the Americas, that 90% of the native population was destroyed by diseases. Most
notably smallpox was brought from the Old World to the New World. Since smallpox was a
virus that only existed in the Old World, natives in the Americas did not have immunity to help
fight the virus. This led to many native deaths. Sometimes Spanish Conquistadors would even
use smallpox as biological warfare when attempting to conquer different societies.

Syphilis was another disease that was exchanged. Originating in the Americas it was brought to
the Old World when explorers would return from their trip.

Smallpox

A tremendously negative event that occurred during the Columbian Exchange was that of
slavery. Christopher Columbus first enslaved the Taino people that he encountered. Queen
Elizabeth of Spain, the country Columbus was exploring for, had told Columbus that she wanted
him to convert any Natives he encountered to Christianity. So, that is exactly what Columbus
did. He forced them to convert to Christianity against their will and he enslaved them. Other
explorers would follow this example. When Hernan Cortes invaded the Aztecs in 1519, he
forced them into slavery and many others continued to do this.

Slavery
Slavery existed prior to the Columbian Exchange, but usually as a result of conquest or crime. It
was not until the Columbian Exchange, that slavery became a race based system, where
humans were viewed as property. The new plantations in the Americas required a large amount
of labor, and Europeans tapped into the slave market to fill the labor gap.

Industrial Revolution

Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of
output and capital invested. The textile industry was also the first to use modern production
[2]: 40 
methods.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and many of the technological and architectural
[3][4]
innovations were of British origin. By the mid-18th century, Britain was the world's leading
[5]
commercial nation, controlling a global trading empire with colonies in North America and the
Caribbean. Britain had major military and political hegemony on the Indian subcontinent; particularly
[6][7][8]
with the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal, through the activities of the East India Company.
[9]
The development of trade and the rise of business were among the major causes of the Industrial
[2]: 15 
Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in history. Comparable only to humanity's
[10]
adoption of agriculture with respect to material advancement, the Industrial Revolution influenced
in some way almost every aspect of daily life. In particular, average income and population began to
exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. Some economists have said the most important effect of
the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population in the western
world began to increase consistently for the first time in history, although others have said that it did
[11][12][13]
not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Where and when did the Industrial Revolution take place?

Historians conventionally divide the Industrial Revolution into two approximately consecutive parts.
What is called the first Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-18th century to about 1830 and was
mostly confined to Britain. The second Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-19th century until the
early 20th century and took place in Britain, continental Europe, North America, and Japan. Later in the
20th century, the second Industrial Revolution spread to other parts of the world.

How did the Industrial Revolution change economies?

The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts
into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New
machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more
productive and efficient. New industries also arose, including, in the late 19th century, the automobile
industry.

How did the Industrial Revolution change society?

The Industrial Revolution increased the overall amount of wealth and distributed it more widely than
had been the case in earlier centuries, helping to enlarge the middle class. However, the replacement of
the domestic system of industrial production, in which independent craftspersons worked in or near
their homes, with the factory system and mass production consigned large numbers of people, including
women and children, to long hours of tedious and often dangerous work at subsistence wages. Their
miserable conditions gave rise to the trade union movement in the mid-19th century.

What were some important inventions of the Industrial Revolution?

Important inventions of the Industrial Revolution included the steam engine, used to power steam
locomotives, steamboats, steamships, and machines in factories; electric generators and electric
motors; the incandescent lamp (light bulb); the telegraph and telephone; and the internal-combustion
engine and automobile, whose mass production was perfected by Henry Ford in the early 20th century.