Religious Stratification - Critical Overview

Critical Overview

Broadly defined, social stratification is constituted by the division of a society into hierarchical layers of wealth, power, and prestige. These layers, or strata, have been related to a variety of social categories, such as:

• Race
• Class
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Religion

Sociologists have paid more attention to stratification based on race, class, gender, and ethnicity than they have to stratification based on religion. However, recent research suggests that religious stratification deserves more attention than it usually gets. It is a common development in religiously diverse societies. Once it becomes embedded in societies' laws, customs, and ideologies, it tends to persist. It also has societal consequences. Thus, it is important in its own right, but also in relation to other forms of stratification.