Social Stratification - Anthropological Overview

Anthropological Overview

Anthropology

Fields
Archaeology Biological anthropology Cultural anthropology Linguistic anthropology Social anthropology
Frameworks
Applied anthropology Ethnography and Ethnology Participant observation Qualitative methods Holism Cultural relativism
Key concepts
Culture · Society Prehistory · Evolution Kinship and descent Marriage · Family Material culture · Gender Race · Ethnicity Functionalism Colonialism · Ethnocentrism Postcolonialism
Areas and subfields
Anthropology of religion Anthrozoology Biocultural anthropology Cognitive anthropology Ecological anthropology Economic anthropology Evolutionary anthropology Forensic anthropology Media anthropology Medical anthropology Palaeoanthropology Transpersonal anthropology Urban anthropology Visual anthropology
Related articles
Sociology Prehistory History of anthropology Outline of anthropology Category:Anthropologists

Anthropologists have found that social stratification is not the standard among all societies. John Gowdy writes, "Assumptions about human behaviour that members of market societies believe to be universal, that humans are naturally competitive and acquisitive, and that social stratification is natural, do not apply to many hunter-gatherer peoples." Non-stratified egalitarian or acephalous ("headless") societies exist which have little or no concept of social hierarchy, political or economic status, class, or even permanent leadership.

Read more about this topic: Social Stratification