The Global Divide: Understanding Inequality and Stratification

Global stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of different groups in terms of societies around the world. These individuals come at different levels of their social hierarchies and have to manage themselves in order to progress in their societies and to climb the levels of hierarchy. Due to this many people are left at an disadvantage of being unable to climb up the ladder due to social obstacles such as gender inequality, unequal distribution of wealth and the unavailability of resources for certain groups. As the name itself has global in it, it's clear that such inequalities are compared on a global level and between countries. This is global stratification essay in which this topic will be considered.

First of all let's start with the first obstacle which is gender inequality. Such an inequality is when men and women are treated unequally such that the former is given preference and benefits over the latter hence creating an environment of gender inequality. Many nations in the world have sought and implemented policies to reduce gender inequality. The rise of feminism since the early 20th century which brought voting rights for women and many other rights has increased in their demands for a more equal and fairer society for women. 

Countries like the United States of America and Canada have lower levels of gender inequality as compared to south east Asia and some most of Africa. This is in fact due to the former being developed while the latter countries are still developing. Furthermore the affects of feminism and other equality movements can be seen more in developed countries and the USA, Canada, UK and other EU countries have passed laws to make gender discrimination illegal in the workplace and giving women greater rights over how they are treated such a step has also lead women to climb in position of their hierarchies in terms of their societies and landing them in powerful positions such as the example of the current Vice President of the USA, Kamala harris and the former British prime minister Theresa May. In comparison to closed societies such and south east Asia, where women are still in the process of overcoming gender inequality. Countries such as Pakistan, Qatar and a few other countries have taken steps to overcome gender discrimination by taking women in military, airforce and navy as well as going as far to elect a women prime minster shows the effectiveness of gender equality. Hence the graph shows how the different countries are globally stratified in terms of gender equality.

Moving on to the second obstacle of unequal distribution of wealth. This is a major point of interest as global stratification puts other nations above another. Similarly nations which are already wealthy keep to be wealthy on the expense of poorer or developing nations. The poor distribution and unequal distribution of wealth creates an unbalanced society, and with global stratification this gap widens leading other vulnerable over the former. Similarly richer countries benefit off off poor countries since they outsource their production to poor or developing countries while this may seem a good opportunity and seem like way out for people to climb up their social ladders it may not be true since manufacturers outsource their productions to nations with low cost labour and furthermore these manufacture also tend to underpay for what should be the actual amount. Hence their costs are low and the final produced goods are sold and staggering high rates in developed countries where people's living standards are high and they are able to afford them. One example is of the iPhone, it costs way to less to produce than what it is sold for, the production takes place in unsafe factories in China and the developed world benefits off such labour.

Global stratification widens the wealth inequality gap. If compared the USA has a wealth level above USD 100,000 compared to African countries with a Wealth level of less than USD 5,000. This shows how global stratification widens the wealth gap as developed nations exploit developing countries. To quote Karl Marx's theory of Marxism. The group of people fall under two categories the Ruling class and the Woking class known as Proletariats and Bourgeoisies. According to Marx the Proletariats exploit the Bourgeoisies (Working class) to create a class conflict where the power always stays in the hands of the ruling class and the working class become trapped under. This concept can be seen in the above graph as to how there is low inequality in developed countries than in developing nations due to unequal wealth and the exploitation by the powerful countries. Similarly the third category of unavailability of certain resources for certain groups also falls under here. Due to globalism many countries have fallen under a class divide as people from developed countries have better opportunities in terms of Heath care, work and education which are key essentials in helping individuals climb their social ladders. Since developing countries are mostly low income or have to rely on some form of financial assistance in order for their economies to run have to focus their resources on mainly running the government and trying to create opportunities for people, however since quality education takes a huge chunk of the governments budget If implemented as well as the availability of universal healthcare, since developing nations are also prone to facing outbreaks of different viruses and diseases, this can't be fully possible. Hence people of developing nations have lower lifespans compared to developed countries as well as lesser opportunities to get education since, education in such countries is way to expensive and the income distribution in developing countries is also low puts them at a serious disadvantage of losing opportunities of climbing the social ladder. 

As seen lower income countries can't spend as much as developed countries on healthcare hence leading to the unavailability of this resource to the people of lower income countries also the graph below highlights the educational inequality; As seen people in developing nations are highly educated due to the prevalence of higher incomes and the availability of many resources as compared to south Asian and African countries where education is low. Since people start to work right away with minimal schooling to support their families and these countries also use child labour since children can't afford education putting them at a serious disadvantage and locking them in a developing phase which the developed world exploits.

Hence global stratification is prevalent in the world on the world stage, such a form of stratification puts the deserving at a disadvantage and safeguards the interests of the developed world who exploit such resources. The huge number of problems and points of focus for a developing nations puts them at the risk of confronting such problems and preventing them from becoming developed.