ABSTRACT
For many sociologists the issue of social stratifi cation lies at the very core of their research and theoretical concerns. Social stratifi cationthe ordering of society into hierarchies of people in relation to the amount of broadly defi ned privileges they enjoy-is so important to sociologists because it holds the key to a better understanding, and consequently to the potential rectifi cation, of social injustices. It is common for sociologists who lean toward rectifying social injustices to refer to stratifi cation as “inequality.” The term “stratifi cation” has more neutral connotations than inequality, and usage of either sometimes reveals a particular sociologist’s ideological preferences. Either way, the study of social stratifi cation (or inequality) is also important to sociologists because it deals with at least three of the most important markers of social existence: gender, race, and class.
