Ethnicity:
Ethnicity is a term used to describes shared culture the
practices, values, and beliefs of a group. This might include shared language,
religion, and traditions, among other communities.
Examples:
German or Spanish ancestry etc.
Explanation:
Ø
Like race, the term ‘ethnicity’ is difficult to
describe and its meaning has changed overtime.
Ø
And like race, individuals may be identified or
self-identify with ethnicities in complex, even contradictory ways.
Ø
For
example, ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian American, Russian, Jewish, and
Serbian might all be groups whose members are included in the racial category
‘white’.
Ø
Conversely the ethnic group British includes
citizens from a multiplicity of racial backgrounds: black, white, Asian, and
more plus a variety of race combinations.
CLASS, CASTE AND
BIRADRI SYSTEM IN PAKISTAN’S SOCIETY:
Social stratification
refers to arrangements of any group or society into a hierarchy of positions
that are unequal with regard to power, property and social evolution.
Ø
It is also defined as the distribution of people
of society in groups on the basis of their status.
Determinants of
social stratification:
According to Max
Weber:
I.
Economic resources.
II.
Occupation.
III.
Prestige.
IV.
Power.
V.
Education.
VI.
Political power.
I.
Economic
resources:
The size of landholdings in rural areas belongs to upper classes. While
the tenants, blacksmiths, cobblers, barber, belong to lower class.
II.
Occupation:
Landowners, industrialists, businessmen, high government officials,
corporate officials belong to the upper class.
Servicemen, small businessmen, whose income equals to their expenditures,
are the middle class.
Manual workers, carpenters, blacksmiths, washer men all constitute the
lower class.
III.
Prestige:
Respect of an individual in society is related to the level of prestige
that he enjoys.
Prestige includes nobility, harmlessness, participating in social welfare
projects, helping the needy etc.
IV.
Power:
Power gains one respect. In Pakistan following characteristics could be
important;
Outspoken in public, educated, well off in financial resources, interest
I solving people’s problems, active, religious oriented etc.
V.
Caste:
Caste system in Pakistan is an important element in social
stratification. Some castes are considered high, some are low.
VI.
Education:
Education like all other societies in the world, defines social status in
Pakistan too.
Educated
people are better rated and respected socially owing to their occupations,
professions and status while illiterate people always belong to lower class.
Biradri system:
It
is the group of people belonging to same caste, intermarrying together.
Two or more families related to each other are called biradri. People of
biradri do not necessary live at the same place. There may be different
languages, styles, and customs in biradri.
Old biradries having same caste are still strong in Pakistan. They have
more rigid norms.
Social violations in biradries are strictly condemned.
Endogamy is a strict condition in some of the biradries.
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