Religious Stratification

Abstract

Religious stratification refers both to the hierarchical organization of religious roles (such as priests, prophets, and monks) within religious institutions and to the social stratification of religious communities for example by age, gender, and social class. The social stratification of religious communities has thus considered the place and function of religion within a general system of social stratification. The first field of study has been concerned primarily with the social process whereby religious charisma is converted into a hierarchical form of institutionalized power—a process described as the ‘routinization of charismatic authority.’ The formation of a stable system of ecclesiastical authority, for example in terms of a bureaucracy of episcopal offices, is a typical example of such social processes. The sociology of religious stratification has been undertaken as the comparative and historical study of religions in relation to caste, status, and class. These studies have demonstrated the complex ways in which different religious traditions can play either a conservative or a radical role in systems of social inequality. There has also been an important tradition in the study of the relationship between religious membership and social mobility. For example, it has been found that the recruitment of the working class by ascetic Protestant sects has encouraged upward social mobility through the inculcation of discipline and literacy. There is a close connection between secular power and religious stratification whereby different social classes have different religious cultures. The social stratification of religions raises critical questions about the inconsistencies between religious teachings about justice and the existence of social inequality.