Social Stratification Research Articles

Abstract English–medium instruction (EMI) has become a highly contested topic in discussions on the language of instruction policies in the Global South, raising critical questions about whether it truly delivers on the promises made in policy rhetoric and public discourse. While EMI is often promoted as a pathway to social, educational, and economic success for all, its rapid expansion raises concerns about linguistic inequality, social stratification, and unequal educational access. Through a critical synthesis of recent EMI literature, this paper identifies some persistent misconceptions that underpin the promotion and expansion of EMI in the Global South. These include the presumed neutrality of English, the belief in its automatic pedagogical and economic benefits, and the assumption that EMI leads to equitable access and improved content learning. The paper highlights the ideological and material consequences of EMI, such as epistemic injustice, linguistic hierarchies and social reproduction. In doing so, it calls for a rethinking of EMI beyond instrumentalist and Anglocentric logics and urges the centering of linguistic diversity, multilingual pedagogies and critical policy orientations. The article concludes with implications for future EMI scholarship and practices, particularly in contexts marked by deep social, linguistic and educational inequalities.

ABSTRACT This study investigates how cholera epidemics shaped marriage patterns in 19th-century Poznań, using formalized statistical modeling on individual records of 12,606 married couples from 1830 to 1874. Seven waves of cholera epidemics were studied (1831, 1837, 1848, 1852, 1855, 1866, and 1873). The number of months between the date of marriage and the end of the last epidemic was used in the modelling as a covariate with a potentially non-linear response. To examine the effects of epidemics upon marriages, we focused on the immediate post-epidemic period. The time frame of interest was defined as the interval starting at the end of a cholera epidemic and ending 12 months later. We observed a statistically significant effect of the parish (inter-parish heterogeneity; p < 0.001) and the number of months elapsing after the end of the cholera epidemic (p < 0.05) on the difference in the mean marriage age between groom and bride (in years). This difference rose in a non-linear and non-monotonic fashion, peaking twice: around 2 months and 8–9 months after the epidemic. The likelihood of marriages involving a disparity in marital status – where one partner was a widow/widower and the other was marrying for the first time – fluctuated significantly throughout the post-epidemic year, increasing in January, July, and August, and declining in April and October. The waves of cholera epidemics significantly influenced the likelihood of marriages between partners of different religious affiliations, particularly in the period following the end of the outbreaks. These patterns reflect a demographic deficit in Poznań after each epidemic, unevenly distributed across social strata, which disrupted the marriage market, influenced partner selection, and altered marriage timing and age dynamics. The findings underscore the profound social and demographic consequences of epidemics, highlighting how mortality crises can reshape intimate social structures and behaviors.

ABSTRACT This paper explores contemporary conceptualizations of social constructionism. I specifically address three queries: (1) What is social constructionism? (2) How have understandings of social constructionism evolved as the concept has diffused into the public sphere? And, (3) In what ways does social constructionism's public life impact liberation sociology in praxis? I ultimately argue that social constructionism, as a theory and framework, draws attention to the significant ways one's standpoint epistemology influences knowledge construction and, as a result, has the radical potential to destabilize social systems and hierarchies by legitimizing socially situated viewpoints, especially those from oppressed and marginalized communities. Furthermore, I discuss how this framing shifts social constructionism from merely a general social theory to a resistant knowledge project to explain why it has faced challenges in the form of reductionism and repression. I conclude by acknowledging the continued utility of social constructionism moving forward, especially with regard to cultivating a liberation sociology.

This research, carried out within the framework of the European Space Agency’s second Scout mission (HydroGNSS), seeks to utilize CYGNSS Level 1B products over land for soil moisture estimation. The approach involves a novel physically based algorithm, which inverts a semiempirical forward model of surface reflectivity proposed in the literature. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm has also been developed. Both methods are implemented in the frame of the HydroGNSS mission to make the most of the reliability of an approach rooted in a physical background and the power of a data-driven approach that may suffer from limited training data, especially right after launch. The study aims to compare the results and performance of these two methods. Additionally, it intends to evaluate the impact of auxiliary data. The static auxiliary data include topography, Above Ground Biomass (AGB), land cover, and surface roughness. Dynamic auxiliary data include Vegetation Water Content (VWC) and Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), as well as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), on enhancing the accuracy of retrievals. The algorithms were trained and validated using target soil moisture values derived from SMAP L3 global daily products and in situ measurements from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN). In general, the ANN approach outperformed the semiempirical model with RMSE = 0.047 m3 m−3 and R = 0.91. We also introduced a global stratification framework by intersecting land cover classes with climate regimes. Results show that the ANN consistently outperforms the semiempirical model in most strata, achieving around RMSE = 0.04 m3 m−3 and correlations above 0.8. The semiempirical model, however, remained more stable in data-scarce conditions, highlighting complementary strengths for HydroGNSS.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the types of deixis and the function of deixis in uncovering the meaning of the short story " Di Tubuh Tarra dalam Rahim Pohon ". This research uses stylistic theory. Stylistics examines the use of language in a literary work and the effectiveness of its use. This stylistic study can move at the pragmatic level. This type of research is qualitative research. The method used in this research is descriptive analytical method. The results of the study show that the types of deixis in the short story include first-person deixis with the word I as many as 13 and I as many as 8, the use of the second person with the word you as much as 37 and the second plural with the word we as much as 5. The third persona he as many as 9, he as much as 3. The third plural with the word we as many as 6 and they are 6. The use of the first persona deixis is dominantly used in the short story. Through the use of persona deixis, it is found the meaning of the social stratification of the Toraja people in the short story " Di Tubuh Tarra dalam Rahim Pohon "

Abstract This research theorizes postliminal self‐transformation , the process by which consumers adapt to new status positions following major life transitions. Prior consumer research emphasizes liminality—the “betwixt and between” ambiguous phase— but overlooks what happens after liminality as individuals attempt to fit in. Drawing on qualitative data regarding young Indian women migrants to metropolitan corporate contexts, we reveal that transformation does not end with liminality but unfolds through a reflexive and effortful postliminal process. Women strategically use consumption—particularly of clothing and accessories—to bridge self‐discrepancies, mitigate exclusion, and gradually internalize their new professional identities. This stagewise progression moves from observation and mimicry to embodied transformation and identity mastery, often under constraints of patriarchy, class, and gender expectations. Contrasting with traditional (Western) models of adulthood that emphasize settling down, the women's postliminal adaptation is emancipatory and nonlinear, updating scripts for marking adulthood. By theorizing this postliminal adaptation, we challenge assumptions of instantaneous reincorporation, extending understanding of identity work. Our framework advances consumer psychology by showing how consumption facilitates ongoing self‐reconstruction in dynamic and inequitable social hierarchies.

Punishment of ethanol choice in group-housed male cynomolgus monkeys.

Female mice in established social groups use different ultrasonic vocalizations during peaceful and aggressive interactions.

Through a comparative analysis of Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” (1922) and George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” (1936), this paper argues that both authors uncover how social conformity—rooted in class and empire—systematically suppresses moral autonomy and distorts human conscience. While Mansfield situates her critique within postwar English social hierarchies and Orwell within the structures of British colonial power, both reveal how societal expectations dictate behavior and distort moral agency. Through qualitative, interpretive, and comparative analysis grounded in modernist ethics and postcolonial criticism, the study argues that both authors expose the performative mechanisms by which social order sustains itself—through the silencing of conscience and the valorization of conformity. By juxtaposing Mansfield’s domestic modernism with Orwell’s colonial narrative, this research contributes to the broader literary discourse on morality and power by identifying a shared ethical trajectory between two seemingly disparate traditions. It reveals that class and empire operate as parallel systems of coercion that compel individuals toward moral compromise. The paper thus advances the understanding of early twentieth-century literature as a site where aesthetic form becomes an instrument of ethical inquiry, bridging modernist and postcolonial studies through the theme of conscience under constraint.

Campus climate and intersectional inequities in eating disorders among U.S. college students: A multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy.

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify opposition to environment policies through the lens of social and spatial stratification. We test for structural differences in willingness to pay higher taxes or prices to protect the environment across groups defined by education, social class, household income and the type of place where people live. We analyze individual-level data from the International Social Survey Program 2020 and the European Social Survey 2016 in 13 European countries. Results reveal significant and consistent disparities across datasets: individuals in the 1st income quintile are 13% points more likely to oppose higher taxes compared to the ones in the 5th quintile. And rural citizens are 9% points more likely to oppose such policies compared to the ones living in big cities, though large heterogeneity emerges across countries. Moreover, we find that these disparities are only weakly mediated by environmental concern or belief in climate change. This suggests living conditions may constrain the willingness to pay, even among environmentally concerned individuals. Finally, the intersection of social and spatial stratification highlights the complementarity of these two dimensions: the most willing to pay are upper-middle-class residents of urban areas, rather than upper-middle-class residents of peripheral regions.

Purpose This paper explores how NGO accountability practices intersect with differentiated experiences of marginalisation in NGO-led public service delivery, using a Foucauldian governmentality perspective. It seeks to advance the concept of “accountability to the Other” by theorising its operation within heterogeneous grass-roots communities. Design/methodology/approach Employing a qualitative methodology, the study investigates an international collaborative water and sanitation project implemented by a transnational NGO in two socio-religiously distinct, deprived urban communities in Pakistan. Data collection included document analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups involving NGO personnel and community members. Findings The study reveals that NGO accountability operates through a complex interplay of disciplinary power and biopolitical management, producing varied responses in communities differently situated within intersecting axes of marginalisation such as religion, gender, and social hierarchy. Accountability is mediated by spiritual and political elites, operationalised through infrastructural visibility, and embedded within sustainability discourses that responsibilise marginalised communities. These dynamics reflect a differentiated governmentality that governs the “Other” through culturally embedded yet stratified power relations. Originality/value This paper makes three key contributions: it challenges the homogenisation of beneficiaries in NGO accountability literature; it extends governmentality studies by showing how governance unfolds unevenly within and between marginalised communities, calling for a more nuanced, stratified understanding of NGO accountability and develops the concept of “fluid responsiveness”, to theorise accountability as a dynamic, context-sensitive ethical engagement.

Effects of entropy and parity on lactation performance, feed intake, eating time, and bunk preference of dairy cows.

By mapping the tangled web of ICT, modernity, postmodernity, and post-postmodernism within the Tibetan diaspora, this literature review aims to investigate the role of ICT in exile communities. We examine the impact of ICT on Tibetan refugees' social circles, inter-border interactions, and cultural expressions in the context of geopolitical chaos. With modernity, postmodernism, and post-postmodernism as theoretical frames, we expose how ICT use is interwoven with cultural preservation and how digital technologies both destroy and reconstruct refugee identities. Beyond postmodernism, we explore how ICT makes possible new kinds of genuine connection and meaning making in diaspora communities. We reiterate that ICT's impact on displaced peoples deserves more in-depth analysis and research, taking into account its multiple facets in restructuring identities, enabling mobility, and creating a chasm between tradition and innovation in our increasingly connected and digital reality. We highlight challenges and research opportunities, especially in understanding the tangled connection between ICT and cultural identity, the promise of crowdsourcing for cultural preservation, the metamodern role of ICT for cultural reconstruction, and the possibility of ICT as emancipatory tools for community building under social stratification.

ABSTRACT The study examines how traditional cultural practices are intertwined with changes in corruption in Kurumbukari, investigating how Bundi traditions before mining transformed due to socio‐economic and political shifts caused by mining. A mixed‐method was employed, including ethnographic fieldwork, historical analyses, participant observations, and semi‐structured interviews with 222 stakeholders. Complementary historical data were drawn from scholarly works and archives. Qualitative data were analyzed using NVivo, while SPSS was applied to quantitative demographic and socio‐economic data. Findings reveal significant changes in Bundi cultural practices post‐mining, particularly in land ownership, resource entitlement, and social hierarchies. Stakeholders' experiences diverged between landowners and non‐landowners, with mining exacerbating social inequalities and power imbalances. The study enhances understanding of socio‐political transformations in traditional societies facing resource‐based development. Combining historical ethnography with contemporary socio‐economic analysis, the research uniquely links traditional cultural practices to corruption dynamics in industrial mining in Papua New Guinea.

While vital for assimilating newcomers into organizational identity in the hospitality industry, socialization may justify abusive behavior. The impact of divestiture socialization on abusive supervision thus warrants investigation. Drawing on the theory of team stimuli typology, we examined the effects of divestiture socialization on intermittent supervisory abuse within ad-hoc high-performance teams. Utilizing multistage sampling, we recruited 380 aircrew newcomers from 21 airlines in China and Singapore. A multilevel moderated mediation model was tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicate that individual- and unit-level divestiture socialization promotes perceptions of intermittent abusive supervision, mediated by aggressive norms at the unit level. These effects intensify when seniority dictates resource distribution and social hierarchy. The findings advance our understanding of the repercussions of divestiture socialization for destructive leadership perceptions, aiding hospitality and tourism policymakers in improving socialization practices and resource allocation to mitigate workplace abuse.

Social hierarchies ultimately concern resource possession, yet psychological processes for regulating resource-related tensions remain underexplored. We examine how support for intergroup equality (egalitarianism) relates to explicit attitudes toward, and mental images of, the resource poor. In Study 1 (N = 625), egalitarians report more favorable attitudes toward the resource poor than anti-egalitarians. However, using the reverse correlation paradigm, both groups generate similarly negative mental images of this group, as shown by pixel luminance comparisons (Study 1) and evaluated by independent raters of person-perceptual (Study 2, N = 394) and coalitional traits (Study 3, N = 348). While ideology did not shape image generation, it did influence image evaluation: egalitarian raters showed less polarization between resource-poor and resource-rich faces than anti-egalitarian raters. These findings suggest that despite ideological differences in explicit attitudes (divergence), egalitarians, and anti-egalitarians share similarly negative mental representations (convergence) of the resource poor, highlighting a nuanced interplay between social perception and hierarchy regulation.

Purpose Domestic work in India occupies a paradoxical position within the labour market and society. Predominantly performed by women from marginalized communities, it reflects broader patterns of social stratification, where labour is feminized, undervalued and often informal. India's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), under the motto Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas (Collective Efforts for Inclusive Growth), has yet to meaningfully extend to domestic workers. There is a need to ensure decent work for domestic workers. Design/methodology/approach The authors utilized a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology to rigorously synthesize existing research. Initially, 10,081 articles were identified, and after a thorough selection process, a final sample of 27 research studies was included for synthesis. Findings Ensuring sustainability for informal workers, particularly domestic workers, requires addressing both social and economic challenges. Using ILO Convention No. 189 (Domestic Workers Convention, 2011) as a reference framework, this literature review investigates how existing scholarship addresses the challenges faced by domestic workers in India, including inadequate wages, job insecurity and the absence of collective bargaining rights. The paper delves into legislative measures implemented by the state and the pressing need for a comprehensive national policy that aligns with international labour standards. Originality/value Contributing to the ongoing global conversation on labour rights, this paper offers recommendations for strengthening social protection for domestic workers, which can ultimately foster a more equitable and just society. The paper withholds that formalization alone is insufficient to address the entrenched inequalities within the domestic work sector. There is a need for broader socio-legal reforms, transformations in societal perceptions of care work, and a critical engagement with the gendered and caste-based divisions of labour in Indian society.

ABSTRACT Higher education acquisition is a focal point of research on social stratification transmission. However, little is known about the horizontal dimension of educational stratification in China, specifically the unequal distribution of undergraduate majors among students. This study is based on an online survey conducted under the background of China’s Broad-discipline Enrollment System (BES), utilizing data from 1164 students in business schools. Under the framework of family systems theory and social capital theory, the linear discriminant model (LDM) was used to analyze the influence of family background on the choice of marketing major. The study found that family capital is a significant factor influencing students’ choice of a marketing major. Specifically, the effect of social capital is most pronounced among low-income, self-employed families, whose students exhibit the highest probability of choosing marketing. Cultural capital operates in a nonlinear manner, peaking when parents possess a medium level of education. Economic capital reshapes opportunity constraints, and as income increases, the influence of parents’ occupations and educational attainment systematically weakens.

In this article, I propose and define the concept of medical domination by combining insights from political sociology, Bourdieu's theory of domination, and intersectional perspectives. Drawing on a multi-sited ethnographic study of abortion services in France, I analyse how a set of legitimised and institutionalised power practices shape access to care despite growing emphasis on patient autonomy. This conceptualisation helps explain disparities in healthcare access and quality, showing how medical interactions reproduce social hierarchies beyond the clinical setting. The paper contributes to political sociology of health by examining both structural foundations of medical power and the socialisation processes through which professionals learn to exercise authority and patients learn to submit to it.