CHAPTER XVII NONSTATE INSTITUTIONS: AGENTS OF GLOBAL CHANGES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading the chapter, you should be able to:
A. Compare and contrast the different non-state organizations : their scope,
coverage, objectives, membership, and functions
B. Discuss the functions of Development Agencies ( IMF, WB, and WTO) that
promote the economic, political, social and environmental development of
their member countries
C. Indicate the importance of international governmental organizations (IGO) and
describe the problems that beset them
D. Evaluate the basic principles that govern the World Trade Organization and the
basic principles of market liberalism
E. Differentiate the functions of international government organizations from those of
nongovernment organizations
F. Describe the positive and negative impact of multinational corporations

SUGGESTED ACTIVITES AND OUTPUT

* Interview a local NGO member.

*Make a list of the NGOs working in your community.
* Write the benefits of world trade to the Philippines.
* Search for the following in the internet:
-United Nations, Member States, <http://www.un.org./en/members/index.shtml.
- World Bank, World Development Report, 2006. –
Equity and Development, <http://wdsbeta. Worldbank.org. 162.

Introduction. Globalization has facilitated the development of organizations that

regulate global governance. Global governance necessitates the building of institutions
that will maintain of peace and order in the global level. These institutions are global
actors other than nation states, which play a role in international policies. They are
important players in creating and managing global issues and policies (Cowles, 2011;
Love, 2011; Magstadt, 2013). Political observers noted that nonstate actors like the
International government organizations (IGOs), Multinational corporations (MNCs),
Transnational Banks (TNBs) and by the grassroots Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) of an emerging civil society are challenging the state. These nonstate actors are
reshaping global agenda that no longer differentiates foreign and domestic affairs that
often question state sovereignty (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

Nonstate organizations are classified in terms of their scope, coverage, objectives

membership and functions.
International Governmental Organizations
(IGOs) are institutions where members are state
governments. Its basic ideas and practices are to promote
international trade and cooperation through diplomacy,
rules of warfare, and international law crafted and
followed through the centuries (Cowles, 2011: 43). IGOs
are important forces in promoting economic and social
development throughout the world. Lately, IGOs serve
as primary entities responsible for addressing the economic, political and cultural fallout
of failed states. They are now the guardians of refugees, the lenders of the last resort,
bulwark against the excesses of globalization- and providers of solutions to transnational
issues (Cowles, 2011). The most influential and classic IGOs are the World Bank (WB),
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO)and the World
Health Organization (WHO) (Cowles, 2011).

Flags of International Organizations.

www.loeser.us/flags/international. html.

IGOs differ significantly in scope and purpose. They can be global, regional, and
even bilateral in scope and can hold broad, overreaching purposes or specific technical
ones. There are two types of IGOs; the formal and the informal.

The formal IGOs are permanent and have a secretariat to carry out functions,
voluntary memberships, and a specific structure while the informal IGOs have no
permanent membership and functions.

 he United Nations (UN) is a multipurpose formal IGOs with a universal members

composed of 192 member countries (Heywood, 2014; Magstadt, 2013). It has six main
bodies: The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, and the
International Court of Justice. The UN charter has four purposes: “to maintain
international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, to
cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting human rights, to be a center
for harmonizing actions of nations.”

In 2000, the UN members approved the Millennium Declaration global agenda that
addresses seven key areas: peace, security, and disarmament; development and poverty
eradication: protection of our common environment; human rights, democracy and good
governance; the protection of the vulnerable; meeting special needs of Africa; and
strengthening the United Nations (Cowles, 2011).

The main agenda of the United Nations and other IGOs is the security dilemma
posed by the failed states and the need to harmonize the actions of nations (Cowles,
2011). In recent years, it promotes individuals’ political, social and economic rights and
provides human and state security; in addition to serving as provider of international
public good by providing air traffic control and telecommunications (Cowles, 2011). At
present, the UN is confronted with the problems of refugee, human rights, health,
environmental matters, and nation building as results to interstate conflict. It is tasked
with the rebuilding of the administrative, political, judicial and economic structure of
failed society. It provides refugees and victims of national disaster humanitarian reliefs
and protection of the environment commons (Cowles, 2011; Love, 2011).

The United Nations has several independent organizations, special programs and
funds called the UN Family. It is composed of the Office of the High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund with separate bodies,
budgets and secretariats. The independent organizations are the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) (Cowles, 2011; Love, 2011). These organizations have separate bodies,
budgets and secretariat that are connected to the UN system. The United Nations
organization is also linked with autonomous organizations through cooperative technical
agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and
specialized agencies (World Health Organizations (WHO) and Universal Postal Union)
(Cowles, 2011; Love, 2011).

REGIONAL IGOs are formal organization formed by two or three sovereign states
located in the same region of the world, to offer preferential market to each other and to
serve their collective problems and interests (Kegley & Raymond, 2007). These regional
IGOs pursue one or two goals because they are limited by the national leadership’s
reluctance to make politically costly choices that would undermine their personal
popularity at home and their governments’ sovereignty (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

The regional cooperation of many small states is encouraged by the fact that they
cannot individually resolve many of the problems that confront them collectively (Kegley
& Raymond, 2007). Most of the Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) can be between two
or three countries. Some RTAs place primary emphasis on the government’s need to
signal a strong commitment to economic reform. They join regional trade agreement to
increase their bargaining level in trade negotiations in the world market, hoping that they
can get higher tariff concessions from other WTO (Oatley, 2010). RTA comes into two
basic forms: free trade areas and custom union.

Free trade Agreement eliminates tariff on other member’s goods, but each
member retains independent tariffs on goods entering their market from non-members.
In a customs union, member agreements remove all tariffs on trade between
customs union members and impose tariff on goods entering the union from non-
members.

Oatley (2010) indicated that regional trade agreements challenge the WTO because
they offer an alternative, and more discriminatory way to negotiate trade, that are not
consistent with WTO rules and principles.

 The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum established by 21

Pacific Rim countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, and
South Korea. Malaysia, New Zealand, USA. Republic of China (Taiwan), Honking,
Peoples Republic of China, Philippines. Mexico, Papua, New Guinea, Chile, Peru,
Singapore, Russian Federation, and Vietnam). APEC is a regional IGO formed in 1989 in
response to the growing interdependence of Asia Pacific countries and the growing
regional trading groups in Europe and other parts of the world. It aims to establish new
markets for agricultural products and raw materials outside Europe. It promotes free trade
zone and open trade in the regions for developed countries in 2010 and for developing
countries by 2020 (Kegley & Raymond, 2007; US Department of State, 2010).

 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional IGO

composed of 10 member states (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodian, Indonesia, and Lao
PDR. Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). It was
established in 1967 to promote political, economic, social and cultural cooperation and
regional stability; and in 1999 it created a free-trade zone among its ten members,
although many non-tariff barriers remained (Habito, 2017).
The three pillars of the ASEAN are: political security
community, economic security community, and socio-
cultural community. It focuses on the collective issues of
political, economic, and environmental problems that beset
the region and which require combined effort to solve or
resolve those collective problems (Kegley & Raymond,
2007: US Department State, Diplomacy in Action).

IGOs Positive and Negative Views of the IGOs.

The positive view believes that IGOs serve the interest of the state and encourage
cooperation among nations by reducing transaction costs (costs of making and enforcing
agreements) (Kegley & Raymond, 2007); and
The second view, however maintains that the IGOs dominant players use their
voting power to their advantage and that this negatively affects the decision making of
the small state. Cowles (2011) on the other hand thinks otherwise.He theorizes that many
nation states choose IGOs not because it can serve their interest but more in their
adeptness in creating, developing and implementing broader policies and norms that are
important in the international system. Furthermore, he maintains that many states still
have the option of either leaving or joining other IGOs when they feel that their interests
are not served

Problems of IGOs. Many observers noted that the

IGOs are suffering from these following problems:

1. Low financial and leadership support. Many

underdeveloped countries can hardly provide financial
support to the operation of a IGOs Bureaucracy such
as the UNICEF and the WHO. They have inadequate
resources to carry out some issues in the most
effective manner (Cowles, 2014). It has been observed
that leadership is always given to powerful countries perpetuating homogeny, and
smaller states are seldom included in some advisory and consultative bodies of
IGOs (Cowles, 2011).

2. Problem of legitimacy. Many IGOs seek to enhance its legitimacy, however,

some IGOs such as the WTO, IMF, WB and some TNBs were accused of favoring
some MNCs at the expense of labor and environment. Today IGOs are enhancing
their legitimacy by building coalitions and networks with NGOs and MNCs
(Cowles, 2011).
3. Problem of transparency and meaningful participation in IGOs policy
making. Observers noted that many of the decision makings were not made public
and results of their economic surveys are held confidential.

DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES are international institutions (IMF, WB, and WTO) that
promote the economic, political, social and environmental development of member
countries of the world.

 International Monetary Fund (IMF) is one of the most powerful developmental

agencies that play a greater role in global economic arena; designed to maintain currency-
exchange stability by promoting international monetary cooperation and orderly
exchange arrangement, and by functioning as a lender of last resort for countries
experiencing financial crisis (Kegley & Raymond, 2007). At IMF disposal is lending
money to support struggling economy (Sernau, 2012).
Functions of IMF. IMF was created to regulate the world’s currencies (Cowles,
2011). It is mandated to promote international monetary cooperation through exchange
rate stability and to facilitate the expansion of international trade by addressing balance
of payment problems among the member countries (Cowles, 2011; Oatley, 2010). It
facilitates trade by imposing exchange rates between countries to prevent runaway
inflation, the collapse of currencies.Hence it serves as regulator of global crisis (Sernau,
2012). Aside from the financial support and credit/loans to developing countries, it
provides fiscal and monetary advice to governments and local economists. It monitors
activities and scope of conditions attached to aid packages; constructs aids packages
intended to avoid liquidity crunches. It provides loans to developing countries to assist in
poverty alleviation and good governance programs and it offers extensive debt relief to
the world’s poorest countries (Cowles, 2011: Love, 2011; Sernau, 2012)

IMF is managed by technocratic elite that meets and consults with high ranking
government officials anong its members (Cowles, 2011). Its operating funds come from
its 185 members, and functions like a credit union. It requires members to have a
common pool of funds from which a member can borrow during times of need. The quota
system contribution of its members depends on the states’ national income, monetary
reserves, and other factors that affect the members’ ability to contribute. Voting is
weighted on the monetary contribution of each member; thus decision making is largely
influenced by the amount of contributions made by members, giving more power to
richer nations to influence policies of IMF (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

The IMF imposes rules and conditions that governments have to abide with, to
receive funding and to get a seal of approval that attracts foreign investment. Cowles,
(2011) and Sernau (2012) noted, however, that the seal of approval and loan is given to
countries willing to make structural adjustments, which demand privatization of
government corporations, and reduction of government spending by; downsizing
government agencies, reprioritizing government programs, and restricting government
practices. In addition, it also requires macroeconomic stabilization, and structural reforms
in the financial sector (Oatley, 2010).

World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

After the Second World War, the IBRD was set up to support construction efforts
in Europe. It changed its name to World Bank and shifted its efforts from reconstruction
to development assistance. It provides economic assistance to countries development,
provided they promote democratic governance and anti-corruption drive (Kegley &
Raymond, 2007; Love, 2011). It offers development assistance in planning, and preparing
project proposals, training senior development officials, monitoring the resource
investment potentials of member countries and determining the countries priorities and
regional projects based on its economic survey. It provides loan with lower interest rates
and longer payment plans that are obtainable from commercial banks (Sernau, 2012). The
loan funds are to finance well-planned projects that will contribute to the productive and
earning capacity of the borrowing country from private capital market (Sernau, 2012).

Recently, the World Bank rejected big dam projects and expensive show pieces,
and shifted its effort to encouraging local participation, smaller projects, strict
environmental compliance standards and economic accountability (Sernau, 2012). Since
2006, the World Bank has been the most influential anti-poverty institution in developing
countries (Cowles, 2011; Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

The World Bank’s decision making authority is the board of governors that meets
annually to set policy directions and delegate responsibility of the routine operations of
the World Bank. The governors are the country’s finance officer or its equivalent official
from 184 membership countries. There are twenty four (24) directors of the executive
board. Like the IMF, World Bank adopts a system of weighted voting that protects the
interest of the biggest contributors to the WB resources. Every member is entitled to
2,050 votes and one additional vote for each share held in the Bank’s capital stock. The
quota, the allocation of shares and voting are adjusted from time to time depending on the
country’s economic situation (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

 The World Trade Organization replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT). It is both a development agency and a political system. As a
development agency, it encourages and supports growth of trade among nations. As a
hub of the political system, it imposes rules based on negotiated agreements to govern
the world trade system. The WTO sets basic rules and principles, provides
intergovernmental bargaining, conducts ministerial conferences, and dispute settlement
mechanisms (Heywood, 2014; Kegley & Raymond, 2007; Oatley, 2010).

1. Basic Rules and Principles of World Trade Organization. WTO has two core
principles: market liberalism and non-discrimination (see Figure 17.1).

 Market liberalism theorizes that an open and liberal international trade system
without government imposed barriers will benefit countries, because it will
facilitate more trade and will raise the standard of living (Oatley, 2010).

 Non-discrimination policy assures WHO members the same opportunities to

trade with one another, with two exceptions: the most favored nations (MFN) and
the National Treatment policies.
A. Most Favored Nations (MFN) policy prohibits governments from using
trade policies to provide special advantages to some countries but not to
others. MFN allows two exceptions: if they Figure 17.1: Core Principles
join a free trade area or custom union; and if of WTO
advanced industrialized nations apply lower
Market Liberalism
tariffs to imports from developing countries
Non discrimination
than they apply to the same goods from
advanced industrialized countries under the Source: Heywood, 2007.
Generalized System Preferences (GSP). Oatley, 2010.
B. National Treatment policy provides equal
treatment to both local and foreign products of the same version once they
enter the domestic market. It prohibits governments from using taxes,
regulations and other domestic policies that are prejudicial to foreign firms
to protect domestic products.
2. World Trade Intergovernmental Bargaining is negotiating agreements that
reduce and eliminate government imposed barriers to market access. It liberalizes
trade and indirectly supports the goal of WTO. Governments are required to change
tariff and non-tariff trade policies that restrict the free flow of goods and services
entering the country. Tariff policies are taxes imposed on foreign products entering
the country, while non-tariff policies are restrictions imposed on governmental
purchasing practices; and the health and safety regulations.

3. World Trade Ministerial Conference is the highest level of WTO decision

making that establishes agenda detailing issues of negotiations and the setting of a
target date for the conclusion of the round. At the end of the Ministerial conference,
the lower level national in Geneva WTO headquarters conducts detailed negotiations
embodied in the agenda, makes a periodic stock taking to each interim agreements;
produces an outline of a complete agreement and concludes the round by a final
ministerial conference. The resulting agreement is ratified by WTO members and
implemented on an agreed timetable (Heywood, 2014).

4. Dispute Settlement Mechanism ensures compliance with the rules of agreement.

It settles disputes and authorizes punishment for non-compliance. Whenever there is
a dispute, an independent quasi-judicial tribunal investigates the facts and studies the
relevant WTO rules violated and then reaches findings. A government found to have
violated the rule is asked to change the offending policy or to compensate the country
or countries that are harmed (Oatley, 2010).

Oatley (2010) criticized WTO rules for intruding into the government national
policies which formerly have not been subjected to international negotiations and
agreement. He noted that in the DOHA Round, governments are not only negotiating
agreements in agriculture (that limit government subsidies to farmers), but also on the
service sector liberalization. Oatley (2010) predicted that negotiations will soon focus on
the national regulatory barriers to trade.

Multinational Corporations and Transnational Banks are non-state institutions that

have a tremendous influence in world governance.

Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are formal business corporations such as

transnational oil corporations (Shelll, Petron), Pharmaceutical corporations (Merck Sharp
& Dohme, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma Gmbh & Co) and automobile corporations
(Toyota, Volkswagen) and Food and soft drinks corporations (McDonald, Pepsi)
operating in more than two countries, that have
the capacity to transfer their operations from
country to country. They can open new markets
and gain access to new consumers, acquire
natural resources at lower costs and produce
efficiencies through reduction of production
and labor costs or by taking advantage of lower
environmental regulation and taxes. They are
engaged in different business ventures that
extract natural resource and raw materials,
manufacture and produce consumer goods, and
offer services like banking, investment, insurance and
consulting services or hybrids of all of these. In addition,
they are also in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in various
forms: buyout of a foreign subsidiary, joint venture,
licensing agreements, or strategic alliances. The top
recipients of FDI are rich countries such as USA, United
Kingdom and China.

MNCs encourage countries of the world to open their markets to one another,
and to allow free flow of resources and services among countries, thereby establishing the
world market (Smith & Young, 1998). They provide profit and enhance development by
facilitating capital and technology transfer to developing countries. They help in the
building of infrastructure to maximize commerce and generate employment, provide
training, and education program to host countries. MNCS bring managerial expertise to
host countries.\making local firms more efficient in managing their companies. In
addition, they help developing countries to have access to other international markets and
to marketing network that can facilitate investments (Kegley & Raymond, 2007; Love &
Love, 2011; Oatley, 2010).

Cohen and Kennedy (2000) theorized that multinational/transnational corporations

could cause problems to the economies and social plans of the host countries. They can
corrupt local officials to facilitate their company plans and operations, and send back
their profit to their country of origin without tax even if the practice is in conflict with the
national plan. They can influence negatively the consumption patterns of host countries
because of their powerful position. They can sell even their inferior products because of
their “disproportional marketing power.” They can compete with local capital for much
lower wages, thereby sacrificing quality (Cohen & Kennedy, 2000). They have the
advantage over other business corporations because they can profit from the differences
in factor endowments, wage rates, market conditions and political and fiscal regimes;
they can avoid tax payment, labor unions and can circumvent government regulations
(Cohen & Kennedy, 2000).

MNCs, State Functions and Sovereignty. Many observers noted that MNCs are
now becoming crucial players in designing and implementing effective global solutions
to global problems. Many states are suffering from gradual loss of state power and
sovereignty to many MNCs and other international nonstate actors. Some states became
failed state because they gave up most of their critical functions (such as security
rehabilitation and infrastructure development functions) to MNCs. Unfortunately, some
of these MNCs contracted to perform state functions, lack transparency, accountability
and are found to have committed human rights abuses

Transnational Banks (TNBs) and the UBS, Citigroup, Mizuho Financial

Group, and HSBC Holdings are global bank organizations that provide loans and
mobile capital to private sector. They help MNCs in the globalization of production and
they facilitate trade and help reduce political barriers by allowing each state economies to
transfer capital through international loans and investments. Some writers noted that
TNBs increase global inequality due to their propensity of providing “74% of FDI to rich
countries and the poorest countries receiving very little marginalizing further developing
countries and increasing the wealth of a selected group of countries” (Love & Love,
2011).

NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs). NGOs are the third

sector or the public interest group of the civil society (Love, 2011). It got its official
recognition from the UN in 1948 when 41 NGOs were given consultative status
following the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The World
Bank defines NGOs as private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering,
promote the interest of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic services, or
undertake community development.

Nongovernment organizations are private, non-commercial groups or non-

profit groups (with exception of a few) which seeks to achieve its end through non-
violent means. They have a broad and eclectic membership composed of small and large
international organizations funded by donations; that can operate with a small or a huge
budget and some may/may not receive government aid (Heywood, 2011; Love & Love,
2011). Most NGOs have permanent, and full time professional staffs (Love, 2011).

NGOs are either local or transnational “moral entrepreneur that are advocating
reforms or crusaders to change evils committed against humanity based on moral
authority” (Love & Love, 2011). They have reputational power to enhance their values,
ideas and information power. This reputational power is strengthened by their records of
strong advocacy or by the endorsement of important and respected personalities. To bring
attention and leverage to their cause, they use the new media to get immediate responses
to global issues and send their views to the people (Cowles, 2011; Love & Love, 2011).

Cowles noted that the transnational NGOs’ network allows them to forum shop and
to insist that their views are more favorable to the state and to international areas. This is
because they have access to grassroots information that the government and IGOs do not
have.Cowles also observed that NGOs can “resurrect issues and can frame or reframe
issues” by altering new or by discrediting accepted information or by introducing new
norms to revaluate information. They can monitor compliance of certain nonstate actors
whether they are complying with what they had promised. NGOs can manage important
problems with or without the help of the state, and can alter attitudes and behavior
directly, changing the ideas held by individuals and institutions. Furthermore, they
conduct research, serve on government delegations, participate in small working group
meetings of international negotiations, monitor state commitments, report on
negotiations, lobby participants, and facilitate negotiations. Some may even attain legal
standing on environmental treaties. Aside from these functions, they develop soft laws or
voluntary codes that serve as basis for the eventual passage of hard laws (Cowles, 2011).
There are two types of transnational and national NGOs: the operational
and the advocacy NGOs (Heywood, 2014):

Operational NGOs are community based, national or international organizations

designed to implement development–related projects; that can be relief-oriented or
development-oriented. Operational NGOs were known to deliver about 15% of the
International aid, often demonstrating greater speed of response and level of operational
effectiveness than governmental bodies, national or international. In addition, operational
NGOs (such as Doctors without Borders, Red Cross and Amnesty International) are able
to operate in politically sensitive areas where the national government, or even the UN,
are not allowed (Heywood, 2014).

Advocacy NGOs are transnational or national promotional pressure groups or

public interest groups {like Greenpeace, International Institute for Rural Reconstruction
(IIR) and Unified Urban Poor (UUP)} that promote or defend particular cause such as
women empowerment, environmental protection and rehabilitation, social justice and
social security. These NGOs constitute significant actors on the global stage. Despite
their lack of economic leverage, they are highly adept in mobilizing soft power and
popular pressure that gave them a number of advantages (Heywood, 2014):

 Leading public protests and demonstrations because of their cultivated public

profile which attracts media attention and following;
 Mobilizing public support and moral pressures due to their altruistic and
humanitarian objectives; and
 Using specialists and academics that make them authoritative and disinterested
over a wide range of issues.

Transnational Advocacy Network Groups are international and domestic non-

governmental organizations, regional and international intergovernmental organizations,
parts of the government, media and intellectuals that are united by “shared values,
common discourse and dense exchanges of information and services” (Fu, 2011). They
have a flat organizational form characterized by informal relationship between equal
agents and social agencies (Heywood, 2000).
Furthermore, each person in the network is directly
or indirectly connected with a number of persons and
influences the decision of persons/ groups as to how
they make choices and the effects of these choices
can have a lasting influence on the social structure
and individual personality both within and outside
the network (Kornblum, 1988). These interconnected persons or groups are made
possible by the social media, Internet and other media technology. Different NGOs and
civil society use various social network groups to pursue their environmental and human
right advocacies across the globe for financial, social, health and political support
(Cowles, 2011; Heywood, 2014).These groups join efforts in persuading, socializing and
pressuring states and international organizations to change their norms and behaviors
regarding issues (environment and human trafficking) beyond sovereignty. They build
links among domestic, regional and international actors to pursue common values and
issues. In the pursuit of their values and goals the transnational advocacy groups use
these following tactics (Fu, 2011):

1. Information politics. Generating quick, credible and usable information and

sending it to places where it will make an impact;
2. Symbolic politics. Using symbols, stories or actions that make sense to members
who are frequently away;
3. Leverage politics by calling powerful actors to affect a solution where weaker
members of the networks are unlikely to have influence; and
4. Accountability politics. Making powerful actors accountable to his /her stated
policies or principles.

Fu (2011) observed that some transnational advocacy groups are successful in

bringing about discursive and procedural changes by sharing resources and multiplying
channels of access to international and domestic systems. She noted that they played an
important role in promoting sustainable development and monitoring the implementation
of principles and procedures. Their influence can be measured by: the tendency of
bureaucratic government agencies and transnational corporations to include
environmental impact assessment in their planning and implementation of development
projects; the international capital conditionality to address environmental objectives in
their loans and eliminate environmental high risks projects (building of dams and the use
of safe energy); their ability to influence states’ decisions and discourage behavior that
are potentially destructive to the environment (Fu, 2011).

Cooperatives and Trade Unions

Cooperatives are advocacy NGOs (such as Samahang Nayon) which promote or

defend a particular cause of indigent groups. They are local associations organized by a
group of people who bring together all their resources for mutual benefits. The main
purpose of a cooperative is to buy and sell goods and services to eliminate the profits of
the middlemen or charges of financial institutions.

The basic principles of cooperatives are open and voluntary membership,

democratic participation, limited interest in capital, division of net surplus,
cooperative education, cooperation among cooperatives and patronage refund.
Patronage refund gives every member incentive to patronize their own products.
Patronage refund shares will depend on the degree of participation in the various
activities of borrowing, buying and selling with the cooperatives. The greater the
participation in these activities, the more patronage refund one receives at the end of
annual inventory (Cooperative Code of the Philippines as cited by De Leon, 2000;
Espiritu, 1999).
Trade unions are advocacy non-government organizations (such as Trade Union of
the Philippines (TUCP), Migrante and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) that promote, defend
and protect the rights and interests of labor (local and overseas, organized and
unorganized). Labor unions fight for workers’ security of tenure, humane conditions of
work and living wage, and the right to just share in the fruits
of production. In addition, they participate in policy and
decision making processes affecting workers’ rights and
benefits, guarantees workers the rights to self-organization,
collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted
activities, including the right to strike in accordance of the
law, but encourage the peaceful use of voluntary modes of
settlements of disputes, including conciliation and mutual
compliance to agreed settlement to foster industrial peace (Nolledo, 2009). Labor unions
get support from the state, the international government organizations and from local and
international NGOs such as the International Labor Organization (ILO).

NGOs Controversies. Heywood (2014) noted that the rise of the NGOs has
provoked considerable controversies: Supporters of the NGOs believe that they enrich
global politics, act as a moral force that improves the people’s sense of responsibility,
that they promote global citizenship and check corporate power, challenge the influence
of TNCs and democratize global politics by representing disempowered people and
groups ‘interests in the globalization process.

On the other hand, critics maintain that NGOs are small, self-appointed groups
of senior professionals without democratic credentials whose sinister agenda is to get
high media profile that will generate support and funding. In addition, critics believe that
some NGOs make exaggerated claims, compromise their principles that “DE radicalizes”
social movements, and distort public perceptions (Heywood, 2014). Some critics indicate
that NGOs do not have real powers, they attract support, but are unable to impose
compliance to their advocacy. They also point out that different NGOs may be supporting
conflicting advocacies e.g. some NGOs prioritize environmental protection, while other
NGOs give priority to economic growth. Conflict of priorities and funding are some of
the reasons why only few issues are settled (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

Suggested Readings:
Love, M.C. (2011). Beyond Sovereignty: Issues for a global agenda. Australia: Cengage Learning.
Heywood, A. (2014). Global Politics. New York: Polgrave Macmillan.
Oatley, T. (2010). International political economy: Interests and institutional in the global
economy. New York: Longman.
Sernau, S. (2012). Global problems: The search for equity, peace and sustainability. Boston:
Pearson.

MASTERY TESTS
Define:
Development agency Most favored nation policy
Free trade agreement Multinational Corporation
Operational NGO Transnational advocacy group

Answer the following questions:

1. Where lies the importance of international governmental institutions?
2. In what ways are states threatened by the presence of international organizations?
3. What are the pros and cons of the basic principles of market liberalism.?

IDENTIFICATION
________1. It provides the economic rationale for the trade system
________2. They have advocacy on moral authority, their strength lies in their idea
________3. The assumptions that markets are self-correcting and that government regulation
often introduce market distortions, inefficiencies and competitive advantages
________4. They can assist in transferring capital and know-how to the developing world and
often bring capital good and technology.
________5. It focuses on the political, economic, and environmental problems that beset the
region and that cannot be managed without combined effort
________6. They have information power have access to grassroots’ information about how
particular policies affect particular people, information that government and IGOs
overlook.
________7. IGO designed to maintain currency- exchange stability by promoting international
monetary cooperation and orderly exchange arrangement
________8. It is a predecessor of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that
supported and encouraged growth of trade
________9. The largest and most influential antipoverty institution operating in developing
countries
_______10. Negotiating agreements that reduce and eliminate government imposed barriers
to market access
_______11. The principle that ensure that each WTO members are given the same
opportunities to trade with other WTO members
_______12. They are transnational moral entrepreneurs, agents who act as reformers or
crusaders to change rules out of an ethical concern
_______13. Its basic ideas and practices are to promote international cooperation that
stem from diplomacy, rules of warfare, and international law
_______14. They are advocacy NGOs that promote, defend and protect the rights and
interests of labor (local and overseas, organized and unorganized)
_______15. The institution that functions as a lender of last resort for countries
experiencing financial crisis

CHAPTER XVIII STRATIFICATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading the chapter, you should be able to:

A. Discuss and explain the different Theories of Stratification (Structural,
Conflict, Social Interaction, and Evolutionary)
B. Compare and contrast the two general forms of classification systems (
open vs closed), the different kinds of social status (ascribed vs,
achieved, mastery ) and the different types of social mobility
(vertical vs. horizontal, structural)
C. Describe the three components of stratification: social class, social status
and roles and what they consist of
D. Explain the consequences of stratification
E. Differentiate the three types of communities in the World Stratification
System based on their political and economic attributes
F. Examine and react to the case study of the Philippine Stratification System
and to the results of other research conducted along that line

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUT

* View and take notes on any the following films: “I Witness Front Row: “Dahil sa
Kahirapan”, “Baler/Cebu”
*Form and express your opinion of the following statements:
- Gender stratification is determined, not by biological necessity but by the existing
structure of society which provides more political, legal, economic and cultural
rights to males.
-Social dominance orientation develops negative attitudes and cognitions towards
the poor to justify and insure the preservation of social hierarchy in the
Philippines.
- People who are less well-off are less likely to adopt innovation.
*Produce any of the following:
- A profile study of street children
-A list of ways to reduce social inequality.

Introduction
People are born with different qualities, potentials and family backgtound. .
These, along with their achievements, account for the social stratification or
hierarchical arrangement of people in society.insofer as each person’s access to
power, prestige and wealth are concerned..

Definition of Stratification
Stratification refers to differentiation in society wherein the entire population is
divided into hierarchical social categories, social classes and status based on one’s’access
to wealth, power, property and. on his psychological abilities. This results in an unequal
distribution of rights and privileges, duties, responsibilities, social values and privations,
social power and influence. (Sorokin, 1961). .
Theories of Stratification
There are four theories that explain the presence of social stratification. These are
the functionalist, conflict, social interaction and the
evolutionary theories (see Figure 18.1). Figure 18.1: Theories
of Stratification
Functionalists maintain that stratification
encourages efficient and effective functioning in society. Structural Functional Theory
Conflict Theory
People have different talents and capabilities and are Social Interaction Theory
therefore given positions appropriate to their abilities, to Evolutionary Theory
insure that people will work harder to attain their Sources: Durkheim, 1933.
Marx & Engels, 1969.
desired positions as a form of reward. This will also Mead, 1934.
guarantee that only those qualified will fill the various Spencer, 1961.
positions needed for a fully functioning society
(Schaefer, 2005).

The conflict theorists, on the other hand, posit that stratification justifies the status
quo, and that inequality is the end result of conflict over limited resources (Brinkerhoff,
White, Ortega & Weitz, 2008).The elite who control wealth, power and authority in
society want people to work efficiently and effectively, and they believe that this is
possible only in the existing stratification system. In order to maintain their privileged
positions, the elite will do anything to prevent, minimize and control social conflict that
will change the balance of power and wealth. However, conflict is inevitable; the desire
of the elite to maintain the status quo is the very seed that will lead to social instability
and eventual social change of the stratification system (Schaefer, 2005; Shepard, 2002).

The social interactionists assume that stratification is a legitimate social function

and is acceptable to people because their cultural system considers this arrangement
beneficial to society, and they were reared to accept it (Schaefer, 2005)

. The evolutionists postulate that stratification is the result of societal growth from a
simple to a more complex, advanced society. As the societies develop, they produce
surpluses that bring about competition for the control of wealth and power, leading to the
stratification of society into social categories of winners and losers. The winners, who are
the strongest and the craftiest, are able to dominate the losers and to insure the
maintenance of this social arrangement until they are overthrown. As the societies
become more advanced, there will be more discoveries, inventions, urbanization and
other events that will demand more specialization and differentiation and improve the
quality of life, thereby eliminating the rigid stratification system. These changes in the
societies will be the factors that will eliminate inequality among people’s style of life, life
chances and social mobility (Schaefer, 2005; Sullivan, 2001).
Characteristics of Stratification

Stratification has five characteristics: it is social, it is universal, it has components,

it has consequences, and it is diverse in form and amount (Sorokin, 1961; Tumin, 1967).

 Stratification is social and universal. Stratification involves the

relationships among two or more people in any organized group and is found in all
societies at all times (Sorokin, 1961; Tumin, 1967).

 Stratification has three components. The components of the stratification

system are social class, social status and roles (see Figure 18.2).
Social class is a category of people who share the same lifestyle, life chances,
power, prestige and class-consciousness. Class-consciousness is the awareness of one’s
social class. Consciously or subconsciously, a person identifies with his class and
develops the style of life, prestige and life chances of the class he identifies with. Class-
consciousness generates in-group feelings like identification with people who belong to
one’s own class, and out-group feelings of hostility and suspicion towards other social
classes. Eventually, this feeling of suspicion and hostility can bring about class conflict.
Class conflict is the struggle among different groups for a greater share of wealth,
opportunity, power and prestige. Class-consciousness and class conflict develop
avoidance or restrained relationships among social classes, and this restraint or reserved
relationship, among social classes is called social
distance. Figure 18.2: Components of
Stratification
Social status is the position of the individual in
Social Class
society (Linton, 1936); it could either be ascribed or Social Status
achieved. Ascribed status is one that a person gets as a Ascribed
Achieved
result of his birthright, sex, and social status, like being Social Roles
born of noble parentage. Achieved status is the position Source: Linton, 1936.
Sorokin, 1961.
that a person acquires as a function of merit, effort and Tumin, 1967.
achievements. This position is assigned to the person
because of his accomplishments or activities he performs
in the group. A person can have different status during his
lifetime. Among the set of status that the individual has, there is a dominant status that is
important to the way people view him. This status is called the master status. It
dominates all the other status because people view the person on the basis of the master
status. A person can have several status like that of being a woman, a professor, a wife, a
doctor or a businesswoman, and these make up the status set. Among all those status,
that of a doctor will be considered the master status.
Social roles are the dynamic aspects of social status (Linton, 1936). Role involves a
cluster of norms that define the behavior of a person occupying a certain status in the
group. These are the duties, obligations, responsibilities and rights assigned to the
position.

Duties are the general conduct assigned to a position. Obligation is the set of duties
assigned to a status that have to be carried out. Responsibility is the task that the person
is accountable or answerable for. Right is the special enjoyment of a just claim
(Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1962).

 Stratification has consequences. As a result of stratification, people develop

different cultural capital, styles of life; life chances, power, prestige, and social mobility
(see Figure 18.3).
Ferrante (2014) defined cultural capital as the useful and desirable material
and non-material resources that a person possess and has access to in a given
society. These cultural capital are: objectified cultural capital, embodied cultural
capital and institutionalized capital. Objectified cultural capital is the totality of
what a person owns and has access to that has monetary value. Embodied
cultural capital is everything that the person has acquired, uses and holds to
present himself to others, consciously and unconsciously internalized during the
person’s early socialization. Institutionalized cultural capital is the sum of the
materials or nonmaterial things that are
Figure 18.3: Consequences
of Stratification considered by society as indicators of one’s
success in life such as physical appearance
Cultural Capital
Style of Life (youthful appearance, beautiful white teeth
Life Chances and posture) academic credentials (diploma
Power
Prestige from a prestigious school) and fluency in
Social Mobility speaking foreign languages (Ferrante, 2014).
Source: Ferrante, 2014
Schaefer, 2005. Life Style refers to a range of items that include
Sullivan, 2001.
Tumin, 1967. common practices, social conventions and wealth
associated with a particular class. To some
sociologists, life style is the wealth of a person in
terms of his income and corporate shares in
business.

Life chances are the opportunities available to the person as a result of class
membership. These include the chance of a person to get education, health, happiness,
legal protection, and wealth and access to important societal resources such as food,
clothing, shelter and medical services.
Power is the capacity to make persons do things even against their will and the
ability to impose one’s will over others. Power can be based on tradition, charisma, and
legal or physical sources.

Prestige is the recognition, approval, respect and admiration enjoyed by a person on

the basis of his social position in the society.

Social mobility is the movement of people from one social position or class to
another. There are three general types of mobility: vertical, structural, and horizontal
mobility.

 Vertical mobility is the movement of people from one class to another either
downward or upward within the generation or by comparing the social class of
parents to that of their offspring. There are two types of vertical mobility: the
intragenerational and the intergenerational. Intragenerational mobility is the
movement of a person from one social class to another within his lifetime; it is
also called career mobility (Schaefer, 2005; Sullivan, 2001). Intergenerational
mobility is the change of family members’ social class, the change of a person’s
social class by comparing it to that of his parents (Ferrante, 2014; Kornblum,
2002).
 Structural mobility is the movement of people from one social class to another
brought about by changes in the number and kinds of jobs in a population
because of technological innovations, urbanization, economic prosperity or
depression, wars and other events (Bassis, Gelles & Levine, 1991;Tumin, 1967).
 Horizontal mobility is the change of status of a person from one status to
another within the same social class because of job changes made by the person.
Stratification has various forms. There are two general forms of
stratification that are observable in different societies: the closed and the
open stratification systems (see Figure 18.4).
 Closed Stratification System. It is a system of classifying people into rigid
and well-defined social classes based on ascribed traits. People are assigned at birth into a
social class in which they will stay for the rest of their lives. There are three types of
closed stratification: caste, slavery and estate systems.

 The caste system is a closed system where classes

are socially and biologically separated from each other. Figure 18.4: Forms of
The person’s ascribed characteristics will decide his Stratification
prestige, place of residence, occupation and social
relationships (Tischler, 2011). The stratification is rigid Closed System
Caste System
because positions are determined at birth, and social Slavery
taboos, norms, values and beliefs sanction this Estate System
arrangement. Interaction among castes is limited and Open System

Source: Marsh, 1996.

Schaefer, 2005.
Shepard, 2002.
Sullivan, 2001.
Tischler, 2011.
well-defined. People cannot interact freely with each other and cannot marry
beyond their class.
India’s caste system is a closed system that divides people at birth into castes:
the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, the Shudras and the Untouchables
(Marsh, 1996; Schaefer, 2005; Shepard, 2002; Sullivan, 2001).

 Slavery is a form of closed stratification in which some people are considered

as pieces of property that can be sold, exchanged, killed or sexually violated.
This closed type of stratification existed in the Philippines during the pre-colonial
period. A person could become an alipin by birth, by conquest, indebtedness,
sale, military defeat, kidnapping or by a crime committed. There were two types
of slaves in the Philippine pre-colonial society: the aliping namamahay and the
aliping sagigilid. The aliping namamahay had a household and could marry,
while the aliping sagigilid lived with the master, could not marry without the
consent of the owner, and could not own anything including their life. This
position was a lifetime status that could only be changed if the owner grants them
freedom (Agoncillo & Guerrero, 1987).The Filipino slaves were set free by the
Spaniards because of the passage of the Laws of the Indies, the Spanish king’s
decree, and the Papal Bull of 1591 that ordered the emancipation of all slaves.
Those who would not comply would suffer some penalty or would be
excommunicated (NSO Philippine Yearbook, 2002). (See Figure 18.5).
 The estate or the feudal system is a closed stratification system that is based
on land ownership and law (Tischler, 2011).The encomienda or hacienda is a
feudal system that existed for more than three hundred years in the Philippines.
As in many feudal systems in Europe and in Latin American countries, the social
status of people was usually hereditary, and the existing laws defined the rights
of the people (Marsh, 1996; Sullivan, 2001; Thompson & Hickey, 1996). The
encomienda/haciendas had three classes: the aristocrats (elite), the priests, and
the tenants /workers. The aristocrats (encomenderos/hacienderos) were the
landowners who took care of the temporal (land and military protection) and
spiritual welfare of their tenants/ workers and their families in exchange for the
rent and labor they provided. The priests were the people who served as advisers
to the elite, and who, by virtue of their religious, political and social connections,
had power over the tenants/laborers. The tenants/laborers or the workers
provided their landlords and the priests, labor, goods, and military service,
serving as private armies.They had very low social standing, little freedom and
were almost powerless (Tischler, 2011).
 Open Class Stratification System. The open class stratification system
assigns people to different social classes on the basis of their efforts and achievements,
rather than on their ascribed traits. Positions of people in society can be the result of
personal choice and individual competition. There are no social boundaries between
classes, and people can freely interact with one another but with some informal
restrictions (Sullivan, 2001). The open stratification system allows vertical and horizontal
social mobility throughout one’s lifetime. Many Filipinos in the urban areas, because of
beauty, outstanding talent and education, have become members of the upper class
through marriage with a member of the elite class.

The World Stratification System

Wallerstein (1974) divided the world into three communities based on their political
and economic attributes. These are the core; the semi-periphery and the periphery (see
Figure 18.6).
The core countries are the rich and politically strong nations (United States, Great
Britain, and Canada) that dominate the world economy. These countries have strong
political and economic controls of other countries because they provide the capital and
advanced technology to the world and they use these to exploit the semi-periphery and
periphery countries for economic and political leverage. Kornblum (1988) and
Wallerstein (1974) noted that the core countries have political ties to local elites of
periphery countries to insure a steady supply of the needed raw materials and to protect
their vested interests and capital at the expense of the host nations’ interests.
The semi-periphery countries such as Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are semi-
industrialized nations that serve as conduits of the core
countries to the poor countries. They serve the core
countries by providing outlets for finished goods from Figure 18.6: World
these countries, and like the core countries, they also Stratification System
exploit the periphery countries by dumping inferior
Core Countries
imported goods on them (Kornblum, 1988; Wallerstein, Semi-periphery Countries
1974). Periphery Countries

. The periphery countries are the poor, agrarian, Source: Wallerstein, 1974.
and underdeveloped countries (Africa, Vietnam, and
Pakistan) that have the least benefits from the global
economy. They specialize in the production of raw materials needed by core countries.
They are highly vulnerable to conditions beyond their control, like the world demand for
raw materials, crop damage from flooding, infestations and drought (Brinkerhoff, et al.,
2008).These countries have weak and corrupt governments that are subservient to the
core and semi- periphery countries for economic and political support, causing an ever-
growing poverty and dependence on the core countries (Kornblum, 1988; Wallerstein,
1974).

Stratification of Excluded Minority Groups. Excluded minority groups are people

occupying a subordinate status in the society because of their perceived biological, social,
economic and cultural characteristics by the dominant group. Included in this category
are the racial and ethnic minorities, migrants, women, children, the aged, the infirmed,
the physically disabled, the poor, and the deviants (LBT group and the criminals). They
have distinct physical, social, cultural and economic traits that differentiate them from
others and usually cause them to be subjected to differential and unequal treatment; they
often feel that they are the object of prejudice and collective discrimination (attitudinal
and institutional discrimination). Attitudinal discrimination is the direct, blatant and
conscious personal prejudice against a person because of skin color or cultural
characteristics (individual taste of food or clothing) (Kammeyer, et al., 1997; Tischler,
2011). Institutional discrimination is the neutral or subtle way of preventing the
minorities (ethnic groups, person with disabilities, children, migrants and the aged) from
further advancement and from exercising their basic human rights by passing rules,

Stratification of Excluded Minority Groups. Excluded minority groups are people

occupying a subordinate status in the society because of their perceived biological, social,
economic and cultural characteristics by the dominant group. Included in this category
are the racial and ethnic minorities, migrants, women, children, the aged, the infirmed,
the physically disabled, the poor, and the deviants (LBT group and the criminals). They
have distinct physical, social, cultural and economic traits that differentiate them from
others and usually cause them to be subjected to differential and unequal treatment; they
often feel that they are the object of prejudice and collective discrimination (attitudinal
and institutional discrimination). Attitudinal discrimination is the direct, blatant and
conscious personal prejudice against a person because of skin color or cultural
characteristics (individual taste of food or clothing) (Kammeyer, et al., 1997; Tischler,
2011). Institutional discrimination is the neutral or subtle way of preventing the
minorities (ethnic groups, person with disabilities, children, migrants and the aged) from
further advancement and from exercising their basic human rights by passing rules,
policies, practices and laws pertinent to them. (Kammeyer, et al., 1997; Tischler, 2011).

World Poor. Nafziger (2006) reported that the world’s absolute poor ($1/day poverty)
live in sub-Saharan Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and
Kenya. Three-fourths of the sub-Saharan population are poor. More than one-sixth lives
in East Asia (Main China) and one-sixth in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal and
Pakistan). The remaining fraction is divided between the Middle East and Latin America.
Nafziger (2006) also noted that the poor most likely live in environmentally marginal and
vulnerable areas. A majority of them live in the rural areas and the rest live in crowded
urban slums. The urban poor are the unemployed, irregularly employed menial workers,
small storekeepers, artisans and traders, while the rural poor are landless workers,
sharecroppers, tenants and small landowners. Most of the poor have extended families,
are illiterate, have not completed more than a year or two of school, and work long hours.
The majority of the poor is composed of the elderly, the children under 10, and the
females who are employed in small lowest paying jobs. Their life expectancy is 45 years
compared to 78 years in developed countries. About half of the poor are undernourished,
and hundreds of millions are severely malnourished. Two-thirds of the poor lack access
to safe and plentiful water and many lack an adequate system of disposing their feces. As
for the Filipino poor, studies showed that the poorest Filipinos are the fishermen, farmers
and children. They constitute 3% of the poorest population subcategory. Children and
women accounted for the largest number of poor in 2006 (Philippine Development Plan,
2011-2016).

Gender Stratification, Different societies

stratify people on the basis of gender (Brym &
Lie, 2007; Kottak, 2008). Gender stratification
indicated the unequal distribution of rewards such
as socially valued resources, power, prestige,
human right and personal freedom between men
and women in a social hierarchy (Kottak, 2013).

Feminists observed that this gender Children and women accounted as the
largest number of the poor in 2006 in the
stratification (male domination and female Philippines.
subordination) is determined not by biological
necessity but by the existing structure of the
society which provides more political, legal,
economic and cultural rights to males (Brym & Lie, 2007). Some observers like Kegley
& Raymond (2007) citing Coleman, (2005).believe that this issue of gender inequality is
difficult to address because of the existing values, tradition and cultural beliefs in many
Asian, and Middle East and Sub-Saharan African countries as mentoned earlier. .
Studies show that being a female in a developing and underdeveloped nation is
disadvantageous in many ways. She has less access to property rights (land ownership
and inheritance) and education compared to the male. She is discriminated against in the
labor market and receives less pay than the male doing the same work. In addition, she is
most likely to be aborted before birth than the male counterpart (Nafziger, 2006). In the
Philippines, data showed wide inequality between genders in terms of income earned.
They show that Filipino women are poorer than men and that there is a trend towards
feminization of poverty in the Philippines (MTPDP, 2004-2011).

Feminization of Poverty. . Studies on gender roles cited by Perkins, Radalet &

Lindauer (2006) showed the feminization of poverty.There is an increasing number of
women and their children among the poorest globally. Most female-headed households
are living below the poverty line. These households, which constitute one-quarter of the
world’s households, are often desperately poor (Nafziger, 2006). Kottak (2008) observed
that the feminization of poverty trend is caused by male migration, civil strife (men are
off fighting), divorce, abandonment, widowhood, unwed adolescent parenthood and the
perception that children are women’s responsibility.

Excluded People and Human Rights. Kegley and Raymond (2007) noted that
there are excluded groups who do not enjoy human rights in many societies. These
excluded groups are women and children in underdeveloped and developing countries,
indigenous people, the refugees and the disabled.

Women globally do not enjoy the same rights that men enjoy. The UN’s Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM), reported that women throughout the world continue to
be disadvantaged compared to men in many ways. They have less access to primary
education and advanced training in professional fields, such as science, engineering, law,
and business. In addition, within occupational groups, they are always in less prestigious
jobs, where they receive less pay than men in comparable positions, and they formidable
barriers to advancement. Although there is an improvement, still women in the
developing world earn less than men. Furthermore, their share of administrative and
managerial jobs is insignificant. Much the same holds true in politics: female hold 15%
of the seats in parliaments worldwide and sixty-five countries account for 10% or less
(Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

Social scientists noted that addressing women’s rights is difficult because the
problem involves entrenched and widely divergent religious and cultural beliefs in many
Southern Asia, the Middle East and the Sub-Saharan Africa

Indigenous People are victims of differential treatment and discrimination .

Kegley and Raymond (2007) define indigenous people as members of ethnic groups
native to a geographic location now controlled by another state or political group. These
indigenous people have a unique language, culture and strong, often spiritual, ties an
ancestral homeland Ethnic group is a small collection of people occupying a subordinate
status in the society because of perceived inferior cultural and social characteristics by
the dominant group. They have distinct physical and cultural traits that can differentiate
them from others and usually cause them to be given differential and unequal treatment
and are the object of collective prejudice and discrimination (Tischler, 2011)

Global Refugees are victims of racial discrimination. Refugees as people who flee
from their country of origin because they are targets of persecution due to their affiliation
to a certain religion, ethnicity, political opinions, or social membership A significant
portion of the world’s refugees and displaced people flee their homelands because their
governments are weak and incapable of maintaining peace and order because of religious
and ethnic conflict. Furthermore they noted that refugees are often victims of human right
violations. They do not receive police protection nor they receive legal redress of their
grievances although major conventions in the development of international rights (1948-
2002) guarantee their status against racial discrimination and their right to
compensation(Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

Disabled People.are subjected to bad treatment. Disability is a social construct

that defines what the person can do on the basis of their reduced abilities to perform tasks
expected of them at a certain stage of their life. Rosenblum & Travis (2012) noted that
“disability is an exclusionary and oppressive system rather than the natural and
appropriate order of things.” Disability studies disclose that ability and disability are not
so much a matter of capacities and limitations of human bodies but more about what
people expect from a body at a particular moment and place. Since disabilities occur in
all societies and in every family, it will be more productive for society to integrate
disabled people Many disabled persons deny disability because they like to avoid
people’s anxiety, distress, disbeliefs, disapproval, and spoil peoples’ fun. They try to live
up to peoples’ idea of normality.(Hockenberry, 2012).

Brent, Lewis and Pires (2014) noted that person with disabilities are stigmatized
and are subjected to bad treatment from the society. They are denied access to public
places, prevented from traveling to foreign countries, and deprived of promotion, wages
and even jobs. However, there are some countries like the United States and the
Philippines that protect the people with disabilities by passing laws and establishing
agencies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in employment in state and
local government and in private institutions, public accommodations, commercial
facilities, transportation and telecommunications. These agencies and laws allow people
with disabilities to function at the highest level by special agency for the disabled persons
for societal integration, rehabilitation, self-development and self- reliance by providing
wheel chair ramps, computer readers for the blind, sign language interpreters, and other
forms of help (Brent, Lewis & Pires, 2014; Nolledo, 2009).

The Philippine Stratification System: A Case Study of Stratification in a less-

developed Country:

The Philippine Stratification System is semi-open. It allows horizontal and vertical

mobility on a limited scale. Land ownership, political dynasty membership, education
and achievements are factors that influence one’s social mobility and status. Personal
achievements and traits can make people move from one social class to another.
However, especially in the rural areas, it is one’s ascribed status rather than his
achievement that determines his social class. There is too much interbreeding among the
elite group to perpetuate wealth, power and prestige, but from time to time, the elite allow
the new rich achievers, persons of outstanding beauty/or abilities to intermarry with them.
Most Filipinos believe that education and intermarriage with the rich or with foreigners
are avenues to change one’s social class.

The Philippine society is divided into three social classes: the upper, the middle
and the lower classes (see Figure 18.7). Upper Class
Euro American Elite,
Filipino-Chinese,
Religious Leaders,
Landed Aristocracy,
Politicians, New Rich,
Middle Class
Corporate Owners
Intellectuals
Artists
Junior Executive

The Filipino Upper Class. Global Wealth Report (2014) noted that in 2000, the top
10% of rich Filipinos control 79% of the country’s wealth, and it declined to 76%in 2014.
In 2015, the richest Filipinos were among the listed world’s Lower Class
billionaires of Forbes magazine; and 11 Filipinos Urban Poor: Unemployed,
entrepreneurs made it to the roaster dominated US based Irregularly - employed,
Menial Workers,
entrepreneurs (PDI, 2016). The Filipino upper class is Storekeepers, Servants,
composed of people who by birth can trace their occidental or Artisans and Traders,
Rural Poor:
oriental ancestry (Spanish, American or Chinese descents). Landless Workers,
They are composed of Euro-Americans, Filipino Chinese Share croppers,
Tenants
Business Groups and religious leaders. Almonte (1998) Small Land owners,
surmised that the Filipino elite are the most powerful Fishermen,
Farmers,
oligarchs in Asia, and they constitute 60 to 100 political clans The elderly who live in
controlling all elective positions at the national level. Most of environmentally marginal
and vulnerable areas in Bicol,
them are landed aristocracy, politicians, the new rich, MINAROPA, Visayas and
corporation owners, and members of the corporate Mindanao.
communities. They control the wealth and land ownership and they can determine who
will win or lose in the national elections. They preserve their class identity by inbreeding
and by sending their children to the best schools and universities to maintain exclusive
interaction among them for business and social connections. San Juan (1989) pointed out
that the Filipino upper class prioritize the importance of establishing their status and
ensuring their family wealth and power to the detriment of nationalism. They are not
concerned about making the Philippines a successful nation, hence “when thinga turn
bad, the members of this social class are off with their money.”

The Filipino Middle Class. The Filipino middle class is composed of people who
are successful in business, politics and the military
This employee provides professions. Raul Pertierra (1995) reported that the
professional skills and expertise middle class members are the intellectuals who replaced
in a bureaucratic institution.
the illustrado-capitalists and scholar dilettantes. They
are composed of people who are working in
bureaucratic organizations as teachers, artists, and
journalists or in the performing arts. They draw their salaries from profit or non-profit
organizations. They serve the needs of the capitalists by providing and managing labor.
They provide professional skills but they are basically voiceless because they serve
private interests. They adopt strategies of exclusion typical of the elite and they instill
values of paid work, reward for achievement, and respect for the law and individual
rights (Pertierra, 1995).

San Juan (1989) described the Filipino middle class as people “groping for funds,”
and suffering from “acute status anxieties” because the legitimacy of their class is
contingent on their “transcend ideas and not on wealth to support their local followers.”
He noted that the middle class technocrats have jobs that expose them to a lot of
dissonance between their capitalistic ethics and the personalistic structure of society.
They cannot implement rational plans and programs in a bureaucracy that is highly
personalistic in structure and infested with the existence of padrinos (San Juan, 1989).

The Filipino Lower Class is composed of the working poor, the lower
underemployed and the unemployed. Studies show that
many poor Filipino families live in marginal and vulnerable
places in the rural and urban areas. Most of those in the rural
areas are employed as sharecroppers, tenants and fishermen
On the ther hand, the urban poor live in slums and squatter
areas that are near city centers and stronghold of
globalization. Many of them are unemployed migrants
composed of indigenous people and rural folk in search of
employmemt and better living conditions.Most of them belong to the informal labor and
self-employrd sectors. Thay work as hawkers, street vendors, tricycle drivers, maids,
garbage collectors and owners of sari-sari stores, junk shops and carinderia. They are
financially incapable of buying their basic needs for survival and cannot afford to buy
nutritious food, cannot send their children to elementary school, and cannot even afford
the minimal cost of medical care.

Filipinos’ Perception of Inequality in the Stratification System. The SWS

national survey (2009) for the International Social Survey Program showed that Filipinos
are very realistic in perceiving the inequity that exists in the society and hope for a more
egalitarian society where there will be more people in the middle and/or most people near
the top and only a few near the bottom (as cited by Mangahas, 2011).

The June 2014 SWS survey showed that 55% of household rated themselves as
poor. The respondents feel that they will not consider themselves poor if they have an
income of PHp 12,000 in NCR and a national median of PHp 10,000 in Luzon, Visayas
and Mindanao.

Generalao (2005) noted that the urban and rural poor of Iligan attributed their poor
living condition to job, income, god and fate, education, economy and weather problems,
effort and peace in the family. They view their living condition positively and were
happy about it. They felt no shame, regret and disgust but they were undecided about
their level of contentment and in their judgment of controllability and stability of their
living condition.

Balisacan (2014) pointed out that inequality and poverty reduction in the
Philippines and other East Asian countries will depend on their ability to provide the poor
and the vulnerable with equal access to economic opportunities and basic services such as
health and education (De Vera, 2014 citing Global Wealth Report)

Social Class and Their Correlates. Below are studies that show the correlates of
social classes to certain behavioral characteristics.

Social Class and Innovation. Studies (Ember. et al., 2002; Cancian, 1980) showed
that individuals who are highly educated, high in status, highly mobile, are property
owners and have large farms and businesses are most likely to adopt innovations.
Ironically, those who are less well-off are generally the last to adopt innovations. When
risks are unknown the lower middle class are more receptive to innovation, because they
have less to lose than those in the upper middle class. But when risks are better known,
the upper middle class catches up with the lower middle class. Readiness to innovate may
not be related to socioeconomic position the linear way (Ember. et al., 2002; Cancian,
1980).

Social Class and Social Dominance Orientation. Bernardo (2013) defines social
dominance orientation as “the endorsement of unequal and hierarchical relationship
between groups.” Foreign researches showed that social dominance orientation (SDO) is
associated with negative attitudes towards subordinates or disadvantaged group. Bernard
found two predictors (egalitarian beliefs and SDO) that have significant association with
positive and negative attitudes and cognition towards the poor. He noted that SDO was
positively associated with internal (such as no attempts at self-improvement) and cultural
attributes (such as having to attend bad schools) but showed no negative association
between SDO and external attributes (such as failure of industries to provide enough
jobs). He observed that higher socio-economic groups tend to have more negative and
less positive attitudes and cognitions towards the poor while the lower socioeconomic
groups show no such relationship. He believes that SDO motivates the negative attitudes
and cognitions towards the poor to justify the preservation of social hierarchy in the
Philippines. On the other hand, he found out that egalitarian beliefs are associated with
more positive attitudes towards the poor and serve as a significant predictor of external
attribution (such as failure of industries to generate jobs) as the cause of poverty.
Social Class and Parenting. Different social classes tend to practice different types
of parenting. Working class and lower class parents are more punitive, critical and
intolerant of disobedience than parents of the middle and upper social classes. Lower
class parents put importance on obedience and respect for authority and less importance
on instilling independence, curiosity and creativity in socializing their children (Pillari,
1996). Espina (1996) noted that the level of the educational attainment of parents is
positively correlated with permissiveness-restrictiveness. Educated fathers and mothers
tend to be less restrictive and more permissive with their children. Children of higher
educated fathers feel freer in expressing themselves, have self-confidence, which makes
them dominate others, and become
successful leaders. They are unconventional,
individualistic and rebellious. Like their
fathers, they tend to be competitive and
refuse to adhere to customary values. They
are achievers and they get what they want
despite the hardships they encounter on the
way, In addition, Espina observed that the
occupational status of the father is positively
associated with impatient, over-reactive and
The feeling of hopelessness among street children
demanding children. The low occupational
is much higher than among well-off children.
status of the father is positively associated
with tough-mindedness and independence
of his children. Manual and skilled fathers
tend to have children who develop a high level of independence of locomotion. Children
of lower occupational fathers tend to exhibit distress under slight provocations. They tend
to be hurt or angry when restrained or punished. The same study also revealed that the
father’s occupation is related to uncontrolled carelessness of their children, and these
children are bothered seemingly neither by will power nor regard for social demands.
Menguito and Teng-Calleja (2010) noted that rich parents teach their children to trust in
God as a foremost value, while poor parents teach their children obedience to parents as a
foremost value.
Social Class and Hope. Hope is correlated with social class. Orlina (2007)
observed that the feeling of hopelessness among the Filipino poor children is much
higher than among well-off children. The difference between the two groups is
caused by the presence or absence of available resources which they can manipulate
to attain their desired goal.
Social Class and Bahala na. Bahala na gives self-efficacy among the rich making
those who believe in it more active in effecting changes in the environment. The rich
have greater inner confidence than the poor in handling difficult situations. Among the
poor, bahala na means being aware of their sorry situation but it also urges them to find
ways to attain their goals despite the lack of resources. With bahala na, the rich invoke
the power of the Supreme Being more often than the poor do (Menguito & Teng-Calleja,
2010).
Social Class and Consumption Patterns. Studies revealed that different social
classes show different preferences and tastes. The poor Filipino working class tends to
spend a higher percentage of their income on food, clothing and shelter (2010 Philippine
Yearbook). They prioritize food and utilities over education and health On the other hand,
the Filipino upper class spend only a third of their expenses on food and about one tenth
on education. Data obtained in 2002 and 2004 showed that as income increased, food
share expenditures decreased, while educational share expenditures increased (Maligalig
& Albert, 2008).

Social Class and Malnutrition. Studies have shown that childhood malnutrition is
related to income. The lower class tends to have lesser intakes of the recommended food
calories, while the upper class tends to have a higher food calorie intake. Marasmus and
protein calorie malnutrition (PCM) are more common among the Filipino lower class,
whereas diabetes and obesity are most common among the middle and upper social
classes. Thus, according to Miller (2002), to improve the health and nutrition of the lower
class, there is a need to increase their income.

Social Class and Attitudes.Concerning Sexual Relationship Sandoval (1993)

noted that there is a small difference in permissive sexual attitudes among different social
classes, and there is no sufficient evidence which indicate that affluent persons are most
likely to be more permissive than less affluent ones. He also observed that the less
privileged sectors (lower social class with limited educational attainment) are more likely
to be less tolerant of premarital sex than the privileged social class with higher
educational attainment. Where sexual relations, homosexuality and extramarital relations
are concerned, white-collar workers tend to be less permissive than the lower status
occupation workers and that non-working people are more permissive of sexual relations
than working people.

Regarding cohabitation, Kabanalan (2004) noted that among the higher educated
level males, attending church service more than once a week decreases the likelihood of
engaging in cohabitation.

Social Class and Induced Abortion. Cabigon, et al. (2006), reported that the non-
poor are less likely to have induced abortion compared to the poor. This finding
contradicts that of earlier studies which showed that a high percentage of the poor opted
for induced abortion. The study states that the likelihood of women undergoing induced
abortion is mainly due to concern about the high cost of raising children, Although the
poor displayed larger percentages, a substantial percentage among the non-poor was
likewise evident. Moreover, some of the non-poor who had abortion cited other reasons,
like the husband’s opposition to pregnancy and other non-economic reasons.
Response to Inequality. Love (2011) noted that global income inequality increased
in the latest phase of globalization both within and across the globe. He observed that the
wealth of the world’s three richest individuals is more than the combined gross domestic
products of all the worlds’ underdeveloped countries. Furthermore the “worlds’ richest
consume over 76.6% of global resources, whereas the poorest 20% consume only 1.5 of
the world’s resources. Of the 6.6 billion people, half live on less than $ 2.50/day and 1.4
billion live on less than $1.25/day.” He noted that in the last decade, the world’s poorest
countries were experiencing declining life expectancy, deteriorating education and a
declining income rather than economic growth, due to HIV/Aid pandemic (Love, 2011).
Studies reported that the poor, particularly in underdeveloped (Africa) and
developing (India, Pakistan and the Philippines) countries, have adapted basic strategies
for coping with poverty. The rural poor overexploit the free natural resources (kaingin,
tree cutting for charcoal and firewood, dynamite/cyanide fishing, overharvesting of exotic
plants and animals) to a point of depletion when they increase their family size, change
their eating pattern, increase their working hours and seek assistance from friends
(MTPDP, 2004-2010). Ironically, these strategies are the same factors that aggravate their
sordid condition.
Cited by Ferrante (2011) as the current global structural response to global
inequality is transferring wealth from the highest-income to the lowest-income countries
through foreign aid and fair-trade policies. He pointed out that the “Millennium
Development Project” set 20 targets and 60 measures to be reached by 2015. These
include “reducing to half the current proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a
day and the proportion of people who suffer hunger; and reducing by ¾ the maternal
mortality ratio.”

Ferrante, however, maintains that the success of these policies depend on at least
two major commitments from the world’s 22 richest countries: to increase the current
foreign aids by investing 0.7% of their countries’ gross national product in the
Millennium Development Project; and to develop a trading system that is open, non-
discriminatory and that addresses the needs of the lowest income economies by
eliminating the subsidies, tariffs and quotas of their own products. The UN reported that
the system of subsidies and quotas of developed countries costs poor countries $ 50
billion annually to lost export revenue - in effect, negating the aid monies given to the
poorest countries).

The World Conferences (1968-2005) also took steps to minimize if not eliminate
inequality by: drafting resolutions to fight abject and dehumanizing poverty. Highlighted
in those conference were the importance of: encouraging gender equality and women’s
right that will stimulate sustainable economic growth, creating standards to protect
children from exploitation and opening debate to create a code of human rights and
gender equality obligations for businesses of Multinational Corporations. In addition, the
major Conventions on the Development of International Human rights (1948-2002)
encouraged countries to respect human dignity and freedom, to eliminate discrimination
against women and to give women equal status and rights; and to classify violence
against women as a human right abuse. It actually underscored the elimination of all
forms of discrimination – gender discrimination against women as well as racial
discrimination against refugees – and the right to just compensation and redress when
human rights are violated. (Kegley & Raymond, 2007).

The Philippine government, responded to the challenge of inequality by providing

direct assistance to extremely poor families through CCT (conditional cash transfer)
which insures the education and free health immunization of children of poor families.
Mangahas noted that in February 2010, the NSCB changed the poverty line by 11.8% for
the reference year 2005 after identifying very many conditional cash transfer (CCT)
beneficiaries. In addition, the government is also currently providing reproductive health
as well as universal health programs and is improving access to education (PDI, 2016).
Ghosh (2008).

However, it was pointed out that developmental efforts of the government will be
futile unless the population is stabilized, because its pressures on the ecosystem and
natural resources will undermine the economic gains that will alleviate poverty.
Some economists identified other ways by which poverty can be reduced by
business group (PDI, 2016).These include transferring profits to charitable causes
targeting the poor; making manufacturers and other business firms reduce the prices of
their goods and services; and prioritizing the welfare of their employees by increasing
their salaries, and providing them training or support.

Suggested Readings:
Bernardo, A. (2013). Social dominance orientation and attitudes towards the poor: Contrasting
lower and higher socioeconomic groups in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Psychology,
46(1).
Vera, B. (2014, Oct.). PH wealth seen narrowing. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 (310).

MASTERY TESTS
Define:
Ascribed status
Caste system
Class consciousness
Cultural capital
Estate system
Social mobility
Life chances
Social distance
Structural mobility
Style of life
Answer the following questions:
1. What measures are recommended to address the problems arising from these forms of inequalities?
a. Global inequalities among countries worldwide
b. Social class inequalities
c. Gender inequalities
2. What must be done to insure the success of the steps taken to address those problems?
3. What has the Philippine Government done to address those problems?
React to these observations made about stratification
1. Gender stratification is determined not by biological necessity but by the existing structure of the
society which provides more political, legal, economic and cultural rights to males.
2. Social dominance orientation underlies the negative attitudes and cognitions towards the poor to justify
for the preservation of social hierarchy in the Philippines.
3. The people who are less well-off are less likely to adopt innovation .

IDENTIFICATION

________1. The opportunities available to the person as a result of his class membership
________2. The stratification system in which people are considered pieces of property
________3. The status that a person gets as a result of the accident of birth
________4. The movement of people from one social class to other
________5. A group of people who share the same style of life, power and prestige
________6. The ownership of a range of consumer’s items
________7. The opportunities available to the person as a result of class membership
_______8. The movement of people from one social position/ social class to the other
________9. A stratification based on ascribed statuses
________10. Minority groups that occupy subordinate status due to perceived biological traits
________11. A stratification system that is based on law land ownership system
________12. Countries that specialize in the production of raw goods and services.
________13. A person who does not own anything including his life and labor
________14. A social class composed of rich and powerful people
________15. The social class composed of intellectuals, technocrats, artists and managers that serve the needs of the
capitalists to run bureaucratic organizations