Social processes manifest themselves through various
modes such as competition, conflict, cooperation,
accommodation and assimilation. These processes take
place on continuous basis at micro and macro levels.
These modes of social processes are interrelated and
each may yield the other, and they take place in cyclic
manner.
Social stratification, social mobility and social change
are the three important aspects of social processes.
Social stratification refers to the classification of society
into different social strata that involve inequalities or
differences in lifestyle and living standards of people.
They refer to power imbalance and unequal distribution
of resources among people. The word stratification is
originally used in geology to differentiate one rock type
from the other. By the same token, that is, society in
general is segmented. There are two forms of social
stratification. These are social class and caste system.
The former refers to a category of people belonging to
the same stratum- having more or less similar socio-
economic standards. The latter is a closed and rigid kind
of social stratification. The position or ranks of