Social classes

right|thumb|242x242px|Peter (enslaved man)|Peter, a slave from Louisiana, in 1863. The scars are the result of a whipping by his overseer.

thumb|286x286px|The House of Lords is the upper legislature of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom and is filled with members that are selected from the aristocracy (both hereditary titleholders and those ennobled only for their individual lives).]] Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non

Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. thumb|The Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk|6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of [[Earl Marshal of England]] Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobilit

group of people categorized in a hierarchy based on socioeconomic factors

concept in political and social science

thumb|upright=1.5|Young women offer berries to visitors to their izba home, 1909. Those who had been serfs among the Russian peasantry were officially emancipated in 1861. Photograph by [[Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.]] A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants existed: non-free slaves, semi-free serfs, and free tenants. Peasants might hold title to land outright (fee simple), or by any of several forms

Serfdom was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed during late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century and became the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems.

thumb|Prominent contemporary public intellectuals include (left to right): Yuval Noah Harari|Harari, Chomsky, Žižek

social class composed of members of the society employed in lower tier jobs

class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy

society's categorization of its people into hierarchical groups based on socioeconomic factors

A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste.

In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, age group, or other social group.

mobility to move social classes

social class composed of the wealthiest members of society, who also wield the greatest political power

awareness of one's social class, its interests and position

Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes fortified manor house or castle in which the lord of the manor and his dependents lived and administered a rural estate, and a population of labourers or serfs who worked the surrounding land to support themselves and the lord. These labourers fulfilled their obligations with labour time or in-kind produce at first, and later by cash payment a

social class; person who performs intellectual labor

thumb|Jan Zamoyski, an important 16th-century Polish magnate

entrepreneur who has achieved wealth and prominence from a particular industry (or industries)

In sociology and economics, the precariat () is a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which means existing without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare. The term is a portmanteau merging precarious with proletariat.

wealthy person whose fortunes are newly acquired, and who is therefore perceived to lack the refinement of those who were raised wealthy

society in which no one is born into a social class

social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political agenda

discrimination on the basis of social class

thumb|The term underclass is employed by sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert (sociologist)|Dennis Gilbert to describe the most disadvantaged socio-economic demographic with the least access to scarce resources. In this chart constructed by Gilbert, the American underclass is estimated to constitute roughly 12% of U.S. households (in 1998). The underclass is the segment of the population that occupies the lowest possible position in a class hierarchy, below the core body of the working class. This group is usually considered cut off from the rest of the society.

Songbun (), formally chulsin-songbun (, from Sino-Korean 出身, "origin" and 成分, "constituent"), is the system of ascribed status used in North Korea. According to the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the American Enterprise Institute, it is based on the political, social, and economic background of one's direct ancestors as well as the behavior of their relatives; according to the North Korean secret police, songbun is used to classify North Korean citizens into three primary castes—core, wavering, and hostile—in addition to approximately fifty sub-classifications, and determin

a person who either possesses hereditary titles granted by a monarch or is related to such people

phenomenon of extensive media coverage of missing white women

law intended to control consumption, particulary such a law regulating apparel and textiles which may be worn by people of specified social strata

proposed socioeconomic class

hypothesis that Proto-Indo-European society had 3 castes—priests, warriors, commoners—corresponding to the 3 functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic

someone working in a care-oriented career field

behavior and life style of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status

class of the rich, who have been able to maintain their wealth across multiple generations

social role or stock character; person locally known for ignorance, silliness, or mental disability

thumb|Radama I was from the Andriana strata of [[Merina people.]] Andriana () was both the noble class and a title of nobility in Madagascar. Historically, many Malagasy ethnic groups lived in highly stratified caste-based social orders in which the Andriana were the highest strata. They were above the Hova (free commoner castes) and Andevo (slaves). The Andriana and the Hova were a part of Fotsy, while the Andevo were Mainty in local terminology.

reformist social movement that began in the 1880s in England and the US

Nadītu (; sometimes romanized as naditu, with the long vowel omitted) were a social class in ancient Mesopotamia, attested only in the Old Babylonian period. They were associated with the tutelary gods of specific cities, and are often considered to be priestesses by modern authors, though this conclusion is not universally accepted, and it is sometimes argued they should be treated as a fully separate class. The best documented community of nadītu resided in Sippar, where they were associated with the god Shamash. They were not allowed to marry or have biological children, though adoption was

A parvenu is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb parvenir (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something).

300px|thumb| in the Belgian Congo studying [[medicine in Medical School of Yakusu Hospital, near Kisangani.]] In the Belgian and French colonial empires, an '''''' (, 'evolved one' or 'developed one') was an African who had been Europeanised through education and assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behaviour. spoke French and followed European rather than indigenous laws, usually held white-collar jobs (though rarely higher than clerks), and lived primarily in urban areas.

environmental-sector worker

300px|thumb|A Soviet parade between 1929 and 1934 under the banners "We will Dekulakization|liquidate the [[kulaks as a class" and "All to the struggle against the wreckers of agriculture"]] 300px|thumb|Bolsheviks in 1918 in Petrograd under a propaganda poster saying "Death to the bourgeoisie and its lapdogs – Long live the [[Red Terror!!"]] 300px|thumb|A wealthy Peasant#Chinese farmers|farmer in front of a Chinese Communist "people's court" in [[Fogang County, Guangdong Province on July 23, 1952 during the Land Reform Movement, which saw the mass killings of landlords]]

Sangmin (), short for '''''p'yŏngsangjimin''''' (), is a Korean-language term for commoners of the Joseon period (1392–1897).

small group highly active in politics

concept advanced by Marxist Social Class Theory

Nethinim ( nəṯīnīm, lit. "given ones", or "subjects"), or Nathinites or Nathineans, was the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. The term was applied originally in the Book of Joshua (where it is found in its verbal form) to the Gibeonites. Later, in the Book of Ezra, they are counted alongside the Avdei Shlomo ("Servants of Solomon"). It is likely that the Nethinim descended from non-Israelites. Opinion is divided as to whether the Gibeonites in Joshua are to be connected to the Nethinim of later texts. Others theorize that they were the descendants of Midianite war capti

research based on the concept of social class

the study of health outcomes for groups of individuals

theory that asserts that an individual’s position within a class hierarchy is determined by their role in the production process, and argues that political and ideological consciousness is determined by class position

form of social categorization

Lumpenbourgeoisie is a term used in colonial sociology to describe members of the middle class and upper class (merchants, lawyers, industrialists, etc.) who have little collective self-awareness or economic base and who support the colonial masters. It is often attributed to Andre Gunder Frank in 1972, although the term is already present in several texts by Lukács (1943), Koestler (1945), C. Wright Mills (1951) and also in Paul Baran's The Political Economy of Growth (1957). Nonetheless, the term was popularized by Frank's book Lumpenbourgeoisie and Lumpendevelopment: Dependency, Class and P

United States social caste and ethnic group

Wikipedia article covering multiple topics

thumb|Mortician's restorative tools, [[Museum of Funeral Customs, Springfield, Illinois.]]

people's ability to improve their economic status over the course of their lifetimes.