Abstract:
This research mainly focused on the impact of the globalization process concerning,
social stratification in contemporary rural Sri Lanka. In any society, there exists a
stratification system. It is impossible to survive in a society without being stratified in
past or future. Social stratification is viewed as a „structural feature‟ of a social group. To,
understand that particular society, it is required to study the formation of stratification in
society as the central point. Due to the globalization process, rural societies are being
subjected to transitions not only in Sri Lanka but also in the entire world. Anyhow, it
remains certain demarcations to comprehend the status quo of social stratification in rural
Sri Lanka. Bathdungoda village in the Galle district of Sri Lanka was selected for the
study area of this research. This shows how a neo social stratification model has been
created by hybridizing the features of the universal model and the features of the regional
model in shaping the social stratification in that village. It should be noted that this model
is a different imagination than the currently accepted models of rural stratification.
Accordingly, the neo model is conceptualized here as the 'Global Local Model' or
'Glocalized model'. This research was based on the socio ethnographic perspective. Many
scholars have studied the rural stratification of Sri Lanka, some scholars have examined
only the caste while others have examined the class system. These scholars have used a
materialistic view or a political idealistic view. On the other hand, they have not used
globalization theories for their analytical views. The researcher tried to address the
above-mentioned void from another relevant perspective. Accordingly, a neo social
stratification system has been planted based on globality and locality in Bathdungoda village. The above-mentioned stratification system is based on the theory of glocalization
and Emic-Etic approaches. This structure is depicted as the micro-level model of rural
social stratification in Sri Lanka.
