The Sri Lankan Experience of the Glocalization of Rural Social Stratification: A Micro-level Model Outside of the Familiar Imaginations

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.