Introduction on Old and New Forms of Power & Division

Power and social division are central concerns of sociology. Across time and cultures, human societies have been structured through systems that determine who holds authority, who has access to resources, and who remains marginalized. Traditional forms of hierarchy—such as caste, class, and patriarchy—have long shaped social relationships. However, modernity, globalization, digital culture, and neoliberal capitalism have given rise to new modes of power that operate through beauty standards, consumer identity, and gender–sexuality politics.

This article explores how old and new forms of power and division intersect, transform, and reinforce one another. It examines caste and class systems as longstanding hierarchies, alongside contemporary social divisions shaped by beauty norms and gender–sexuality identities. The aim is to show that while societies have changed, power continues to reorganize itself in new and subtle ways.

1. Understanding Power and Social Division: A Sociological Lens

In sociology, power refers to the ability of individuals or groups to control resources, shape norms, and influence actions. Max Weber viewed power as the ability to realize one’s will even against resistance; Karl Marx linked power to ownership of the means of production; Foucault emphasized that power is diffuse, embedded in everyday interactions, institutions, and discourses.

Social division refers to the ways societies categorize people, creating hierarchical differences that affect opportunities and life chances. Divisions function through both formal structures (laws, caste systems, economic institutions) and informal cultural norms (beauty ideals, gender expectations).

Examining both old and new forms together helps us understand continuity and change in modern social stratification.

2. Old Forms of Power and Division

2.1 Caste as a Traditional Hierarchical Structure

The caste system is one of the oldest and most rigid forms of social hierarchy. Originating in ancient India, caste organizes society on the basis of birth-based status, occupational roles, and notions of purity and pollution.

Key Sociological Features:

• Ascription: Status is assigned at birth, not achieved.
• Endogamy: Marriage is restricted within caste.
• Segregation: Spatial, economic, and ritual separation.
• Hereditary occupations: Labour is assigned on caste lines.
• Inviolable norms: Violating caste rules historically invited social sanctions.

Despite legal abolition and urbanization, caste continues to structure access to land, education, political representation, and social networks. Scholars like Louis Dumont argued that caste is a hierarchical ideology rooted in ritual status, whereas others like B.R. Ambedkar emphasized its oppressive and exclusionary nature.

Modern Transformations:

• Caste adapts to capitalism through market networks, cooperative caste associations, and political vote banks.
• Digital spaces, matrimonial sites, and community pages continue to reinforce caste preferences.
• Urban class mobility sometimes masks but does not erase caste privilege.

Thus, caste remains an old form of division with renewed manifestations.

2.2 Class as Economic Stratification

Class is a fundamental division in capitalist societies. Unlike caste, class is theoretically achieved through material resources, education, and occupation.

Core Sociological Perspectives:

• Marxist view: Class arises from one’s relationship to the means of production—bourgeoisie vs. proletariat. Exploitation and alienation define capitalist class systems.
• Weberian view: Class includes income, status, and power. Individuals occupy a “market position” influenced by skills, lifestyle, and social prestige.
• Functionalist view: Class differentiation ensures social efficiency, but often justifies inequality.

Class affects access to healthcare, education, housing, political participation, and cultural capital. In many societies, caste and class intersect—privileged castes disproportionately dominate higher classes.

Why Class Persists:

• Capitalist accumulation creates wealth gaps.
• Technological change and globalization produce new labor precarity.
• Cultural capital (Bourdieu) is inherited through family upbringing.

Thus, class remains a dominant form of old societal division.

3. New Forms of Power and Division

Modern societies have developed new logics of power. These are not always legal or institutional like caste and class; instead, they work through cultural expectations, media representations, algorithms, corporate influence, and identity politics.

3.1 Beauty as Social Power

Beauty standards are one of the most widespread yet underestimated sources of modern inequality. With the rise of mass media, social media, advertising, and consumer capitalism, beauty has become a currency that shapes opportunities and self-worth.

Beauty as Capital:

Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s idea of cultural capital can extend to “aesthetic capital”: appearance, grooming, style, which can be converted into social or economic benefits.

How Beauty Reinforces Inequality:

• Employment bias: Attractive candidates often receive preference.
• Marriage markets: Families and individuals are judged based on physical appearance.
• Colorism: Lighter skin tones are valorized in many regions, reinforcing colonial and caste hierarchies.
• Body image pressure: Media promotes unrealistic standards leading to self-esteem issues.
• Social media metrics: Likes, followers, and visibility depend heavily on aesthetics.

Beauty division intersects with class—those with money access cosmetics, surgeries, fashion, fitness, and skincare, widening inequalities.

Beauty in the Digital Age:

AI filters, influencer culture, and algorithmic amplification create new forms of pressure. Beauty becomes performative, continuously judged, reproduced, and commodified. It creates new hierarchies based not on birth, but on visibility and consumption capacity.

3.2 Gender and Sexuality as Sites of Power and Division

Gender and sexuality have historically structured social hierarchies. Patriarchy positioned men as holders of authority over women. However, modern societies have expanded gender expressions and sexual identities, creating new forms of recognition as well as new divisions.

Patriarchy as an Old Form:

• Women confined to domestic labor.
• Male dominance in politics, religion, property rights.
• Gender-based violence as a mechanism of control.
• Unequal wages, limited mobility, and social expectations.

New Patterns of Gender and Sexuality Power:

a. Gender Performative Expectations

Judith Butler argues that gender is something we perform, shaped by social norms and repeated behavior. Media and institutions enforce roles—how to dress, behave, speak. Pressure to conform becomes a new mechanism of power.

b. Sexual Minority Marginalization

LGBTQ+ communities face discrimination in law, employment, health services, and family structures. Visibility has increased through global movements, yet backlash, moral panic, and cultural resistance create new social tensions.

c. Corporate and Media Shaping Identities

Brands now market identity—“pride merchandise,” “feminist products”—turning gender and sexuality into consumer categories. Recognition becomes tied to market visibility.

d. Digital Surveillance and Body Control

Women and queer individuals face cyber-harassment, moral policing, and doxxing. Online spaces mirror offline gender inequalities.

Intersection with Other Divisions:

• Caste and class shape gender experiences (e.g., Dalit women face caste, class, and gender oppression simultaneously).
• Beauty norms disproportionately affect women and queer people.
• Sexual minorities from lower classes face economic vulnerability.

Gender and sexuality thus represent both old and newly evolving hierarchies.

4. Intersections Between Old and New Forms of Power

No division exists in isolation. Caste-class hierarchies interact with beauty, gender, and sexuality to produce layered identities.

4.1 Caste × Gender

• Patriarchy is stronger in rigid caste communities.
• “Honor” linked to women’s sexuality reinforces endogamy.
• Dalit feminists argue that mainstream feminism often ignores caste-specific violence.

4.2 Class × Beauty

• Access to beauty practices is class-dependent.
• Fashion, skincare, and cosmetic surgery industries thrive on class inequality.
• “Beauty privilege” is easier to attain for the wealthy.

4.3 Gender × Class

• Working-class women face double burdens—paid labor + household work.
• Elite feminism often focuses on workplace glass ceilings, not grassroots struggles.

4.4 Sexuality × Caste

• Queer individuals in lower castes face more stigma and fewer safe spaces.
• Marriage restrictions apply even in same-sex relationships within conservative caste communities.

4.5 Digital Media × All Divisions

The internet amplifies all forms of power:

• Caste groups create online communities and mobilize politics.
• Beauty filters create globalized beauty norms.
• Gender roles are reproduced through influencer culture.
• Sexual minorities face harassment or visibility depending on platform governance.

Thus, old and new systems intertwine, making modern inequality more complex.

5. Theoretical Frameworks to Understand These Divisions

5.1 Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw)

Intersectionality explains how overlapping identities—caste, class, gender, sexuality—create unique forms of oppression. It helps understand why individuals experience power hierarchies differently.

5.2 Foucault’s Disciplinary Power

Power works through institutions like schools, media, workplaces, and hospitals. Beauty norms and gender expectations discipline bodies to behave in socially acceptable ways.

5.3 Bourdieu’s Capitals

• Economic capital: Wealth and income.
• Cultural capital: Knowledge, taste, credentials.
• Aesthetic capital: Attractiveness, style.
• Social capital: Networks, connections.

These capitals explain how new and old inequalities reproduce across generations.

5.4 Marxist Political Economy

Class struggle, labor exploitation, and capitalist accumulation explain economic inequalities that intersect with identity-based divisions.

6. Globalization and Digital Capitalism: Reshaping Power

Globalization has blurred national boundaries but not hierarchies.

6.1 Market-Driven Identities

Brands sell lifestyles: fitness bodies, fairness creams, fashion, grooming. Beauty becomes a globalized commodity.

6.2 Neoliberal Individualism

People are told to “work on themselves,” shifting structural inequality into personal responsibility:

• “If you don’t succeed, you are not trying hard enough.”
• “If you don’t look good, it is your fault.”

This ignores systemic caste-class patriarchy.

6.3 Algorithmic Power

Algorithms promote certain faces, bodies, and lifestyles. They decide whose content gets visibility. This is a new, invisible power.

7. Resistance and Social Transformation

Despite inequalities, social movements challenge oppressive systems.

7.1 Anti-Caste Movements

Ambedkarite activism, Dalit literature, and reservation policies challenge caste power.

7.2 Class Struggles

Labor unions, farmers’ movements, and socialist politics resist economic exploitation.

7.3 Feminist Movements

Feminists fight against patriarchy, workplace discrimination, and gender violence.

7.4 LGBTQ+ Activism

Queer movements worldwide demand marriage rights, bodily autonomy, and anti-discrimination laws.

7.5 Digital Activism

Social media has created new spaces for awareness:

• “#MeToo”
• “Dalit Lives Matter”
• “Black Lives Matter”
• Pride visibility campaigns

Collective mobilization shows that both old and new powers can be challenged.

Conclusion

Power never disappears—it only changes form. From ancient caste hierarchies and class-based exploitation to modern beauty norms and gender–sexuality politics, societies constantly create new ways of dividing people. While progress has been made through law, activism, and education, inequalities persist in more subtle and cultural ways.

A sociological understanding reveals that old and new forms of power are interconnected. To create an inclusive society, it is essential to recognize and challenge these overlapping hierarchies. Social change requires confronting economic, cultural, digital, and identity-based inequalities simultaneously.

Topic related question

5-Mark Questions

1. Explain the concept of Old and New Forms of Power & Division in sociology with suitable examples.
2. How does caste represent an old form of power & division in traditional societies?
3. Write a short note on beauty norms as a new form of power & division in the modern world.
4. How do gender roles reflect both old and new forms of power & division?
5. Discuss how social media contributes to new forms of power & division.
6. Explain the relationship between class stratification and Old and New Forms of Power & Division.
7. What is intersectionality? How does it help in understanding Old and New Forms of Power & Division?
8. How do globalization and consumer culture create new forms of power & division in society?
9. Write a brief note on patriarchy as an old form of power & division.
10. Explain with examples how beauty standards create new forms of power & division.

10-Mark Questions

1. Discuss with examples how caste, class, and patriarchy represent Old Forms of Power & Division in society.
2. Examine the role of digital media, algorithms, and consumer culture in creating New Forms of Power & Division.
3. Analyse how beauty, body image, and aesthetic capital function as new forms of power & division.
4. Explain how gender and sexuality are shaped by both old and new forms of power & division.
5. Discuss the interrelationship between caste-class hierarchy and gender–sexuality within Old and New Forms of Power & Division.
6. How does neoliberalism contribute to new forms of power & division in the 21st century? Discuss.
7. Examine the relevance of Foucault’s ideas of disciplinary power in understanding Old and New Forms of Power & Division.
8. Discuss how globalization has transformed old divisions and created new forms of power & division.
9. How do beauty standards intersect with class and gender in shaping new forms of power & division?
10. Evaluate the role of intersectionality in explaining the complexity of Old and New Forms of Power & Division.