Theoretical Approaches to Social Stratification PDF

K. Marx (1818-1883)  Human history breakdown of capitalism inevitable; Human history divided into major phases: Slaver Feudali Capitali Sociali y sm sm sm Marxism is capable of producing scientific theory of this...

K. Marx (1818-1883)  Human history breakdown of capitalism inevitable; Human history divided into major phases: Slaver Feudali Capitali Sociali y sm sm sm Marxism is capable of producing scientific theory of this breakdown with the predictive reliability of the physical and natural sciences; Scientifically oriented economic determinism; The economic structures of capitalism that determined individual thought and action we crucial element; Individuals insignificant  The means of production Private ownership created a basic cleavage between: bourgeoisie (who owned capital); proletariat (nonowners who had only their own labour to sell); Inequalities of wealth was based on ownership of land, buildings, machinery, factories; Workers sell their labour and owners exploit them by paying less than the market value of the products they create  Key concepts: Necessary and Surplus Value In a capitalist system, standard labour- power is a commodity, just like milk and CDs. As a commodity, labour-power has an exchange-value - the socially necessary labor time required to produce it. The exchange-value of labor-power is the labour time necessary to produce the food, clothes, housing, education, entertainment, etc. of the typical worker. The price of labour-power (salaries and wages) is the monetary expression of this exchange-value.  Labour power vs labour Note that the reference here is to labour-power, not labour. Labour-power is the worker's capacity to provide labour, which is distinct from the labour itself. The capitalist pays for labour-power, but obtains labour. This creates the possibility that the commodities produced by the worker over a period of time contain more exchange-value than is contained in the labour-power paid for during this period. This possibility is capitalism's key dynamic feature and driving force.  The exchange-value that capitalists pay for labor-power is called Necessary Value. Surplus Value - the difference between the commodities' exchange-value and necessary value When commodities are sold, the necessary value they contain is returned to workers as salaries and wages. The surplus value that remains is distributed to capitalists - primarily as profits, but also as interest and rent. Necessary value & Surplus value  Surplus value lies at the heart of capitalism Capitalists establish new enterprises, develop and apply new technologies, swallow up rivals, expel wastes to the environment, and coerce their workers in order to maximize their surplus value. For the capitalist this struggle is expressed in business terms, but surplus value lies, mute and unrecognized, just below the surface of daily commerce.  Commodity fetishism Commodity fetishism is the perception of certain relationships (especially production and exchange) not as relationships among people, but as social relationships among things (the money and commodities exchanged in market trade). Base vs Superstructure SUPERSTRUCT URE (politics, law, religion, culture) BASE ( economic relations/capitalist mode of production)  Class consciousness & class conflict Klasse an sich (class of itself) – class position defined by structural position; Members of the opposing classes have shared interests by virtue of their position; Klasse fur sich (class for itself) – aware of its interests and acting to realize its own interests; A combination of several social and economic forces would combine to stimulate self- conscious action on the part of workers  The sources of revolution were not explained in detail; Temporary period of “socialism” – “dictatorship of proletariat”- control of economic system is centralized in the hands of government which represent interests of all segments of a society; Socialism is a transitional historical phase in progression towards communism; Communism - decentralized administration; From each according to his capabilities, to each according to his needs Utopian society  Legacy of marxism? Dichotomous classes & future of capitalism? the worst industrial abuses in 19 c England? Crowded tenements; Hazardous factories; Subsistence wages; Child labour Minimal standard of public health Classes – the concept of classes based on position in a specific productive system in which some groups are in the position to exploit others - a powerful tool for understanding the distribution of wealth, power and privilege in industrial societies; The middle class – dilemma for apart of theory that emphasizes the poliarization of society into two classes; Class consciousness – contributes to understanding of lifestyles and voting patterns; Power structures – interrelationship between the industrial and political sectors; M. Weber (1864 – 1920)  More multidimesional approach to stratification; Recognizes the central importance of position in the social organization of industrial production, but emphasizes three forms of inequality- economic, status, power;  Class 3 different types of market situation: Labour market (employers vs employees) Money market (creditors vs debtors) Commodity market (buyers vs sellers; landlords vs tenants) Different levels of skills among propertyless --- middle class? Classes are groups of people who share a common market situation and class positionn strongly influences their rewards and their opportunities; Common economic position does not imply a sense of common identity; An awareness of common interests and collective action might emerge under the right conditions  Status and status groups Status honor (social status or prestige) grounded in prevailing values, beliefs and ideals of the society; Economic resources and status form separate hierarchies, but those with the most economic resources tend to have the highest status; Society as a “hierarchy of status groups” having unequal prestige; status groups are communities of people having some degree of awareness of communality (property, income, ethnicity, ancestry, education or occupation, but consumption patterns and styles of life are primary  Protecting mechanisms Members of status groups are aware of their shared interests, they are likely to attempt to develop mechanisms for maintaining and protesting their positions and that of their children; A set of formal and informal exclusionary rules will be established, and members of high status groups will selectively interact only with others whom they consider to be their social equals- socialize with them, join the same organizations, send their chioldren to the same schools; Marriage patterns – privileged maintained through generations; “caste” –extreme case - rigid conventions, even law  Parties Power? Parties, groups or organizations deliberately organized in order for the pursuit of power; “Parties “ would encompass the contemporary idea of political parties but is broader, more inclusive, including groups, whose “action is oriented towards goal which striven for in a planned manner”.  Weberian legacy? Multiply forms of inequality; Bureaucracy; Religion and capitalism (the Protestant Ethics and the Spririt of Capitalism) Gender inequality as a form of male domination Patriarchy – a system of social values and beliefs that legitimaze the subordintaiton of women in the family and other institutions and the economic system; Gender can become the basis of formation of status group that results in the exclusion of women from the male-dominated groups  Functionalism tradition Roots?  The Davis-Moore Hypothesis (1945) Kingsley Davis (1908-1997) Wiltbert Moore (1914-1987)  Concept description The Davis-Moore Hypothesis, proposed in 1945 by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, is an influential sociological theory for the phenomenon and necessity of social stratification and inequality including class differences as necessary for the functioning of society.  “As Davis and Moore saw it, social stratification was compelled by ‘the requirement faced by any society of placing and motivating individuals in the social structure.’ they believed that any society must ‘somehow distribute its members in social positions and induce them to perform the duties of these positions,’ it was quite important for society to determine who gets into which position. every society must therefore develop rewards that the society can use as inducements to fill and motivate performance within social positions, and further have ‘some way’ of distributing these rewards ‘differentially’ according to social position.  Davis & Moore it is thus natural that high skilled jobs receive a higher compensation than low skilled jobs, despite the necessity of the performance of both for the functioning of society. Although professional work on the theory has largely ceased since the late 1980s, the Davis- Moore theory remains perhaps the single most widely cited paper in American introductory sociology and stratification textbooks and constitutes ‘required reading’ in hundreds, if not thousands, of undergraduate and graduate courses throughout the United States.  The theory remains controversial, partly because it does not address intergenerational wealth or social capital which can entrench income inequality.  The legacy of functionalism Occupational prestige Classless hierarchy – classes a translated into groups of people with similar occupational prestige Consistent with ideas of individualism, open opportunity, democracy; legitimization of existing inequality; Pluralism –society is composed of a system of institutions that contribute to overall working of society is consistent with pluralism of Weber; Structural constraints- there is no quarantee that the most qualified persons will actually be able to gain access to the highly rewarded positions; Weber:members of groups that enjoy privileged positions can actively choose off access to others