Transcript Social Inequality Chapter 8

Social Inequality
Chapter 8 – Classical Theories
Dr. Roderick Graham
Fordham University
Plan of Lecture/Presentation
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Outline the “classical” explanations of inequality
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Karl Marx
Max Weber
Emile Durkheim
Spencer
Compare and contrast these explanations
Karl Marx - Capitalism as a mode of
production
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Capitalism is a mode of production (how a society
produces goods + the social relations between groups
during this production)
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Modes of production change as history progresses
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Marx ultimately believes capitalism will be superseded by
another mode of production (socialism), and placed “in
the dustbin of history”
Components of Capitalist Mode of
Production
Mode of
Production
(Capitalism)
Means of Production
(Tools, Machines,
Computers, Capital)
Social Relations of
Production
(Propertied and Powerful,
vs. powerless)
Capitalism and Class Conflict
1) Capitalist mode of production
2) Leads to two large groups with different access to the means of
production
3) Leads to antagonistic social relations
Bourgeoisie
(owns means of
production, attempting
to produce profit)
Proletariat
(sells labor)
Capitalism and Class Conflict
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What do we mean by owning the means of production?
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Owning the resources we need to produce goods in society
What are the types of ways that someone can own
means of production?
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Money
Land
Machinery
What are classes for Marx?
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Specific relationship to means of production (owner,
worker, laborer)
An understanding that it exists as a group with specific
interests
Organized and directed towards advancing its own
interests
A particular lifestyle
How Capitalism Developed Historically
1.
2.
3.
4.
Nobility began to sell their land (this land was
historically worked by serfs who gave a percent of their
crop to nobility)
Serfs who worked the land were removed (merchants
wanted to farm it for profit)
Capitalists forced gov’t to pass laws “vagrant laws” and
anti-organizing laws (former serfs had to become
laborers)
Former serfs/peasants no longer made their own things,
and thus had to work to buy things made by the
capitalists who expropriated them
Three Stages of Capitalism
Manufacture
“division of
labor”
Cooperation
“under one
roof”
Modern
Industry
“replacing
men with
machines”
Crisis in Capitalism
Capitalists
Epidemic of
overproduction
Proletariat
Falling wages or
unemployment
Weber
Two key concepts…
Bureaucracy
 An administrative structure used in large organizations
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Fordham is a bureaucracy
Rationality
 The removal of tradition, emotion, and personal
relationships that run society…instead society is
organized to maximize profit or increase efficiency
Bureaucracy
RationalLegal
Authority
Written
System of
Rules
Bureaucracy
Impersonality
Division of
Labor
Relationship of rationalization to
capitalism
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The move to rationality and the use of bureaucracies in
society support capitalism
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Feudal society was inefficient…it was less about profit
and more about maintaining traditional
relationships…even if unqualified people ended up in
important positions or goods/services were not sold at
highest market value
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Bureaucracy creates a set of rules that, when followed,
treats everyone the same regardless of status or
position…this increases efficiency
Three Dimensions of Inequality
Class
• Relationship
to the
market
• “skilled” or
“unskilled”
Status
• Style of life
• Closed
social
circles
Party
• Group
organized
to advance
own
interests
Durkheim
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Views society as an organism…the sociologists’ job is to
understand the parts of society that allow it to function
(functionalism)
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Society has moved from a traditional, mechanical society
to modern, organic society…the structure of labor takes
on different forms in each type of society.
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Society has to solve problems that can occur in this
transition
From Mechanical to Organic
Mechanical (past societies)
• Less individualism
• Simple division of labor (less occupations)
• There is a “collective conscious” ordering society
Organic (present societies)
• Individualistic
• Complex division of labor
• Different values/morals for different groups
From Mechanical to Organic: Problems
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As society becomes more complex, a normal division of
labor means that differences in who gets certain jobs is
based upon individual differences (not differences in social
class, race, etc).
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The division of labor is functional (necessary) for modern
society.
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But, society can experience problems…these problems
create real or perceived inequality…
From Mechanical to Organic: Problems
Anomic Division of Labor
 Industry grows and separates workers, owners, and
occupational groups
 Conflict can occur because there are no agreed upon
norms and values
Forced Division of Labor
 The way in which rewards are allocated do not
correspond to individual talents
 People become dissatisfied because they feel they are
treated unfairly
Herbert Spencer
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As society becomes more industrial, birth, rank, and race
no longer matter for who gets what. Rewards are given
based upon individual hard work and talent.
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Class structure is perpetuated (recreated through
generations) by the talents and behaviors of each class
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As time passes, society evolves such that the weaker
members/groups of society are discarded…”survival of
the fittest”
Spencer: The Role of Government
Big government is bad for two reasons…
1. Government helping the poor is a negative because it
allows weaker elements to continue, burdening society
more and more
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In other words, providing welfare to those groups of
individuals who are not “the fittest” only allows their bad
behavior to continue
Big government will ultimately be abused by the rich
and powerful
2.
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The rich will use government to perpetuate inequality by
bending laws to their favor
In Sum…
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Table 8.1 gives a good summary and comparison of the
four theorists we have discussed…
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Which of the four provide the best framework for
understanding the inequality you see in your day to day
life? Why?