SOC 220 week2 post

7

Class, Status, Party

MAX WEBER

Econo mically Dete rmined Power an d the Social Order

Law exists when there is a probability char an or<lt:r will be upheld by a specific sraff of men who will use physical or psychical com- pulsion with the intencion of obtaining con- form if)' wich rhe order, or of inflicting sancrions for infringemenr of ir. 1 The struc- ture of every legal order direcrly influences che distribucion of power, t:conomic or oth- erwise, within irs respecrive communiry. This is rrue of all legal orders and nor only char of the scare. In general, we understand by 'power' the chance of a man or of a num- ber of men ro realiz.e rheir own will in a com- munal acrion even againsr rhe resistance of ochers who are parricipating in the accion.

'Economically condirioned' powt:r is nor, of course, idenrical wirh 'power' as such . On che co ntrary, che emergence of economic power may be che consequence of power ex- iscing on ocher grounds. Man does nor scrivc for power only in order ro enrich himself economically. Power, including economic power, may be valued 'for irs own sake.' Very

frequenrly rhe scriving for power is also con- ditioned by the social 'honor' it entai ls. Noc all power, however, emails social honor: The rypical American Boss, as well as chc rypical big speculacor, dclibcrarely relinquishes so- cial ho nor. Quite generally, 'mere economic' power, and especially 'naked ' money power, is by no means a recognized basis of social honor. 1or is power rhc only basis of social honor. Indeed, social honor, or presrige, may even be che basis of polirical or economic power, and very frequt:nrly has been. Power, as well as honor, may be guaranteed by the legal order, bur, at lease normally, it is noc their primary source. The legal ordt:r is rather an additional factor char enhances rhe chance to hold power or honor; bur it can- not always secure tht:m.

Tht: way in which social honor is disrrib- ured in a community between typical groups participating in chis distributio n we may call che 'social order.' The social order and the economic ordt:r arc, of course, ~im­ ilarly rdart:d co rhe ' legal order.' However, rhe social and rhc economic order are nor identical. The economic order is for us

f\fax Weber, "Class. Sc:nu>, Parr)'." in From ft/ax \\l'eber: &sa_ys i11 Soriology. edicccl by H. H. Certh & C. Wrighr Mills, an<l translated by H. H. Certh & C. \'\fright Mill:.. pp. 180- 195. Translacion copyright © 19-16, 1958 hy H. H. Gt:nh and C. Wright Mills.

56

uass, .::.tattts, rarty )/

merely the way in which economic goods and services are disrriburt:<l and used. The social order is of course condicioned by rhe economic order co a high degree, and in its curn reaccs upon ir.

, ' , d . Now: 'classes, scacus groups, an par- ries' ;ire phenomena of rhc distribution of power within a community.

Determinat ion of Class-Situation by Market-Situation

Jn our cerminology, 'classes' are not commu- nicies; rhcy merely represent possible. and frequent, bases for communal action. \Vic may speak of a 'class' when (1) a number of people have in common a spt:ciflc causal componcm of their life chances, in so far as (2) this component is represented cxcl u- si\•ely by economic interests in the posses- sion of goods and opportunities for income, and (3) is represented under the conditions of the commodity or labor markers. [These points refer ro 'class sicuarion,' which we may express more briefly as the typical chance for a supply of goods, external living conditions, and personal life experiences, in so far as chis chance is dccermined by rhe amount and kind of power, or lack of such, to dispose of goods or skills for the sake of income in a given economic order. The term 'class' refers co any group of people that is found in the same class situation.]

Ir is the most elemental economic facr thar chc way in which the disposition over material property is disrriburcd among a pluraliry of people, mcccing competitively in the marker for the purpose of exchange, in itself creates spt:ciflc life chances. Ac- cording to the law of marginal utility chis mode of distribution excl udes chc non- owners from competing for highly valued

goods; ir favors chc owners and, in face, gives co chem a monopoly co acquire such goods. Orher rhings being equal, this mode of disrribucion monopolizes the opporruni- cies for proflcable deals for all those who, provided wich goods, do nor necessarily have co exchange them. It increases, at lease generally, rheir power in price wars with chose who, being properryless, have noth- ing co offer bur rhcir services in native form or goods in a form consricured through their own labor, and who above all are com- pelled ro ger rid of these products in order barely co subsisr. This mode of distribution gives co chc propertied a monopoly on che possibiliry of transferring property from rhe sphere of use as a 'forrune,' co che sphere of 'capical goods'; that is, it gives chem che en- trepreneurial function and all chances ro share directly or indirectly in returns on capital. All chis holds true within the area in which pure markl! r conditions prevail. 'Property' and 'lack of property' are, there- fore, the basic categories of all class situa- tions. Jc does not marrer whether these two categories become efTective in price wars or in competitive struggles.

Within these categories, however, class sit- uations are further differentiated: o n che one hand, according to the kind of propcrry chat is usable for returns; and, on che other hand, according co the kind of services that can be oflered in the marker. Ownership of domes- tic buildings; produccive escablishmencs; warehouses; scores; agriculturally usable land, large and small holdings--quanricative diffen.: nces with possibly qualicarive conse- quences-ownership of mines; catrle; men (slaves); d isposition over mobile instruments of produccion, or capital goods of all sores, especially money or objeccs char can be ex- changed for money easily and at any rime;

disposition over products of one's own labor or of ochers' labor differing according to their various distances from consumabilicy; disposition over transferable monopolies of any kind- all these distinctions differentiate the class situations of the properried just as does the 'meaning' which rhey can and do give co the uciliz.ation of property, especially to property which has money equivalence. Accordingly, rhe propertied, for instance, may belong to the class of rentiers or to the class of encrepreneurs.

Those who have no propcrry but who offer services arc differentiated jusc as much according co their kinds of services as ac- cording co the way in which they make use of these services, in a conrinuous or discon- tinuous relation co a recipient. Bue always this is the generic connotation of the con- cept of class: char the kind of chance in the market is the decisive moment which pre- sents a common condition for che individ- ual 's fate. 'Class situation' is, in chis sense, ultimately 'marker situation.' The effect of naked possession per se, which among cattle breeders gives the nonowning slave or serf into the power of the cattle owner, is only a forerunner of real 'class' formation. How- ever, in che caccle loan and in the naked severity of the law of debts in such commu- nities, for the first time mere 'possession' as such emerges as decisive for rhe fate of che individual. This is very much in contrast co the agricultural communities based on labor. The creditor-debtor relation becomes rhe basis of 'class situations' only in chose cities where a 'credit marker,' however prim- itive, with rares of interest increasing ac- cording co rhe exrenr of dearth and a factual monopolization of credits, is developed by a plurocracy. Therewith 'class struggles' begin.

Those men whose fare is nor determined by the chance of using goods or services for

chemsdves on the marker, e.g. slaves, are not, however, a 'class' in the technical sense of the term. They are, rather, a 'status group.'

Communal Action Flowing from Class Interest

According ro our terminology, the factor chat creates 'class' is unambiguously eco- nomic interest, and indeed, only chose in- terests involved in the existence of the 'marker.' Nevercheless, the concept of 'class- inreresc' is an ambiguous one: even as an empirical concept ic is ambiguous as soon as one understands by ir somerhing ocher chan che factual direccion of interests following wich a certain probabilicy from rhe class sic- uation for a certain 'average' of chose people subjected co the class situation. The class sit- uacion and other circumstances remaining the same, rhe direction in which the indi- vidual worker, for instance, is likely to pur- sue his inrerescs may vary widely, according ro whether he is constitutionally qualified for rhe task ac hand co a high, to an average, or co a low degree. In rhe same way, the di- rection of interests may vary according to whether or nor a communal action of a larger or smaller portion of chose commonly af- fected by rhe 'class situation,' or even an as- sociation among chem, e.g. a 'trade union,' has grown our of che class situation from which the individual may or may not expect promising results. [Communal action refers to chat action which is oriented to the feeling of the actors char they belong together. Soci- etal action, on the ocher hand, is oriented to a rationally motivated adjustment of inter- ests.] The rise of societal or even of commu- nal action from a common class situation is by no means a universal phenomenon.

The class situation may be restricted in its effects ro the generation of essentially sirnilnr

uass. ::.rams. rarcy

reactions, char is to say, within our terminol- ogy, of 'mass actions.' However, ir may not have even this result. Furthermore, often merely an amorphous communal action emerges. For example, the 'murmuring' of rhe workers known in ancient oriental echics: che moral disapprovaJ of che work- rnasrer's conduce, which in its practical sig- nificance was probably equivalent to an increasingly typical phenomenon of pre- cisely the lacesc industrial developmenr, namely, the 'slow down' (the deliberate lim- iting of work efforr) of laborers by virtue of tacit agreemenr. The degree in which 'com- munal accion' and possibly 'societal action,' emerges from the 'mass actions' of the mem- bers of a class is linked co general cultural conditions, especially co chose of an inrellec- cual sorr. Ir is also linked to the extent of rhe contrascs char have already evolved , and is es- pecially linked to the transparency of the con- nections between the causes and rhe consequences of rhe 'class situation.' For however differenr life chances may be, chis face in itself, according to all experience, by no means gives birch co 'class action' (com- munal action by the members of a class). The face of being conditioned and the re- sults of the class situation muse be distinctly recognizable. For only then the contrast of life chances can be felt noc as an absolutely given face to be accepted, but as a resultant from either (1) the given distribution of property, or (2) the structure of the concrete economic order. Ir is only then char people may react against the class srrucrure noc only through aces of an inrermiccenr and irra- tional protest, but in rhe form of racional as- sociation. There have been 'class situations' of the first cacegory (I), of a specifically naked and transparent sore, in rhe urban cenrers of Antiquity and during che Middle Ages; especially then, when greac fortunes

were accumulated by faccually monopolized trading in industrial produces of chese local- ities or in foodscuff.~. Furthermore, under certain circumstances, in the rural economy of the most diverse periods, when agriculture was increasingly exploited in a profit-making manner. The most imporcanc historical ex- ample of che second category (2) is rhe class situation of the modern 'proletariat.'

Types of 'Class Struggle'

Thus every class may be rhe carrier of any one of chc possibly innumerable forms of 'class action,' buc chis is not necessarily so: In any case, a class does not in icself consti- tute a community. To treat 'class' conceptu- ally as having che same value as 'communicy' leads ro disrorrion. That men in rhe same class situation regularly react in mass actions co such tangible situations as economic ones in che direction of rhose interests char are most adequate co rheir average number is an imporranc and after all simple fact for rhe understanding of historical events. Above all, chis facr muse nor lead ro that kind of pseudo-scientific operation with the con- cepts of 'class' and 'class inreresrs' so fre- quencly found these days, and which has found its most classic expression in the statement of a talented author, chat che in- dividual may be in error concerning his in- terests buc chat the 'class' is 'infallible' about its interests . Yee, if classes as such arc nor communities, nevertheless class situations emerge only on che basis of communaliza- rion. The communal action char brings forth class situations, however, is nor basi- cally action bei:ween members of the idcnri- cal class; it is an action between members of different classes. Communal actions that di- rectly determine rhe class situation of chc worker and the entrepreneur are: the labor

market, the commo<liries market, and rhe capicaliscic encerprisc. Bue, in its turn, the exiscence of a capiralistic enterprise presup- poses chat a very specific communal action exists and char it is specifically structured to procecr the possession of goods per se, and especially the power of individuals to dis- pose, in principle freely, over the means of production. The existence of a capitalistic encerprise is preconditioned by a specific kind of ' legal order.' Each kind of class situ- ation, and above all when it rests upon rhe power of properry per se, will become mosr clearly efficacious when all other derermi- nanrs of reciprocal relations are, as far as possible, eliminated in their significance. Ir is in this way rhar rhe utilization of the power of propcny in rhe market obtains irs most sovereign imporcance.

Now 'status groups' hinder the strict car- rying chrough of the sheer marker princi- ple. In che present context rhey are of inceresr to us only from rhis one point of view. Before we briefly consider rhern, nore rhat nor much of a general nature can be said about rhe more specific kinds of antag- onism between 'classes' (in our meaning of rhe term). The great shifr, which has been going on continuously in rhe past, and up ro our rimes, may be summarized, although at rhe cost of some precision: the struggle in which class situations arc effective has pro- gressively shifted from consumption cred it toward, first, competitive scruggles in the commodity marker and, rhen, toward price wars on the labor marker. The 'class strug- gles' of antiquity- ro the excent that rhey were genuine class struggles and nor strug- gles bcMeen status groups-were initially carried on hy indebred peasants, and per- haps also by arrisans rhrearened by debr bondage and struggling against urban cred- itors. For debt bondage is rhc normal result

of the Jiffcrentiarion of wealrh in commer- cial cirics, especially in seapon dries. A sim- ilar situation has existed among cattle breeders. Debi relationships as such pro- duced class action up co rhe time of Caraline. Along with this, and with an in- crease in provision of grain for the city by cransporting ir from che outside, the strug- gle over the means of suscenance emerged. lr cemcred in rhc first place around rhe pro- vision of bread and rhe determination of rhe price of bread. Ir lasred rhroughour an- riquiry and rhe enrire Middle Ages. The propcrryless as such flocked togerher against those who actually and supposedly were i meres red in rhe dearth of bn::ad. Th is fighc spread unril ir involved all those com- modities essential ro rhe way of life and to handicraft production. There were only in- cipient discussions of wage disputes in an- tiquity and in the Middle Ages. Bue rhey have been slowly increasing up inro mod- ern rimes. In the earlier periods rhey were completely secondary to slave rebdlions as well as co fights in rhe commodity marker.

The propertylcss of antiquity and of the Middle Ages protested against monopolies. pre-emption, forestalling, and rhe wirh- holding of goods from rhe marker in order ro raise prices. Today rhc central issue is rhe dcrerminarion of the price of labor.

This transition is represented by rhe fight for access ro rhe marker and for the determi- nation of the price of products. Such fights wcnr on between merchants and workers in rhe purring-our syscem of domesric handi- craft during rhe rransirion ro modern rimes. Since it is quire a general phenomenon we must mention here rhar the class anrago- nisms rhar arc conditioned chrough the mar- ker situation arc usually most bitter between those who actually and directly panicipare as opponents in price wars. Ir is nor rhc renrier,

\,,.ld:>:>, JldlU:>, I di ty Ul

rhe share-holder, and rhe b:inker who sufter the ill will of rhe worker, bur almost exclu- sively the manufacrurer and the business ex- ecutives who are rhc direct opponents of workers in price wars. This is so in spire of the facr rhar it is precisely the cash boxes of rhc rencier, rhe share-holder, and rhc banker into which rhe more or less 'unearned' gains flow, rather rhan inro rhe pockets of chc manufac- turers or of the business executives. This sim- ple stare of alTairs has very frequently been decisive for the role the class s illlarion has played in rhe formation of political parries. For example, ic has made possible rhc vari- eties of patriarchal socialism and the frequent arrernpts- formerly, ar lease-of threatened srarus groups ro form alliances with rhe pro- letariat ag:iinsr the 'bourgeoisie.'

Status Honor

In contrast ro classes, stntus groups are nor- mally communities. They arc, however, often of an amorphous kind. In conrrasr ro rhc purely economically determined 'class situation' we wish to designate as 'sratus sir- uarion' every rypical component of the life fate of men that is dcrcrmined by a specific, posirivc or negative, social estimation of hono1: This honor may be connected with any qua lity shared by a plurality, and, of course, it can be knit co a class situation: class discincrions are linked in the mosr var- ied ways with status distinctions. Propcrry as such is nor always recogni1,ed as a sracus qualification, bur in rhe long run it is, and wirh extraord inary rcgulariry. In rhe subsis- tence economy of rhe organized neighbor- hood, very ofren the richest man is simply rhe chieftain. However, this ofren means only an honorific preference. For example, in the so-called pure modern 'democracy,' that is, one devoid of any expressly ordered

st:itu~ privi leges for individuals, ir may be chat only the families coming un<ler ap- proximately rhe same tax class dance with one :1norher. This example is reported of certain smaller Swiss cities. Bur status honor need nor necessarily be linked with a 'class situation.' On rhe contrary, it nor- mally stands in sharp opposition to the pre- censions of sheer property.

Both propertied and propcrryless people can belong ro the same srarns group, and frequently rhcy do wirh very tangible con- sequences. This 'equality' of social esteem may, however, in the long run become quite precarious. The 'equality' of status among the American 'gentlemen,' for in- stance, is expressed by the facr rhat outside the subordination determined by rhe differ- ent functions of 'business,' ir would be con- sidered srricrly repugnant- wherever rhe old tradition still prevails-if even rhc rich- est 'chief while playing billiards or cards in his club in rhe evening, would nor creat his 'clerk' as in every sense fully his equal in birthright. Ir would be repugnant if the American 'chief' would bcsrow upon his 'clerk' rhe condescend ing 'benevolence' marking a discincrion of 'position,' which the German chief can never dissever from his attitude. This is one of rhc mosr impor- tant reasons why in America rhe German 'clubby-ncss' has never been able ro attain rhe attr:tcrion rhar the American clubs have.

Guarantees of Status Stratification

In conrenr, status honor is normal ly ex- pressed by the face rhat above all else a spe- ci flc style of life can be expected from all chose who wish co belong ro the circle. Linked wirh this expectarion are resrricrions on 'social' inrcrcourse (rhat is, inrercourse

which is not subservient to economic or any other of business 'funccional' pur- poses). These resrricrions may confine nor- mal marriages to within the scacus circle and may lead co complete endogamous clo- sure. As soon as there is not a mere individ- ual and socially irrelevanc imitation of another scyle of life, but an agreed-upon communal accion of chis closing character, the 'status' developmenc is under way.

In its characteristic form, srratificacion by 'stacus groups' on the basis of conventional styles of life evolves at rhe present rime in the United States our of rhe cradicional democ- racy. For example, only the resident of a cer- tain street ('rhc street') is considered as belonging to 'society,' is qualified for social intercourse, and is visited and invited. Above all , this differentiation evolves in such a way as to make for strict submission to the fash- ion chat is dominanc at a given time in soci- ety. This submission to fashion also exists among men in America to a degree un- known in Germany. Such submission is con- sidered co be an indication of the fact chat a given man pretends ro qualify as a gentleman. This submission decides, ac least prima facie, that he will be treated as such. And this recognition becomes just as importanr for his employment chances in 'swank' esrab- lishmencs, and above all, for social inter- course and marriage with 'esteemed' families, as che qualification for dueling among Germans in the Kaiser's day. As for rhe resr: certain fumilies resident for a long time, and, of course, correspondingly wealchy, e.g. 'F. F. V., i.e. First Families of Virginia,' or the accual or alleged descen - dants of rhe ' Indian Princess' Pocahontas, of rhe Pilgrim fathers, or of rhe Knickerbock- ers, rhe members of almost inaccessible seers and all sores of circles setting chemselves apart by means of any orhcr characceriscics

and badges ... all these elements usurp 'sca- cus' honor. The developmenc of srarus is es- sencially a quesrion of stratification resting upon usurpation. Such usurpation is the normal origin of almosc all status honor. Bur che road from chis purely conventional situ- ation to legal privilege, positive or negative, is easily traveled as soon as a certain scrarifi- carion of the social order has in fact been ' lived in' and has achieved stability by virtue of a stable distribution of economic power.

'Ethnic' Segregation and 'Caste'

Where rhe consequences have been realized to cheir full extent, the scacus group evolves inco a closed 'casrc.' Sracus distinctions are then guaranteed not merely by convencions and laws, but also by rituals. This occurs in such a way char every physical contact wich a member of any casce char is considered to be 'lower' by che members of a 'higher' caste is considered as making for a ritualis- tic impurity and co be a stigma which muse be expiated by a religious act. Individual castes develop quire distinct cults and gods.

In general, however, the scams structure reaches such extreme consequences only where chere are underlying differences which are held to be 'ethnic.' The 'caste' is, indeed, che normal form in which ethnic communi- ties usually live side by side in a 'socieralized' manner. These ethnic communities believe in blood rclacionship and exclude exoga- mous marriage and social intercourse. Such a casce situation is pare of the phenomenon of 'pariah' peoples and is found all over che world. These people form communities, ac- quire specific occupational rradicions of handicrafts or of ocher ans, and culcivace a belief in their ethnic community. They live in a 'dia..~pora' srricrly segregated from all per- sonal intercourse, excepc chat of an unavoid-

...., • .., . ....... _..,.,_ • .._...,..,. • v• 'J

able sort, and cheir situation is legally precar- ious. Yee, by virtue of rheir economic indis- pensabilicy, they are colerace.d , . in~eed, frequently privileged, and they live 111 inter- spersed political communities. The Jews are che most impressive historical example.

' . . ' ' A 'sracus segreganon grown mto a casce differs in its scructure from a mere 'ethnic' segregation: the casce srruccure cransforms che horizontal and unconnecced coexis- tences of ethnically segregated groups inro a vert ical social system of super- and subordi- nation. Correcrly form ulated: a compre- hensive societalizacion incegraces che ethnically divided communities into spe- cific political and communal action. In rheir consequences they differ precisely in chis way: eth nic coexistences condition a mutual repulsion and disdain bur allow each echnic community to consider irs own honor as che highesc one; che caste scruccure brings abour a social subordination and an acknowledgment of 'more honor' in favor of che privileged casce and status groups. This is due co che face that in the casce structure ethnic discinctions as such have become 'functional' discinccions wichin rhe policical socieralizacion {warriors, priescs, arcisans that arc policically important for war and for building, and so on). Bue even pariah people who are most despised are usually apt to continue cultivating in some manner that which is equally peculiar to echnic and co scams communities: rhc belief in their own specific ' honor.' This is rhe case with che Jews.

Only with chc ncgacively privileged sta- tus groups docs the 'sense of dignity' cake a specific deviation. A sense of dignity is the precipitation in individuals of social honor and of conventional demands which a pos- itively privileged status group raises for the deportment of ics members. The sense of

digni ty char characterizes positively privi- leged stacus groups is nacurally related to rheir 'being' which does nor transcend it- self, char is, it is to their 'beauty and excel- lence.' Their kingdom is 'of chis world.' They live for che present ;rnd by exploiting rheir greac past. T he sense of dignity of the negatively privileged strata naturally refers to a future lying beyond rhe presenc, whether it is of chis life or of another. In ocher words, it must be nurtured by che be- lief in a providential 'mission' and by a be- lief in a speci fic honor before God. The 'chosen people's' dignity is nurrured by a belief eirher char in the beyond 'che last will be the first,' or chat in chis life a Messiah will appear to bring forth into rhe light of the world which has cast them out che hid- den honor of the pariah people. This sim- ple scare of affairs, and not che 'resentment' which is so srrongly emphasized in Niccz- sche's much admired consrruccion in the Genealogy of Morals, is the source of the re- ligiosity culrivaced by pariah stacus groups. In passing, we may noce rhar resenrment may be accuracely applied only co a limited excenr; for one of Nietzsche's main exam- ples, Buddhism, ic is nor at all applicable.

Incidencally, the development of status groups from ethnic segregations is by no means rhc normal phenomenon. On the contrary, since objective 'racial differences' are by no means basic to every subjective sentimenc of an ethnic community, che ulci- mately racial foundacion of stacus scrucrure is rightly and absolutely a question of the concrete individual case. Very frequently a status group is inscrumencal in the produc- tion of a thoroughbred anrhropological type. Certainly a scacus group is to a high degree effective in producing excreme types, for chey select personally qualified individu- als {e.g. rhe Knighthood selects rhose who

arc fir for warfare, physically and psychi- ca lly). But selecrion is far from being rhe only, or rhc predominant, way in which sra- cus groups arc formed: policical membership or class sicuarion has ac all rimes been at leasr as frequently decisive. And roday rhe class situarion is by far rhe predominanr fac- ror, for of course the possibility of a style of life expected for members of a sracus group is usually condirioned economically.

Status Privileges

For all pracrical purposes, scrarifkarion by status goes hand in hand wich a monopoliza- rion of ideal and marerial goods or opporcu- niries, in a manner we have come ro lrnow as typical. Besides rhe specific starns honor, which always rests upon distance and exclu- siveness, we find all sons of marerial monop- o lies. Such honorific preferences may consist of chc privilege of wearing speciaJ cosrumes, of earing special dishes taboo co ochers, of cirrying arms-which is mosc obvious in its consequcnces-rhe right ro pursue ccnain non-professional diletrante arciscic pracrices, e.g. ro play certain musical instruments. Of course, marerial monopolies provide rhe most effeccive morives for chc exclusiveness of a status group; alchough, in rhcmselves, rhey arc rarely sufficient, almosr always they come inro play ro some cxccnr. \Xlirhin a sca- tus circle rhcrc is rhe question of inrermar- riage: rhe inrcresr of the families in the monopolization of pocenrial bridegrooms is at least of equal imporrance and is parallel ro rhe inreresr in che monopolization of daugh- rers. The daughrers of rhe circle must be pro- vided fo r. With an increased inclosu rc of rhe srarus group, rhe conventional prcfcrcnrial opporcunicics for speciaJ employmenr grow into a legal monopoly of special offices for chc members. Certain goods become objecrs

for monopoli7-,tion by srarus groups. In the typical fashion these include 'entailed esrates' and frcquenrly also the possessions of serfs or bondsmen and, finally. special trades. This monopolization occurs positively whe n che stacus group is exclusively enrirled ro own and to manage chem; and negarivdy when, in order ro maintain its specific way of life, the status g roup must not own and manage them.

The decisive role of a 'style of life' in sta- tus ' honor' means chat sratus groups are che specific bearers of all 'convenrions.' In what- ever way ic may be manifesc, all 'styl ization' of life either originates in scacus groups or is ar least conserved by chem. Even if rhe prin- ciples of scacus convencions differ greatly, chey reveal ccrcai n typical traits, especially among those srraca which are mosr privi- leged. Quire generally, among privileged srarus groups there is a status disqualifica- tion rhac operates againsr rhe performance of common physical labor. This disqualifi- carion is now 'setting in' in America againsr the old cradition of esrcem for labor. Very frequenrly every rarional economic pursuir, and especially 'entrepreneurial activity,' is looked upon as a disqualificarion of scarus. Arristic and literary acrivicy is also consid- ered as degrading work as soon as ir is ex- ploiced for in come, or ar least when ir is connected with hard physical exerrion. An example is che sculpcor working like a mason in his dusry smock as over against the painrer in his salon-l ike 'srudio' and those forms of musical practice rhar are ac- ceptable to the starus group.

Economic Conditions and Effects of Status Stratification

The frequent disqualificacion of rhe gain- fully employed as such is a direcr result of

che principle of sratus scraciflcarion peculiar co rhe social order, and of course, of chis principle's opposition ro a discribucio.n of power which is regulaced exclusively rhrough the marker. These rwo faccors op- erace along wich various individual ones, which will be couched upon below.

We have seen above char rhe market and

ics processes 'knows no personal distinc- tions' : ' functional ' inrercsrs dominace it. It knows noching of 'honor.' The sracus order means precisely rhc reverse, viz.: scratifka- cion in terms of 'honor' and of scyles of life peculiar to scams groups as such. If mere economic acquisirion and naked economic power still bearing rhe scigma of its extra- sratus origin could bcsrow upon anyone who has won ic the sa me honor as chose who are interested in scams by vircue of style of life claim for themselves, the scarus order would be rhrearened at ics very root. This is che more so as, given cqualiry of sta- tus honor, property per se represents an ad- dition even if ir is nor overtly acknowledged robe such. Yer if such economic acquisition and power gave rhe agent any honor ar all, his wealth wou ld result in his attaining more honor rhan those who successfully claim honor by virtue of style of life. There- fore all groups having inrerests in rhe scacus order reacr with special sharpness precisely against the pretensions of purely economic acquisition. In most cases chey react the more vigorously the more they feel them- selves threatened. Calderon's respectful treatment of rhe peasanr, for inscancc, as opposed to Shakespeare's .~imulraneous and oscensiblc disdain of rhc cmwille illustrates the different way in which a firmly struc- cured sratus order rcaccs as compared with a sratus order that has become economically precarious. Thi~ is an example of a srace of affairs char recurs everywhere. Precisely be-

cause of rhc rigorous rcaccions against rhe claims of property per St', chc 'parvenu' is never accepred, personally and wirhouc rcservarion, by chc privileged ~tams groups, no macccr how completely his srylc of life has been adjusted co theirs. They will only accepr his descendants who have been cdu- carcd in rhe conventions of their scarus group and who have never besmirched its honor by rheir own economic labor.

As ro the general effect of the srarus order, only one consequence can be stated, buc ic is a very imporcanc one: rhe hindrance of rhe free developmem of chc marker occurs first for chose goods which status groups di- reccly wirhhcld from free exchange by mo- nopolization. This monopolization may be t:ffecred eirher legally or conventionally. for example, in many Hellenic cities during chc epoch of status groups, and also originally in Rome, rhe inherited estate (as is shown by rhe old formula for indicarion againsc spendchrifrs) was monopolized jusr as were the esrares of knighrs, peasants, priests, and especially chc clicncele of the craft and mer- chanc guilds. The marker is restricced, and chc power of naked property per se, which gives irs scamp to 'class formarion.' is pushed into rhe background. The rcsulcs of this process can be most varied. Of course, they do nor necessarily weaken rhe con- rrasrs in the economic sicuation. Frequently rhey screngrhcn these contrasts, and in any case, where scrariflcarion by sracus perme- ates a comm unity as strongly as was the case in all political communities of anciq- uiry and of che Middle Ages, one can never speak of a genuinely free market com peri- tion as we understand it today. There arc wider cffccrs than this direct exclusion of special goods from the marker. From the conrrariecy between rhe status order and rhe purely economic order mentioned

above, it follows rhat in most instances the notio n of ho nor peculiar ro status ab- solmely abhors that which is essential co the market: higgling. Honor abhors higgling among peers and occasionally it taboos hig- gling for the members of a status group in general. Therefore, everywhere some status g ro ups, and usually the most influentia l, consider almost any kind of overt participa- rion in economic acquisitio n as absolutely stigmatizing.

With some over-simpliftcarion, one might thus say thac 'classes' are stratified ac- cording co their rclacions co che production and acquisition of goods; whereas 'scacus gro ups' are stratified accord ing to the prin- ciples of their consumption of goods as rep- resented by special 'sryles of life.'

An 'occupational group' is also a status group. For normally, it successfully claims social ho nor only by virtue o f the special sryle of life which may be determined by ir. The differences between classes and status gro ups frequently overlap. It is precisely chose status communities most striccly seg- regated in terms of honor (viz. rhe lnd ian castes) who today show, although within very rigid limits, a relat ively high degree of indiffere nce ro pecuniary income. H ow- eve r, the Brahmi ns seek such income in many different ways.

As to the general econo mic condi tions making for che predominance of stratifica- tion by 'status,' only very lirrle can be said . W hen rhe bases of the acquisition and dis- cribucion of goods are relatively stable, stratiftcarion by scatus is favo red . Every techno logical repercussion and econo m ic rransformation threatens stratificat ion by stat us and pushes the class situatio n in co the fo reground. Epochs and coumries in which the naked class situation is of p re- dominanr significance are regularly the pe-

riods of technical and economic transfor- matio ns. And every slowing down of che shifong of economic stratifications leads, in d ue course, to the growth of sracus struc- tures and makes for a resuscitation of rhc important role of social honor.

Parties

Whereas the genuine place of 'classes' is \Vithin the eco nomic order, the place of 'status groups' is wirhin the social order, that is, within the sphere of rhe distributio n of 'honor.' From wichin these spheres, classes and status groups influence o ne an- other and they influence the legal order and are in turn influenced by it. Bu t 'parties' live in a house of 'power.'

Their action is oriented coward che ac- quisition of social 'power,' chat is to say, to- ward influencing a communal action no matter what its content may be. In princi- ple, parties may exist in a social 'club' as well as in a 'scare.' As over against the ac- tions of classes and status groups, for which th is is not necessarily the case, the commu- nal actions of 'parries' always mean a soci- ecal izacion. For parry actions are always di rected coward a goal which is striven for in p lanned manner. T h is goal may be a 'cause' (rhe parry may aim at realizing a program for ideal or material purposes), or the goal may be 'personal' (sinecures, power, and from these, ho nor fo r the leader and rhe followers of the parry). Usually rhe parry action ai ms at all these simultane- o usly. Parties a re, therefore, o nly possible within comm uni ties chat are societalizcd, chat is, which have some rational o rder and a staff of persons available who arc ready co enforce it. For parties aim precisely at influ- encing this staff, and if possible, to recruit it fro m parry followers.

uass. ;,ca cus, t'a n y 67

Jn any individual case, parties may repre- sent interests determi ned through 'class sit- uation' or 'status situation,' and they may recruit their following respectively from one or the other. Bur they need be neither

urcly 'class' nor purely 'status' parties. In ~ost cases they are parrly class parries and partly scacus parties, but sometimes they are neither. They may represent ephemeral or enduring structures. Their means of attain- ing power may be quire varied, ranging from naked violence of any sort co canvass- ing for votes with coarse or sub tle means: money, social influence, the force of speech, suggestion , cl umsy hoaJ(, and so o n to che rougher or more artfu l tactics of obstruc- cion in parliamentary bodies.

T he sociological struccure of parties d if- fers in a basic way according co the kind of communal action which they struggle co influence. Parties also d iffer acco rding co whether or not the communiry is strati fied by status or by classes. Above all else, they vary accordi ng to the scrucrure of domina- tion within the communiry. For chei r lead- ers normally deal with the conquest of a community. T hey are, in che general con- cept which is maintained here, not only produces of speciall y modern forms o f domination. We shall also designate as par- ties the ancient and medieval 'parties,' de- spite the fact that their structure di ffe rs basically from the structure of modern par- ties. By virtue of these structural differences of domi nation it is impossib le to say any- thing about the structure of parr ies withour d iscussing the struc tural forms of social domination per se. Parries, which are always structures struggling for domination, are very frequently organi1.ed in a very strict 'authoritarian' fashion .. ..

Concerning 'classes,' 'scacus groups,' and 'parries,' it m ust be said in general that they necessarily presuppose a comprehen- sive sociecal izatio n , and especially a politi- cal framework of communal action, within which they operate. This does noc mean chat part ies wo uld be confined by the frontiers of any individual political communiry. On che contrary, ac all times ic has been rhe order of the day that the socieralization (even when it aims at the use of m ilitary force in common) reaches beyond rhe fro ntie rs o f poli tics. T h is has been the case in che solidariry of interests a mo ng the O ligarchs and among the de- mocrats in Hellas, among the Guelfs and among Ghibellines in the Middle Ages, and within the Calvinist party during che period of religious struggles. It has been the case up co the solidariry of che land- lo rds (inte rna tional cong ress o f agrarian landlords), and has con tinued amo ng princes (holy alliance, Karlsbad decrees), socialis t wo rkers, conservatives (the long- ing of Prussian conservatives for Russian in tervention in 1850). But cheir aim is not necessarily rhe establishment of new inter- national political, i.e. territorial, dom in- io n. ln the main they aim ro influence the existing dominion.2

NOTES

I. \'V'irtschnft 1md Ct'sl'l!schaji, part 111, chap. 4, pp. 631-40. T he first sentence in paragraph one and the several definitions in this chapter which are in brackets do not appear in the original rext. T hey have been taken from orher conrexcs of \Virtschnft 1111d Gesell.rdH1ft.

2. The posthumously published cexc breaks off ht:rc. We omit an im.:omplere skerch of types of 'warrior estates.'

SECOND EDITION

The Inequality

Reader

Contemporary and Foundational Readings in

Race, Class, and Gender

Edited by

David B. Grusky Szonj a Szelenyi

-0 WESTVIEW

PRESS

A Member of" the Perseus Books Group

Wcstview Press was founded in l 975 in Bould er, Colorado, by notable publisher and intellectual Fred Praeger. \X'esrview Press contin ues to publish scholarly tides and high·quality undergradua te- and graduatc-lcvd textbooks in core social science discipl ines. With books developec.I, written, anc.I edi ted wich chc needs of serious nonfiction readers, professors. and students in mine.I, \X'cstview Press honors its long h istory of publishing hooks that m:mer.

Copyright© 20 1 l b>• \X/escview Press

Publ ished by Wesrview Press. A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved. Printed in the Uniccd Srnces of America. No pan of this book may be repro<lucc<l in a ny manner whacsoever withcm written permission except in the case of brief quorations embodied in critic.al articles and reviews. r:or information, address \X/esrview Press,

2465 Central Avenue, Boulder. CO 80301. Find us on the \V'orld Wide Web ac www.wesrviewpress.com.

Every efforc has been made to secure requirt-c.I permissions of :111 text. images, maps. and other art included in this volume.

\Xlesrvicw Press books are available at special d iscounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institu tions, and ocher organizations. r:or more infonnacion, please contact the Special Markets Deparcmem at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 C:hesrnut Strecc, Su ite 200, Philac.lelphia, PA 19 l 03. or call (800) 8 10-414 5. ext. 5000, or e-mail spc::[email protected].

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicacion Data T he inequal icy reade r : contemporary and foundational readings in race, class, and gender I

edited by David B. Grusky. Szonja Szelenyi.-2nd ed.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8 133-4484-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) I. Equality. 2. Social st ratification . 3. Social classes. 4. Race. 5. Sex role. I. Grusky,

David B. II. Szelenyi. Szonja. 1960- HJ\.1821.154 20 11 305.0 l-c.lc22

2010044319

t:-book ISHN 978·0-8 Jjj-4'.:>l i'-8

109876