Theories of Inequality

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Theories of Inequality

• Marxist Social Conflict Perspective
• View of Society
• Causes of Inequality
• Plan for Action
• Problems with Marx
• Useful Insights from Marx
• Webers Social Conflict Perspective
• View of Society
• Multidimensional View of Inequality
• Outlook on the Future
• Structural Functional Perspective (Davis Moore)
• View of Society
• Explanation of Inequality
• Problems with Davis and Moores Perspective
• Useful Insights from Davis and Moore

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Karl Marx

• 1818-1883

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View of Society

• Economic context
• Political context
• Modes of production
• Means of production
• Relations of production
• Key assumptions for Marx

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Causes of Inequality and theLabor Theory of Value

•    
• Selfishness of capitalists under capitalism
• Leads to exploitation of the worker
• Leads to sharp divisions between classes
• Leads to feelings of alienation and frustration
  by workers.

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Plan for ActionBecoming Class Conscious

• Concentration and Communication
• Deprivation
• Economic Insecurity
• Alienation at Work
• Polarization
• Homogenization
• Organization and Struggle

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Problems with Marx

• Revolution did not occur
• Capitalism was more prosperous for the worker
  class than Marx predicted
• Profits dont necessarily come solely from labor
• Marx did not account for other divisions in
  society besides class
• Marx does not account for authority

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Useful Insights from Marx

• Marx was right that once in large factories
  workers would organize

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Useful Insights from Marx

• There is a growing gap between upper and lower
  classes, e.g. CEO salary compared to worker
  salary
• 1973 45 xs
• 1991 141 xs
• 2002 500 xs

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In 1996, Business Week published the findings of
an income survey of the top two executives at 362
of the nation's largest companies.
Current CEO compensation and the bailout.
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Useful Insights from Marx

• Class conflict does exist
• Trends in the deskilling of American workers

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Useful Insights from Marx

• Capitalism has generated greater concentrations
  of wealth owned by fewer people
• 1950--top 100 of top 200,000 corps. controlled
  40 of industrial assets
• 1986--top 100 controlled 61

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Source Wolff, Edward N. 2007. Recent Trends in
Household Wealth in the United States Rising
Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze. p. 15
(http//www.levy.org/pubs/wp_502.pdf).
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Max Weber1864-1920
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Webers Approach to Inequality

• Webers view of society.
• Webers multidimensional view of inequality.
• Webers outlook on the future.

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Webers View of Society

• Society is located in ideas
• Religion as source of ideas leading to capitalism
• The Protestant Ethic
• The Spirit of Capitalism

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The Emergence of Capitalism

• Protestant Ethic
• Protestant ReformationLuthers idea of a
  calling
• Notion that God expected people to master the
  world and master nature
• Doctrine of predestination (Calvin)

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The Emergence of Capitalism

• Protestant ethic established a rational approach
  to the unlimited pursuit of profit capitalism

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Webers Multidimensional View of Inequality

• Class
• Status
• Power/Party

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Webers view of the future

• Inequality is inevitable
• Iron Cage of Bureaucracy

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Structural Functionalist Approach to Inequality
(Davis and Moore)

• View of Society
• Explanation of Inequality
• Flaws and Useful Insights

Kingsley Davis (1908-1997)
Wilbert E. Moore (1914-1987)
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View of Society

• Basic ideas of functionalism--society is like an
  organism with interdependent parts
• Davis Moore--society is a hierarchy of
  positions
• Key assumptions

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Explanation of Inequality

• Inequality is necessary
• Motivate best people to take appropriate
  positions
• Insure people perform once in those positions
• How are positions ranked?
• Functional importance
• Scarcity of skill

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Explanation of Inequality

• How are people matched to positions?
• Differential rewards are attached to more
  important positions (i.e. those that require
  greater skill or training)
• Economic
• Prestige
• Ascetic

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Flaws of Davis Moores Theory

• Leads to blaming the victim.
• Equality of opportunity is implied
• Training is not always costly
• Over-emphasizes the value of economic rewards
• Most important jobs are not always highly
  rewarded (and vice versa)
• Who gets to decide which jobs are the most
  functionally important?

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Useful Insights

• Understanding of the importance of occupation to
  the placement of individuals in society
• Taps into our notion of how things should
  work--meritocracy

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Marx
Class Consciousness
Inequality
Change
Conflict
Communism
Weber
Inequality
Conflict
Change
Rationality
Rationality
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Three Perspectives on How Society is Divided
Hierarchy of Positions
Status
Class
Party
Weber
Davis and Moore