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View of Society Causes of Inequality Plan for Action Problems with Marx Useful Insights from Marx
View of Society Explanation of Inequality Problems with Davis and Moores Perspective Useful Insights from Davis and Moore
Karl Marx
1818-1883
View of Society
Economic
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.
and Communication
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
is a growing gap between upper and lower classes, e.g. CEO salary compared to worker salary:
45 xs 1991 141 xs 2002 500 xs
1973
In 1996, Business Week published the findings of an income survey of the top two executives at 362 of the nation's largest companies.
CEO pay and other trends (original figures have been converted into constant 96 dollars) (10) 1990 1995 Percent change --------------------------------------------------------------------Average CEO pay $2.34 million $3.86 million +65% Average worker pay $27,615 $27,448 -0.6% Corporate profits $212 billion $317 billion +50% Worker layoffs 316,047 persons 439,882 persons +39%
100 of top 200,000 corps. controlled 40% of industrial assets 1986--top 100 controlled 61%
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).
view of society. Webers multidimensional view of inequality. Webers outlook on the future.
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
Explanation of Inequality
Inequality
Motivate
is necessary
best people to take appropriate
Functional
Explanation of Inequality
How
Differential
rewards are attached to more important positions (i.e. those that require greater skill or training)
Economic Prestige Ascetic
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?
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
Marx
Inequality Class Consciousness Conflict Change
Weber
Inequality Rationality Conflict
Communism Change
Rationality
Worker (Proletariat)
Marx
Weber