Stratification and Power
Structures of Class, Status and Command
1. Edition June 1996
296 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This volume presents a systematic discussion of the leading
theoretical approaches to social stratification. It is both an
accessible overview and a distinctive contribution to the analysis
of class, status and power.
John Scott argues that Max Weber's conceptual framework -
reconstructed and enlarged - provides the basis for integrating
what have been considered up to now as divergent approaches to
stratification studies. Marxist theories of class and economic
division, normative functionalist theories of status and cultural
division, and elitist theories of command and authoritarian
division all find their place in the proposed framework. Each
theoretical approach is illustrated through empirical
investigations undertaken by writers associated with them. Recent
work by Dahrendorf, Wright and Goldthorpe is also examined, and it
is shown how their arguments contribute to a theoretical synthesis
in the analysis of stratification.
Stratification and Power will be much appreciated by
students and academics alike in the social sciences. The clarity of
its style and the significance of its contribution have made it a
leading text in its field.
Preface.
1. Images of Stratification.
2. From Max Weber: a Framework.
3. Class, Property and Market.
4. Status, Community and Prestige.
5. Command, Authority and Elites.
6. Property, Authority and Class Relations.
7. Structures of Social Stratification.
8. The Question of the Working Class.
Notes.
References.
Index.
comparative analysis of social stratification." John
Westergaard, University of Sheffield
"A comprehensive and critical appraisal of classical and modern
theories of social stratification, and an important contribution to
the subject in its own right." David Lockwood, University of
Essex
"John Scott ... brings impressive credentials to his aim with
this book to put social stratification firmly back into the
mainstream of sociological concerns ... Scott presents it with
admirable lucidity and adds distinctively significant underlinings
... This book should appeal as a central teaching text, for its
wide-ranging review of classical and modern literature in the
field, including a finely tuned final chapter on research and
debate about the 'working class'. But its strength goes well beyond
this, to offer a challenging agenda for work on a subject whose
continuing sociological salience Scott persuasively demonstrates."
Times Higher Education Supplement
"Those who read this book will come away with the distinct
impression that the question of social stratification is very much
alive as we approach the new millennium." Work, Employment and
Society
"I would strongly recommend this book to anybody interested in
the history and conceptualization of social stratification. It is
written with insight and clarity, and will be an invaluable
resource for students - and their teachers - working in this
field." Political Studies