SOCIOL 1A06 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Erik Olin Wright, Gerhard Lenski, Social Stratification
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Social hierarchy in stratified societies: social stratification in one form or another exists in all societies. In a meritocracy everyone would have equal chances to compete for higher status positions, and presumably, those most capable would be awarded the highest rank. Karl marx: capitalism, exploitation, and class conflict: karl marx had an immense impact on how we think about social stratification, marx called the system of economic activity in a society its mode of production. Marx"s theory of social inequality and social change: critics of marx"s ideas pointed to the communist countries, with their apparently socialist system of government and absence of private property, and noted that inequality had not disappeared there. Frank parkin: a neo-weberian approach: frank parkin was equally explicit in starting his intellectual debts to marx weber"s, as a neo-weberian, parkin criticized traditional marxist and contemporary neo-