weberian views on inequality Flashcards
how do weberian views differ from marxist views?
he agreed that inequality was caused by organisation of economy due to unequal economic relations but that marx’s analysis was too simplistic and power consist of ability to control social resources.
what are social resources?
things which our culture determines as desirable and are limited such as wealth, respect, knowledge and property.
what are weber’s three types of power?
class power, status power and party power.
what does weber say power is?
ability to impose ones will over others, regardless of their views/feelings.
what is class power?
similar to marx’s idea suggesting that there is unequal access to possessions and wealth eg business owner.
what is status power?
we may pay respect/attention to particular individuals who are ‘socially superior’ to us eg religious leaders.
what is party power?
political power, not just in terms of being in gov but influence in terms of law creation.
why do weberians believe we have inequality?
power is distributed between a variety of different groups in society in differing amounts.
what is pluralism?
weber’s view that some groups have all 3 types of power whilst some have more of one type than the other and some have none of any.
what is the properties class?
have money, status and political power (similar to marxist bourgeoisie)
what is the professional class?
have status and some money/political factors.
what is the petit bourgeoisie?
small business owners with less status, class or political power but are respected in own communities.
what is the working class according to weberists?
have little or no satus, power or money. have no real skills to sell.
what is social closure?
weber’s idea that those in positions of power are able to deny opportunities to different classes due to discrimination.
what does weber mean by a fragmented society?
society is divided between multiple social groups competing for different forms of social resources, power and wealth.
strength of weberianism?
acknowledges the clear simplicity of marxism.
weaknesses of weberianism?
status is subjective and not measurable.
many people identify with broad social groupings such as being w/c so not always fragmentary.
