The Views Of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx And Max Weber On Social Stratification And Inequality
Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber are our key theorists who with differing ideologies attempt to take on the causes of social inequality. Understanding concepts of social inequality requires a wide lensed perspective and this can be seen within these three theorists’ concepts. This term social inequality is generally defined as unequal opportunities especially when examined within the context of class structure. Uneven distribution of resources is another defining term of social inequality. Class structure is foundational when it comes to exploring ideas of inequality. This analysis will also take on the division of labor, social integration, anomie, capitalism, owning property, communism, prestige, status and party. These concepts are all important terms when discussing each theorist’s idea of inequality, as they will help us to better understand the act of social inequality.
Our first theorist is Emile Durkheim. Durkheim takes a functionalist approach to understanding society. This is the idea that society is a social organism with different parts working together as a whole. Durkheim argued that society moves from mechanical to organic society, or from simple to complex. In this movement, a concept arose called the division of labor, which emphasis competition between individuals. Stratification from the division of labor is an important thought when looking at inequality and all its facets. The division of labor is an organization that carries out tasks and roles that coordinates individual or group behavior and from this they carry out different but related tasks.
The division of labor is important when it comes to decoding Durkheim’s ideas on social inequality. Competition is the key word. In “Explorations in Classical Sociology Theory” Allan writes, “The environment of the organism changes and therefore the organism must also change”. Interaction increases with population growth and creates more interaction among individuals. This is where the competition increases and creates a greater number of workers who must find specialty jobs to be employed. In this way of looking at labor there is the element of “survival of the fittest”. In Durkheim’s Division of labor in Society he argues that, “It may even be stated that an organism occupies the more exalted a place in the animal hierarchy the more specialized its functions are” (Durkheim, 1964, p.). Therefore, the more diverse one’s labor skills are the better they might fit into this form of stratification. This is the basic definition of the division of labor. There is a greater issue of uneven economic distribution among the labor force, when applying the idea of the division of labor. This is due to the job specialization as people will value certain jobs over others. For a society to be healthy it must focus on placing value on all careers not just some. Out of this concept stems the emphasis of social stratification, which further segregates society. However, the division of labor, is not generally a negative thing it, also creates greater social solidarity, in many cases, as society must learn to rely on another. Further down we will explore more about this concept of social integration.
Digging deeper into this idea of jobs holding value, Durkheim placed great importance on members in society full filling their tasks and duties. In the “Division of Labor” reading there is a sentence in which Durkheim wrote a great summary. The quote talks about what society needs to work on to move away from social inequality, “It requires us only to be charitable and just towards our fellow-men, to fulfil our task well, to work towards a state where everyone is called to fulfil the function he performs best and will receive a just reward for his efforts”. Durkheim also digs into the need for finding a new morality for oneself. Without this morality anomie can settle in creating a sense of normlessness and lack of social integration. For Durkheim a society that wishes to move away from social inequality must obtain a higher level of ethical and social standards. Durkheim has another concept called social solidarity, this term takes an important role in explaining social inequality. There are three key issues that explain how social integration takes place. The individual must feel they are a part of a whole, limit their desires for the greater good and there must be proper management between individuals and social units. This social solidarity goes into two directions the first is mechanical and the second that follows is organic solidarity. The division of labor generally brings about organic solidarity, and this creates a more connected society. Without a sense of integration into a society then once again anomie can take hold and create the “disease” of modern society. So, Durkheim would argue that moral and social integration are extremely important to social equality.
The second theorist Karl Marx was interested in understanding how capitalism and economic gains caused social inequality. He broke down society into two parts the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the group of people who own the means of production and take the profits. Proletariats have only their own wage labor to sell and work for wages. Within this context Marx believed there are major issues of exploitation. Marx believed that capitalist exploited their labor force by taking more than their fair share of profits. Capitalist build up a business and start to make a profit but in return don’t pay their employees a higher wage when they gain these large revenues. This leaves a large group of people stuck in a cycle of having to work hard for their wages but not gaining higher, “fairer” incomes. There is then a discord that starts to happen between the working-class proletariat and the private owning bourgeoisie. Over time this form of economics creates large disparities between social groups and the poor generally become poorer while the rich become wealthier. In “Communist of the Manifesto”, Marx maintains that once the means of production becomes collectively owned, exploitation of the worker is no longer possible”. Marx would argue that the surplus value should be distributed among the workers who produced it. Once the means of production are owned, Marx believed that a society would emerge that no longer is exploiting the worker. Marx believed a communist society is the only way a fair and just system would work. Without this key melding of minds, he believed society would be split into two categories and each of these would continue to grow apart creating major inequality among the classes.
Marx, also, used a concept called the superstructure or base to help explain how this inequality takes shape in society. The base of the superstructure shapes the entire structure and is the means necessary to keep the layers inside the structure intact. Relations of production and means of production make up the base. This is very important as without this base our material needs will not be met. The superstructure which upholds the base consists of family, culture, religion, media, education, legal, state and politics. The overall structure is important because it ties the ideas of capitalism together. This structure really highlights the fundamental basics on how the economics and capitalistic theory of income and property emphasize the cultural ideology behind inequality.
Out third theorist is Max Weber. Weber uses status (a social estimation of honor), party (groups organized towards a common goal, often political) and class (economically determined power) to explain inequality. Prestige, often known as social stratification is the ultimate factor in dividing up groups and interplaying into social inequality. These areas highlight the various forms of power and emphasize one’s economic order in society. Status gives power to those who have a position that is regarded with respect. This can often be seen in certain high income, educated families that may carry the title of doctor, lawyer, congress member and so forth. Weber also points out that while someone may take home a large income such as a drug dealer this does not reflect well on their statues and this can limit their power. Taking this to a less extreme level someone, such as a plumber would still receive less respect then say a vice president of an engineering firm. This idea of “limited status” could also be seen within a gendered or racial lens, as someone who may be a wealthy, educated African American they may still receive less societal respect due to their skin color. As we can see this idea of social stratification and inequality is complex.
Party influences social inequality by a certain individual having a positionally powerful place in society. If one can influence or change the process of laws and bills being passed they are in a place of power. Political parties often have tremendous pull in getting their ideas and programs accepted or at least out for public display. Party combined with status and class leads to a very powerful individual who will be able to create change. Often these parties are simply about exercising this power, “they are not necessarily tied to either class or status group interests but are aimed instead at “influencing a communal action no matter what its content may be”. This is a social inequality because few people are influential enough to gain this form of power. People placed into these positions are generally from wealthy high statues families and simply wish to exercise their power over others. Class is a large influencer when it comes to understanding inequality. This class is generally based off economic statues and the wealthy can buy up various kinds of properties such as buildings of all kinds including business, land and houses. They would also be able to buy other items that show of their social wealth including things such as resorts, yachts, islands. The power given to these upper-class groups is often reflected by the possession of resources. With the ability to gain resources these groups of people are often able to grow their wealth and boost their power status. Large quantities of money give better opportunity towards upper-class individuals and this is generally not seen among lower class groups.
These three traits reflect heavily on social inequality. Status, class and party are all interplaying to keep the individual’s chances at success very high. Most people have little influence in any of these areas and thus are unable to gain power in the social ranks. If someone has something an individual needs then they are in a lower, subservient position, then the person who has it. The dominate person would be able to exercise some form of control or power over them. These layers in social stratification are seen among the three-key concepts of Max Weber.
Social inequality is a complex issue that requires many perspectives to understand. These three theorists each have their own concepts of what and how inequality looks and functions. Durkheim argues from the functionalist perspective. This belief uses the idea that society is an organism that uses structure to succeed. If this regulation is not longer adhered to then there are often various issues that arise such as separation from the levels in the division of labor or suicide. Marx believes that capitalism is at the root cause of social inequality. There are two distinct classes of people and within those classes there is an unfair economic balance. One group owns the power to buy and the other must work for their wage labor Marx goes on to say that without socialism which will lead to communism that a society will never reach its utopian state. Weber uses statues, class and party in an intermingling symphony to describe how some individuals have a greater chance at success then others. Each of these concepts have a way to either elevate or downplay someone’s chances in life. The three theorists have each highlighted their key definitions of how social inequality got its start and how it continues to rear its head in modern society. These concepts are important to describe our fundamental understanding of society and how inequality may touch us all without us even being fully conscious of it.
