INEQUALITY AND HETEROGENEITY - A PRIMITIVE THEORY OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• NCJ Number: 47085
• Author(s): P M BLAU
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 318 pages
• Corporate Author: Free Press
• Sale Source: Free Press
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A MACROSOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE IS DEVELOPED IN TERMS OF THE QUANTITATIVE DISTRIBUTIONS OF PEOPLE AMONG SOCIAL POSITIONS THAT AFFECT THEIR SOCIAL RELATIONS.

Abstract

AN ARGUMENT IS PRESENTED FOR THE STRUCTURAL DETERMINIST POSITION WHICH HOLDS THAT THE STRUCTURES OF OBJECTIVE SOCIAL POSITIONS AMONG WHICH PEOPLE ARE DISTRIBUTED EXERT MORE FUNDAMENTAL INFLUENCES ON SOCIAL LIFE THAN DO CULTURAL VALUES AND NORMS. OF PRIMARY INTEREST ARE THE FORMAL, QUANTITATIVE PROPERTIES OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE, NOTABLY THOSE INDICATED BY DIFFERENCES IN SIZE AND SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS. TOPICS COVERED INCLUDE STRUCTURES OF SOCIAL ASSOCIATION; SIZE OF GROUPS AND NUMBER OF INCUMBENTS OF SOCIAL POSITIONS; INEQUALITY OF STATUS; HETEROGENEITY, AS OF RELIGIONS OR ETHIC GROUPS; MULTIPLE PARAMETERS; SUBSTRUCTURES AND EXCHANGE; ECOLOGICAL STRUCTURE; WORK ORGANIZATION; DOMINATION, A FORM OF INEQUALITY; AND A SYNOPSIS OF THE THEORY. A FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTIC OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES IS THE DEGREE TO WHICH VARIOUS FORMS OF INEQUALITY AND HETEROGENEITY INTERSECT; VARIATIONS IN THIS STRUCTURAL CONDITION GOVERN THE STRENGTH OF THE INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY. THE CONSTRUCTION OF A DEDUCTIVE THEORY OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE BOTH FOUNDED ON AND EXPLANATORY OF THESE QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS IS UNDERTAKEN. THEOREMS ARE DEDUCED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM TWO KINDS OF PRIMITIVE PROPOSITIONS: ANALYTIC PROPOSITIONS THAT DEFINE STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES (SUCH AS INEQUALITY OR PENETRATING DIFFERENTIATION), AND SYNTHETIC PROPOSITIONS ASSUMED TO BE TRUE ON LOGICAL OR EMPIRICAL GROUNDS (SUCH AS SOCIAL ASSOCIATIONS THAT DEPEND ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTACT). ALTHOUGH FINDINGS ARE CITED THAT SUPPORT OR QUALIFY THE THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS DRAWN, FUTURE RESEARCH IS SUGGESTED TO CORROBORATE THE THEORY AND ESTABLISH ITS PRAGMATIC UTILITY. APPENDIXES DEFINING MAJOR TEAMS AND PROVIDING A LIST OF ASSUMPTIONS ARE INCLUDED, AS ARE REFERENCE, AN INDEX OF NAMES, AND INDEX OF SUBJECTS, AND AN INDEX OF ASSUMPTIONS ARE THEOREMS. (KBL)