FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS pains to distinguish the sociological from the psychological Betlof analysis Durkheim is the archetypal sociologist be- {use institutionally he had fo be most conscious of what (would make sovology a distinclive science in is own right. ‘ecase of the highly centralized and elit system in whieh he ‘persed, Durkhein’s sociological followers were a relatively Shall group, and these were badly hit by casualties in the ‘World War Durkhelmian theory survived in France mostly 25 tn adjune to anthropology it was in the guise of socal nthro- ology, too, that it made is way across the channel to En- cena Buti the United Sats, with its mach larger soclogy epariments and general eclecticism, Durkheimian socology found e secure place, and it identity as an intellectual comm rity was assured. ‘We end out analysis ere in the early twentieth century. “After these promising beginnings in Germany and France, the ‘Gonvulsions of world police intervened to hand sociology over largely to the United States. The Nazis hated sociology, and. between their coming £0 power in 1933 and the end of World War Tl, German sociologists were either dead or had fled broad. The German occupation of France also caused many ecologists to fe; although unlike the Germans, many of ‘whom remained in the United States, the French (including ‘Crude Lévi-Strauss) usually eturned home ater the war. Brt- ‘Snr as we have seen, never did establish sociology in its core Scodemic system unt long afer this time. The result was that the United States became a mélange of world sodology and a mixture and development of different postions ‘Topether the wealth and huge unvversity system of the United ‘Sekes gave it# world leadership for atime in both theory and esearch I loo spelled the end of the distinctive national ta {dions, in that most of them had lft their orignal homes and migrated elsewhere ‘By the iopos, the world patern was shifting again. Vigor ‘ous expansion in the British and Europeen academic systems put soclogy on a new footing almost everywhere. But now it Fetime forusto turn Backinto the inner history of sodology—no Tonge to look at its ingtitationa bases, but at four of i great traditions of eas 1: The Conflict Tradition Sie te fate of at hing Big a vraag ‘hth tet cette cmon a he Band fe re ert, x30 26 Aine of thought going back many centres emphasizes soi cached tte toed oly con tase vents, but the perapecive & much broer and indus all of Sat goes on im society. is main argument isnot simply that tociety consist of confit, But the lng c tur when conflict isnot openiy taking place is a Sermon. won of Sl rer sina of gun and Tiduals tying to advance their own interests over thers whether of not avert outbreaks tke place inthis stuggle for “évantage. Calling this approach the conflict perspecive abit ‘ta metaphor. The word fuses on the Epo an iceberg. the Spectacular evens of revolution, war, of soil movement Bt apse eee “uboreinate interest groupe that ake up the larger Paro the tery merged lo aan is confit vision of society is rarely popular. Confit sociologists have visually been. an intlectal undergeound Prevaling views of one's own socety have seualy sessed Such mr eg i wht sed nS ee oun beings underpining the soil world, oF On secular bee Hes inthe goodness of one's rulers andthe chartable inten- aFOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION ° 8 tions of established elites. of jstiiations are ideslogis Groups hiding beneath them. To point # these Hace dng the posi expt of kings to analyze what happend te tee Seat eee tee aia soit ts out, obviously, does the record of conflict, of war, political uprising, factional ma- enieaean oe neuver and change. And tis tue ever fons ls wnting the "ot sally make One very ent has emerged over and History not of the state but of an idealizing institution like Newel th nl er eo ree rpc ist servers. We find it in Renaissance 1 Pe ree fe it trine—has nevertheless been the history of stage, factions, sec yes moe eng om rae ear ante oie vo yeas cer with Thocyaies lon xl, wing om Falta actions inthe niger soy. Heme, ecner mel the conflicts of his native Athens. More remotely, we kv of fists have tended to focus on historical materials and to be and of the ancient Chinese PhIOSOP ts have seriously tual tation might jst as well be called the “historical” or the Viewpoint lo emerges wherever ines peyerd cro “itor conte”tadion nsclogy. son Mat POETS OFTHE CONBLIT TRADITION ‘The Poot Peston of Karl Mars We could start our account of the confit tradition with many different thinkers. But for our purposes i i useful fo begin with Karl Marx. What is referred to asthe though of "Man Is actually more of a symbol than the work of one individual han hice emis Miran gle rome i ras Miacts he cova of stadt that red soir se aes “mn Seis than ay otc Irae beame the decene of pte cae rant teeta one ine sersutonry, bot ts ta vey ot wee Met Communit in Ruska in spry oat sebarquendy sooner are ‘Marxism has further had to serve as the statement of an official em Nin tase Estbishment Ars res Manon has gone ough many splits and variations corresponding to political disputes within the camp of Communist regimes and of revolutionary move. ments elsewhere in the world. These paltial connections and applications are part of Mandsn's appeal for some intelet als, but they are responsible for considerable repulsion on the part of others. For allthis, our concer here swith the inellee {ual contribution of Marsism toa realistic understanding ofthe world as a situation of domination and conflict. This means ignoring whatever is the orthodox or unorthodox socialist oF {Communist lin and concentrating on whatever ideas prove to tbe most valuable in the lineage marked by the name of50 our socio Marc” The very existence ofthe Communist regimes inthe rod tay ane the shape of hex own internal confit a Tarbe anderstood ifthe Marsan tadion had not opened op 2 lineage of confit sociology. 4 “Mace” ie a symbol, among other reasons, because he pul pee nga fcr ase cet yrs wal mewn, or emp any the philosophy of Hegel. Whabisruca about Hegel A a pte ts tan any pos. fearance Nes. eg we ost! het Gran TES hcp and gs um ae a seiy tier se ont on ene eed ear nung he sree Mitte c.g! had de tee Se lo ar epithe go ee eee eee Sinse Hegel (ke Kant before him) was defending the rll ss ee A rin em lpg scene, The SS Ec Sites wy sd meine Pie increasingly being reveled by the viewpoint of scence, Web ting Se chet pps md cat ce Spal ose Niman ai Ne ae gee end lm nt ny oe Fr ler et ty athe ao od tw Ee a et we ghar foo gh Sahara rere reer pears SOT A cls pm cee Me devcopent of he Spr uman co ‘iouanets inevitably went through 2 Bistorial sage in which out Sect pees fhe nero SP ee des of mater things. Ths because the Spit See te alerted tod reliever Sat Mantels fh flows wee er ppopae a Ma oe st, Bena, hugh the Spat ea Be ee ae eee so eee ear ete bain col bom Spi The ‘millennium would be achieved. ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 5 ‘As in all religious or quast-religious schemes, the endpoint of Hegel's system is hard to virualize in real terms. Hegel's earlier mysticism (formulated, tobe sue, in te heady days of the German national eforms responding tothe French Revol tion) gave way fo an ideological defense of the laws of the Prussian monarchy as representing some kind of historical and rational perfection. By the 18308 and #8408, when Marx was 8 student, Hegel's system was fairground for young Heras and radicals who wanted to take i much further. For Hegel, rel gion had been a progressive fore, pointing the way fo future history’ and the overcoming of human alienation For the "Young Hegeians” of the 830s and 1840s, eigion was cealy the tool of Prussian authortasanism and had to be exposed ot Arastially purified. Some, like David Straus, used new ental Scholarship to expose Jesus as merely «human historical figure; others, lke Bruno Bauer (Marys own teacher), ex. pounded a religion based purely on love without supernatu sanctions of conservative. dogmas. Stil others, tke Ludwig Feuerbach, attacked the entice basis of Hegel’ idealism, ture lng it upside down and insisting thatthe word is thoroughly ‘materialistic. The power of science, which Hegel hada tempted to outlank and contain inside his Healsticprogrer sion, nevertheless had continued to grow and seligion was no longer upheld by intellectuals but imposed by the brute force ofthe orthodox state The Young Hegelians were Man’ mies, HEUER their Jeading enthasiasms: theismand materialism But Marx was en ‘ambitious intellectual driving to move beyond, Unlike his peers, be was much more politicized. The merely intelectual, apelin Stance of the others aroused only his scorn, as did the soft hearted and utopian religon.of love preached by Bauer and Feuerbach, In atime when Hegel was being ercaed by fis peers, Marx defended Hegel as superior to those who came after him precisely because he had seemall ob history as haying 3 Jong-texm dynamic that moved through certain inevitable stages y and did not depend on the utopian schemes and wishful thine ing of the individuals ofthe time, Marx was als attracted by the explicit emphasis on confct in Hegel's scheme, This was built {nto Hegel logic, the technical driving fore of his system. 152 FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS the logical contradictions, which Hegel uncovered in every Philowphicll concep, tht produced 4 dialects and, hence, Ehanze For Hegel the story of philosophy was the key tothe Nor ofthe world sel Mars was ate regard this ype of shone a nei. Bt tne ny to Bemved tbe i nght Hegel had the world standing on ts head, Mane ha Eniyt turn i over upon i fet Ths; ke Feuerbach and ether materialist, Ma's msesalism retains Hope fll ie toca vir —ineveblecontsdcons srl changes, ages of evelopment, and wiopan outcome incded Hegsllanism was Man’ ist nels! acquisition, and it remained the base framework of his thinking throughout his ‘Greer Already in the early years of the 2840s, Marx ad ited Fegan to his poli! radical. An inevitable contra tion eveted in the matvl system of hi own day which Mould eventaly bring about the system’ downiall an the Ushering in ofa new stage, Logialy ofcourse might be that many mote sages woul follow before the end, but ike Hegel Nar belived that he woe living though (or nerf) the Anal tranition—the stage av which Raman alienation would Bnaly te overcome. It remained only to find the mechanisn by which this vould come about The wiopian and silennarian clement in Mare was to prove to bes weakness in his intelectual system. Butt dd ow fom two sepecte of Heya that pave # favorable impetus tothe development of «confit soclogy. One ofthese was the emphasis on confit elas a dving force, Though Hegel Atew primariy on philosophical and velgious history, he ne fribeesenssiidate Yo hi grand scheme of histone stages the relies of human comission. Ancient society (Hegel west thinking ofthe Greeks and Romans) he unsentimentally che- facerized as a world of masters and slaves, with medieval Ghrstanty as Lind of higbrous revenge of the slave men- taliy, Is only sep rom hereto case domination and con- fk. History, sald Hegel s'a"snughterbench a which the happiness of peoples have been victimized” Moreover he Saw'the confi and changes of word Risory as not rnd fut ae logical and inevitable. No doubt Hege’s own theory of the puter of these changer overstated snd eoneous, but THE CONFLICT TRADITION 3 Sa eo peers ets ca eee nme inaicmeennes eee mene Sec oe aeons tea the French historians onthe ov volutes, mene So rman, tre oS eee ao and Walras in the 1860s and 1870s. Iniltheielassical” a54 OUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS marginal uly: value becme defined ot in terms of what ‘Tuptlied goods and services, but in terma of the peychology of theca demand for then Property foo, wes cen ake {Hement in comomic teary, expecially i te cassia for Str of nd and a exp conront workers wha own no ing but their Inboy, whch they ave forced to sll to beep then sve alive: Thuse ico of producto’ were o become the uj cvs actors in ass chee, Marc ever fue a ed tate isn of harsh econo confit noch wring those or Thoma Matas and Dsvié Riardothey argued that the furs of the difernt economic cases ste tateraby op fused for Mattos for the overbreeing of the working [tes tat kept thei wages down to enratration level fot Reardo i wae the inevitble sorage of nd ht favored the wreath ofthe landowners tn mc rs eGo plenty ok ingen forbs oven vison of scl confit. To be sur, Re ced the box fro sconomits severely: for thei incaton towards he Bice of te copii and for faing to ae that the co anus “ews” merely eprseted the mortings of ene parc In period in human history Mars Hepea vionwanaated the conflicts ofthe cpt economy no conraisions that told bing about its doll ana Wanscendence by jet other peo system. ‘iter much serching and synthesis of iterent postions Mane produced the stem for wich be bad Been skin. He Thought together his revolsonary poli aims o found socom tat woud no be uepan bt invite i was HHeglan vison ofa srs of oral stages that were rive tprlonercontadcions toward find overcoming of ha enaton, Mans materia wer not merely sate but re Sued rom a dynamics ofthe explain ecomy that ro {ted cing, dae conic snd eventually revoltion. For sheer Steitecure of ntllctualconprehersveness, Mans yer is tstounding. lp ampresveness is sch a compe admire fon, quite shat fm whether it works or ot in the Tel troriahe doubt one Fesson why Mans Seas ave abvays enced flowers Pat by Mans ate rests on the point that nbor THE CONFLICT TRADITION 55 the source not only of economic value, but also of profit In a pure market system, operating under the impulson of supply ind demand, everything exchanges for its own value. Hence arises the conundrum: Where does profit come fron Marx answers: from labor, which is the only factor of production from which can be squeezed more than the cost of reproducing ie Thies, technically, the “exploitation of labor,” which meant ‘working laborers longer than the number of hours it takes to reprocice thei labor. But capitalist competition impels manu: facturers to introduce Iaborsaving machinery, which in tum cats their own throats. For profit sill comes only fom the ‘exploitation of labor, and the more that labor is replaced by ‘machines, the smaller the basis of profit becomes. The resul Schematialy sa falling rate of prot and a series of business ties. Across these crises, capital becomes more monopolist cally concentrated as weaker capitalists are deiven out andl ito the vans ofthe workers; simultaneously, productive capacity continaally exceeds consumer demand among the displaced and increasingly unemployed workers. Eventually the produc tie technology of the system is completely at odds with the legal property forms of capitalism. The ideological and political superstructare falls apart; economic crisis is followed By class confrontation and politcal evolution For Marx, the economic mechanism isnot the only reason fora materialist dynamic that produces Hege!s inevitable con- traditions and transformations. History moves as a whole; He- go's sequence of philosophies, eligions, and laws ae also patt {ofthe system, but in this case a dependent part rather than the driving source. Economics explains polite, law, and human culture. There is even a deep spiritual element in the whole process. The spiritual alienation bul into Hegel's sequence of Stages is completely taken up in Mar's economic eres. Just as the Spit Is divided Irom itself in the form of refed ideas of the material world that seem to press on the individual con- sciousness from the outside, in Marx's vision humanity is op pressed by a material world that is itself crested by humans Workers create the socal and economic world by their own labor and are then oppressed by their ov products, which sand over against them. Thus, the overcoming of capitalism56 FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS and the institution of socaiam is not merely an economic Change, but the historcal overthrowing of alienation. The ‘world created by humans finally comes back under thelr own ‘oni, ending the base estrangement of the sl. Fridrich Engels, The Soceoist inthe Shadows Cleay there is much more in Marc than what we would call Sociology Iisa tenia economics and atthe same time 2 Kind of metaphysice—a philosophy tat is both politically cnt {al and sts and that also eifers 2 quastrelious hope of Mltumate salvation of the human essence. All these features os the fat that they At together ino the posing architec ene of one ellencompessing system have been the gest trace Son Ma orcs someting oe a ave to say that these features ae something ofa snare and a temptation fom the path towards realist socoiogy. Not hat thew is no worthwhile sociology incorporated thin the Mar ian scheme, but thas been 0 lightly entangled withthe rest of the system that it as een been downgraded or overlooked nd the whole system fas been made to survive ofall on the Strength of ts phlosophialand_poltcl vison. Yet the exo tomes andthe philosophy ae acteal on shaker grou han the socilogy ‘iar be symbolic gure in yet another sense. Ii ype to refer "Male or *Marssn” when what actually meant isthe work of Marc and Engels. Some of the most imiporant "Mandan" works were writen by the two men together, in renork Keard’s economic system from the point of view ot only of searching forthe proletarian revoton, but lo to Take 1 consistent with Hegelian categories of contraditon, “enaion: andthe dali of the fndivial and the univers From the eal s8sor onwards, Marc worked on a massive projec in economics, of which Caplal was tobe merely one prton (alongwith volumes to cme on Landed Property, Wage Pour‘ Sia, Inetonl Trade, and World Mark. The vole sytem wrest be called Cru of Pll Eznomy, the Same eles Engels bie work of 844 that had started Mace Spon tis pth. i hs hetine, Marx published various ses of {ies work, including an introductory Contin fo he Critique 1 Pali Eovomy 859, and volume of Caplin 867. Even thi later wo ony one third ofthe fst sh ofthe whole reject though Engels posthumously got the other two thirds Er Copal thsough the presen 885 and 194. Almest 100 years itera fragmentary draft manasenpt known asthe Gnofrie fess published, #0 the adulation of admirers. But even this Enepoge segment was ony sll part ofthe whole. Cleary Mart ned set himcll lage task, which receded steaily t= trards the hovzon ashe phunged in evermore pedantic detail Into te section before him. Engels was ales pushing him to finah up and publeh more ul, bat Marx lacked Engels quale of turing outs quick and sounded overview. Itath fe oid the thousands of pages of Marsan economics, with ‘heir invlutons through complex Hegelian abstractions are 2 tedious mace, They woud be seer Boredom to read if they twere not enlivened by Mars poll erusade aginst api Env and his intelectual opponent, which brings the prose fo ie by its invective tinged with moral outage Te his comb tio of emotion with endless intlectsl abstraction that no dit impressed Mans contemporaries ab a sign of his genius, Sr continues tofascate those who choose all within is ome ‘ut to put the matter bluntly: Mans own personal aby: sinh isnot a place tht soclogy should be tapped. Ts Engels who breathed sociology into the vison, and iti En uns onn wings and those of Mar that were colaboratve THE CONFLICT TRADITION o with oF inspired by, Joint work with Engels—that delivers what sociology ea arn rom tis Mart iow The question naturally ase: Why Ad Engel face hin sat so dbbertly tore the lated petona of Mar? For one thing, Engels and Manc realy did converge in some of thelr ideas’ expecly inthe ealy part of ther carers bo fore Marc became alraborbed in s Hegebanized economic. Both men were young and ective revolutionaries; Enges act aly led the miary prising in his own town of armen in Germany in if48. fer the eclipse ofthe revolution, I Was Marx who kept up the underground politcal work, Becoming head of the Communist Interaton, while Engels conti tied os he could by managing he factory ant ecg Mares Randal support It was no doubt tis pola com miment, and Manx auch more forceful pol persona, that conditoned ther intelectual Wente, at las in public Moreover Marc was dificalt person to get along. wih. En gels was one ofthe few acquaintances with whom he dd not Bren i fact Engels war Ne one fal tend, Te terme of thee fendabip were simply the avoidance of any Ineetal Ginagreement tnd any over challenge By Engels to Mans pubic preeminence in thelr collboraton, Prtaps this even Sppeied fo Engels ata practical matter because Re way ster A outwardly s respecable busnees executive in Manchester docey: wheres bat put up not only with poverty bat with the dangers of the pula police and endless stnges with cemsrahip on the Continent. Engeis may even hive expr enced an inner satisfaction on intelectual grounds. Ara i was he who had Infiated the “clue of polit economy” fa the sytem of materialistic confit soctogy in the 184, fnd he must have had the eaisfctin of seeing Ms own pro- ject worked out trough all tedious deta by his tends Inor Finally a5 years tr, he wo able to stp back into the Intellect arena in his own right, bearing a oror les i Ihed product in hand. With Manx ck an then dea, Engels was let on center stage as a popular and infuental spokes fpewon with plenty ef tention being. paid fo he" own Thoughts ase took the aystem on new tangent, One might S39, atthe price of not receiving hs Tull cet, Engels asable to rap pleasant and sacral nlc cacer—to 8 ek peck: Lorsinan ace u meinen W one wise to py wth inbly one Cul ay tat he eros tier esas epeeatt cuir or might ter be caled un “Engle” ae wre ogee tl owe peta tia at on nero tn ore tmoromaril vein, Eng wee more wide ranging aswel tore socogtal Engas ane wing tat cu pid of so ths hough such oom tbe deco o rane, earch fae cylin Sam ‘treatment of the ori fe ofthe family and te tae, But Engels se as Bosc pts ere aa cath ergs uate Sane the propustire Seyeepunttl em crores cally adequate confit socilogy. OF course what Marc and En feb cd was an emergent prey. Macy who cotny bad Bln‘ intelectual foe and onegy, absorbed Engels cay nts amplled them, sd made tits ho owen canoe oe per tom Engels inven, he soso faded eas cena ceed who contabued ely what ia minor queston il pull ot themes Ut can be eed nga’ fi cae Dieta west are otal pcan nc of qual aici oer part At thet ang pa sighy myn "Engl inte place of en erendy heey mytiloged “Mane fest om paling ot the tend of htthowght at ake te most enduring contribution to sociology Sci asses are he center of Engel and Mars conception of ilop, socal tutes are comoric and, thus nent ons teria bse. But they are mich more than the bare ec. ogy of economic production. Casct are defined by a eral ind of socal relationship that tes together the materi deo- logical, and politcal sides of society. This is propery: the legal "ight, enforced by the state, over some material ood. Every major type of socety has not only its distinctive form of eco ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 6 nomic production, but ali its distinctive form of propery and, hence, of socal cases. Engels and Marx only sheched ot that these type of society and, therefore, fypes of clas ye, fem might be these should not be taken as absolutely fed ages, Dut as ilustrations of clas eytems. Ths, ances soe ties of the Mediterranean world (Grece, Rome) based thet production on. property in slaves. Honce the, mofer seal Stsses were the potcans—the cats of slave owher he staves themselves the major producers n that soy anda intermediate dao, the plelant “defined as those who ney ‘owned saves not were slaves. We can see already thatthe scheme is nota simplsie one. The saves sometimes rose teva, but the major form of cass concn seietsecety tvs tat between the lave owners ad the plans the ine mecint cs. Tbe these conic 28 We Wl bey 0 etree common in word ; Simla, “feudal society Engels and Marx's appellation forthe agraian states ofthe European Mile Ages based on productive property, consisting ofthe and wi ts bores legally bound fo Hence the main cases were the endown: ing aristocracy, the serfs who were atached fo the land, se finaly an intermediate dass of urban areas and merchante, with ther further subdivisions into gud masters joumeymen, Apprentices, and so on. Again theres the posit af sedge dhtions of propery divisions and, thus, of malpie dare om fics, Finally in capitalist socely—which isthe only society that Engls and Marx knew wel—the major form of property ‘nuts capital Hence, the major cases and dase ions are between the caplalistsvwho own the means o produc tion—and the proletariat or workers who own no propery af ther own and ae forced fo sell ther abr to say ae CGasses are the major ators onthe histovel sages the classes tat fight economic and polite struggles make al ances, and produce histocal change. Each cos has its own Galt, ts Own outlook. Hence, the eas and belts of cach Nstorcal era and each sector of socety are determined by it lneup of classes. should be stented that Engel and May ds ot present us with a mechanical conception clases Sawing from each mode of production. In the concrete Neerland64 FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS Fee at cing chats oy way ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 65 amy and government oficial: wha might be called predatory lates living off the superstructure, These classes wet ae Play an important role n neoManst theories of evcutes Such as thowe of Barington Moore, J, snd Theds Shogar Eng found these kings of pial dvs nthe ures clases of feudal society a wel he pointed outta ha Cor than nobly ofthe ine wos sharply split beeen te gs Prins, the upper ergy ne Calc Church was eal fd privileged propery owner ofthe time), andthe Sealy right. ‘The wers of the Reformation involved ot cal ping of peasants with an inp om armies of Betge oe wella an urban bourgeoisie or whom Marin Latheseee tnt spokesperson, beta thowe diferent coms of he nonce Sighting among themselves oer the property eangrmone of pen. Engels and Marx did not invent the concept of social classes was pat ofthe common ferminclogy of thar se Btn ancestors What they did contibute west began doy Of castes, to show ther cane and consequences, ee sar ss stronger on the side of consequences they showed oy say politcal struggle could be anljued int he conn ed allances among socal ses purving diferent economic fe feet. They alo proposed general Scher of ie are a socal cass, thay the condone uncer mhich they me Ths pe of th thary as merely Spgs a a siey worked out In general we sc thatthe pe of roe ‘pte of every ses catain mje cats disbne Bat the see that tere remeron) snes the ions that produce them and that turn ther ines pees ketone in das sugges have remained tps oe ao ped inthe tration confit socogy ater Engels so ‘TRE basic principe of materialism is that human consciousess "ston certain material conditions without which would nt esis, Marc and Engels stated this argument quite ery in heir fareers when attacking (and inverting) Hegelian ideahem, DatOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS suent goes beyond a mere abba im that he “su be ee den eect te rater base. st sey Porthos ofthe basic economy determining ast of eas. There sa ing tf prec tha tke acount of mele ‘sini cone and even the degrees of eae cae ec hens and Enger stat i Te rman. Fen epoch arethe eas othe ning as SEsine hey contol theres of ment prfaton me refined notions here One i that soil it ee te word in particle Way cases have = propensity ar ise Haya Eeonoscnterets and aso the scl con Maes Sareund these Inerent. cas as elo sre the a aro eng ones io of cng a= see epee Ste ea cen a oe he atorcy ofthe feudal ea, for erp a Seale of honor and loyalty. This rece tht rere din and also iplicty upheld thelr Pee Fre sc to own nd end to vee humble obedience iy me For honor” meant both bravery in cont from rea poltenesr to “honorable” opponents of the a ieides ano imple that “honor” came fom HI URE Reding an that excuded both mere prof tary ese ING hove of the merchants and aris a8 trl ab ty productive work Uke tat of the pessants whe ‘ofpchd' te Sma the bougense reat 2 ae se raefe"reedom, equality, “the eteral nights of man” Behind th tones anes wes cvs meng ae er si cide aqunt the herein aitoeracy,procain torn ered CSnmerce working fr Heng, and ig PY massages on wealth siitaneousy elevated he wn aa oy whieh knows no pede: put dwn he Tere Lae teep tne workers intel place By ing cha te aber nose of eat without mentoring wel eden of the marketplace was Sacked gan Tn poll bates, ferent ideas become the calling pont fk antagonistic cases Marx cat through the contending ra Face bere the 1848 revolution —the "Legit Fas oT eaned to reste the olf Bourbon monarchy, and ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION @ the “Otleensts,” who supported a rival royal house—to point to the sconomic interests that clustered in each camp the landed property holders speaking for “Leytimacy” and the new finsnee capitalists advocating the “progressive” policy of Cnicans, Poitic ie fought out in terms ofa code, which always must be translated classes rarely sail under their true colors, “The ideologies of the higher classes always reflect thelr own interests, albeit in idealized form. That is because they ave the capacity to control the material means by whic ideas tre produced. These are the means of mental production: the books, printing presses, newspapers, or church pulpits that announce the viewpoint of those who can afford to pay the bills Inteletuals, too, ae specialist in dens who nevertheless hhave to make a living by fiting into the economic structure of the time. In medieval feudalism, intellectuals could only hve tether by becoming prietts or monks and drawing income from the landed estates ofthe church, or by attaching themselves 0 some noble patron who expected to be entertained. That is wy intellectuals, although fre in principle to formulate what rer ideas they can conctve, nevertheless tend to create ie bogies favoring the clas that feeds them: medieval poets who fetal the noble virtues, or priests whose theologies declare the hereditary ranks of society ¥o reflect the eter order given by God ‘When an economic era changes, new forms of support for Intellectuals open up—the market for books and newspapers that began in capitalist England and Western Europe in the ‘pes, for instance, or the schoo! rystems with their demand for teachers. When intellectuals have 2 choice among alterna live mean of support, ther intellectual autonomy is enhanced snd they can formulate criticisms ofthe old order and even 50 fver to the revolutionary side. But this does not mean that ideas are simply free floating and autonomous: they always feflect the socal and material circumstances of intellectuals and become revolutionary precisely at those times—Hike the late ‘700s when French intellectuals were the harbingers and drum- beaters forthe coming 1789 revlution—when the material ba {Sof society and of intellectual production are changing. Engels and Marx never develope the theory ofthe meansFOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS intel production systematically. But the genera on ‘pton has been quite fal In later sociology Engels and ‘il were many conrad th the routon of pai Mcsogies: The theory of the material and socal conditions ppl to various forms of intellectual creation. Arnold Hauser me others have used to explain the changing forms of at Sat erste in ifferent Neto pesods. This ine of ought aso set of the sociology of scence, which began in the typos when Manust eens such a8 J.D. Bera, Joseph ‘Needham, and Boris Hessen afempted to show how science Zs only within cerainhislonal and economic conditions ‘Thats ol to say tht the sacology of scence has proceeded in 1 buetiy Manus direction, Rast Meron and others reece. the Magit challenge by atempling fo shew ihe inner none tive sal ganization Of scence nis own ight. Trvecent years we have gotten corer tos cOaception of science a Series of nese aes of nations: economic and Frleat systems atthe outside that under certain conditions Rome ofwhich we have ssen inthe Prologue) allow university Systems or research laboratories to exist, These in torn become intermediate layer of sodal and material conditions within rh ants and other intellectuals cm operate. But inside ths realm sclentsts canyon their own confi: they break p {ito separate networks atempting to explo particular Hinds of Iaboraory eouipment they teat ideas as “intellectual capt to be invested (inthe terminology ofthe French socoogist, Pen Bourdieu, and in Thomas Kuhn's words, they divide ii eovcrntvs dling te “prin ern nil ‘Sting out intelectual "revelations." Recently soclogss siho have examined what actualy goes on in scenic labor: tones point out that what is considered fo be "knowledge" s ‘Moped by the materia eng ofthe research equipment ise SMD by the ways hat results can be announced through the ateral medium of print. We understand now 2 good deal ror about the means of mental production and are moving ‘over to Engels and Mars am of showing ust how eat fect their material soa ccumstances T have considered the theory of deoogy in two oft off shoot the explanation of pla ides held by the dominant THE CONFLICT TRADITION 69 ‘lasses and the produstion of specialized ideas by intellectual, ‘The general theory of ideology has other ramifications as wel Ieimplies that each socal class has is distinctive culture and ‘outlook on the world, reflecting the socal circumstances in which it lives, This analyse of dase cultures, as we will ee, took on considerable refinements with Weber's concept of sa. tus groups, and it has been developed much farther withthe empirical esearch ofthe twentieth century. In Chapter 3, [wil Stempt to show hove even the Durkheimian tradition adds an Important link to the theoretical explanation of why diferent cdasses inhabit diffrent intellectual and moral universes. En gels and Marx, with their overriding concem for polities, did Zot go too far inthis diction, But they did contribute some Stmportant lads Th his discussion of the German peasant uprisings atthe time of the Reformation, Engels attempted to shove why the peasants had to put their revolutionary clalms in ¢ religious form. Mare took up Engels’ idea in The Eightenth Brom to explain why the peacants of France supported the dictator Louis Bonaparte agnnst the Paris revolabon, In both cases the ‘general idea is that peasants are immobilized and isolated in thelr tiny villages end farms. These material conditions kept the peasants from forming any conception of themselves at 2 ‘dass with common interests agtnst other social clases. ll they could See was thelr own local interests plus an unknown Tut hostile world outside, For this reason peasant conscious ness took the form of a mysifctin: in the one case, it con- sisted of roligious ideas about the impending millennium and the downlal ofthe Antichrist who ruled the world disguised 2 the Pope; in the other case, it consisted of & nationalist Inythology ebout the Emperor Napoleon who had come to save France. Both ofthese ideologies left the peasanis at the mercy of political forces they could not realistically comprehend From a theoretical viewpoint the explanation given by En 25 end Mars opened the Say to an understanding of some {racial mechanisms of class cultures, We can begin fo se that, All social classes do not form ther ideologies inthe same wa. Higher clases, which are beter nterorganized and can contra the means of intllectoal production, have Ideologies tat areFOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS mot teat and stealing atria dies have de ‘Sop that are much as serviceable a wespons fr thei own tment that nevertcess elect the mater condition of that own lives. We begin fo see tat there i ideolopeal stat fon and ieologial domination a well a sheer economic ful poiteal domination. We enter the realm where there 2 ‘eitonship between real violence and what Bourdieu cals “Symbol ielence” And we se the meditor Between these tw enime the socal and material conditions of everyday he that make up the means of mental production esas economies and socal cassesiare crucially inked. For the economic system is organized around property, which de fines Gasses, and property is upheld by the site. Property is not itself that is owned; the thing is owned by someone only because the state establishes thei legal right rt and wil Sct to enforce that claim with the power ofthe police and if need be the army. Marx and Engels in The German leviogy poke fn a bourgeois ideolgists who think that property somehow isan inalienable ight of the individual, having nothing to do with society, Pareular kinds of property emezge only in pat- Teular socal systems. The man who legally owns a piece of Tand but who has no capital to culate it has nothing, only possession ofa ftion. Paper money similarly is worth nothing Eralluniess one submits oneself othe conditions of the society that make i legal tender For this reason, any dominant economic class must be con cerned with politics. That does not mean it has to be concemed ‘with the day-to-day sunning ofthe state. Buti has to make Sure that the sate continues to protect its property interests fnd it wants the intervention of the state's power to help it hake even greater fortunes. The feudal aristocracy wanted the Sate to keep the pessants in line, but tals wanted the state to amy out wars thet svould ive lucrative opportunities for con {Quest to award monopolies on the profits of foreign planta fons, and to fax goods moving along the roads. The capitalist Ts even more entwined with the sate because it dex THE CONFLICT TRADITION n pends on 2 monetary system end on a complex network of Stocks, loan, interest payments taxes, monopolies and regula: tions lawyers, courts, and lawsuits We may conceive ofan inner and an outer fren of politics, ‘The outer involves the personalities of politicians, ther scan dale, their dramatic foreign policy crises, ther slogans of ne Lonaism, corruption, reiomm, lberalsm, and conservatism, The dominant economic das does not need to take an active part in this, although there is always an opportnity for the ‘wealthy to go into polis personaly. Bat Whe inne form, politics, too boring forthe newspapers andthe public gener ally, is what makes the class system operate: here there are {inle-known maneuvers between the teasury and the banks. the funding of public debs, the setting of contract law and Innumerable other technical regulations! Here the dominant class has areal interest and, according tothe Manan concep tion, almost lways get ts way Politics is struggle to control the state. In Manx and En- els conception, the dominant propertied class always ins this struggle, except in the historical situation vvhen the basic form of production is shifting. Then the polis! contol of the ‘ld ruling class breaks down and is replaced by a new class Here we have to distinguish between the way Man's economic system was supposed to work andthe sociology that Marx snd Engels attached to ft Mar's economic conception was thatthe internal contradictions af capitalism would bring about the con fentzation of capitalist propery, the growth of a huge unem ployed and underpaid proletariat, and eventually an economic iss so large thatthe only way out oft would be the abolition tf he system of private property. The economic prediction has ot yet come true; for various theoretical reasons, it can Be Argued that it never will Modern Manssts have generally gone another route to lok forthe causes of revolution, one whichis ot dependent on economic esis pers. It would probably be Iu tht ifthe capitalist economy Worked the way Mane sid it id, then polities would be overwhelmingly dominated by the ‘capitalist class unl the point at which an abrupt transition of ower took place from them to the politcal leaders of the Proletariat. In actuality politics looks much messer than thisn FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS Revolutions, when they have occurred, have alway had a anatve of ferent socal dares fighting Hout in complex CDalliens, Mara and Engels themlve, sehen they analyzed revlon of tha day, pad gst dal fate 2 the struggles between dle porsons ofthe captait cass (or fr ihe Reformation wars analyzed by Engels, struggles Sorcen ferent portions of the artocra)). In short Engels tht Mans socology i ch more reali than thelr conor ier rthcseeonons bad worked, thelr soclogy would jst ‘one more fywheel on the machine, gncing out political enue of economic processes. But the economics does not Cronk well that does not mes the politcal sciology shouldbe Toandoned Fr from it thelr poi sodoogy provides the Gpening wedge ofa relic conic theory that saplicale etn efstunons, othe arta conomicsetae they envisioned. The sociological Bywheel comes loose; we can eee economic mache enely ie xe. We ae sil {eft witha senes of principles that show who wins what degree olieal power, and why, The bourgeoisie need nat always srt becomes poole to explain the conditions under which sre get vvlous perl elon representation of workingrlss Tfrcfon, as well as cass epi In short we have a powerful {ol fornerstnding lhe ey en of oi ‘One crucial principle i hat per depends on the material conditions of mobication Te princple gocs back to Engels formulation of why the German peesnts could be dominated byt. The ena our ogee ses during the peasant revoke, they created armies many wes urges. than thowe of the nobles sent 10 fight them. Novethebss the nobles alvaye won. They did 0 by spliting the peosants, buying off one local group whe stacking er What the nobles had was superior means of mobil ti: they veere organized precisely as a group specializing in fongelstance movement and inteeommuniation, with their owes, their alliances, their familanty with military ma reaver, Just a8 the peasants could achieve only « mystified onacousness of the world outside their litle local worlds, they hed no material means for organizing themselves in polit ‘Combet. Mary slated the point even more forcefully in re THE CONFLICT TRADITION 2B ud to the French peasants of his own century they were Spl, he dedared, “ike potatoes in s sack" merely amped togciher externally but ner schcring any unity Tht meee 1a condone separated them and apt Wem font schring Sy Foes = Property owning clase dominates politically because it has more of the means ‘of poi mabieton, Capa, iss an interconnected system, Businesspeople or acely ‘engaged in trading among themselves, watching competitors, fsling loans, forming cas. Tpmsananc: ese andethe Basket ise ae meats of communkaton that ining tne ar ‘ist clas toa lone neon For ths reson he uses dss, especialy in is upper financial eels, sendy oe tremely wel organized. The businens de haya neresh 2 dispostl that ican easly se to enter polls when l want seething done. The working deen ofthe ar han ve Ho such nial means of rpaiatin. For thro take pe Prt, they have to make spec ers fo crete pele Srgaizatons and painstakingly ty to connect workers fom aiferent paces together ino common force, Ths although the workers far Sutmumber the business cite the pee eas of politcal mobilization ofthe ltr tends to pe the Balance’ of pola! power inter hands Ths together wih the upperclass contol of the mean of mental presucton in tedern sony the ownership of newopepertlevison nk ics, andthe ike~-means tha fay sal snes mney Gan isualy define pliteal nses fm ther own sa and fan political power far ost of proportion to ther nue er tis reason the capt aay hassel pre- feed some form of repubitan goverment. A democracy ‘ers tums out to be favorable fo business interes besase the business cas is most strongly mublzed to win the Srugle or power: One might ny tat the sane mater con dion that costae the basinese ste ef ae tes fame dinating te mere vt ring iar, ev few yeas ago ued ths pinche to help expan why an whee denon was crete rather than aoc! or scot fovemmens: we wil tke up ths and cer ramiation Mancand Engsv'splialsalogy teow | ue7” FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS ‘There is one other important reason hy capitalists find it relatively easy to dominate the politics ofa democracy, atleast Inthe matters of greatest concern to themselves. This i the im- portance of finances in any government, especially the national Feb Marx pointed out thatthe revolutionary government of France in 188 didnot daze put int effect any radical economic polices because its own solvency depended on the strength of the French currency. The banks held the government hostage because any policy that disturbed business confidence automat Cally brought unemployment, fewer government taxes, and {encaly exacerbated the problems ofthe government in paying {i bils. A government could ofcourse take over the banks and ‘Command what it wants by force, but ony at the cost of having the entre business system collapse. The government in relation to a capitalist economy i lke the ovmer of a goose that lays olden eggs only as long as iti treated well. Because a govern. {ent cannot survive unless it can fed its own army andits civil Servants, not to mention keeping the confidence ofthe general population, it needs to maintain economic prosperity. Any nits tothe left tend to be automaticaly selinegating Because they nus a reaction i the business comunity that creates a economic crisis, We have seen the same mechanism operating any times in the twentieth century: soclist and liberal gov- ‘rnments in Europe inthe 29208, o in Latin America through- tut this century, have fallen because ofthe rampant inflation that followed thelr taking office. In effect this means that any hall-way socialist reform is not likely to work. Only an ex ttemely strong evolutionary governmentean overcome the loss ‘Ot business confidence and the resuling period of economic er Sis by taking all business and financial affairs into its hands ime mediately and imposing a completely regulated economy. The scheme also explains the condinons under which the power of the working clas can grow. Inthe Commis! Mani foto Mars snd Engels pointed out that capitalism itself was ‘vercoming the isolation and fragmentation that characterized the older lower classes. Where the peasants were isolated on their lite farms, the very process of business concentration that took place in capitalism was bringing the workers to: iether, AC small businestes were bought out, increasingly ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 3 larger numbers of wotercame into ge faces where they ecame eae to organise, Not only tae anime bu woking das poli parsee wer foming eventual with he pope te of the boanes wend towed tre huge apo tae Workers would be brought into Conespendng cay’ tat would ly rae thet eng of numbers and overheat the aptalis The not cle what P pened, bt Mar and Enges swe py pt ne ional ew nd eve re soon night tack theoretical. Hltrealy, working eas ants Yer ated cepa tre tow connie gh ths id ot g afar at Mart and Engels oped Because the means of politcal moblzation als shied cr the ocs of monopolzsion sibized nan inermedste ye Within te big cplalatcaporatens tat enero ee ational sre aelfmobived tren gros o emp. te no diferent ayers. Below he top nangcaent saute Iie of fe wokars cameo soy he of conscctanes Based on tn pci concn’ of wort heres they ace tnittemadat pollo of ther own. Gude ese at portions and nterconneced wth hem tee row pace Wats of specalia and proteorls: sal nntatne oe, tigiees sacl! nyse mca pep; invent Servant, saderic italia, These eros prfeions have often in ther own way been eren more mized end fare inrconneced into netnris than even the bares his The mean of poll meblaton remain lingers What has happened’ empl though, ht they tos Have oiled age amber ocr credo tepatonal gros, Mademn pos ina of sping ne Aheshowdown of capa and workers hansen, ent ino the compen mancive ef many pane mee Haedisterest group Polis ha thus turned ote open Snot omnes con fact thas probably aivays been so. Engel nd Max roe brilianty on colton in hee analysis of eveutons Aha own time. This theory of polis sl appeal San, evento new ccumctancte dove te nk who ie sar ging fo be a any given time, but, tea, whtrl og te es on va and Engeis had genera conception of he revolon War ot ened ould bring sour the al downdall f say rhe im acai, But ther more vata the capi ca re found in thee pec Mistral des SPepc Sate revolutions ofthe ow tne alo, Engel grein the eveuonany aspect fhe Peat Seenrate Thc bate analy is that revolons efor ur phases becouse of wnt coins eming @ tuoush ear fcr The lower cones fen do te rg roe aha destcion of the od repine y th et an ‘dass, In 1789 and 1848 the proletariat and the «a petetcoste fought the bats ofthe upper bourgeisi or Freak asin the save the German burphess fought the ve Roman, catholic thites‘of the German princes agaist th arch cr Vhy ist that revolutions have this peculiar quality of false sae et taconite ners a someone de” We fave sendy = ‘the answer. The differential St sendy sen some parts of the Cont of te meu of the mena production stu th unser being sie t define what the revolution TRENT ana who the enemies are. The workers of peasants do Seiigtng but the ourget or the notes el them what the FR ng fo, Aso, resse hee a compe st ce i pvr, oatons frm snd interests get sb ae Ea them Calton sre nese Heol Be BEEN) nced some general slogans aound which they can tally. Thus, different social classes who may be at each other's Baer come ne at oer moments ave fo ally gether trata what they beleve ther common interest. In 288, seer mmts and Oven Candowners and plas) See A Seas eee ee ate een ee ee ree a oe Be | Seeger: eS ie eee ee ae See ee ee ee cee acca ees ren ree ee eee ee See ee ene Sree ee as eee pe mieten Sone Sa ee ee#8 FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS to examine not only the mobilization of different classes, but tle the conditions that break down the state in the ist pace nd open the way forthe revolutionary crisis. We will mec these theories below. thle sting pate. Engelo pt rand the concep of " sexual property out of women. Engels’s model of & rere, Selunery sages isnot foo acute, although he lid draw on the leading anthropologists of his time—a period Hane aaane rege of mattarchy intervening between primitive (Rerenanemard the Hse of patachy. But Engel attitude tribal societies to these class-stratified societies. sal 7 Fee ee captitfoclety and is private household only geve a ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 7 pcan oor eee ee a ee aera en aie eager SE see — etersBo {OUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS cation within contemporary society. Another aplication to ie the theory fo explin the histoscal differences among soe cs with diferent Kinds and depres of sex station ‘Theos such a Ree Lester Sumberg and Karen Sacks finda ‘elsonship between the degree of women’ sacl power and {feedom, and the extent to hich they contibate to economic oducion and manage fo contel their own economic pro Fes). This more refined version ofthe Engesan theory dos ™ fel estat al soc ot require a set sequence of evoltonary stages tics pass tough Dillrent Kinds of tal societies, for ex Simple, can have gret male dominance or various degrees of female power, depending om ther specific sexbased econ tres. Ih the ancient and medieval feudal) state societies, tromen's situs tended to drop bechise they were squeezed at of the core economic production although some arsto- tic women were able tor make gains where the system of tanta police gave theos contol Over propery. And in our Gown socey, the reative tats of men and women within each family strongly influenced by their avn economie postions. Women who have broken into the more lucrative carers have Boo tended t0 break the patem ofthe tadtonal mariage irarkt os well “Engels theory is pivotal because it emphasized not only cgznamc determinant of aya sal ett, bat ‘Ee sSuniced the phenomenon of sexual propert=-the prop trslte nature of tonto over sexually ie. This tne of Stulysis has developed somewhat separately from the analysis Ot eco factor sien au hoi of the plies of sex. Anthvopoleyist ike Claude LéviStauss or Sfamin Harris have developed “lance” thereof the fay Structures in diferent tbl societies, analysing the a8 ways inch sen exchenge ed plc nei ous together milla and economical. have applied this Sipe of alysis to the shifting patterns of sexual elaonstips that have characterized both the patriarchal househlds of tredieal agrarian socetin and the “Viclonan” pened ofthe Chriy modern mariage market, aswell a the teal tanslor tutions that have happened in the twentieth century and are Sl going on today [THE CONFLICT TRADITION 8 Sex struction is tpic that many soologits, aswell a her people, ignored for long tie, No male emale wot Seaton was seen becuse a male-dominated soil ander simply taken for granted. Engels was «plonserin bosgieg ee to ight as a queston for theoretical explanation, Mase tien It center hs death, ho ne fond aala of he iy, economy, and sex has begun to develop infos sopion, ‘cated general theory. Zi " Max Weler andthe Multidimensional Theory of Stratiftion Weber’ sodology soften seen as antagonist to the Marsan approach. Actualy Weber mote of stontinser one lace fheration ofthe historical confit tion nthe Gereen intellectual world, Weber was born in 18g and few ap mae Ie in the 1808 and 8505, which ib feecly the ood in which Engels and his olowere were making a Seger oc German ite fe, Mar had ben general union ing his own le, excep nthe revolutenary undeoroeny Bt in the 185m the Gorman sect party hace trons and following the Marist theory ay thet oe tine, had become a large force in German patlamentry pos is. The party itself wan parscpating in elecione and tency fpxdualy es revoluonary, tat i was tg enouga token fo support its own newspapers and part schous sa ven futtime policalrepeseratives It had segue the mated tas to support is own inelecat Thus tween Comary Mardin (maybe realy Engels) moved above growed and broke into the atention ofthe academic and ccc wos Weber was very much aware ofthese developments. His father was a member of another politcal partyin the Recheng At Bet, a bourgens party sepretenting tne hnge manent es. Prominent poticans, lawyers, ant seadentr meat he Home, and Max Weber ery bacaveprivyto the mance Tcatage power poltcs. Another inhuence came fom he Isher who was devouly religious ina Protestant deromina, fon. She urged him to takepart in Chasten sacl alfoeret cake: instead ofthe workers gang forms fr Cereeriics by dass warfare, the charitable upper classes pro ree re Gea’ mice ace Sache ay SOAs Gamuny He eros the pension of hp sm, especially in the academic-treedom fights we echt » gato future sol fom Se aiere eeehielion EET om that Mancha wed fori economic sytem, The sri aioneal periods of development of different types of fo Rincchold or manor economy, the putting-out system, lo Sree re Mery, epg oee hese re re Sy ac seroma ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 8 ceded capitalism and by what processes the rise of capitalism had come about, Weber also had studied and practiced Taw; he knew a great deal of the history ofall parts of the world — indeed far more than Marx and Engels could have known be ‘use the discipline of history was only geting underway in thelr lifetimes. Although Weber was not persorully religious, he was extremely aware ofthe religous motivation of people ‘round him and of religion as afore in past history. ‘One might sam up Weber's main theme asthe problem of capitalism, the same as Man's central concern. But where Marc was primarily concemed with the economic laws of capi talsm and with is eis and future breakdown, Weber wes oncemed with the background of capitalism, the puzzle of hhow it came into existence in the first place. Weber approached this not by looking for a sequence of stages, but bya world omperison: Why did moder capitalism emerge in Western Europe rather than in one of the other great Gviizations-= Cina, tnd, Rome, the Islamic world? Weber's sociology was an offshoot ofthis question. His sociological theones were an attempt to create the tools with which fo analyze the institu, tonal wnderpinnings of the economy, to show what forces fostered or hindered it in various societies. One might sy tht sconomics was what Weber wanted to explain, but his explana fons took him into the word of sociology, especlly ito an pprecaton ofthe role of political and religious factors, This isnot the only possible interpretation of Weber, Some commentators (uch as Talcott Parson), set him up as a kind ‘of feist fv opposition to the materialism Mars. Weber was, 23 the defender ofthe zole of ideas in history This schoo) focuses. on. Weber's earliest important work, The Protestant Ethic andthe Spirit of Capitalion (gay, which seems to get Ma on his heal Whereas Marx regarded religion a an Hdelogy reflecting economic clastes, Weber seemed 10 be Showing that capitalism itself was produced not by econornc Fnmes but by te infence a eligi ens the doco Pe fans to work out thelr anxiety over ther salvation or damm. fon, which was left in doubt by the theological doctrine of Bredestiation. At about the same time Weber also wrote an Seay in which he argued that the base method of the “humanSears capac ego etesrenal ee i le ores ote oe ——— a. See ene Fusical sal, turing music intoa kind of abstract mathematics, ec : er was a two-sided sword, interpreters Rationalization for Web Simultaneously an incense Informal procedures ox a under: tuning of substantive human capelty for consciously aciew- ingone's goal eset above las dtc re he drt po sy‘ ae jdgnent ard Bad tren coming fom Inany dierent drecione, Hs mulidimersona peropecive hale him fundonently 0 confi tears. For conic isnot "THE CONFLICT TRADITION 85 merely just one more factor among others, itis an expression of the very multiimensionalty of things, the plural of ir ferent groups, interests, and perspectives that make up the world. Ultimately the world does ot hold together ss one great social or metaphysical unity. Though there is consensustarel sclidarity inside some components of society, the whole ting, 's a mixture of contending parts. This is one important reson besides the specific things that Weber leamed fom the Mack lansfEngelsians, why Weber had such a fundamental eect in shaping the entre subsequent confit tradition in sociology Weber not only saw that theze are mulliple spheres, But aco that there is « struggle for domination going on inside cach tone: Economics for Weber is a clas struggle, though of sore ‘somplicated sort than Mar and Engels had seen, Plies yet apother realm of struggle, both among contending plicl ee ferests and between the policans and the econemic clases, ven the world of ideas is divided among itr own interest oups. Religions, for example, have thelr own’ infers Striggles—based on the social organization of the church i Seli—that divide professional theologians trom the “charch Policians” and these in tum from the pious followers: Been where Weber seems tobe defending the rutonomous influence af ideas, he contributes what may be seen as a sophisticated development of the theory of ideology. Weber consequently saw history as a messy, multiple: Sided process of confit on many fronts. He was ah enemy of simplified notions of evolutionary tages or ther nest patterns that theorists tried to impose on the complexities of letra tealiy. For this reason alone, one has t0 doubt whether he realy thought rationalization wat the "master tend” of hie tory: Was Weber then, an historic, a believer in the doctrine that there are no general laws, ony the endless unfolding of Notorcal particulars, withthe principles of each era difesing from the next? Often Weber sounded like this, expecially eas in his career when he was wating methodologeal pronounce, tenis. This would seem to make sociology impossble, sleet & generalizing science. But Weber actually left a way out, Hie Subordinated sociology tothe task of showing the clomcnls ont GE which history is made. For this purpoce he created ea!8% OUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS tents is a theory of how molecules are put together. Weber “ROSGals have earned otf be qut traced ae wf Swede ee os Weber oo aan thnee-dimensional: model of stratification, voce sabe aide sree ising 20 he changed thet model Cass confit for Toda condita finance capitals (whom Marx described in a te ee ye ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 7 soos, and the rill uprising ofthe 1608 involved consumers ttiacking ghetto merchants, For Weber cae confit three Weber's class conflict différsitrom Man's in a further and more crucial way. Mans cases are defined by ownership or Tonownership of the means of production, Webeeecices are_ defined by thei position oma matt. Recent Marian Iteonst reacting agenal Weber Rave ceed his scheme 2 putting satiation on the superficial level of economic Gictlaton rather than the basic lew! of economic production Nevertheless 1 would aay that tis a a tengih of Weber Inher than a weakness, For Man's scheme staches Cases fo Is theory of economics which the pat of the Manages system that hos proven lar realise a guide to Nistor range. Changes in the means of production orn the owner- Ship of tems do not follow the path that Mar had set fort, fetter since his day nor even inthe Nistor that wont before Moreover think that Mabe ond’ Engl tac acknowledged Ins whenever they wrote the acta! history of some politcal vent such asthe Pench Revolton of 188 In thowe cases they always eah with many more Gasser than the owes of producion versus the workers It fact the action eiays .Seniered on the intermediate castes and on various compl Gated splits In the upper cases the fnanders and td serene (whom Weber would point out were key to be a ss of debtor) a8 wells the ange and smal insta Weber built his dass theory on economic conflicts where they are most el toggle 1 contol a place on some Ma et For Weber, monopoly is not simply something that ferges ats lat sage of capitan, Ie i'n fundamental pro fess found throughout its History. Socal daases ee Based on ferent ways of trying o gain control over portclar market Imoney and credit, land, vvious manufacturing industis, Yasous labor sks. This both gives a more reais pictre of dss conflict at scslly happens, and also provides «general Aheoreteal concepion of the process of sunliaton The dominant aster are those who manage to achieve 9 tight Imenopolyon some lucrative market ese dominant cases get nly paral monopolies or monopolies in less desirable kinds—_—$_$ SS 88 FOUR SOCIQLOGICAL TRADITIONS rere come now 19 Weber's second taifation category, SRUGETE Tsrtiiation, Whereas dase are based on cold et capil En nel © di 988 OF to icc tinann emma oa RENN oc ee ee ee tha one tk, The Medieval landowners didnot jst hold ‘chivalrous manners, their knightly style of Ife, which pre i le ain a a eee re {THE CONFLICT TRADITION 89 munity, Moreover the statue group reacts back upon the e beesuse Galan came tthe Durthelnian theory f socal uals, not om condi theory. tall But as my. Confit Secaogy (973) atlempts to Show in etal potting together Dalen! snd Gotimars trodes enables ts to expan fail rigorously why different Sinaes Have the kinds ef outlooks that 0 mach empl ev dene lo ws they do eee ‘One other sgn that the power-confkt model is funds antl was provided by a succes theory of he dstbtion Tet tar ek ert rae Ga) se fiat major comparative analyst ask dhe. question: What fondlfons determine whether sect wove ve ne Stra degree of evonomi ineyoaiy? Lenski examined a ‘oper of socetes, ranging om huntng-and-gahering tbes Gr through the gest agrarian (nedevelotye) empires and the modem inden societies, He showed that a5 the mount of economic surplus increase, theft wealth sin Sresngly dtnbuted not by economic need or by productive ontribation, but bythe orgenzation of power. The most se Sire inequaites ocur where thee te 2 sable surplos and There power i oe concenred. Histol, the most ar Ghul soli fit tis description they re the agrarian em pres, where the economy produces # considemBle surplus ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 105 but where the military aristocracy, the only poially mobi- lized group, appropriates virtually all of i. in industrial sok etis, the distrbution of wealth becomes somewhat more qual, precisely to the degree that there has been poli! revolution that has glven more power to the masses’ of the population. tn capitalist countries, t has been mostly the Iniddlle and upperside dasses that have been the Beneficae Hes of this power shift In countries where there has been Polit! shift towards. socalism, as further research ‘has Shown, the degree of inequality is reduce sil further. To the texte that inequalities remain in the soclist stats, i is not because of ecanomik property but because of concentration of [power in the hierarchy of party officals. The Lenski and Dah Fendorf models together, thus, throw considerable light not ply on inequality in modern capitalist sates, But also.on the fuite apparent cass divisions and conficts that have been fg0ing on in Poland, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere We have already seen in the discussion of Marx and Engels how fruitful their model has been fora sociology of politcal Conflict. As sociology began doing survey research in Ne 408 land thereafter, it inevitably had a rediscovery of many ofthese insights. Seymour Martin Lipset (in his youth a Mars, though he later moved sharply tothe right) summarized the ‘evidence of the class influence on politics by calling elections the democratic class struggle.” Social classes have. been among the most essential dividing lines in explaining how People vote, although the other dimensions that also predict politcal atitudes are often versions of Weber’s status groups, Social class has been shown, moreover, to strongly affect the ‘mobilization of people in modern politics, The conservative patties have not disappeared in moder democraces, even hough they represent only a minonty of the people, because their higher-lass supporters are mach more likely to vote, 10 oniribute financially, and to be active in party affairs than are the working dass supporters of the mote Iberal parties, The-ADITIONS 106 FOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TR tml mene of acon athe ashlar pr tiaeal power Altough the more spe re eee ED Ea wat verceonaryupiargs el con rere “recure sabato equal? a ee de cnt goon eg lectin ove. : Tag hc nla gow concin he ens at the nat ne dt vor aa Go tng ere oy ‘erase etl Gatos eed a ete cena edatiton™hee have 2 et cae einemei ine Mar nd ee ean neaicorming pati, bth Be voluionary working ass, The question that as been a SS Shatter ip ao en re yr go Unde vat onions does rode ‘Soom an whe aes? For that mats, when does slots an whe ris cxegag inte ket ore in ca eccg hare made conmenle cay on tas usin, : eye fh nays eat with he el pase apna eeceanton a he ep enon in the ern eeepc athe snes ele seca et ot arr Soci and renee jr apne meter op on Mts loath cpeie mat Pan obilee socal dasss. Hence made a eat deal of a a el reed ta cone aes oe done by some feuds landowner The French Fe ested pera tee om nd. But + Regen of 2 See Ee fore bt conserve a Same ep yoy monpal psion ey aa a ek fran ye tad owe SESENITETa plod thane ama farmers ee Trent betas pea mtn ee men ar ty and ine occ ode elim polices of the workers, which the farmers regarded 3 a Fo ng te eee of hone ea Paradoxically, Moore pointed ou, the establishment of modern democracy proceeded most smoothly in countses such a5 Em sland where the landlords drove the peasants off the land and foto the cites, where they were then transformed from a reac tionary force into a liberal one, The worst possible outcome, ‘Moore argued in his Soil Origins of Dictorship and Demeeracy (96), is when feudal lords keep the peasants on the lanl and force them to produce goods forthe market by an intensfica fon of traditional discipline. This isthe formule for fascism, Which developed in Germany and Japan, Finally, there is also the possiblity of agricultural workers going radial. Ths hap [pened for instance, in China, where the peasants dd not own fhe land, but had to pay rent to absentee landlords, The result was that the peasanis were let to absorb the pressures of the imarket while being squeezed by landlords who demanded rent Jngood times and bad. Peasants in this case reacted by support ing a movement to overthrow the entire property system nCraig Cahoun's bok The Question of Clase Srugele 2982), this type of analysis is extended to urban workers as well Marx fand Engels expected that the coming together of workers in factories would make them “capitalism's gravedigner,” revel Snares mobilizing to bring down the eytem. But their socio: ‘ony of politcal condit was not quite sight on this point. For factory owners themselves are the mst directly exposed tothe ‘ark, end itis this market experience that mobilizes them and ‘makes them politically active and aware oftheir national inter fests, whereas the workers are somewhat shielded by the organ zation itself. The:workers, dhs, ight thelr class bates within theficory tel, ving for beter employment security and for tetra! They ot ec tick on the institution of property tse thelr basi stance ‘Becomes not radical and socialist, but lca, trade unionist, and it ‘The real radials, Calhoun points out, were those workers Who were most directly exposed to the market, These were the small craft workers, seleemployed artisans or thove In omesic enterprises who were involved in the “puting out108 OUR SOCIOLOGICAL TRADITIONS system of working up rave materials sent to them by mer Chanrentrepreneuts. For them, there was no cushion against ‘ononie downtuns, which could immediately dive them Gat of busines, Moreover the erat workers had no loa! memes they could fightenemies nthe form of factory mers and bones, They could not fight for organizational ‘Rionns becuse they didnot work in someone es's re Fattn, instead, they hod to diet thi potest against the wihole system. twas these workers who made up the radical Troverents Manc and Engels observed in the eaty 160, the dlcades of thet own youth, and who convinced them tha a Sanger adc socialist movement was in the offing Ths snot to say radial socialist movements cannot reap- pear at later tines, Bul Calhoun’ ype of nays iin keping ith the general growth of modern sophisticated confit the br. Organizations ave capable of containing and ocalzing diss cont ust as they crate and shape new conics of ther own, Fora fulsmlerevlstonary wanslormation ofthe system tower, we need to look beyond the lcaized conics tse forces tat fos confit on be eel of the eer oper system Heli And ts brings us again to that dome Rant auperorganization, that upholder of property through is tneans of exerting fore the sate Teast 30 yeas, ight up tothe tine in which we are now ng. estcenmany fhe fintand ont amows projecn tr SGalgy everatenpted Ihave sendy mented some SS high pons the subes of Cts confi and hee othe mtn Ste by Bangon Mare any Cg Cabo ee Tvs suds of revolute) socal monements tha frolued No resource moblization eory, Gerard Leaks EEmpaative mde equally arom al of word Noy. For seat years, we ean add sil’ demonsteton thatthe modem ‘sre Send eet ome bec oe way ey ined conte of economic sours o bald tha lary or Stmnnton. Another ump of ato sociology Robert ‘THE CONFLICT TRADITION 109 Wuthnow’sanalyis of how threb-sided conflicts between the State social elie, and cultural enreprencur used the peat idelogcal movements sch a the Frtetant Reformation the Enlightenment and Sodalsm, inevitably the velit tretnea of history has led ino the paths of cont soalogy. Tn eee Works, the themes of Marx and of Weber have oes togethcn Some comparatvehistorel work has sajed costo ¢ Marian lent. This includes the Bitch scilogit Peny Ane derson’s Passes from Anti fo Fea apa which Gaees the disncuvenesso he West ot only tocapsion butane ote foundation upon the dowal ofthe ancent Roman ompte The tmost ambitious of these projet te Immanel Wallets The Maer World Sytem, thie Volumes of whch have been pub lhe between 1974 nd 198. Wallerstein’ works perhape the dhsest toa clase Marian interpretation In that he oad eo. omic processes and contraitons ss the dng engine of fy. But he dfers om the dase Marvst met! i that the cmon is located oe mihi any pertcula sat but ope, tized as a world economic sytem, witht long-term eyes of Spansion and contacton. These ling wave abl econec boom and depression king over 200 years ach, ae connected ‘sth imperial towards the periphery in lr upewings se drih was among the core power in the downswings bey About the hegemony of shew sae, Walesa poet ac Yet inshed Already it promises tobe the grandest one ot Comprehensive view ofthe mechanisms ta ve human so tte snce Weber's comparative studies of the word welgfons fn Weber's projec was only ragment never ished se cane teh Wiles the mest “ros Mann” major Historalcomparatve tocol of today. | ‘ld sill maintat-that te logic fhe worl syste lee a Weber crecsonhe miliary hegemony ofthe co sae te key device by which they r¢ abe To dominate the word #ystem economscally, andthe Gueston renalns unseted we it which of the core states wins hegemony at each shows down period would suggest tat ther tn fetes proces of the geopaial relations among sates themselves at det mines these things. These imeve such factors ss te shes