Stratification and Power

This volume presents a systematic discussion of the leadingtheoretical approaches to social stratification. It is both anaccessible overview and a distinctive contribution to the analysisof class, status and power.

John Scott argues that Max Weber's conceptual framework -reconstructed and enlarged - provides the basis for integratingwhat have been considered up to now as divergent approaches tostratification studies. Marxist theories of class and economicdivision, normative functionalist theories of status and culturaldivision, and elitist theories of command and authoritariandivision all find their place in the proposed framework. Eachtheoretical approach is illustrated through empiricalinvestigations undertaken by writers associated with them. Recentwork by Dahrendorf, Wright and Goldthorpe is also examined, and itis shown how their arguments contribute to a theoretical synthesisin the analysis of stratification.

Stratification and Power will be much appreciated by students andacademics alike in the social sciences. The clarity of its styleand the significance of its contribution have made it a leadingtext in its field.