StandReconstructed: Contingent Closure and Institutional Change

Abstract

The process is traced whereby crucially important, multiple denotations of classical sociology's key notion referring to social position-the Weberian German concept of Stand-have been stripped to create a simplified and inaccurate representation of social inequalities. Some historical material from central Europe is surveyed, with a brief look at Japan, to demonstrate validity problems created by blanket application of the culturally specific, streamlined notions of status0class. As an alternative, a notion of contingent social closure argues that relaxing the modernizationist assumptions of a single transition from estate to status0class increases the comparative-historical sensitivity of research on social structure, inequality, and stratification. A dynamic reading of Polányi suggests a reconceptualization of institutions as the "raw material" of social change. This might help to avoid the outdated contrast of the "West" vs. its "Others."

Formation and Stabilization of Vertical Hierarchies among Adolescents: Towards a Quantitative Ethology of Dominance among Humans

“…Weber wrote extensively about "Stände" as a social form, drawing on the "estate"-a social group with specifically recognized legal privileges particularly important in Prussian history-though somewhat generalizing it (also see the discussion of Böröcz 1997). It was an Americanized version of this that entered American sociology as the "status group."…”

Ami kinn, az van benn

“…(Böröcz 1990(Böröcz : 66, 2. vj., 2017 (Böröcz 1990(Böröcz , 1992c(Böröcz [1992(Böröcz ], 1995(Böröcz , 1997a(Böröcz , 1997b(Böröcz , 2000a(Böröcz , 2000b(Böröcz , 2001a. Ez a centrum-félperiféria különbség az adatokban (pl.…”

Intersections. Eejsp_vol2_no2

“…In terms of the well-known Polányian "mosaic typology," (Böröcz, 1997;Bodnár, 1998;Bandelj, 2012) it is possible to think of the variable called "Social Contributions" as an empirical measure, expressed as percentages of the Gross Domestic Product, of the amount of economic value the world's societies allocate for large-scale, macro-societal redistribution by the state. The purpose of this paper, then, is to draw a portrait of the global distribution of the world's societies according to their practical commitment to redistribution.…”