The Blackwell dictionary of modern social thought

THE BLACKWELL DICTIONARY OF MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT

THE BLACKWELL DICTIONARY OF

MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT Second Edition

EDITED BY WILLIAM

OUTHW AITE

Advisory editor Alain Touraine

•A

'-�

Blackwell Publishing

© 1993,1994,2003,2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Editorial organization of the first edition© 1993, 1994 by William Outhwaite and Tom Bottomore Editorial organization of the second edition© 2003,2006 by William Outhwaite BLACKWELL PUBLISHING

350 Main Street,Maiden,MA 02148-5020,USA 9600 Garsington Road,Oxford OX4 2DQ UK 550 Swanston Street,Carlton,Victoria 3053,Australia The right of William Outhwaite to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright,Designs,and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording or otherwise,except as permitted by the UK Copyright,Designs,and Patents Act 1988,without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 1993 Second edition published 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd First published in paperback 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for ISBN-13: 978-0-631-22164-7 (hardback) ISBN-10: 0-631-22164-6 (hardback) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3456-9 (paperback) ISBN-10: 1-4051-3456-9 (paperback) A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 9/11 pt Ehrardt by Kolam Information Services Ltd,Pondicherry,India Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd,Padstow,Cornwall The publisher's policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore,the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com

Contents

Preface Note

Vl

Vll

Contributors

Vlll

Introduction

XV

Dictionary Entries A-Z Bibliography

751

Preface

This dictionary first appeared in 1993, as The Blackwell Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Social Thought. It was one of Tom Bottomore's last projects; he died in December 1992, at the early age of 72, just as the Dictionary was printing. Tom's many books and articles have served and still serve as a uniquely lucid and reliable guide for generations of students of sociology and the other social sciences, and his contributions to this Dictionary, as well as its overall conception, display his characteristic sense of the range and diversity of social concerns. Social thought, as we both conceived it, is empirical as well as normative or speculative, cultural as well as economic and political. In revising the dictionary for the present edition, I have retained this broad focus, rather than reorienting it towards the individual social sciences on the one hand, or a more delimited conception of social theory on the other. Many contributors accepted the invitation to revise their entries, though as many replied that they had nothing to change, or only minor bibliographic details. This is in part, of course, because the original dictionary went to press when what]. H. Hexter, in his entry on history, called the 'short' twentieth century, running from 1914 to 1989, was already over. The dust of state socialism, symbolized in microcosm by that of the Berlin Wall, had already settled. The Cold War, which had threatened the globe with a nuclear winter was over, though it was already clear, as the world was again reminded in the autumn of 2001, that the post­ Cold War 'order' is also dangerous and unpredictable. I would like to thank Alain Touraine, Peter Dickens, Simon Mohun and other colleagues who gave valuable advice and help with this edition. I dedicate it to the memory of Tom Bottomore and of our former Advisory Editors, Ernest Gellner and Robert Nisbet. WILLIAM 0UTHWAITE

Note

A dictionary of modern social thought must necessarily range very widely, from the social sciences to philosophy, political theories and doctrines, cultural ideas and movements, and to the influence of the natural sciences. In compiling the present work we have tried to encompass this vast field by commissioning entries on three themes: first, the major concepts which figure in social thought; second, the principal schools and movements of thought; and third, those institutions and organizations which have either been important objects of social analysis, or have themselves engendered significant doctrines and ideas. Much of the dictionary is devoted to particular bodies of thought that have been influential in the past century: individual social sciences, philosophical schools, political doctrines, distinctive styles of art and literature. In each of these cases a long general entry is supplemented by other entries which elaborate specific aspects of the ideas and theories involved; thus, for example, the entry on economics is further developed in entries on the diverse schools and concepts which have emerged in economic thought, and similarly the entry on Marxism is complemented by entries on various forms that this body of theory and doctrine has assumed. Indeed, all the major spheres of social thought have developed and proliferated historically, and we have aimed to incorporate this historical aspect, reaching back in many cases to the ideas of earlier centuries. Each entry is followed by a short list of further reading, and there is also a general bibliography at the end of the dictionary which lists other books and articles referred to in the text. The author-date citations in the text generally refer to first editions or first appearances of the works; dates of subsequent editions are given in brackets where applicable. While each entry is intended to be complete within itself, cross-references to other entries which would illuminate or extend the subject under discussion are signalled by the use of small capitals in the text. WILLIAM 0UTHWAITE ToM BoTTOMORE

Contributors

Philip Abbott

MicheleBarrett

1Vayne State Unic,ersity

and

College,

'\Jicholas Abercrombie

Lancaster 'mwermi!

D. J.Bartholomew

London School!{(Economics

Hugh G.]. Aitken

Amherst

Kaushik Basu

Martin AI brow

Delhi School of Economics

London

PatrickBateson Uni versi �y ofCtzmbridge

David E. Apter Yale University

A.Beckford

Anthony Arblaster

University ofTVarwi•·k

Universi�y of Sheffield

LeonardBeeghley

David Armstrong

University of Florida

Guy's Hospiml, Unic>ersi�y of London

ReinhardBendix t

Giovanni Arrighi

State Unit>ersit y

GeoffreyBennington

York at BinghamtMl

Universi�

MichaelBacharach

TedBenton

Christ Church, Oxford

University of Essex

PeterBaehr

Lingnan University,

Kong

HenryBernstein

Institute

PatrickBaert 1'"""b¥"'"

Christopher]. Berry

PaulBailey

unwersttv of Glasgow

Ui1iversity 11fEdinburgh

DavidBerry

E. DigbyBaltzell

;mcnt'r""'

Un·ivenit:v ofPennsylvania

Tuhnology Institute,

Salford

ofWarn�ick

RodneyBarker

London School of Etonomics Alan Bamard 1Mr71rr·"'"

University

of

Centre forCritital Reali>m, London NlichaelBillig

CliveBarker u•rrm"""·

of Sussex

RoyBhaskar

Lorraine F.Baric

biformation

Dec>elopment Policy and }vftmagement,

University o{it1auchester

ofCambridge

ofEdinburgh

Loughborough Universi�y KenBinmore m1nnm11

oflvfichigan

MildredBlaxter

School ofEconomic and Social Studies, [Jniversity of

CONTRIBUTORS J osef Bleicher

Elwood Carlson

Associate Member of the Theory Culture � Society

University of South Carolina

Centre ]. Blonde! European University Institute, Florence Stephan Boehm University ofGraz Peter]. Boettke New York University Tom Bottomore t Gerhard Botz Institut fur Geschichte, Universitiit Salzburg Raymond Boudon Groupe d'Etude des Mithodes de !'Analyse Socio­ logique, Universite de Paris-Sorbonne Margaret M. Braungart State University of New York Richard G. Braungart Syracuse University E. A. Brett London School of Economics Asa Briggs Sussex George W. Brown Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Rogers Brubaker University of California, Los Angeles Hauke Brunkhorst Institut furGrundlagen der Politik, Freie Universitiit Berlin W. Brus

IX

Terrell Carver University of Bristol Alan Cawson Sussex Gerard Chaliand Paris Simon Clarke University of Warwick IraJ. Cohen Rutgers University Selma Jeanne Cohen New York David E. Cooper University of Durham Lewis A. Coser t Bernard Crick Birkbeck College, University of London Roger Crisp St Anne's College, Oxford Ian Crowther Literary Editor, The Salisbury Review Fred D'Agostino University of New England R. W. Davies Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham MeghnadJ. Desai London School of Economics

Wolfion College, Oxford

Torcuato S. Di Tella

Alan Bryman

Buenos Aires

Loughborough University

Marco Diani

Tom Burden

Centre d'Analyse et d'Intervention Sociologiques,

Leeds Polytechnic

Paris

Colin Campbell

Peter Dickens

University of York Tom D. Campbell Australian National University Julius Carlebach t Allan C. Carlson Rockford Institute, Illinois

Social and Political Sciences, University of Cam­ bridge J ames Donald University of New South Wales, Sydney Fran<;ois Dubet Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

x

CONTRIBUTORS

Bohdan Dziemidok

Margaret Gilbert

University of Gdansk

University of Connecticut, Storrs

Andrew Edgar

Hannes H. Gissurarson

University of Wales, College of Cardiff

University of Reykjavik

S. Eilon

Peter E. Glasner

Imperial College of Science and Technology, London

University of the West of England

Peter P. Ekeh

Frank Gloversmith

University of Buffalo Pascal Engel

Centre de Recherche en Epistemologie, Paris Helen Fein

Cambridge, Massachusetts Joseph V. Femia

School of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool Zsuzsa Ferge

Institute of Sociology and Social Policy, Eiitvos Lorand University, Budapest Rubem Cesar Fernandes

Instituto de Estudos da Religiao, Rio de Janeiro Robert A. Foley

University of Cambridge Tom Forester t Murray F. Foss

American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington DC Lawrence Freedman

King's College, London Christopher Freeman

Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex R. G. Frey

Bowling Green State University Diego Gambetta

University of Oxford David Garland

University of Edinburgh

University of Sussex Jack A. Goldstone

Centre for Comparative Research in History, Society and Culture, University of California, Davis Stanislaw Gomulka

London School of Economics Peter Goodrich

Cardoso School of Law, New York Robert Grant

University of Glasgow S. J. D. Green

School of History, University of Leeds Roger Griffin

Oxford Brookes University David B. Grusky

Stanford University Anne-Marie Guillemard

Universite de Paris IV (Pantheon-Sorbonne) Peter Gurney

University of Glamorgan Peter Halfpenny

University ofManchester John A. Hall

McGill University, Montreal Charles Hallisey

Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University Norman Hampson

Emeritus Professor, University of York Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap

Ernest Gellner t

University of East Anglia

Norman Geras

Gwyn Harries-]enkins

University ofManchester

University of Hull

Naomi R. Gerstel

Laurence Harris

Department of Sociology, and Social and Demographic Research Unit, University ofAmherst

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

CONTRIBUTORS David M. Heer

V. G. Kiernan

University ofSouthern California

Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh

Arnold Heertje

Richard Kilminster

Universiteit van Amsterdam

University of Leeds

XI

Andnis Hegedi.is

Alden S. Klovdahl

Budapest

Australian National University

Adrian Henri

I. S. Kon

Liverpool

Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, Academy of Russia, Moscow

John Heritage

University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles

Krishan Kumar

]. H. Hexter

University of Virginia

t

Susan Himmelweit

Jorge Larrain

Open University

Universidad A. Hurtado, Santiago, Chile

Barry Hindess

Gerhard Lenski

Australian National University

University ofNorth Carolina

Paul Quentin Hirst

t

Charles T. Lindholm

Boston University Barry Holden

University of Reading Martin Hollis

t

Alain Lipietz

Centre d'Etudes Prospectives d'Economie Mathema­ tique Appliquees d la Planijication, Paris

Axel Honneth

Peter Lloyd

Universitiit Frankfitrt am Main

University ofSussex

Leo Howe

Eero Loone

University ofCambridge

University ofTartu, Estonia

T. W. Hutchison

Alfred Louch

Professor Emeritus, University of Birmingham

Claremont Graduate School, California

Richard Hyman

Terry Lovell

Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick

University of Warwick

MarieJahoda

New York University

t

Steven Lukes

HansJoas

Francis P. McHugh

John F. Kennedy Institut, Freie Universitiit Berlin

St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge

TerryJohnson

John Spencer Madden

University of Leicester

The Countess ofChester Hospital, Chester

Kay Junge

Michel Maffesoli

Institute of Sociology, Justus-Liebig-Universitiit Giessen

Universite de Paris V (Rene Descartes)

Mary Kaldor

Peter T. Manicas

University of Hawaii at Manoa

London School of Economics Patrice Mann Haider Ali Khan

University of Bordeaux

Graduate School of International Studies, University ofDenver

Peter Marsh

MCM Research

xn

CONTRIBUTORS

David A.Martin

John E. Owens

London School ofEconomics

School of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Westminster

AliA.Mazrui

State University ofNew York at Binghamton UlrikeMeinhof

University ofSouthampton VolkerMeja

Memorial University ofNewfoundland ]. G.Merquior t lanMiles

Programme ofPolicy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology, University ofManchester DavidMiller

Nuffield College, Oxford EnzoMingione

University ofBiocca, Milan Kenneth R.Minogue

London School ofEconomics SimonMohun

Queen Mary and Westjield College, University of London MaxineMolyneux

University ofLondon RaymondA.Morrow

University ofAlberta MichaelMulkay

University of York EleanorM. Nesbitt

Religious Education and Community Projut, Univer­ sity of Warwick Robert Nisbet t Peter Nolan

School of Business and Economic Studies, University ofLeeds Roderick C. Ogley

Emeritus Reader, University ofSussex John O'Neill

University ofLancaster Sarah Norgate

The Open University Geoffrey Ostergaard William Outhwaite

Sociology, University of Sussex

TrevorPateman

Sussex GeoffPayne

University ofPlymouth DonaldPeterson

Cognitive Science, University ofBirmingham TonyPinkney

University ofLancaster Jennifer Platt

University ofSussex KenPlummer

University ofEssex JonathanPowis

Balliol College, Oxford VernonPratt

School of Independent Studies, Lancaster University AllanPred

University of California David L.Prychitko

State University ofNew York, Oswego DerekPugh

Business School, Open University Terence H. Qualter

University of Waterloo, Ontario Ali Rattansi

City University, London L.J. Ray

University ofKent at Canterbury Gavin C. Reid

University ofSt Andrews Karin Renon

Centre d'Analyse et d'Intervention Sociologiques, Paris John Rex

Professor Emeritus, University of Warwick Ken Richardson

The Open University Adrian D. Rifkin

Middlesex University

CONTRIBUTORS Paul Rock

Rudi Supek

London School of Economics

Zagreb

C. A. Rootes

Gyiirgy Sze!l

University of Kent at Canterbury

Fachbereich Sozialwissenschafien, Universitdt Osnabruck

Steven P. R. Rose

The Open University

Steve Taylor

W. D. Rubinstein

London School of Economics

School of Social Sciences, Deakin University Anne Showstack Sassoon

School of Social Science, Kingston University Werner Sauer

Institute of Philosophy, Karl-Franzens-Universitdt Graz Johann F. Schneider

Universitdt des Saarlandes

John B. Thompson

Jesus College, Cambridge ]. K. ]. Thornson

University of Sussex Alan Tomlinson

University of Brighton Alain Touraine

Centre d'Analyse et d'Intervention Sociologiques, Paris

John Scott

Peter Townsend

University of Essex

University of Bristol

Teodor Shanin

Keith Tribe

University of Manchester

University of Worcestershire

A. M. Sharakiya

Sylvaine Trinh

State University of New York at Binghamton

Centre d' Analyse et d'Intervention Sociologiques, Paris

Andrew Sherratt

Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Cris Shore

Goldsmiths' College, University of London Kazimierz M. Slomczynski

Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw Peter Sluglett

University of Durham Andrew Spencer

Bryan S. Turner

University of Singapore Jonathan H. Turner

University of California, Riverside Ernest Tuveson

University of California, Berkeley John Urry

Lancaster University Ivan Varga

Kingston, Ontario

University of Essex

Loic]. D. Wacquant

Patricia M. Springborg

University of California, Berkeley

University of Sydney Nico Stehr

University of Alberta

Sylvia Walby

University of Leeds

Herbert Stein

Nigel Walker

American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington DC

Professor Emeritus, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

xm

XIV

CONTRIBUTORS

Immanuel Wallerstein

Robin M. Williams Jr.

State University ofNew York at

Cornett University

Binghamton, and Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris ]. W. N. Watkins

Christopher Wilson

London School ofEconomics

t

Carolyn Webber

Survey Research Centre, University of California, Berkeley Wlodzimierz Wesolowski

Institute ofPhilosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

Charles R. M. Wilson

Portsmouth Polytechnic H. T. Wilson

York University, Toronto Peter Worsley

London

Michel Wievorka

Dennis H. Wrong

Centre d'Analyse et d'Intervention

New York University

Sociologiques, Paris Aaron Wildavsky

Survey Research Centre, University of California, Berkeley R. A. Wilford

The Queen's University ofBelfast

Lucia Zedner

London School ofEconomics Sami Zubaida

Birkbeck College, University of London

Introduction

At the end of the nineteenth century the term 'social' was still a relatively new one, as was for the most part the concept of distinct 'social sciences'. The first professional associations and journals were just beginning to be established and some new social sciences, such as sociology, were gaining recognition, while economics as an older discipline was developing rapidly in the neoclassical form given to it by Car! Menger, Lean Walras, Alfred Marshall and others, or with quite a different emphasis in the work of the German historical school. All the social sciences could look back on distinguished precursors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, or earlier still in the case of political science and history, and the ideas of some of these precursors have remained influential. But in the twentieth century the social sciences became more distinctly consti­ tuted and differentiated, and they have had a stronger impact on social thought as a whole. Political doctrines generally, and social criticism in particular, became more dependent on theories of society, and many nineteenth-century ideas came to find an institutional embodiment. Positivism established itself in a rather different form from its original Comtean one, as a philosophy of science particularly influential among social scientists. Evolutionism survived all kinds of attacks and retained its place in social thought, assuming new forms after World War II in conceptions of modernization, underdevelopment and development, and more recently in theories of the development of moral reasoning and human thought as a whole. The influence of Marxism, as a critique of political economy, a theory of society and a political doctrine, grew steadily during most of the century, though in increasingly diversified ways that were reflected, after the Russian Revolution and still more after 1945, in the sharp division between Marxism-Leninism and what came to be called Western Marxism, the latter being itself extremely diverse. The dramatic events of 1989 put an end to the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe and to the world influence of Leninism, but although Marxism and to some extent socialism are at present in eclipse in post-communist Europe this is not so evidently the case elsewhere. Everywhere, however, there is much rethinking of the social and political doctrines which had their origins in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and flowered in the present century against the background of massive and rapid changes in the structure and culture of human societies. The Industrial Revolution and the political revolutions in France and America had initiated this transformation, giving birth to the democratic movement and later to socialism, as well as to the counter-doctrines of conservatism and liberalism, but the new industrial capitalist societies were also characterized by nationalism and imperialist expansion. As a result the twentieth century, contrary to the expectations of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, came to be one of the most violent in human history, with two immensely destructive and savage world was and innumerable, equally savage, lesser conflicts, as well as persecution and genocide on a large scale. New forms of aggressive expansionism emerged with the fascist regimes in Europe, which also established totalitarian dictatorships of a new kind (though these had a parallel, or even precursor, in Stalinist Russia), and in a different, more militaristic style in Japan. Underlying the destructiveness of modern warfare has been the unprecedented advance during the past century of natural science and technology, which has transformed the conditions and modes of social life. Incessant technological innovation in the industrial countries has been a major factor in economic growth, and an important factor in the emergence of giant corporations, among them, notably in the past four decades, multinational corporations, which increasingly dominate the world economy. At the same time innovation and growth have a disruptive effect, not proceeding steadily and smoothly, but in a cycle of boom and depression, marked by periods of large-scale unemployment, as in the 1930s and again in the 1980s. Hence there has been much debate about ways of regulating the economy for social ends, a debate which until 1989 often involved contrasting (relatively) free market capitalist economies with the centrally planned

XVI

INTRODUCTION

economies, and still raises questions about the role of partial, indicative planning in the management of the economic system. Economic growth itself has raised new issues for social thinkers; first, the contrast between the growing wealth of the industrial countries, within which there remain however substantial impoverished sectors, and the widespread poverty- in some cases increasing, as in large parts of Africa- of much of the Third World, and secondly, the environmental impact of growth itself. In relation to the first issue there have been many attempts to formulate models of development for the poorer countries, and to work out practical policies for overcoming this North/South divide, but the policies actually implemented have not so far been notably successful and by the end of the 1980s the transfer of resources from rich to poor countries, through aid programmes and other means, had turned, as a result of accumulated debt, into a reverse flow from the poor to the wealthy. In consequence a critical debate about what is to be understood by development in a world context, or by the idea of a 'new international economic order', which so far remains largely a catch phrase, has engaged an increasing number of social thinkers, and the debate has expanded into an additional area of concern with the human environment. Indeed it is with this issue, and with the burgeoning ecology movements, that much social thought has been engaged in recent decades. The pollution and destruction of the human habitat through industrial production and the apparently insatiable demand for raw materials, has affected not only the industrial societies themselves but also the countries of the Third World, where it is often even more devastating, sometimes compounded by the effects of rapid population growth. It is against the background of the upheavals, conflicts, discontinuities and new problems of the twentieth century that social thought, whether produced by social and political activists themselves or by the growing army of professional scholars, must be understood. Yet many of its central themes remain much as they were in the 1900s: the nature of work, the role of the nation-state, the relation between individual and society, the effect of money on social relations, the contrast between

Gemeinschafi (community) and Gesellschafi (societyI

association), stratification and equality, the tension between partisanship and value-freedom in the social sciences, even such labels as fin

de siecle itself.

The latest diagnoses of postmodernity or postindustrialism

look remarkably like early accounts of modernity and industrialism, and modern futurology, despite the availability of computer models, not unlike the predictions of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century social thinkers. These earlier themes, however, have in many cases acquired a new content. The nature and meaning of work has now to be examined in the context of a radically changing occupational structure, the reduction of working hours, and the expansion of time available for freely chosen activities. The state has become more obviously the provider of vital social services and of the essential economic infrastructure, but the experience of fascism and Stalinism has shown that its power can be used in some circumstances to establish a totalitarian system. Democracy, which at the beginning of the twentieth century was a relatively new and limited growth, in only a small minority of countries, and was subsequently destroyed again in some of them, has become (in theory at least) an almost universal political value, though its eventual scope is still vigorously debated between advocates of liberal or participatory democracy, and in the context of recent discussions of the meaning of citizenship. Stratification and equality, which had a central place in the political conflicts between left and right throughout the twentieth century, have become more complex issues in recent decades as other kinds of inequality- of gender, race and nationality- have been more strongly emphasized by new social movements, and as the claims of communist societies to have eliminated class inequalities were more vigorously disputed by internal and external critics of their strongly hierarchical structures. This dictionary aims to provide a reliable and comprehensive overview of the main themes of social thought, broadly conceived, and of its development from the beginning of the twentieth century (or earlier) to its end, against the background of the vast and shifting panorama of social life in this turbulent era. It will prove, we hope, a valuable source of reference for all those who, in different ways, are concerned with the prospects for the future development of human society as we enter a new century and a new millennium. WILLIAM 0UTHWAITE ToM BoTTOMORE

The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought, Second Edition Edited by William Outhwaite Copyright © 1993, 1994, 2003, 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

A action and agency

Someone performs an action

when what he or she does can be described as

1977).

union of many (at least two and at most all) actors concerned with a common purpose or problem. If

Actions are prac­

this union is not brought about through force,

tical conclusions drawn from intentions and beliefs;

threat or propaganda, it must be through the free

intentional (see Davidson,

'action' and 'rationality' are interrelated. Socio­

compulsion of argumentative inference, that is

logical action theories from the time of Max

through convincing reasons (cf. Habermas,

Weber build on this relation in analysing action

Ape!,

1973, 1979).

1971;

Practical discourses are not con­

into components and types. Social actions are

cerned with the extension of intentions from ends

always part of larger systems and of processes of

to means, explaining to the actor why it is rational

intersubjective understanding, and this raises the

for

question of the role of the acting subject ('human

with whether it is possible to generalize the ends

him or her

to take certain decisions, but rather

they should follow par­ NoRMS). In what Hegel (Logic)

agency') in the processes by which actions are co­

and make clear to all why

ordinated.

ticular norms (see

called the 'conclusion of the good', in which means

Rationality of action Aristotle, in his

Nichomachean Ethics,

and end are identical and the act is good in itself, it saw the ra­

tionality of an action as lying in the conclusion which leads from intentions or norms and from

is a question of what is legitimate and justifiable in the light of shared and freely accepted principles (Wellmer,

1979,

pp.

25ff.).

assessments of the situation and of the available means to immediate consequences in terms of action. Action is rational in so far as it follows premises which ground and justify its performance. A minimal rationality must therefore be presup­ posed in any action, in any bodily movement falling under this definition. Aristotle emphasized that even undisciplined actions which escape rational control, such as the excessive consumption of sweet things, can be formally at least fitted into the model of rational justification (cf. Davidson,

1980; Wright, 1971).

Consequences of actions The conclusion of a practical inference is an action. From the observer's perspective, the choice of available means to given ends

explains

the action.

Such an explanation also has prognostic relevance, since institutional and normative contexts ensure that intentions and beliefs remain stable and are regularly reproduced (cf. Wright,

1971).

But since

one can never exclude the possibility of actors changing their intentions, forgetting the best way to do things or unexpectedly finding new ways to solve a problem, the link between intentions and

Will formation

beliefs and future behaviour is a contingent one.

as

a

A simple example of purposive-rational will forma­

But we can only identify a given behaviour

tion is provided by Kant's technical imperative, the

specific action if we succeed in interpreting it, in

'imperative of capability', in which intentions are

the perspective of a participant, as the consequence

1971).

of rationally understandable intentions and beliefs.

Someone who wants something and knows how it is

'To interpret behaviour as intentional action is to

extended from ends to means (cf. Wright,

to be obtained must want to obtain it by these

understand it in the light of an intention' (Wellmer,

means. Even the complex process of social will

1979,

formation, coming to a decision as a consequence

p.

13).

The participant's perspective, and only that per­

of collective deliberation, can be described as a

spective, opens up a similar logical-semantic rela­

process of practical inference. This involves a

tion between intentions and actions. For the actor,

2

ACTION AND AGENCY

means an obligation to per­

tionally meaningful background of everyday action

form a future action. It is not empirically guaran­

suddenly collapses and confronts the actor with

teed that someone who promises to come on time

unfamiliar and exceptional demands, problems

the practical conclusion

will in fact do so, but someone who has given that

and conflicts. This is the other limit case of social

undertaking will need to offer an apology if he or

action. To speak of

she is not punctual. The expectation that in normal

'present affects and emotions' means that, even in

circumstances someone who has promised to be on

uninhibited reaction to an exceptional stimulus, the

action which is governed by

time very probably will be is not only inductively

actor retains scope to decide how to react, or

supported by observed behavioural regularities;

whether not to react at all and to swallow his or

this expectation is based even more on the fact

her rage. But Weber reserves the description 'ra­

that we can usually rely on one another. The

tionally intelligible' for social behaviour which is

Other will probably be on time because the agree­

fully conscious and based only on reasons which the

1979). This is

actor considers to be valid and conclusive; this

not an empirical and contingent relation between

corresponds to the ideal types of purposive-rational

ment has reciprocal validity (cf. Ape!,

intentions and activities but a logical-pragmatic

and value-rational action. With this distinction

one. We recognize the seriousness of the intention

Weber looks back, via

by its consequences for action; we call someone who

istotelian theory of action. Whereas value-rational

NEO-KANTIANISM, to the Ar­

does not do what he or she wants to do and can do,

action follows what Hegel called the 'conclusion of

inconsistent. This is not unlike the case of someone

the good' and identifies means and ends in 'the

who asserts that snow is all white and all black. Just

unconditioned value in itself of a specific behav­

as we suspect weakness of will as the cause of

iour', in purposive-rational action all that counts is

inconsistent action, we may infer that someone

the effectiveness of means to a given end. In

who unintentionally utters contradictions is weak

Weber's conception, only this type of action can

in the head. Like evidently contradictory state­

be fully rationalized; it is therefore the true ideal

ments, evidently inconsistent action has 'something

type of meaningfully oriented behaviour that

essentially irrational' about it, so that such actors

expresses Hegel's 'conclusion of action'. Only

might find it hard to recognize themselves in their

here can one say 'that if someone were to act in a

actions (cf. Davidson,

only 1921-2). For Weber, the rational understanding (see VER­ STEHEN) of action advances methodically from this

1980).

strictly purposive-rational manner, they could do it this way and no other way' (Weber,

Types ofaction Disturbances of action through such massive in­

universal and counterfactual rationality assump­

consistencies that we cannot understand our own

tion. This makes it possible to explain actual actions

action ('I don't know how I could have done it')

as a deviation from an ideal standard. Freud's inter­

bring us up against the internal connection between

est in explaining irrational action is therefore com­

action and self-understanding. Max Weber and

plementary to Weber's interest in understanding

Sigmund Freud drew opposite conclusions from

the rationality of consistent action. In a world

this relation. Whereas Freud is interested in the

shaped by causal reasoning, rational action of this

unconscious causes of self-deception, Weber bases

kind is only possible when the actor's reasons for a

his sociology on an

IDEAL TYPE of meaningfully

as intentions, cause the action (cf. Davidson, 1980). If a real

particular action are causally effective

oriented action intelligible to the actor; his well­

and

known typology of action is founded on this relation

action is to be understood as the consequence of a

of self-evidence.

rational inference (for example, rational argumen­

Social action is 'behaviour which is meaningfully

tation), the reasons must have a causal, that is,

1921-

rationally motivating, force as causes of the action­

oriented to the behaviour of others' (Weber,

2). One limiting case of social action is the com­

event. The causal force which a grounded will,

pletely self-evident, conventional, habitual and

transforming reasons into intentions, gives to our

almost mechanical course of traditional action

actions is of course, as Davidson

based on 'internalized habit'. This 'dully habitual

(1980) and Ape! (1979, p. 189) have shown in their criticisms of C.

everyday action', quietly adapted to the normative

G. Hempel, a causality without causal laws. What

background of the life-world, is pushed into an

Kant called the 'causality of freedom', in which the

affectual or emotional reaction when the conven-

will or the intention which causes the action counts

AESTHETICS

3

as a valid justification for it, involves not causal

duction of this monstrous and in principle un­

laws, but normative-universal principles of ration­

graspable complexity of meaningfully oriented

ality (Ape!, 1979). The case of unconscious self­

action, mechanisms which functionally integrate

deception with which Freud is concerned is one in

the individual actions independently of the will

which an action or speech-act is caused as an event

and consciousness of the subjects, social order

without being justified by its causes (cf. Liiw-Beer,

seems impossible (cf. Luhmann, 1970-90, vol. 2,

1990). In this case the action or speech-act is not

pp. 204ff.; 1981, pp. 195ff.). The question is then

rationally motivated, by a valid sequence of sym­

whether social order can be envisaged entirely

bols, but only empirically, by way of'split-off sym­

without collective will formation and whether

bols' (cf. Habermas, 1968, pp. 246ff.; 1981, pp. 8ff.).

actions can be separated from a notion of agency

But because this explanation in terms of merely

produced by subjects themselves by means of ac­

empirically effective motives presupposes the pos­

ceptable reasons.

sibility of rational action, Freud can combine his methodological interest with a therapeutic interest

Reading

in emancipation and the critique of action which is

Brubaker, R.1984: The Limits of Rationality: an Essay on

not brought about by reasons. This interest does not of course come near to satisfying Weber's criterion of ideal purposive ra­

the Social and Moral Thought ofMax Weber. Davidson, D. 1980: Essays on Actions and Events. Parsons, T. 1937: The Structure ofSocial Action. HAUKE BRUNKHORST

tionality. The irrational action with which Freud is concerned is caused by the latent force of distorted,

In its modern meaning aesthetics is

compulsively integrated communication. To ex­

aesthetics

plain it as action which is no longer intelligible to

most frequently understood as a philosophical dis­

the actor it is not enough to postulate an ideal type

cipline which is either a philosophy of aesthetic

of purposive-rational action and to measure its di­

phenomena (objects, qualities, experiences and

vergence. What must be presupposed is rather an

values), or a philosophy of art (of creativity, of

ideal criterion of undistorted communication (cf.

artwork, and its perception) or a philosophy of art

Habermas, 1968; Ape!, 1979). What the actor who

criticism taken broadly (metacriticism), or, finally,

needs the help of a therapist finds unintelligible

a discipline which is concerned philosophically

about his or her own action is the breaks in the

with all three realms jointly.

system of reasons which would appear acceptable

Aesthetic reflection is much older than the term

to a community of autonomous subjects. The mo­

itself. The history of Western aesthetics begins

tives which cause the action and speech of the

usually with Plato, whose writings contain a sys­

neurotic, without justifying and grounding it, are

tematic reflection on art and a speculative theory of

causes which cannot count as reasons because a free

beauty. Neither Plato nor his great disciple Aris­

communication community could not accept them

totle, however, treated these two great themes of

as reasons.

aesthetics in conjunction. The term 'aesthetics' was introduced to philoso­

Action, system and subject

phy as late as the mid-eighteenth century by a German philosopher, Alexander Gottlieb Baum­

Weber's theory of action appears inadequate in

garten (1714-1762). Baumgarten, a disciple of

another quite different respect. It underestimates

Leibniz's follower Christian Wolff (1679-1754),

from the start the complexity of the double contin­

concluded that the system of philosophical dis­

gency (cf. Parsons and Shils, 1951, pp. 14ff.) in the

ciplines was incomplete and required a science

meaningfully oriented reciprocal perspectives of

parallel to logic which was a science of clear and

ego and alter, as well as the hypercomplexity of

distinct cognition achieved by the intellect. The

any meaningful orientation. The improbability of a

new science should be aesthetics, a science of

meaningfully guided act, related to an unlimited

clear and confused cognition realized

and inconceivable multiplicity of alternative pos­

senses. This view was expressed for the first time

by

the

sibilities which might have been realized, is further

by Baumgarten in his dissertation Meditationes

increased by the improbability in social action

philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus (of

that everyone knows that everyone can act or not

1735) and in a completed form 15 years later in

act as expected. Without mechanisms for the re-

his Aesthetic a.

4

AESTHETICS Contrary to the expectations which the etymol­

In the course of years, however, the idea of

ogy of the word aesthetica might suggest (Greek

aesthetics as philosophy of art appeared to be

aistheticos

perceptive), this work did not concern

more popular. In the nineteenth century there was

itself with the theory of sensory cognition but dealt

the first attempt to go beyond philosophy in aes­

with the theory of poetry (and indirectly of all the

thetic considerations and to create a scientific

=

arts) as a form of sensory cognition for which the

aesthetics. In his Vorschule der Aesthetik of 1876,

main object of perception is beauty. The combin­

the German psychologist Gustav Theodor Fechner

ation of the two - the reflection on art and the

attempted to create an experimental aesthetics on

reflection on beauty - defined the subsequent de­

the basis of psychology, and the twentieth century

velopment of the newly emerged branch of philoso­

also witnessed attempts to create a psychological

phy, but this has become the source of both its

aesthetics by the representatives of gestalt psych­

theoretical

ology (Rudolf Arnheim and Leonard Meyer) and of

and methodological difficulties. Without doubt it

depth psychology (Ernst Kris and Simon Lesser).

was an event of historical significance, marking the

Other developments have included mathematical

accomplishments

and

never-ending

beginning of a new period in the development of the

aesthetics (George Birkhoff and Max Bense), in­

philosophy of art, particularly in that it coincided

formatics aesthetics (Abraham Moles), semiotic

with a summing up of the longlasting search for the

and

common denominator of all the arts which was

Umberto Eco, Yuri Lotman), and sociological aes­

semiological

aesthetics

(Charles

Morris,

achieved by a French theorist of art Charles Batteux

thetics 0- M. Guyau, P. Francastel, Pierre Bour­

in his Traite des beaux arts reduit d un meme principe

dieu, Janet Wolff). In the philosophical domain the

(in 1746). Batteux recognized that the common

project of creating a scientific aesthetics was at­

feature of the fine arts is the beauty proper to

tempted by Etienne Souriau and Thomas Munro.

them all, and therefore they may be termed beaux

Aesthetics, however, has not ceased to be a branch

arts.

of philosophy.

The name aesthetics took some time to be

Since the turn of the century there has been a

accepted. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) began with

growing interest in the methodological difficulties

a criticism of Baumgarten for his lack of consist­

of aesthetics, which began to take into account

ency, and in his Critique ofPure Reason (of 1781 and

doubts and arguments directed against the scien­

1787) used the term transcendental aesthetics to

tific status of aesthetics and the very sense of creat­

mean a philosophical science of sensory perception.

ing aesthetics theories. Of particular relevance here

However, in his Critique ofJudgement (of 1790) he

are the still popular ideas of Max Dessoir (1906)

used the term aesthetics to define the reflection on

and Emil Utitz (1914-20). These thinkers intro­

beauty and judgements of taste. The traditional

duced a distinction between aesthetics and a general

meaning of aesthetics became popular in the nine­

science of art and emphasized that the two discip­

teenth century through the influence of Hegel

lines cross but do not overlap: the functions of art

(1770-1831), whose lectures on the philosophy of

cannot be reduced to aesthetic functions only,

the fine arts in 1820-9 were posthumously pub­

whereas aesthetic merits are to be found in objects

lished as Vorlesungen uber die Asthetik (in 1835).

which are not works of art at all, such as natural

Kant, Schelling and Hegel were the first prom­

phenomena and extra-artistic man made products.

inent philosophers for whom aesthetics constituted

They also claimed that the general science of art

an inherent part of their philosophical systems. For

differs methodologically from aesthetics and should

Kant aesthetics was first and foremost the theory of

evolve into an independent branch outside philoso­

beauty, of the sublime and of aesthetic judgements.

phy. Aesthetics, too, should go beyond the borders

For Hegel aesthetics was mainly the philosophy of

of philosophy and make much greater use of the

the fine arts. The two models of moulding aesthet­

results produced by other sciences, in particular

ics either as a philosophy of beauty (and later of

psychology and sociology (see also ART;

aesthetic values) and of aesthetic experience, or as a

OF .

SOCIOLOGY

)

philosophy of art become dominant in the aesthet­

The first aesthetician who not only systemized

ics of nineteenth century and at the beginning of the

the objections against aesthetics but also attempted

twentieth century. Most frequently, the two vari­

to overcome them was Edward Bullough, in his

ants were joined together and the results were

lectures of 1907 on 'the m odern conception ofaesthet­

varied.

ics' (in Bullough, 1957). He ordered the objections

AESTHETICS

5

raised against aesthetics into two groups: popular

claimed, is an incessantly mutable phenomenon,

and theoretical, both kinds being reducible to as­

lacking any universal essence, and the notions 'art', 'work of art', 'aesthetic experience', and so

sertions that:

on are therefore open concepts (Weitz, 1959) and Attempts to create a theory of such specific,

2

3

cannot be defined. Secondly, the representatives of

relative, subjective and mutable phenomena as

traditional aesthetics missed another basic truth

beauty, aesthetic effects and the pleasure and

that every work of art is valued for its uniqueness

displeasure connected with them are futile.

and unrepeatable originality, and therefore there is

These phenomena cannot be rationalized and

no place for any general rules of creation and evalu­

verbalized, they can be only experienced.

ation of such work. The aestheticians, however,

The definitions of beauty and other aesthetic

were persistent in their attempts to discover or

phenomena are too abstract and general and

make such general rules, even though any general­

thus are completely useless and practically un­

izations about art are unjustified and dubious. The

necessary. They do not help anyone to enjoy

aestheticians' arguments were analogical to those in

beauty and art.

ethics, but any analogies appeared to be misleading.

Both the artists and the enthusiasts of art are

Generalizations in ethics are possible and neces­

worried and annoyed by the fact that the rules

sary, whereas in aesthetics the situation is quite

of creation and reception are defined and im­

different. 'When in aesthetics one moves from the

posed on artists and the public, and presented

particular to the general, one is travelling in the

moreover with absurd and insolent pedantry.

wrong direction' (S. Hampshire in Elton, 1954). Thirdly, aesthetics followed philosophy in its mis­

Bullough's work was the first self-examination

taken assumption that facts can be disclosed and

which summed up the actual internal methodo­

interpreted, whereas in fact its proper task is not

logical difficulties of aesthetics, and the objections

disclosing facts but clarifying the meanings of

raised from outside, which, if not always fully jus­

words. Words, concepts and expressions are used

tified, were not without reason.

in a number of ways which are not always proper. A

According to Stefan Morawski (1987), Bul­

solution of philosophical problems consists in rec­

lough's work began the third period in the history

ognizing how given words are properly used. The

of aesthetics, the period of critical self-knowledge

basic problem of aesthetics is not answering the

of its research status, and of the development of its

question 'What is art?' but 'What kind of concept

methodological

is "art"?' (Weitz).

self-reflection.

This

process

reached its peak in 1954 with the publication of

The criticism of aesthetics by analytical philoso­

W. Elton's famous anthology Aesthetics and Lan­

phy, however, did not result either in the death of

guage, and the equally famous papers by M. Weitz

aesthetics or in a lasting victory of cognitive min­

'The role of theory in aesthetics' (1956) and W. E.

imalism, and the abandonment of new attempts to

Kennick 'Does traditional aesthetics rest on a mis­

create a theory of art. One might even defend the

take?' (1958), which continued and developed the

view that anti-essentialist criticism of aesthetics

ideas set out in Elton's collection. These three

resulted in its recovery and revival in the 1970s

works were inspired by the ideas in Wittgenstein's

and the 1980s. At the same time, however, aesthet­

Philosophical Investigations (1953), and they criti­

ics continued to be criticized from outside and the

cized traditional philosophical aesthetics sharply

aestheticians continued their methodological self­

and thoroughly for its lack of linguistic precision,

reflection which in part answered the external criti­

conceptual vagueness and mistaken theoretical and

cism and in part resulted from aesthetics' inherent

methodological assumptions which were most ap­

needs. Nonetheless, the aestheticians rejected all

parent in the unsuccessful attempts to create a

the basic objections articulated by the analytical

philosophical theory of art. Wrong assumptions

philosophers. Aesthetics should and indeed can be

led naturally to the failure of the hitherto proposed

practised with a greater logical and linguistic preci­

philosophical theories of art.

sion, but at the same time it cannot be reduced to

The first mistaken assumption identified was the

the analysis of concepts and the ways they are used.

essentialist claim that art possesses a universal

In this respect the situation of aesthetics does not

nature, or an absolute essence, which it is the task

differ substantially from the other branches of the

of aesthetics to dig out and define. Art, it was now

humanities. It is a misunderstanding if one applies

6

AESTHETICS

to aesthetics the requirements applied to science or

the status of aesthetics as a field of research. The

mathematics. Moreover, even in natural sciences

critics assert that aesthetics is cognitively futile,

there is no single and universal paradigm of scien­

anachronistic and inadequate, its methods oldfash­

tific exactness.

ioned and based on mistaken methodological prin­

One has to realize that any generalizations con­

ciples. Consequently, even if it did make some

cerning such diverse and mutable phenomena as art

sense in the past, it appears to be completely help­

and the aesthetic experience are very risky but there

less when faced with the latest avant-garde in art

is no need to abandon such generalizations al­

and the most significant phenomena of mass cul­

together. A voiding essentialist and anti-historical

ture. So it ignores them (a disqualifying attitude) or

definitions of traditional aesthetics does not mean

tries to describe them, interpret them and evaluate

abandoning attempts to create a theory of art and of

them using its traditional methods and traditional,

aesthetic phenomena. Normative considerations

quite irrelevant categories, which leads to its failure

which jeopardize the freedom of creation and

and humiliation.

which are notoriously ascribed to aesthetics are by no means characteristic of aesthetics and occur much more frequently in art criticism. It is true,

This mode of criticism is to be found in the papers by T. Binkley, in Michael Kirby's

The Art of Time (1969), and in the latest works by Stefan

however, that the majority of aesthetic theories do

Morawski. Kirby holds that traditional philosoph­

contain elements of evaluation. But then again,

ical aesthetics should be rejected in favour of his­

axiological aspects are typical of any discipline and

torical or situational aesthetics. Binkley claims that

form an organic part of cognition, they cannot be,

aesthetics could survive if it reduced the scope of its

and do not have to be, eliminated from science. At

interest to a reflection on aesthetic phenomena and

the same time it is possible to create purely descrip­

abandoned creating theories of art, since aesthetics

tive theories of art (Dickie,

1971).

cannot explain avant-garde art, which as such

Rejecting far-reaching criticism of aesthetics by

rejects the aesthetic paradigm of art, if it keeps

analytical philosophers, aestheticians themselves

assuming that the nature of art is aesthetic. Mor­

periodically take note of criticisms and reservations

awski claims that aesthetics is declining not only

directed against their discipline, and express their

because of avant-garde art but also because art 'has

own doubts as to its research status. In most cases,

lost part of its significance and its further existence

however, they defend its value, though some would

is jeopardized'. Aesthetics, then, should give the

like to pursue it in a fully or partly modified form.

floor either to 'poietics' as the theory of creativity

At least three attempts to balance the arguments

or to anti-aesthetics understood in terms of 'a crit­

pro and contra made by aestheticians themselves in

ical reflection on the crisis of the culture and art of

the last three decades are worth noting. The first was made in 1960 by Jerome Stolnitz in

Aesthetics and Philosophy ofArt Criticism (pp. 7-19).

our times'

(1987, p. 77). It is not the methodology

that is responsible for the decline of aesthetics; it is the disintegration of its main object: art.

The second was made by Stefan Morawski in two

Aesthetics however, is criticized not only for its

works published in Polish (1973, 1987). Morawski's

helplessness in the face of avant-garde art, but also

conclusions differ in the two works, however; in the

because of its ahistorical attitudes, 'aspirations for

first he defends the significance of aesthetics, while

totality' (Werckmeister,

in the other he abandons this defence and argues

making abstract rules irrespective of the fact that

1971), essentialism and

that it is now in decline. The third author who

'art is a dynamic syndrome' (Adorno,

listed the objections raised, and defended aesthetics

that art itself and its reception are produced by a

against them, is Giiran Hermeren, who devoted the

historical process (Bourdieu,

final chapter of his

wishes to survive it has to transform itself and

Aspects ofAesthetics (1983, pp.

224-60) to this question. A considerable number of the doubts and reser­

1984), and

1979). If aesthetics

become a dialectical aesthetics (Adorno) or a socio­ logical aesthetics (Bourdieu).

vations about aesthetics repeat themselves. There

The other kind of argument against aesthetics

are also new criticisms which have arisen in the

consists in suggesting that no-one really needs it.

course of development of modern culture and in

Aesthetics does not help ordinary recipients of

particular of avant-garde art, mass media and mass

modern art to find their way about in the chaos of

culture. Recent criticism has two main aspects. In

the latest artistic phenomena. Someone with a ser­

the first place, the main reservations still concern

ious interest in aesthetics would do better to refer to

AFFLUENT SOCIETY

7

works on the history and theory of particular realms

pattern of resource allocation then prevailing in the

of art, or on the psychology of art, sociology of art,

United States (and, by extension, in some individ­

philosophy of CULTURE, the theory of mass com­

ual national economies of Western Europe) and

munication, semiotics, and so on.

involves three main claims. First, that increases in

It is hard to foresee the future of aesthetics. The

productive capacity and efficiency have resulted in

theses about its death or decline, however, are just as

an economy capable of providing a great and un­

weak as the theses about the death or decline of art.

precedented affluence for the majority of people. As

But aesthetics has to change, taking account of the

Galbraith observes, in the contemporary United

transformations of its subject and the achievements

States many goods are 'comparatively abundant', a

of other disciplines concerned with art and aesthet­

point which he illustrates by pointing to the fact

ics phenomena. Perhaps one should come back

that more people die each year from eating too

to the idea of two disciplines, in the vein of Dessoir

much food than from eating too little (p. 102).

and Utitz: the philosophy of art and the philosophy

Secondly, he argues that conventional economic

of aesthetic values and experiences. There is no

wisdom has failed to take this development into

doubt, however, that the development of psych­

account, continuing to embody the earlier and ana­

ology, sociology, semiotics and other disciplines

chronistic assumption that further annual increases

concerned with art does not eradicate strictly philo­

in production are necessarily to be desired. What,

sophical (axiological, methodological, cognitive and

in particular, is outdated is the priority accorded to

ontological) problems of art and of aesthetic phe­

the ever-increasing production of goods in the pri­

nomena. This is the unquestionable raison d'etre of

vate sector, which leads to a situation where 'private

aesthetics.

affluence' is matched by 'public squalor'. The 'great

See also ART , SOCIOLOGY OF; LINGUISTIC PHIL­

and comprehensive contrast between the care and

OSOPHY; MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM.

encouragement which is lavished on the production

Reading

imposes on those that must emerge from the public

Adorno, T. 1984: Aesthetic Theory, trans. C. Lenhardt.

sector' is for Galbraith 'the most singular feature of

of private goods and the severe restraint which it

Barrett, C. ed. 1965: Collected Papers on Aesthetics. Beards1ey, M. 1958: Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism. Caygill, H. 1989: The Art ofJudgement.

sive provision of credit is required in order to maintain a high level of demand, now that there

lngarden, R. 1985: Selected Papers in Aesthetics.

are no longer any urgent needs to be satisfied.

Margo1is, J. ed. 1987: Philosophy Looks at the Arts.

The term Galbraith introduced is still widely

Shusterman, R. ed. 1989: Analytic Aesthetics. Sparshott, F. 1963: The Structure ofAesthetics. W.

1970-4:

History

Thirdly and lastly, the stimulation of artificial wants through advertising coupled with an exces­

Elton, W. ed. 1954: Aesthetics and Language.

Tatarkiewicz,

the affluent society' (p. 155).

of Aesthetics,

encountered, having entered into popular use. 3

vols. Werckmeister, 0. 197 1: Ende der Asthetik. Wo1ff, J. 1983: Aesthetics and the Sociology ofArt. BOHDAN DZIEMIDOK

The critique of conventional economic thought is usually missing from this usage, however, as too is the implied contrast between private affluence and public squalor, while the harsher economic climate of the 1980s also resulted in the phrase being used in a more ironic manner than Galbraith ever

affluent society

A society in which there is suffi­

intended. The kernel of meaning which therefore

cient wealth to ensure the continued satisfaction of

remains is the suggestion that citizens of such

the privately serviced basic needs of the majority

a society experience a state of widespread and

of the population (such as food and clothing)

unprecedented abundance with the consequence

with the result that individuals employ their dis­

that

posable incomes to gratify ephemeral and insatiable

employed in the wasteful gratification of trivial

wants, while insufficient funds may be directed

wants rather than in the necessary satisfaction of

to the satisfaction of publicly serviced needs (such

fundamental needs.

as health care and education). The term was made famous by Kenneth Gal­

economic

resources

are

predominantly

Galbraith's claims have been extensively criti­ cized. His third thesis in particular has been fiercely

braith in his book The Aifluent Society, first pub­

attacked on the grounds that he denigrates con­

lished in 1958. This is a powerful critique of the

sumer choice, fails to distinguish between the

8

AGGRESSION

general cultural conditioning of wants and the spe­

in the very different field of ethology by Konrad

cific influence exerted by producers, and ignores

Lorenz (1966) and the neo-Darwinists.

the empirical evidence concerning the effects of

Such approaches, focusing on rather simplistic

advertising (Hayek, 1967; Riesman, 1980). His

assumptions of instinctual mechanisms, while still

famous contrast between private affluence and

reviewed extensively in the major text books, are

public squalor has also been criticized, largely on

now seen as largely excluded from current accounts

the grounds that his approach involves a misunder­

of aggression. The aspect of Freud's work which

standing of the declining marginal utility of goods

focuses on aggression is viewed, with the benefit of

while understimating the natural profligacy of gov­

hindsight, as a rather hurried attempt to patch up

ernments (Rothbard, 1970). Despite this, even his

apparent weaknesses in his theoretical approach,

fiercest critics tend to accept that it is accurate to

which relied heavily on the pleasure principle to

describe modern North American and Western

explain psychological processes and human behav­

European countries as affluent societies (Friedman,

iour. The bloody catastrophe of World War I re­

1977, p. 13). Hence Galbraith's central thesis can be

quired some quite different model, and so thanatos,

said to have found widespread acceptance and to

or the death instinct, appeared: 'As a result of a little

have exerted a major influence on modern social

speculation, we have come to suppose that this

and economic thought. In this respect it is particu­

instinct is at work within every living creature and

larly important to note that his exposure of the

is striving to bring it to ruin and reduce life to its

taken-for-granted nature of the wisdom of striving

original condition of inanimate matter.'

for ever-increasing levels of production and his

A particular difficulty with these early instinct

attack on the conventional view that supremacy

theories was the central notion of'spontaneity'. Not

should be accorded to market values has undoubt­

only was aggression genetically preprogrammed,

edly assisted the subsequent emergence of environ­

and therefore ineradicable, it took the form of a

mental

modern

drive which must be consummated, channelled or

See also CONSUMER SOCIETY; ECONOMIC GROWTH.

the form of interpersonal VIOLENCE or in some

and

anti-growth

critiques

of

displaced. Expressions of aggression, whether in

society.

less direct form, were thus inevitable. Emphasis Reading

was placed on the need to direct this hydraulic

Beckerman, W. 1974: In Defence ofEconomic Growth.

force, rather than on ways of reducing it. Energetic

Hessian, C. H. 1972: John Kenneth Galbraith and his

sports and physical competition were seen as essen­ tial ingredients in the control of 'natural' male

Critics. Riesman, D. 1980: Galbraith and Market Capitalism.

aggression, providing much of the rationale of the

Sharpe, M. E. 1973:John Kenneth Galbraith and the Lower

British public school system.

Economics.

COLIN CAMPBELL

While such views, like aspects of many early psychological theories,

have been incorporated

into lay 'social representations' of aggression and age

See OLD AGE

violence, modern accounts of aggression in the social sciences eschew virtually all notions of gen­

agency

See AcTION AND AGENCY

etic factors and biological substrates. The vast ma­ jority of published works since the 1950s lay

While almost all current theories of

emphasis on the role of learning, social conditions

aggression have been developed in the twentieth

and deprivation. The essential assumption is that

aggression

century, the underlying conceptual issues and

aggression is a form of behaviour, rather than a

major debates have much earlier roots. Recent ar­

primary psychological force, and that, like any

guments concerning the extent to which aggression

other behaviour, it can be modified, controlled

is biologically rooted in human nature revive

and even eradicated. This is equally evident in the

themes from Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan and the

laboratory-based work of psychologists such as

liberal philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Bandura (1973) and in the sociological approaches

Freud (1920), for example, recasts many of Hob­

of writers as varied as Wolfgang and Weiner (1982)

bes's original ideas on the inherent brutality of man

and Downes and Rock (1979). We find a similar

towards his fellows in a psychoanalytical frame­

emphasis on 'liberal' understandings of aggression

work, providing a model subsequently emulated

in post-war social anthropology with much effort

AI

9

being devoted to finding totally peaceful societies in

In everyday discourse, however, it is clear that

which aggression does not, or did not, exist - thus

aggression is seen as having positive as well as

firmly nailing the false assumption of a genetic

pejorative connotations. In the world of sports we

determinant. Such attempts were, by and large,

regularly praise the athlete for running an aggres­

unconvincing. Indeed, as Fox

sive race, or hold in esteem the gutsy and aggressive

(1968)

has pointed

out, naive views of the Kalahari Bushmen as a

quarter-back. In these arenas aggression is not only

people free from aggression were a little wide of

permissible, it is an essential ingredient of excel­

the mark since evidence existed to show that they

lence. Similarly, aggression in the business world is

had a homicide rate higher than that in Chicago.

the hallmark of the valued entrepreneur, without

To some extent the rejection of biological theor­

whom both post-Thatcherite Britain and the twen­

ies of aggression is due not only to the manifest

tieth-century American Way would wither and die.

inadequacies of those theories but also to the grad­

It is no wonder that writers such as Bandura

ual introduction of 'political correctness' into aca­

(1973) have called the field of aggression a 'semantic

demic debates in the social sciences. People cannot

jungle'. With several hundred definitions of aggres­

be said to be naturally aggressive because that

sion extant in the social sciences, it is inevitable that

would mean that violence and destruction could

confusions reign and unnecessary arguments dom­

never be eradicated, and that, unlike in the early

inate the debate. The more promising approaches

decades of the century, does not fit at all with the

are those which have left the nature-nurture debate behind and focus on the understanding of specific

contemporary intellectual Zeitgeist. This new polarization, and the heated nature­

forms of aggressive behaviour and the factors which

nurture debate which has occupied most of the

influence them. Analysis of social frameworks

century, has probably detracted more than anything

which encourage or inhibit displays of aggression

else from a 'sensible' understanding of aggression.

has also proved fruitful in explaining social phe­

Marsh ( 1978,

1982) has argued that whether aggres­

nomena

such

as football

hooliganism

female violence (Campbell,

(Marsh, extreme

sion has a biological root or whether it is learned is a

1978),

largely irrelevant argument since (a) it is undoubt­

political violence (Billig,

edly both, and (b) the prognoses for the modification

cerned with the role of specific physiological mech­

1978),

1982),

etc. Work con­

of behaviour are not much different in either case.

anisms (such as Brain,

An analogy can be made here with sexual behaviour.

a more rational debate in which there are fewer

1986) has also contributed to

It would be foolish to assume that human sexuality

obstacles to examining the complex interplay be­

does not have genetic, biological and hormonal

tween biological and social factors. Whether we

bases. But sexual behaviour is largely controlled

view aggression as an avoidable pathology or as an

through cultural and social rule frameworks. People

inevitable component of the human condition, our

do not, in the main, consummate their sexual drives

understanding of the phenomena will only increase

in random and spontaneous fashion - they are ob­

if the focus is on why certain individuals in certain

liged to follow social conventions and observe ritual

social contexts display extreme antipathy towards

requirements.

each other in order to achieve specific goals,

All

cultures

develop

'solutions'

which maximize the advantages of sexuality and

whether these goals be the injury of others or the

inhibit its potentially negative consequences.

development of social prestige and status.

It has become increasingly unfashionable in the social sciences to suggest that aggression has any

Reading

positive value. Indeed, many current definitions of

Berkowitz, L. 1962: Aggression: a Social Psychological

aggression exclude such a possibility. In psychology the most dominant definition is 'Intentional behav­ iour intended to harm another person who is mo­ tivated to avoid it.' In other social science fields it is most frequently viewed as 'maladaptive' behaviour or an unfortunate response to pathological social conditions (see also CRIME AND DEVIANCE) . Only in

Analysis.

Fromm, E. 1973: The Anatomy of Human Destructive­ ness.

Geen, R. G. and Donnerstein, E. I. eds 1983: Aggression: Theoretical and Empirical Reviews, vol. 2: Issues in re­ search.

Sian, G. 1985: Accounting for Aggression. PETER MARSH

fields such as Marxist sociology do we find the view that aggression is a rational and justified form of conduct.

AI

See ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

10

ALIENATION In the writings of Marx, this is the

In Marx, the historical process of alienation has

historical process whereby human beings have

transformed human beings increasingly from cre­

alienation

become successively estranged from Nature and

ative

from the products of their activity (commodities

processes. Hegel had already described, in a meta­

subjects

into

passive

objects

of

social

and capital, social institutions and culture) which

physical framework, such a process, but Marx

then come to confront subsequent generations as an

insisted that the end of alienation had to be achieved

independent, objectified force, that is, as an alien­

in practice by real people and not apparently solely

ated reality. He focused in particular on the dele­

in the realm of consciousness or self-awareness, as in

terious effects of alienated labour in capitalist

Hegel (see PRAXIS). Marx's secular humanism relied

industrial production (see LABOUR PROCESS). Sec­

heavily on Ludwig Feuerbach's materialist theory

ondly, it refers to a sense of estrangement from

of religion in which he claimed that human beings

society, group, culture or the individual self that

have projected their own essence and potentialities

people commonly experience living in complex in­

into God, who then confronts them in an alienated

dustrial societies, particularly in large cities. Alien­

form. In the Manuscripts Marx claimed that reli­

ation evokes experiences such as depersonalization

gious alienation was only one aspect of the propen­

in the face of bureaucracy; feelings of powerlessness

sity of human beings to alienate themselves in their

to affect social events and processes; and a sense of

own products, which could all be explained as

lack of cohesion in people's lives. That alienation in

aspects of economic alienation.

this general sense constitutes a recurring problem

This analysis was then fused with the politics of

in contemporary societies such as our own is a

communism, into which future society Marx pro­

prominent theme in the sociology of the modern

jected the 'complete return of man himself as a

urban experience (see MASS SociETY; URBANISM;

social (i.e. human) being - a return become con­ scious, and accomplished within the entire wealth

ANOMIE).

In Europe between the wars the predicament of

of previous development' (Marx, 1844). History is

humankind in modern secular societies was widely

thus the simultaneous loss of human beings in their

discussed by existentialist philosophers, psycho­

own products and their subsequent recovery of

analysts, theologians and Marxists as the problem

themselves, a real process that Hegel had simply

of alienation. The debate was further fuelled by the

perceived in a mystified manner. In Marx's theory

publication in 1932 of Marx's analysis of alienation

of history the developing forces of production (con­

in his Economic and Philosophic (Paris) Manuscripts

tent) progressively outgrow their relations (forms)

(1844). The term is often linked with REIFICATION,

in a series of historical modes of production as the

which was not used by Marx but by the Marxist

realization of this process. With the social forma­

writer Gyiirgy Lukacs in his influential History and

tion of capitalism 'the pre-history of human society

Class Consciousness (1923), which anticipated the

accordingly closes' (Marx, 1859). Marx's social­

theme of human 'objectification' discussed in the

scientific theory of the historical genesis of alien­

Manuscripts. For Lukacs, reification is the extrem­

ation and its overcoming in practice was thus

ity of the alienation of humans from their products

burdened with the same teleology as that of the

which arises from COMMODITY FETISHISM in de­

metaphysical theory it was trying to supplant.

veloped capitalist societies.

In common with Feuerbach and with echoes of

In Britain, the concept of alienation came into

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marx assumes that the es­

currency in sociology and adjacent fields in the

sence or 'species being' of humankind is - unlike

1960s and 1970s via Marxism. A controversy sub­

that of animals - inherently sociable and coopera­

sequently raged about the significance of Marx's

tive. Also, that labour too should have a communal

early writings on this subject for our understanding

character as the productive and creative life of the

of his work as a whole. Some Marxists, for example

species as a whole in their necessary appropriation

Louis Althusser (1965), argued that Marx aban­

of Nature. Labour not only creates wealth, but is

doned the humanistic concept of alienation in his

also its own reward and the means by which human­

early writings in favour of a scientific analysis of

kind has raised itself above the animal world and

modes of production, while others, such as Istvan

created human history. For Marx, therefore, the

(1980)

organization of large-scale commodity production

argued that the concept was integral to all his

and the individualistic wage labour contract of the

works, both early and late.

early capitalist factories of his time constituted a

Meszaros

(1970) and

David

McLellan

ALIENATION

11

travesty of the species character that labour should

and the former Soviet Union, where private prop­

have if it were to be organized in a way truly con­

erty was effectively abolished, would seem to bear

gruent with the assumed nature of man. Alienation

this out. Also, eliminating alienation at the point of

is thus a 'critical' concept, used as a measuring rod

production by workers' self-management (as in the

calibrating the human costs of capitalist civilization.

former Yugoslavia) leaves the spheres of distribu­

Alienated labour alienated workers from (a) their

tion and exchange untouched as further sources of

product, which did not belong to them; (b) work

alienation.

itself, because it was only a means of survival,

The issue of the extent to which alienation can be

something forced on them in order to live; (c) from

eliminated ultimately turns on whether it is feasible

themselves because their activity was not their own,

to abolish the DIVISION OF LABOUR in a complex

resulting in feelings of self-estrangement; (d) from

society. In the

other people in the factory because each was there

its utopian abolition under communism, which also

German Ideology

Marx anticipates

individually selling their labour power as a com­

dissolves the distinction between mental and phys­

modity. For Marx, human egoism was a product of

ical labour. Thus would arise the universal human

alienated labour, as was private property, which was

being who is able to 'hunt in the morning, fish in the

not founded on a collective relation of humans to

afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after

Nature. Hence neither represented enduring char­

dinner ...without ever becoming hunter, fisher­

acteristics of human beings and their lives together,

man, shepherd or critic' (Marx and Engels,

but were a product only of class societies in the

6).

capitalist phase. The abolition of alienated labour

he more cautiously says that in any society, even a

would mean that labour would acquire its true

socialist one, nature as a 'realm of necessity' cannot

Grundrisse

and in

1845Capital,

be eliminated nor can the superintendence, coord­

species character. Two problem areas have dominated discussions of alienation. Firstly, the status of the model of human beings at the heart of the theory. In today's terminology, Marx's analysis is an example of

ination and regulation of work, in short some kind of division of labour and, hence, alienation. For Emile Durkheim

of Labour

(1858-1917) in the Division

and other writings, the negative, alienat­

a

ing aspects of the division of labour are counter­

a timeless picture of HUMAN NATURE. His

balanced to some degree by the increased opportun­

philosophical anthropology because he posits,

priori,

Whereas later, in the

homo laborans takes labour from the dom­

ities for individual self-realization made possible

inant experience of factory work of his time and

by its extension. He advocated developing occupa­

instates it as the universal defining human charac­

tional associations to promote solidarity and a

model of

teristic. Around this idea are then hung a number of

new morality that acknowledges people's increasing

further assumptions about human sociability, free­

dependence on each other that also accompanies

dom and control, self-realization and collective

it. Robert Blauner

labour as its own reward. Like all models of its

alienation down into the four testable dimensions

kind, it is open to the charge of arbitrariness.

of powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation and

(1964)

broke the concept of

Secondly, controversy has continued about the

self-estrangement in the workplace. In a study of

feasibility of de-alienation. Existentialists have sug­

various industrial settings in the USA he found that

gested that while alienation may be exacerbated

alienation and freedom were unevenly distributed

under capitalist production, it is basically symp­

in the modern productive process. Alienation was

tomatic of something perennial in the human

at its greatest in mass production and at its least

social-natural condition. Marx thought that eco­

in craft production. Some have argued that this

nomic alienation was the basis of all other aspects,

kind of empirical approach misses the critical­

so the supersession of private property would mark

philosophical intention of Marx's concept, whereas

the end of expropriation by the capitalists and hence

others have said that it is the only way to give any

all alienations. But, as Axelos says, 'Marx was

kind of precision to a concept which is quasi-meta­

unable to recognize the will to power'

physical and inherently indeterminate.

305),

(1976,

p.

so did not foresee the emergence of new

forms of expropriation and the exploitation of

Reading

people by each other and, hence, further alienation.

Althusser, L. 1965

The existence of powerful communist establish­

Axelos, K. 1976:

ments in the socialist societies of Eastern Europe

(1969): For Marx. Alienation, Praxis and Techne in the Thought ofKarl Marx.

12

ANARCHISM

Blauner, R. 1964: Alienation and Freedom.

the sense in which 'politics' occurs in all organized

Durkheim, E. 1893 (1984): The Division of Labour in

groups when unanimity is lacking, they may recog­

Society. Luk:ics, G. 1923 (1971): History and Class Conscious­ ness. McLellan, D. 1980: The Thought of Karl Marx, 2nd edn. Mesz:iros, I. 1970: Marx 's Theory ofAlienation. Schacht, R. 1994 The Future ofAlienation.

RICHARD KILMINSTER

nize even political (but not state) authority. Thus, decisions taken participatorily by members of a commune or workers' cooperative may be deemed morally binding. But they reject authority backed by coercive power- the kind institutionalized, pre­ eminently but not exclusively, in the S TATE. Anarchists reject the modern state because, within its territory, it divides people into rulers

analytical philosophy

See

LINGUISTIC PHIL­

and the ruled, monopolizes the major means of physical coercion, claims sovereignty over all per­

OSOPHY; PHILOSOPHY

sons and property, promulgates laws held to over­ anarchism

Repudiation of rulers is at the core of

ride all other laws and customs, punishes those who

anarchism. In developing this negative notion,

break its laws, and forcibly appropriates through

modern anarchists, broadly classifiable as either

taxation and in other ways the property of its sub­

individualist or socialist, reject the state, hold that

jects. Further, with other states, it divides human

social order is possible in its absence and advocate

society against itself into national societies, and

moving directly towards 'society without a state'.

periodically wages war, thereby authorizing mass

The first to elaborate a theory of anarchism was

murder. For anarchists, even a democratic state

Godwin

lacks legitimacy since it is not based on consent in

(1793) but Proudhon (1840) was the first

to call himself, defiantly, an anarchist. As a social

any strict sense and the ruler-ruled relationship is

movement, anarchism, in a revolutionary form,

merely masked. Anarchists may admit that some­

crystallized in opposition to Marxism in the period

times the state performs useful functions, such as

of the First International

1864-72, partly over the

protecting- as well as also violating- human rights,

issue of whether socialists should seek the immedi­

but argue these could and should be carried out by

ate 'abolition of the state'. In the twentieth century,

voluntary organizations.

as socialism became increasingly statist, the anarch­

In rejecting the state, anarchists deny the widely

ist movement has declined but its ideas have

held view, classically expressed by Thomas Hobbes

influenced other movements and contributed to

(1651 ), that in its absence there is no society and life

the critique of statist theories and practices. An­

is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Humans,

archism also remains of interest because it raises

they believe, are naturally social, not asocial; and

issues fundamental to social and political theory.

until the first states developed some five thousand

One such relates to authority. 'Philosophical an­

years ago all humans lived in stateless societies.

archism', a component especially of the individual­

Anarchists take John Locke's view that 'the natural

ist variety, rejects the idea of legitimate authority in

condition of mankind', in which all are free and

the sense of the right of anyone (state official or not)

equal, no-one having the right to command obedi­

to command the obedience of another. Individual

ence of others, does constitute a society. They do

autonomy, conceived morally, as by God win and by

not accept Locke's justification in terms of consent

Wolff (1970), requires individuals to act according

of the limited state, an agency for protecting natural

to their own judgements. Conceived egoistically, as

rights, especially the right to property - the night­

by Stirner

watchman view of the state associated with laissez­ faire liberalism, which reappears in the libertarian work of Nozick (1974). But they endorse Locke's view, later vividly expressed by Paine (1791-2, pt 2, eh. 1) and recently restated by Hayek (1973, eh. 2),

(1845), it implies that 'the unique one'

who truly 'owns himself recognizes no duties to others; within the limit of his might, he does what is rightfor him. Since 'philosophical anarchism' makes cooper­ ation and formal organization problematical, an­

that social order exists independently of the state -

archists are often less radical. Although generally

an order spontaneously generated, a product of

suspicious of authority, they may recognize the

human sociability. What distinguishes anarchists

rational authority of experts within their fields of

from such liberals is their belief that this natural

competence and the moral authority of basic social

order does not need supplementing by order im­

norms, such as 'contracts should be kept'. And in

posed from above. In the language of rational choice

theory, although social order is a 'public good', a

Socialist

anarchism

was

ANARCHISM

13

largely

by

shaped

non­

Proudhon's ideas: liberty is the mother, not the

excludability, people- under conditions envisaged

daughter, of order; all political parties are varieties

by anarchists-will cooperate voluntarily to provide

of despotism; the power of the state and of capital

good

characterized

by indivisibility and

For anarchists, unlike

are synonymous; the proletariat, therefore, cannot

classical liberals, the state is not a 'necessary' but a

emancipate itself by the use of state power but only

'positive' evil - a major source, as in war, of dis­

by (peaceful) direct action; and society should be

order in human society. They champion, therefore,

organized as autonomous local communities and

it themselves (Taylor,

1982).

the idea of 'natural society', a self-regulated, plur­

producer

alistic society in which power and authority are

principle'. However, his successors, Michael A.

associations,

linked

by

'the

federal

radically decentralized.

Bakunin and Peter A. Kropotkin in Russia, substi­

In distinguishing sharply between society and

tuted for his 'mutualism' first 'collectivism' and

state, both individualist and socialist anarchism

then 'communism' - the latter implying 'every­

build on liberal foundations. The former may be

thing

seen as liberalism taken to an extreme, or logical,

according to needs.

belongs

to

everyone'

and

distribution

conclusion. The individual is the basic unit, 'soci­

Also, under Bakunin's inspiration, anarchists

ety' is a collective term for aggregations of individ­

adopted the strategy of encouraging popular insur­

uals, FREEDOM is defined negatively as absence of

rections in the course of which, it was envisaged,

coercion, and the aim is to maximize individual

capitalist and landed property would be expropri­

liberty in ways compatible with the equal liberty

ated and collectivized, and the state abolished. In its

of others. Against the state's claim to sovereignty is

place would emerge autonomous, but federally

pitted the principle of 'the sovereignty of the indi­

linked, communes: a socialist society organized

vidual'. On the economic side, individualists have

from below upwards, not from above downwards.

usually insisted on the importance of private prop­

To foster the spirit of revolt among the oppressed,

erty or possession, favoured individual production,

anarchists adopted the tactic of 'propaganda by the

condemned all monopolies, and praised the free

deed' in the form of, first, exemplary local insurrec­

market. In the belief that their proposals would

tions and, then, acts of assassination and terrorism.

secure to persons the fruits of their own labour

Faced with the consequent repression of their

of possessions

movement, other anarchists adopted an alternative

through the exploitation of the labour of others,

strategy associated with SYNDICALISM. The idea was

nineteenth-century individualists sometimes thou­

to turn trade unions into revolutionary instruments

and

not

lead

to

accumulation

ght of themselves as socialists. But their successors

of class struggle and to make them, rather than

today, such as Murray Rothbard

having

communes, the basic units of a new society. It was

abandoned the labour theory of value, describe

through syndicalism that anarchists exercised their

themselves as

(1973),

'anarcho-capitalists'.

Their

pro­

greatest influence on socialist movements in the

gramme amounts to complete privatization. They

period

argue that the free market can supply all goods and

Spain where, during the civil war of

services, including protection of persons and prop­

cho-syndicalists, with some shortlived success, at­

erty, now allegedly provided by the political mon­

tempted to carry through their conception of

opoly called the state.

revolution.

1895-1920.

The influence lasted longer in

1936-9,

anar­

Socialist anarchism may be seen as a fusion of

In Spain, as earlier in revolutionary Russia, an­

liberalism with socialism. High value is placed on

archism continued its quarrel with Marxism, even

individual liberty but freedom is defined not only

though anarchists often accepted much of Marx's

negatively but also as the capacity to satisfy needs.

economic analysis, while Marxists agreed that the

Insisting on social and economic equality as a ne­

coming classless, communist society would be

cessary condition for the maximum liberty of all, it

stateless. The differences were

rejects capitalist private property along with the

means to this end. Anarchists opposed the Marxist

state. Social solidarity, expressed in acts of mutual

idea that workers should organize themselves into a

in

part about

aid, is emphasized. Society is thought of as a

distinct political party to win concessions from the

network of voluntary associations but, more im­

bourgeois state as a prelude to its overthrow. And

portantly, as composed of local communities. Com­

they opposed the idea of a workers' state - 'the

munal individuality is the ideal.

dictatorship of the proletariat'-which, supposedly,

14

ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM

would 'wither away' as capitalist property relations

sical anarchist alternative to conventional political

were abolished. Anarchists argued that the first

action, has also become popular. At the other end of

would lead to the degeneration of the workers'

the political spectrum, individualist anarchism,

movement and its cooption by the bourgeois

reborn as anarcho-capitalism, is a significant ten­

state, and that, even if it did not, the second

dency in the libertarian New Right.

would lead to a dictatorship over the proletariat

The anarchism that survives and fertilizes other

and hence to a new form of class rule. But under­

movements does not call, as Bakunin did, for the

lying these differences, there are others, notably

immediate abolition of the state. It calls, rather,

about the nature of the state. While anarchists

for 'anarchy in action' here and now and for

agree that dominant economic classes use the state

changes that promote the 'anarchization', not the

to maintain their dominance, they see the state as

'statization' of human society. Beyond that, it sur­

embodying political power which cannot be re­

vives as a permanent protest against all coercive

duced, even 'in the last analysis', to economic

power relationships, however disguised, and all

power. Because political power has independent

theories that deny the fundamental insight of lib­

roots, the state is an organization with its own

eralism:

dynamics and 'logic'. Unless resisted, that logic

equal.

leads to the complete domination of society by the

human beings are naturally free and

See also LIBERTARIANISM.

state: TOTALITARIANISM. Sharply contrasting with revolutionary anarch­

Reading

ism in its methods but not in its vision of a new

Apter, D. E. andJoll,J. eds 1971: Anarchism Today.

socialist society is anarchism that derives from the

Bookchin, M. 1982: The Ecology of Freedom.

pacifist tradition (see PACIFISM). 'The law of love', expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, led Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, to denounce the state as 'organized violence' and to call on people to disobey its immoral demands. The call influenced

Crowder, George 1991: Classical Anarchism. Guerin, D. 1970: Anarchism. Guerin, D. ed. 1998: No Gods, No Masters, 2 vols. Miller, D. 1984: Anarchism. Pennock, J. R. and Chapman,J. W. eds 1978: Anarchism. Ritter, A. 1980: Anarchism.

Gandhi in developing his philosophy of non-vio­

Ward, C. 1982: Anarchy in Action.

lence in India. He popularized the technique of

Woodcock, G. 1963 (1986): Anarchism, 2nd edn.

GEOFFREY OSTERGAARD

mass non-violent resistance and originated the key notion of anarcho-pacifism: 'non-violent revolu­

As the prefix suggests,

tion', described as a progamme not for the seizure

anarcho-syndicalism

of power but the transformation of relationships.

this is the anarchist variety of syndicalism - revolu­

For him, national independence was only the first

tionary trade unionism. The core idea of the latter is

step in such a revolution which Vinoba Bhave,

that the organizations developed by workers to

campaigning for voluntary villagization of land,

defend their interests vis-a-vis employers should

continued in an effort to realize Gandhi's dream

become the instruments to overthrow capitalism

of an India of self-sufficient, self-governing village

and then constitute the basic units of socialist soci­

republics (Ostergaard, 1982).

ety. Through 'direct action' in the form, princi­

In a century that has witnessed everywhere a vast

pally, of strikes culminating in the social general

increase in the power of the state, its further mili­

strike, the unions would take control of the means

tarization and its general acceptance as the normal

of production and all other necessary social func­

political organization of national societies, anarch­

tions, dispossess capitalist owners and displace all

ism has clearly been 'against the current'. But it

bourgeois institutions, thereby establishing genu­

survives and shows a notable ability to outlive spe­

ine 'working-class socialism'. In the French labour

cific anarchist movements. A generation after the

movement, where these ideas gained wide currency

eclipse of ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM, anarchist ideas

in

reemerged, sometimes spectacularly, in the context

Fernand Pelloutier (1867-1901), pioneered their

the

period

1895-1914,

anarchists,

notably

of the New Left movements of the 1960s. Their

propagation. But in France, as in other countries

influence is still discernible today, notably in move­

such as Italy, Russia, the USA, the UK, Sweden

ments for peace, feminism, lesbian and gay liber­

and Argentina, where syndicalism became a lively

ation, radical social ecology, animal liberation and

tendency in labour movements, not all syndicalists

workers' self-management. Direct action, the clas-

accepted anarchist ideas - the abolition of the state

ANNALES SCHOOL and radically decentralized organization based on 'the federal principle'. 'Pure' syndicalists regarded their m ovement as sufficien t unto itself, saw an­

Richards, V. 1983:

15

Lessons of the Spanish Revolution, 3rd

edn. Rocker, R. 1989: Anarcho-Syndicalism. GEOFFREY OSTERGAARD

archism as one of several competing political ideologies and left open the question of whether a syndicalist society would be organized as a political

Annales school

entity. On the other hand, anarchists adopted one

if school it may be called, may justly lay claim to

of three attitudes towards syndicalism.

Some

being the most distinctive twentieth-century con­

regarded its ideas as too limited or mistaken, and

tribution to historical writing. Its origins are usually

This 'school' of historiography,

therefore remained aloof. Others, seeing syndical­

traced to the founding of the Revue de synthese

ism as essentially a means to achieve an anarchist

historique by Henri Berr in 1900. It arose out of

society, encouraged participation in the movement

discomfort with, indeed protest against, the idio­

but warned against identifying anarchism with it.

graphic thrust that had come to dominate European

Yet others - the anarcho-syndicalists - took the

historiography since the Rankean 'revolution' - the

view that syndicalism was essentially the expression

call

of mature anarchism in contemporary capitalist

happened', based on primary sources. Idiographic

to

write history empirically

'as it really

society. It was in Spain with its strong anarchist

history had become institutionalized in France at

tradition that anarcho-syndicalism became a sign­

the Sorbonne and in the Revue historique (founded

ificant force in the shape of the CNT (Confeder­

in the 1870s). Much later, in 1953, Lucien Febvre

ation

Nacional

embracing

de

Trabajo),

an

by 1936 one million

organization

would suggest that this French historiography, as

members, in

exemplified by such figures as Gabriel Monad and

which militants of the FAI (Federaci6n Anarquista

Emile Bourgeois, was 'history as written by those

Iberica) exercised a preponderant influence. It was

defeated in 1870'. He argued that their emphasis on

in Spain, too, in the region of Catalonia, that anar­

diplomatic history was sustained by a kind of sub­

cho-syndicalists during the early months of the civil

text that read: 'Ah, if we had studied it more care­

war, 1936-9, attempted with some initial but short­

fully, we should not be where we are today'

lived success to establish a system of 'workers'

(Febvre, 1953, p. vii). It was not that there was objection to the search

control' of industry. Except in Spain, syndicalist tendencies in West­

for empirical data in so-called primary sources. It

ern labour movements were weakened by the na­

was the sense that there was no history worth

tionalist fervour unleashed at the outbreak of war in

writing that was not 'synthetic' - hence the title of

weakened

Berr's journal. Or as Febvre formulated the issue

following the success of the Bolsheviks in Russia

later, one should practice a histoire pensie organized

1914.

They

were

further

seriously

in 1917 which led many syndicalists to abandon

around histoire-problemes as opposed to engaging in

their conception of revolution centred on the

histoire historisante.

unions in favour of the Leninist model with its

Henri Berr sought to break the narrow confines

emphasis on the 'vanguard' role of communist

of a presumed 'discipline' by opening his journal to

groups

other 'disciplines', especially the new social sci­

which refused to follow the communist path then

ences. This tradition was renewed, reemphasized

formed in 1922 the International Working Men's

and deepened when, in 1929, Lucien Febvre and

Association, in which the Spanish CNT until l 939

Marc Bloch joined together in founding the journal

was the largest national section. Later retitled the

which gave this group its name. There are two main

parties.

Those

syndicalist

unions and

International Workers' Association, its 14 national

things to be noted about the journal. First of all,

sections (including a revived but weak and divided

there is its name. It was called Annates d'histoire

CNT) remained into the 1990s the vehicles for

economique et sociale, which was a direct (and delib­

promoting anarcho-syndicalist ideas - but voiced

erate) translation of the title of the German review

now only in the margins of labour movements that

which incarnated the Schmoller school of 'institu­

are over-whelmingly reformist.

tional' history, the Vierteljahrschriflfur Sozial- und

See also ANARCHISM and SYNDICALISM.

Wirtschafisgeschichte. (See also METHODENSTREIT. ) The title was not merely a means of identification with a parallel anti-idiographic current in German;

Reading Brenan, G. 1950:

The Spanish Labyrinth, 2nd

edn.

it was also a programme. It said that the journal

16

ANNALES SCHOOL

would emphasize the economic and the social, im­

movement on the social construction of time and

plicitly because they were more enduring, more

temporalities. He divided his book on the Mediter­

important and more fundamental than the political

ranean into three parts corresponding with what he

and the diplomatic, the normal focus of the most

considered the three social times of structure, con­

historical writing.

joncture and evenement. In the revised edition of The

The second thing to notice about the review is its

Mediterranean, he cast the challenge of his famous

locus, and that of its authors and readers. The

boutade, 'Events are dust' (Braudel, 1982 (1966),

journal was located not in Paris, but in Strasbourg

vol. 2, p. 223). In 1958, he published what is prob­

where Febvre and Bloch were then teaching. This

ably the theoretical centrepiece of the Annates

was symbolic of their institutional marginality,

movement, 'History and the social sciences'. It

which continued even when Febvre was appointed

was in this article that the case is made for the

to the College de France and Bloch to the Sor­

third great theme which has distinguished the

bonne. The number of subscribers was small, only

Annates movement. In addition to 'synthesis' and

several hundred. But the authors and readers were

to 'economic and social history', there is the em­

international from the beginning, as were the

phasis on the tongue duree, the time of the slow­

themes of the journal. In particular, there were

moving structures of social life. Braudel is however

strong links with Italy and Spain. After World War II, the influence of the Annates

careful to spell out in this essay that the tongue duree is not the eternal and unchanging universal. He

movement grew dramatically, with an important

calls this latter time the 'very tongue duree' and

institutional expansion. Bloch had been killed by

says of it: 'if it exists, [it] can only be the time of

the Nazis, but Febvre continued to lead the move­

the wise men ...' (Braudel, 1958).

ment until his death in 1956. Febvre chose as his

Suddenly, that is, between 1945 and 1970, the

associate a younger historian, Fernand Braudel,

epoch of the second generation, the Annates move­

who would come to symbolize the so-called 'second

ment moved from the wings to centrestage, and not

generation' of the Annates movement. Febvre

only in France. By the time the VIe Section was

would lavish praise on Braudel's great work, pub­

rechristened the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sci­

lished in 1949, La Mediterranee et le monde mediter­

ences Sociales in 1975, it had become more presti­

raneen a l'epoque de Philippe If. He proclaimed it the

gious to have an appointment there than in the now

'image of history' as Annates had been calling for it

multiple Paris universities. Annates E. S. C. had

to be written, marking 'the dawn of a new era'

become one of the world's major scholarly journals.

(Febvre, 1950, p. 224).

It seemed that almost everyone, or at least very

Although Braudel was refused an appointment at the Sorbonne, he received one at the College de

many scholars, were considering themselves Annal­ istes.

France, as had Febvre, which in the politics of the

For theAnnales movement, as for so many other

French university system was to be given an honor­

currents of thought, 1968 was a breakpoint. It was

ific but to lack institutional power. Febvre and

only after 1968 that the influence of the Annates

Braudel were determined to create an alternative

movement moved beyond what might be called the

power base and, with the aid of a senior civil ser­

'extended' French cultural zone - Latin Europe,

vant, Gaston Berger, were able to implement an

Quebec, Poland, Hungary and Turkey. (For an

idea from the 1870s, the creation in 1947 of a VIe

analysis of this phenomenon see the special issue

Section (for economic and social sciences) of the

of Review, 1978, which also includes articles ex­

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. The Ecole was a

plaining why Great Britain showed a certain early

peculiar institution, invented in the nineteenth cen­

receptivity as well.) It began to have an important

tury to offer 'adult education' outside the university

influence in zones that had been hitherto resistant­

system. But, very quickly, Febvre and Braudel were

the United States, Germany and finally the USSR.

able to transform the VIe Section into a vibrant

(For many years, the official Soviet position was one

locus of graduate studies and scholarly research in

condemning the Annates movement. There were

history and the social sciences. The journal too was

nonetheless many closet Annalistes in the USSR.

revitalized in 1946 under a new name, Annates:

It was only in 1989, with glasnost, that the Institute

E conomies, Societes, Civilisations.

of Universal History of Academy of Sciences could

It was Braudel who developed most explicitly and most theoretically the position of the Annates

sponsor

an

international

colloquium

Annates- hier et aujourd'hui'.)

on

'Les

ANOMIE

17

In 1972, Braudel retired both as editor of Annates

have inevitably begun to lose the sense of being a

E. S. C., and as president of the VIe Section, to be

movement. Most Annatistes refuse today outright

replaced by the so-called 'third generation'. The

the expression, 'the Annates school'.

year 1970 marked the official launching of the last

Is there then a spirit of Annates which remains? It

great institutional construction of the Annates

seems so, in the sense that the extremes of idio­

movement, the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme,

graphic narrative and ahistorical generalizing are

of which Braudel would remain the administrator

still rejected. What might be said is that whereas,

until his death in 1985. The Maison has as its raison

for the first and second generations, the via media

d 'etre the intellectual collaboration of French

was a very narrow passageway between two highly

scholars with everywhere else in the world, pursu­

menacing and very large schools of Scylla and Cha­

ing the same hope of synthesis that had inspired

rybdis, for the third generation, the via media

Henri Berr in 1900.

became a wide highway between two highly dimin­

The events of 1968 opened up new intellectual

ished extremist positions. It is the difference be­

horizons everywhere. In some parts of the world, it

tween having a self-image ofDavid versus Goliath

made scholars (and students) receptive for the first

and having the sense that what one does is not

time to the via media of Annates, struggling simul­

merely normal and respectable, but thought of as

taneously against IDIOGRAPHIC history and univer­

such.

salizing social science. On the other hand, it was

In 1989, the journal changed its name again,

precisely in those parts of the world where Annates

becoming Annates: Histoire, Sciences Sociates. The

influence had already been strong that the scholarly

name change marked the assumption of the heritage

community was entering into a 'post-Marxist'

by the so-called fourth generation. They seem to

mood, and was hence somewhat suspicious of the

wish to restore the place of economic history in the

great emphasis on economic history of the 'second

journal, which had been largely evicted by the third generation, without however dispensing with the

generation'. The 'third generation' shifted the emphasis no­

new paths opened up the third generation. Some

ticeably from the economic to the social (even in­

see this as a compromise path. They have also

This

opened the journal to contributions by the new

translated itself into a renewed concern with men­

microhistory of Italian origin. Whether this is a

tatites, an extraordinary expansion of empirical re­

new distinctive approach and whether these new

cluding

in

the

latter

political

culture).

search on a wide range of sociocultural phenomena,

thrusts will enable the Annates to continue to play

and an important blending of interest with those

the central, innovative role it has played in the past

anthropologists who were themselves putting new

is yet to be seen.

emphasis on the symbolic sphere. The Annates movement in its 'third generation' has pursued the spirit of'inclusiveness', of studying any and all aspects of social reality, that was a central part of the Annates ethos from the begin­ ning. The third generation has used the social to expand the economic in the same way as the previ­ ous generations had used the economic to expand the political. But while it is clear that they have been more 'inclusive', it is less sure that they have been holistic, as 'synthetic'. The third generation has tried to bring back the

Reading Braudel, F. 1958

(1972):

History and the social sciences.

In Economy and Society in Early Modern Europe, ed. Peter Burke.

-- 1966 (1982): La Mtditerranee et le monde mtditerran­ een a l'epoque de Philippe II, nouv. ed. revue et augmen­ tee. Burke, P. 1990: The French Historical Revolution.

Review 1978: the Annales school and the social sciences. Special issue, 1.3-4 (Winter-Spring). Wallerstein, I. 1991: Beyond Annales? Radical History

Review 49,7-15.

IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN

importance of the political arena by seeing it as a central part of the mentatites. In doing so, they have The

term

derives

from

the

Greek

had to come closer to a consideration of 'events',

anomte

even if under the guise of symbolic occurrences.

anomia, meaning: without law and connoting ini­

As the 'third generation' came to occupy more

quity, impiety, injustice and disorder (Orru, 1987).

and more place in the world of knowledge - in the

It reappeared in English in the sixteenth century

double sense of being more numerous and concern­

and was used in the seventeenth to mean disregard

ing themselves with more empirical issues - they

of divine law. It reappeared in French in the

18

ANOMIE

writings of Jean-Marie Guyau (1854-1888) who

unaware 'of where the operations required of him

gave it a positive connotation. An anti-Kantian,

are leading' (Durkheim, 1893, pp. 305-6).

Guyau looked forward to an ideal future of moral

In Suicide anomie constitutes one of the social

anomie - that is, the absence of absolute, fixed and

causes of suicide, a state of the social environment

universal rules - and religious anomie, freeing indi­

as a function of which suicide rates rise. It is a state

vidual judgement from all dogmatic faith.

of deregulation leaving 'individual passions ...

Anomie's sociological career began with Emile

without a curb to regulate them'. He distinguished

Durkheim, who criticized Guyau's ideas but appro­

two kinds of anomie, economic and conjugal. The

priated the term, giving it once more a negative

former consisted in the breakdown of an accepted

connotation, first in The Division ofLabour in Soci­

normative framework that stabilized expectations;

ety (1893) and then in Suicide (1897). It was subse­

it was manifested in economic crises, whether

quently taken up by Robert Merton in the 1930s,

booms or slumps. But he also thought such anomie

after which it achieved its greatest diffusion in the

was chronic in contemporary societies in the indus­

1950s and 1960s among American sociologists

trial and commercial world, resulting from the de­

studying SuiCIDE, delinquency and deviance (see

cline

CRIME AND DEVIANCE) . Thereafter anomie came to

controls, and the growth of the market and of

signify a personality trait or set of attitudes (in­

ideologies celebrating acquisitiveness, a malady

creasingly indistinguishable from ALIENATION) for

of infinite aspiration, 'daily preached as a mark of

of

religious,

political

and

occupational

the measurement of which various scales were de­

moral distinction', elevating 'to a rule the lack

vised. Subsequently its meaning became increas­

of rule from which [its victimsJ suffer' (Durkheim,

ingly indeterminate as its use spread more widely

1897, pp. 258, 256, 257). Conjugal anomie, he

among sociologists and extended to psychologists.

thought,

In this process, anomie became 'psychologized' and

'weakening

detached from any wider theory of society. The

accepted normative framework that reined in desire

story of its transmutation from Durkheim's initial

and controlled passions, of which divorce was both

was of

also

chronic,

matrimonial

cons1stmg regulation'

in of

a an

usage to those of Merton and his successors is

an expression and a powerful contributory cause

interesting. As Besnard observes, anomie which,

(ibid, p. 271).

with Durkheim, 'characterized a state of the social

Robert Merton's anomie shares neither Dur­

system was later applied to the situation of the

kheim's view of human nature nor his project of

individual actor, or even to his attitudes or state of

diagnosing the social and hence personal ills of a

mind'. Furthermore, Durkheim's 'concept critical

rapidly industrializing capitalism. For him anomie

of industrial society was transformed into a conser­

was conceived 'as a breakdown in the cultural struc­

vative notion designating maladaption to the social

ture, occurring particularly when there is an acute

order' (Besnard, 1987, p. 13).

disjunction between the cultural norms and goals

In Durkheim's Division of Labour the 'anomic

and the socially structured capacities of members of

form' of the division of labour is 'abnormal'. This

the group to act in accord with them' (1949, p.162).

consisted in the absence of a body of rules

Merton

governing the relations between social functions;

(mainly though not wholly in material terms) were

thought

that

aspirations

to

'succeed'

it was to be seen in industrial and commercial crises

universally prescribed in contemporary US society.

and the conflict between labour and capital; and its

Socially structured strain, or anomie, resulted

chief cause lay in the rapidity with which INDUSTRI­

where institutionally permitted means to succeed

ALIZATION occurred, such that 'the conflicting inter­

were unavailable. There were four ways of adapting

ests have not had time to strike an equilibrium.' As

to this strain, apart from conformity to both goals

the

market

extends

and

large-scale

industry

appears, the effect is to 'transform the relationship

and institutionalized means - all of them forms of deviance:

between employers and workers'. Urbanization caused 'the needs of workers to increase'. With mechanization and the replacement of small work­ shops by manufacturing, 'the worker is regimented' and removed both from his family and his em­

Innovators (e.g. professional thieves, white-collar criminals, cheaters in examinations) adhere to the goals but reject the normatively prescribed means. Ritualists (e.g. bureaucrats who slavishly follow

ployer. Finally, work is made less meaningful, re­

the rules without regard for the ends for which

ducing the worker to 'the role of a machine'

they were designed) make a virtue of over-

ANTHROPOLOGY

conformity to the institutionalised norms at the price of underconformity to the culturally pre­ scribed goals. Retreatists (e.g. tramps, chronic drunkards, and drug addicts) withdraw from 'the rat race' by abandoning both goals and means. Rebels (e.g. members of revolutionary movements) withdraw allegiance to a cultural and social system they deem unjust and seek to reconstitute the soci­ ety anew, with a new set of goals and prescriptions for attaining them. (Cohen, 1966, p. 77)

19

designate the human species as a whole. Although it is possible to see the term 'man' as an all-embracing reference to the species as a whole, it is at least a reminder that much of the reconstruction of human evolution and diversity has historically been seen largely from a male perspective. Given this fragmentation into social and bio­ logical elements, not to mention yet further subdiv­ isions, it is questionable whether there remains any coherence to the term anthropology at all, and

This focus on shared cultural norms and goals and on blocked possibilities of legitimately realizing them set an agenda for deviance research which lasted several decades. Yet, as Besnard has ob­ served, it was, in effect, an inversion of the Durk­ heimian notion, for 'where Durkheim described individuals uncertain of what they must do as the horizon of possibilities expands, Merton proposes actors sure of the objectives to be attained, but whose aspirations are blocked by a situation of closure with respect to the possibilities of success' (1987, p. 262).

furthermore, whether the growth of a whole range of life, human and social sciences, not to mention more humanistic approaches, has not led to a re­ dundancy in which there is no clear niche for anthropology nor a distinctive character to an an­ thropological approach. A positive answer can be provided by considering what is unique or predom­ inant in anthropological investigations. More than any other part of the human or social sciences, anthropology is characterized by an emphasis on comparative approaches, on variation rather than norms in behaviour and societies, and a rejection of Western societies or populations as a model for humanity. This comparative framework is of para­

Reading

mount importance. Traditionally social anthro­

Besnard, P. 1987: L'Anomie: ses usages et sesfonctions duns la discipline sociologique depuis Durkheim. Durkheim, E. 1897 (19SI): Suicide, trans. J. A. Spaulding and G. Simpson. Merton, R. K. 1949 (1968): Social Theory and Social Structure, revised edn, chs 4 and 5.

always been the case is that the human social experi­

STEVEN LUKES

ence is best viewed as a range of variations, each

pologists have focused on non-Western societies, and although there has been an increasing interest in applying similar methods and concepts to soci­ eties that lie within the European sphere, what has

with their own cultural logic, and in particular that Broadly considered to be the

Western society does not provide a yardstick

scientific study of man, this orthodox definition

against which these other cultures should be

anthropology

highlights a number of problems that help to illus­

assessed. The range of cultural variations provides

trate both the diversity of anthropology today and

this distinctly comparative framework for social

its unifying features. First among these is that while

anthropologists.

the origins of anthropology as a coherent discipline

Equally, biological anthropologists, or physical

lie in the Darwinian revolution of the middle of

anthropologists

the nineteenth century, and hence were part of the

known, use biological principles and methods to

as

they

have

previously

been

general interest in EvoLUTION, much of its subse­

provide

quent development has been a reaction against evo­

may be an explicitly evolutionary one, comparing

another comparative

framework.

This

lutionary and in particular progressionist notions of

humans with other primates, or it may be the

human society and behaviour. The fragmentation

examination of the extent and nature of human

of anthropology into distinctly social and biological

biological variation today. If, following American

branches reflects not only different responses to the

usage of the term anthropology, archaeology is in­

development of evolutionary ideas, but also a rejec­

cluded, then the comparative framework is pro­

tion by much of social anthropology in particular of

vided by time - the way in which human societies

the feasibility of a purely scientific approach to the

have varied through prehistory and history. Under­

problems of the study of humans. Secondly, the rise

pinning all the branches of anthropology is this

of feminist critiques has led to caution about, if not

concern with mapping human variation - bio­

an outright rejection of, the use of the term 'man' to

logical, behavioural and cultural - and attempting

20

ANTHROPOLOGY

to explain, interpret and understand the patterns in

led to a rejection of notions of progress in human

ways that do not make any unwarranted assump­

societies. Experience of the detailed workings of

tions about directions of development or human

non-European societies showed first that they

uniqueness. The anthropological project is ultim­

were far from simple and could not be neatly clas­

ately characterized by these global perspectives.

sified in evolutionary terms. For example, although

This comparative framework has provided the

economically simple, Australian aboriginal societies

basis for anthropology's impact on twentieth­

possessed among the most complex kinship systems

century thought.

and cosmologies known among humans. Further­ more, by replacing evolutionary concepts with

Primitive societies The discovery by Europeans of the enormous vari­ ation in human societies occurred primarily during the period 1500 to 1900, and brought with it the need to understand how and why this diversity occurred. The adoption of evolutionary (although not necessarily Darwinian) perspectives during the late nineteenth century provided the first coherent basis for such a perspective. Evolution was viewed by many thinkers who were influenced by Darwin, such as Herbert Spencer, as a progressive ladder of change, from primitive organisms through to humans (see SociAL DARWINISM) . Other species represented cases of arrested development in a scala naturae. In similar vein, human societies could be ranked on a ladder of progress, from the primitive to the advanced. European, and particu­ larly industrial, society stood on the top rung. Primitive societies could therefore be seen as both the stages through which humans and their societies had passed, and examples of a lack of evolutionary progress. The first anthropological syntheses, such as those developed by E. B. Tylor and L. H. Morgan, provided such a model, with various stages of development identified- primeval hordes, barbarism, civilization, for example, or matrilineal and patrilineal, or through economic concepts such as hunting and farming. Although this evolutionary paradigm provided the basis for modern anthropology, the primary contribution of anthropologists to the ideas of the

functional ones, it became clear that non-European societies were not primitive attempts at economic organization and social structure, but instead func­ tioned well as integrated systems in particular social and environmental settings.

For example, the

acephalous society of the Nuer of the Southern Sudan studied by Evans-Pritchard, far from being a primitive and anarchic system, was a multilayered society where the institutions of kinship lineages, marriage patterns and livestock herding dovetailed neatly together. Although many of the tenets of FUNCTIONALISM have since been abandoned, the notion that the variety of human social and economic organization should be seen in terms of specific ecological cir­ cumstances, cultural traditions and alternative re­ sponses to unique conditions has remained of central importance, and beyond anthropology has led to the abandonment of a sense of evolutionary hierarchy among human societies. In its place has come a greater sense of independent cultural trad­ itions and alternative social strategies. This has had practical consequences for attitudes towards devel­ opment, with less willingness to impose change for change's sake and an awareness of the dangers of economic change independent of cultural consider­ ations. It has also revolutionized attitudes towards aesthetics and art, apparent in the interchange of icons between Western and other art forms. Culture

twentieth century have paradoxically derived from

The central anthropological concept that under­

the rejection of this view. For a number of reasons

pinned these changes was that of CULTURE. This

ranging from the pursuit of exotica to the need to

term is multilayered and has itself changed meaning

administer empires, anthropology paved the way

over the years. At one level it refers to those char­

for direct observation and interaction between

acteristics of behaviour that are unique to humans,

European observers and the societies involved. It

relative to other species. It also carries with it the

was direct and intimate contact, leading to the

notion of behaviour that is learned and taught,

development of the methods of participant obser­

rather than instinctive. Developments in ETHOL­

vation, by anthropologists such as B. Malinowski,

OGY have somewhat undermined this aspect as it

A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and E. E. Evans-Pritchard

has become clear that the learned/instinctive di­

that overturned the evolutionary perspective and

chotomy in animal behaviour is invalid and that

ANTHROPOLOGY

21

other species share characteristics that were for­

consequences for the way in which racial and ethnic

merly thought to be uniquely human (such as tool­

problems have been considered, and has led also to

making). Another level is that of the human capacity

a much deeper understanding of values, k nowledge

to generate behaviour. Although specific behaviours

systems and cosmologies around the world. More

may not be unique to humans, nonetheless the

negative effects have been the abandonment of the

human mind's ability to generate an almost infinite

comparative approaches that underpin anthropol­

flexibility of response through its symbolic and lin­

ogy, a tendency towards historical particularism,

guistic potential sets humans apart. Recent inter­

and an ambiguity about the universality of human

pretations of culture stress the cognitive source of

rights.

human behaviour. At another level is the view that such behaviour is deeply imbedded in social rela­ tions and other social characteristics. And finally, the outcome of these processes is the empirically observable phenomenon of human cultures - the separate identities of distinct human societies, char­ acterized by specific cultural traditions. The recognition of the diversity of human cul­ tures and subcultures is a major conceptual step that has arisen out of the practice of social anthro­ pology - the detailed study of specific societies (ethnography). Principal among the implications of studies of peoples in cultural units and contexts is the recognition that they are bound together not by genetic or biological identity but by social trad­ itions, and that ETHNICITY is a major factor in relationships between people and societies. Furthermore, culture is not just the accretion of social traditions, but is deeply enmeshed with the entire cognitive system such that a person's view of the world is constructed and constrained by cultural experience. Given the independence of cultural traditions this has enormous implications for the intercommunicability of

concepts and

values between societies.

Cultural relativism

Unity ofthe human species While social anthropology has rejected evolution­ ary approaches that are based on a progressive view of human society, a rather different trend can be found in biological anthropology. Recent work on the history of Darwinism have shown that while many of Darwin's followers were keen to see a progressive element, he himself was aware that this was not the case and that his strongly selec­ tionist arguments (see NATURAL SELECTION) pre­ dicted adaptational diversity rather than unilinear change. Indeed, it was for that reason that most evolutionists in the late nineteenth and early twen­ tieth century abandoned selection theory while maintaining an evolutionary perspective. However, Darwin's key evolutionary concept - descent with modification - did provide a simple solution to a major problem, that of monogenesis or polygenesis. The discovery of diverse peoples in the Americas and other parts of the world raised the question for pre-Darwinian scientists of whether these peoples all had a single origin or creation, or whether they were the product of several different acts of cre­ ation. Monogenesis implied a unity of all humans, polygenesis opened up the possibility that some human forms were not really part of the specifically

The problem of translation across cultures has led

human creation of biblical history. The establish­

in one direction to cultural relativism. In one sense

ment of the fact of evolution, regardless of the

this is an extreme reaction to the progressive

mechanism of change, meant that anthropologists

notions of evolutionary approaches, which held

were able to show that all humans are descended

that societies and cultures could be ranked from

from a single common ancestor, and that all humans

primitive to advanced. Cultural relativism has de­

belong to a single species. Subsequent biological

veloped within social anthropology as a means of

work showed the inter-fertility of all humans.

emphasizing both the difficulty of making compari­

Thus biological approaches to anthropology paved

sons between cultures and the absence of any inde­

the way to the predominant view of this century

pendent criteria for making judgements about the

that humankind is unified, united by a biological

relative merits of different social traditions. At its

heritage that is far greater than any of the differ­

most extreme, cultural relativism espouses the view

ences. The acceptance of the unity of the human

that a culture can only be considered within the

species is now a fundamental consensus that forms

context of its own cultural traditions and logic. At a

the basis for many ideas that go beyond the strictly

practical level this has had important and positive

biological.

22

ANTHROPOLOGY

Human diversity In the same way that social anthropologists have focused on the diversity of human cultural forms, so too have biological anthropologists looked at biological diversity. An implication of the tree-like structure of the evolutionary process when looking at humans was that human populations could be

for distinguishing races. As a result recent work in biological anthropology has shown that race is not a useful biological concept. Biological anthropolo­ gists turned instead to elucidating the functional and adaptive basis (disease, climate, ecology) of human variation.

divided up into discrete units, representing either

Human evolution

geographical isolates or evolutionary stages. The

The development of modern genetics has shown

apparent diversity of humans, particularly in fea­ tures such as skin colour and face shape, lent cre­ dence to this view, and became the basis for the analysis of human variation in terms of RAcE. For most of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century race was the central concept in the study of human biological diversity. Most anthropolo­ gists took the view that human races represented ancient divisions within mankind, that they could be viewed also as stages of development, and that

above all that the human species is an extremely young one, that all modern humans share a recent common ancestor, and therefore that any geograph­ ical patterns that can be seen do not signify deep divisions among humans but the recent and super­ ficial product of migration and local adaptation. The contribution of anthropology to the ideas of this century thus do return to its original concerns with evolution, but with a rather different em­ phasis. Evolution does not show a ladder of pro­

biological race was linked to the other social and

gress but a source of diversity, and instead of

cultural characteristics. Races provided both a hori­

tracing humans further and further back in time it

zontal (i.e. geographical) and a vertical (i.e. through time) categorization of humans. A principal aim was therefore to document this process historically through the study of archaeological and fossil

emphasizes how young our species is, and thus the unity of human populations. Against this back­ ground, though, specialists in human evolution have also documented the antiquity (more than

samples. Furthermore race was also used as an

five million years) and complexity of the diverse

explanation for the differences in patterns of devel­

lineages that have led to modern humans appearing

opment. In the early part of this century physical anthropology lent a biological foundation to more widespread ideas about race and an underpinning to theories of EUGENICS and NATIONAL SOCIALISM.

in the last 100,000 years.

Modern anthropology

Until World War II race was the central concept in

With the growth of anthropology during the twen­

the study of human biology from an anthropo­

tieth century and the shift away from a programme

logical and evolutionary perspective.

of documenting historical patterns, anthropologists

This situation was completely transformed after

have turned to questions that range far more widely

the war, and even before, biologists such as A. C.

and

Haddon and Julian Huxley were highly critical. In

Among social anthropologists there has been a

recent anthropology, race has been completely

greater focus on the links between cultural pro­

rejected as a useful biological and analytical con­

cesses and economic, political and sociological

cept. Part of the reason for this was no doubt a

ones, leading to an increasing emphasis on cultural

reaction against the way in which biology had

aspects of cognition. Furthermore, the marked

have

increasingly

practical

applications.

been used to justify political action. Equally im­

changes in the traditional societies that anthropolo­

portant was the development of NEO-DARWINISM

gists have studied has led them to become deeply

which showed that there was no biological basis

involved in the problems of their development and

for treating variation within a species either as

survival, and anthropology has contributed to a

evolutionary stages or as discrete categories. More­

much greater awareness of the indivisible links

over, the increasingly direct study of genetic rather

between culture and other aspects of development.

than physical variation showed that the geograph­

Equally, biological anthropologists have worked

ical variation was continuous and extremely com­

increasingly with the problems of disease and nu­

plex, thus demonstrating that selective features

trition in the Third World, providing especially a

such as pigmentation did not provide the criteria

greater understanding of the populational aspects

ANTI-SEMITISM of the ecological probems that face vast portions of the human population. Reading Bowler, P. J. 1987: Theories ofHumanEvolution: a Century ofDebate. Harris, M. 1968: The Rise of Anthropological Theory: a History of Theories of Culture. Harrison, G. A., Tanner,]. M., Pilbeam, D. R. and Baker, P. T. 1988: Human Biology: an Introduction to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth and Adaptability. Kuper, A. 1982: Anthropology and Anthropologists. Leach, E. 1982: Social Anthropology. Spencer, F. ed. 1982: A History of American Physical Anthropology.

ROBERT A. FOLEY

anti-Semitism Originally a term popularized by political movements in Germany in the 1870s and 1880s which were campaigning for the reversal of the newly achieved social and political emanci­ pation of the Jews, the term is, strictly speaking, inaccurate because it does not concern itself with opposition to 'Semites' but is confined to all forms of hostility to Jews. As such it has a long history going back to the pre-Christian era when Jewish monotheism and exclusiveness led to suspicion and mistrust. With the advent of Christianity, the Jews became a 'problem' in that their continued exist­ ence seemed to belie Christian concepts of a 'new covenant' and the rejection of the Jews by God. Throughout the history of Europe, as Christianity spread, Jews were segregated, forcibly converted or expelled. In the course of time they were also in­ creasingly restricted to commercial and money­ lending activities, which added the fear of the usurer to the already well-established images of deicide and other offences against Christianity. As the power of the 'Christian state' declined, the economic hostility to Jews became the greater con­ cern and was, with the rise of German idealist philosophy, linked to the 'essence' (Wesen) ofJuda­ ism which was said to be inimical to the interests of Eur� pean states. It was but a short step from the concept of an 'essence' to the notion of the Jews as a 'race'. While Christian Wilhelm Dohm opened the debate (in 1781) on the emancipation of the Jews by arguing that their 'bad' characteristics were the result of persecution, his contemporaries took the view that it was more likely to be the other way round, that Jewish characteristics were the 'cause' of their persecution. Neither Dohm nor the phi!-

23

osophers approved of the persecution of Jews, but their conceptualizations laid the foundations for a debate on, and for the most part against, the Jews, which focused on the reasons for hostility to Jews, thus elevating it into a rational issue. This led to the identification of different forms of anti­ Semitism - social, economic, religious and racial, according to the perceptions of the initiators. All are united, however, on the basic foundations of anti-Semitism which propounds 'theories' of a Jewish quest for world domination and the collect­ ive guilt of the Jews. The unrestrained expressions of hostility to­ wards the Jews which marked the early decades of this century led to a deliberate or apathetic accept­ ance of the racial doctrines of NATIONAL SOCIALISM in Germany and culminated in the systematic de­ struction of six million Jews during World War Il. The 'holocaust' was followed by a considerable reduction in 'Jew-baiting' but has been itself drawn into the debate about Jews by those who wish to minimize the extent of the crime or those who deny that it ever took place. The strongest issue of the post-war period, however, has been the emergence of the state of Israel and with it the 'anti-Zionist' lobby, which insists on a sharp div­ ision between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Nevertheless, the real divide in the anti-Zionist camp, like that in the anti-Semitic camp, is between those who oppose the Jews and the state of Israel per se and those who object to specific acts and policies of some Jews and some Israeli politicians. The literature on anti-Semitism is extensive and con­ tinues to grow, with the holocaust and the state of Israel developing their own very substantial litera­ tures. A useful starting point would be the bibli­ ography in the Encyclopedia Judaica (1971, col. 160). For a detailed historical survey see Lean Poliakov (1965-85). A conceptual history is offered by Jacob Katz (1980) and a political analysis by Paul W. Massing (1967). See also JuDAISM. Reading Curtis, M. ed. 1986: Antisemitism in the Contemporary World. Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971. Katz, J. 1980: From Prejudice to Destruction: Antisemitism

1700-1933. Massing, P. W. 1967: Rehearsal for Destruction. Poliakov, L. 1965-85: History ofAntisemitism, 4 vols. Pulzer, P. 1988: The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria, 2nd edn.

24

ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY

Weinberg, M. 1986: Because They Were Jews: a History of

Antisemitism. Wistrich, R. 1991: Antisemitism: the Longest Hatred.

JULIUS CARLEBACH

(Neolithic or New Stone Age). Comparative eth­ nography could now be related to the material record, and the new subject was called (somewhat unhappily) 'prehistory',

with equivalent terms

in other European languages (prl:histoire; Archaeology and prehistory

Both these dis­

Vor­

geschichte). Its methods were potentially global in

ciplines -the study of the human past through its

application, but the subject was dominated by

material remains, and the part of the subject con­

European evidence.

cerned with the period before written records -are

The liberal scientific and evolutionary interpret­

relatively recent. The term 'archaeology' came into

ation of early human history, however, gave way in

use in the eighteenth century to describe the study

the earlier twentieth century to a renewed national­

of the material culture of the ancient world, espe­

istic emphasis which was accompanied by a divorce

cially that of Greece and Rome. It denoted a form of

of archaeological from anthropological thought.

art-historical scholarship which was closely associ­

Prehistory (in Germany often termed Urgeschichte,

with connoisseurship and collecting, and

to stress its continuity with historical peoples) was

largely dependent on the existence of textual evi­

ated

interpreted either in terms of the migrations of

dence for explanation. The timescale of biblical

particular peoples, or the diffusion of culture from

chronology allowed little scope for an extended

centres such as Egypt. Anthropology turned from

period before written records. Although Enlighten­

historical reconstruction to firsthand observation

ment philosophers discussed broader questions

and description, with an interest in functionalist

about the remote past, such as the origins of

interpretations. Although the archaeological ex­

farming and civilization, they did so largely on the

ploration of other continents produced a wealth of

basis of comparative ethnography and without ref­

new evidence, the study of each individual area

erence to archaeology. It was only with the Roman­

tended to develop as an introverted specialism.

tic movement that the remains of preliterate

One of the few archaeologists to maintain a broader

cultures came to be of interest in their own right,

view was the prehistorian V. Gordon Childe ( 1892-

often in the context of nationalistic concerns for the

1957), whose studies of European and Near Eastern

origins of the northern European nations. The ac­

prehistory were motivated by a desire to escape

cumulation of material evidence allowed Scandi­

from the nationalistic emphasis of much contem­

navian antiquarians to postulate a succession of

porary German scholarship through the explor­

technological stages characterized by the use of

ation

tools of stone, bronze and iron; although these

nineteenth-century (and, indeed, Enlightenment)

'three ages' were believed to be largely contempor­

interest in the origins of farming and civilization,

of

Marxist

models.

He

revived

the

ary with the literate civilizations of the Mediterra­

which he saw as economic revolutions comparable

nean.

in importance with the Industrial Revolution, and

The scope of archaeology became evident in the

termed the Neolithic and the Urban Revolution

later nineteenth century with the development of

respectively. These ideas were expounded in two

geology and the rejection of a biblical chronology,

classic works, Man Makes Himself (in 1936) and

and the respectability of evolutionary ideas in biol­

What Happened in History? (in 1941), which were

ogy (see EvoLUTION). The idea of prehistory is thus

among the few books which succeeded in bringing

a relatively recent development, closely related to

archaeological evidence to the attention of social

the growth of ANTHROPOLOGY. Classical archae­

theorists outside the subject at this time.

ology continued as a largely separate discipline,

Despite Childe's political espousal of Marxism

although excavations in Greece and Turkey (at

and his emphasis on historical materialism, his the­

sites such as Mycenae and Tray, famous in ancient

ories differed from those of contemporary British

mythology) revealed the existence of Bronze Age

Marxist historians in their consensual rather than

predecessors to the classical civilizations there. The

conflictual interpretation of these events. Childe

Stone Age was recognized to be a period of consid­

saw a managerial role for early secular elites, with

erable length, corresponding to the earlier phases of

religion as a major force impeding technological

human evolution during which humanity had been

progress. He combined a Hegelian vision of the

dependent on hunting (the Palaeolithic or Old

successive roles of Oriental, classical and Western

Stone Age), and to the early stages of farming

civilization with a diffusionist view of the history of

ARCHAEOLOGY AND PREHISTORY

25

technology, to produce a sophisticated social model

The new archaeology was characterized by an

in which the innovations that produced early urban

opening up of the subject to a broader range of

societies were stifled by political centralization

interests from neighbouring disciplines, and an

there, but nevertheless provided the basis for fur­

eagerness to participate in their debates. While it

ther development in societies which acquired these

was associated with some important methodo­

techniques without paying the social cost. This

logical advances (often from areas of new technol­

model (which was influenced by more recent

ogy quite outside the subject, as with radiocarbon

examples such as the industrialization of Japan)

dating from nuclear physics), it tended to absorb

explained for him the unique characteristics of

and reproduce theories rather than generate its

West European societies, and set the divergence of

own; and it shared many of its enthusiasms with

'Western' from 'Oriental' culture back into the

contemporary movements in history and economics

Bronze Age. Although many aspects of these ideas

-for instance its concern with EcoLOGY and DEM­

have a rather nineteenth-century flavour, they

OGRAPHY. Computers and SYSTEM THEORY pro­

nevertheless marked a great advance on the inher­

vided its

ently metaphysical explanations of national or racial

(see ANNALES SCHOOL), it concentrated on process

lingua franca.

Like Braudelian history

genius which abounded in contemporary archaeo­

rather than event - hence its alternative name of

logical discourse; and they were a remarkable

processual archaeology. Avoiding the unique and

achievement by the subject's lone intellectual.

the particular (and especially the production of

One factor inhibiting archaeology from exploit­

'pseudo-history'), it claimed that more rigorous -

ing the potential of its evidence to contribute to

and especially quantitative -methods could recon­

wider bodies of social theory was its marginal pos­

struct social as well as simply technological or styl­

ition in the universities. Most practitioners of the

istic information about prehistory.

subject in the first half of the century were either

methodological and conceptual innovations were

attached to museums and bodies concerned with

the ideas of numerical taxonomy for the classifica­

ancient monuments, or freelance excavators raising

tion of artefacts, spatial sampling to reconstruct

money for their expeditions. The expansion in

settlement patterns from field survey of surface

higher education since World War II therefore

scatters of material, the reconstruction of environ­

Among its

had a major effect on the nature of archaeological

ment and diet from animal and plant remains, trade

discourse, which for the first time included a sub­

patterns from the identification of raw materials,

stantial methodological and theoretical component

and social structures from the different kinds of

as well as excavation reports and discussions of

artefacts deposited in graves.

primary material. Since the archaeology of those

While each of these endeavours produced copi­

areas and periods where textual evidence was avail­

ous new information, its interpretation was often

able was largely conducted from departments of

naive, and strongly constrained by the prevailing

history and classical or Oriental studies, the major

paradigms of neo-evolutionary anthropology which

impetus to comparative analysis came initially from

owed much to Herbert Spencer ( 1820-1903). Ex­

prehistory, which was often (and in the United

planations typically stressed population pressure

States almost entirely) conducted under the aegis

and agriculture intensification

of anthropology. The movement in the later 1960s

Boserup's ideas in development economics), settle­

(echoing

Esther

which came to be known as the 'new archaeology'

ment colonization and expansion, economic spe­

was thus largely a North American and British

cialization and the formation of social hierarchies,

phenomenon, echoed in other parts of the Eng­

and the emergence of central places (echoing

lish-speaking world and northern Europe, though

themes in the 'new geography' - see also HUMAN

conspicuously absent in Germany (and Japan)

GEOGRAPHY ). These common themes were found to

where intellectual adventurism was inhibited by

underlie the emergence of farming and cities, and

wartime experience; and it was scarcely reflected

the general development of human societies world­

for at least a decade in classical archaeology. Some

wide - an evolutionary succession from bands to

similar innovations occurred in the USSR, al­

tribes, chiefdoms and states.

though constrained by the changing needs of polit­

Despite their high technology, novel statistical

ical orthodoxy; and comparable new thinking in

sophistication and wealth of new information, these

France took a rather different form which was ini­

interpretations show a great similarity to the views

tially less sympathetic to the wider movement.

of Enlightenment writers such as Adam Smith

26

ARISTOCRACY

(who knew no archaeology at all). In espousing a

each social 'structure' is unique, both in its rela­

comparative model, based on the idea of evolution,

tionships, symbols and materials? If interpretations

such work produced a series of case studies which

are so volatile and contextually dependent, what

assumed an autonomy of local development and

certainty is possible? Do archaeological theories

were insensitive to larger structures of the kind

say more about the present than the past? In this

postulated by Gordon Childe. Diffusionism was

way archaeology has tracked the cycle of the social

effectively outlawed by this framework, since it

sciences, from the confident comparativism and

was both hard to quantify and had no place in the

determinism of the 1960s to the relativism and

paradigm. In this respect new archaeology resem­

deconstructed postmodernist introversion of the

bled much of 1960s development economics; and

later 1980s (see MODERNISM AND P OSTMODERNISM) .

during the 1970s such work was criticized in a way

Such angst is by no means universal. All across

similar to that in which modernization theory was

the

challenged by Marxist theories of underdevelop­

recording stratigraphies and recovering artifacts

ment

and environmental evidence for laboratory examin­

and

world-systems,

associated with

the

world,

men

refining

and

women

datings,

sit

noticing

in

trenches

names of Andre Gunder Frank and Immanuel

ation,

Wallerstein (see DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVEL­

having ideas that help to make sense of what they

correlations,

OPMENT ) . Although the concept of underdevelop­

find. Some of these ideas are new, some of them are

ment proved inapplicable to earlier contexts, the

old: classical archaeologists have now discovered

idea of core and periphery gave new life to the study

central place theory, and are playing the games

of relationships between urban populations and

that prehistorians played in the 1960s. If there can

their illiterate hinterlands, and especially to the

be no final understanding of the present, there

asymmetrical trading relationships between them

can certainly be none about the past; but we have

- for instance the Roman wine trade with their

yet to know less in one decade than we knew in the

Celtic neighbours. The very concept of'prehistory'

one before.

was seen as misleading for the later metal ages, since 'civilized' and 'barbarian' societies formed parts of

Reading

the same economic system. Chiefdoms, even tribes,

Binford, L. R. 1983:

might be contact phenomena rather than evolution­

Daniel, G. and Renfrew, A. C. 1988:

ary stages. More fundamentally, material culture itself came to be seen during the 1980s as important in its own right, rather than simply reflecting underlying eco­ logical differences and abstract social structures. The desire to possess goods can be as powerful a

In Pursuit ofthe Past. The Idea ofPrehis­

tory. Hodder, I. 1990:

Reading the Past. Past Worlds: the Times Atlas of World

Scarre, C. ed. 1988:

Archaeology. Sherratt, A. G. ed. 1980:

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of

Archaeology. Wenke, R. 1989:

motivation of change as population pressure or soil

Pattern ofthe Past. ANDREW G. SHERRATT

deterioration. The 'prestige goods' of European In its oldest sense, aristocracy de­

origin which circulated in sub-Saharan Africa

aristocracy

were an active component of the power of native

noted a political system. The ancient Greeks took

chiefs who monopolized their supply and used

the term to mean a regime where power and merit

them to legitimate their authority. So, too, perhaps

went together; this usage predominated in the West

the intensification of agrarian production in later

during two millennia. But at the time of the French

prehistoric Europe might have been stimulated by

revolution, aristocracy, and the new coining 'aris­

the availability of Mediterranean trade goods. Far

tocrat', moved into the realm of social analysis (and

from being benevolent providers or economic man­

polemic). Now the focus was on aristocracy as an

agers, chiefs could be seen as exploiters and mon­

elite within the community: an elite in which accu­

opolizers; and not just in contact situations, but in

mulations of wealth and political authority were

the genesis of crafts such as metallurgy which in­

concentrated, marked out by privilege, and passed

volve the supply of rare and costly materials. But if

on by hereditary transmission. These are the terms

social structures are not abstract hierarchies, and

in which 'aristocracy' is now most likely to be

instead consist in various kinds of illusions which

invoked by social scientists or historians.

minorities succeed in persuading their followers to

Study of a wide range of contexts and problems

accept, how is comparative study possible? Surely

has led essentially to a more precise understanding

ART, SOCIOLOGY OF

27

of these characteristic features of aristocracy. The

Reading

hereditary transmission of aristocratic rank has rarely

Bottomore, T. 1964 (1993): Elites and Society, 2nd edn.

meant anything approaching the total exclusion of

Bush, M. 1983: Noble Privilege.

newcomers: not least because of the hazards of natural extinction. The scale and character of re­

--1988: Rich Noble, Poor Noble. Powis, J. 1984: Aristocracy. JONATHAN POWIS

cruitment into aristocratic status may themselves provide insights into the values and material condi­ tions of a society. In traditional societies, aristo­

art, sociology of

cratic wealth was likely to be based on a dominant

the production and consumption of art as the effect,

share of landed resources, and Marxist analysts in

reflection or representation of a general social pro­

This attempts to understand

particular have linked the transition from an agrar­

cess. Without being a clearly defined discipline or

ian economy to concomitant weakening of aristo­

having a unitary methodology, the sociology of art

cratic power. But the source of wealth may have

is best seen as either dispersed among or as the tool

been less important than the leisure it afforded for

of a number of disciplines and areas of enquiry.

the exercise of general pre-eminence in the commu­

These may include historical writing as well as art

nity. There may indeed be circumstances where

history, social anthropology or the study of subcul­

new forms of wealth creation proliferate so rapidly

tures, the historical and sociological study of social

that a hereditary elite loses its capacity for decisive

classes and groups, the SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE,

economic influence. Students of Europe's commer­

linguistics and art criticism. Although such a link­

cial or industrial development have nevertheless

age may be considered contentious (Wolff, 1981),

provided striking evidence for aristocratic adapt­

the sociology and the history of art practised as a

ability alongside emerging business or manufactur­

form of social history will here be grouped together.

ing classes: an adaptability often eased by financial

Indeed one of the undisputed pioneers of both,

(and family) links between new wealth and old. In

Pierre Francastel, did this in the 1940s. He also

traditional societies, again, the political role of aris­

argued (Francastel, 1965, p. 16) that the subject in

tocracy made it more or less co-extensive with the

itself is characteristic of the modern period of self­

ruling class, or at any rate the class from which civil

conscious historicist thinking, and pleaded for it

and military leaders were more or less exclusively

not to be developed as little more than a 'function

drawn. More complex and impersonal systems did

of exhausted values'.

something to displace this relationship between

The expression 'sociology of art' articulates two

public authority and a hereditary ruling elite, with

terms with completely separate histories. If the

power increasingly exercised in the name of king,

word 'sociology' emerged in the last century as the

state or people. But here again aristocratic adapta­

name for various methods of enquiry into human

tion proved striking, and strikingly longlasting:

society, 'art', on the contrary, has been in use since

whether as royal ministers, or parliamentary man­

antiquity. Over this period it has denoted or qua­

agers, or local bosses.

lified a range of phenomena from practical, concep­

Some social scientists have seen elites in the

tual or erotic skills to easel painting, from 'gallery

contemporary world as displaying yet further stages

art' to lifestyle. The modern, commonsense defini­

in the evolution of these aristocratic characteristics:

tion of 'art' as being painting, sculpture, print, etc.

the nomenklatura of Eastern Europe, for instance,

accepts art as being a non-artisanal form of produc­

or the Bostonian notables of New England. Here

tion combining manual work with ethical and aes­

power and family interests are certainly to be found

thetic value, and performed by a specially endowed

in concentrated and revealing fashion: privilege

kind of person (Wittkower and Wittkower, 1963).

flourishes. But the privilege of traditional aristocra­

This category 'art', as it is consolidated and re­

cies was defined and proclaimed in terms of a dis­

produced through the practices of connoisseurship,

tinctive, often formally 'noble', status; and those

curating and art history among others, functions

claims were in some sense accorded recognition by

retrodictively. It groups together for sale, display or

the community at large. Where we can translate

formal criticism materials from origins that are both

'privilege' merely as 'advantage', there we might

temporally, geographically or socially disparate and

say aristocracy no longer exists.

discontinuous. Major national galleries or collec­

See also ELITE THEORY;

tions of the type configured in the last century or

ATION.

SOCIAL DIFFERENTI­

since, such as the Louvre in Paris, include under

ART, SOCIOLOGY OF

28

the rubric of art many objects which were not

rived many of its basic principles. Thus an art

recognized as such either at the time or in the

historian like T.J. Clark

place of their production. By implication, then,

tial work on Manet and Courbet, has put critical

(1973) who, in his influen­

the sociology of art is liable to be dealing with an

theory at the top of the art-historical agenda, draws

object of knowledge that needs constantly to be

on a theoretical field in which the visual arts have

problematized in the light of a complex series of

been largely marginal.

historical specificities. Such a sociology tends to be

The conception of 'art' is also stratified by such

in principle opposed to accepting a Kantian ideal of

notions as 'popular art', 'art for the people', 'trad­

art as the object of any disinterested and categorical

itional art' or 'ethnic art', not to mention 'political

aesthetic judgement, just as it is committed to ex­

art' or 'women's art'. Understanding all or any of

plain rather than to agree the idea of artistic creativ­

these and the relations between them may call for a

ity

variety of methods of enquiry that might combine

and

personality

as

transcending

social

conditions. Both must be seen as specific manifest­

ethnology,

ations of the social, which is why, as Pierre Bour­

different aspects of sociological method. 'Art' as a

dieu

(1980, p. 207) has put it, 'Sociology and art

psychology

or

psychoanalysis with

ritual element in peasant labour, or of tongue duree religious practices, in the work of social historians is

make a bad household.' It is useful, then, to think in terms of a line of

a different object of analysis from the 'art' that

development that leads from Marx and Engels's

forms the point of accession to or exclusion from

(1845-6) reflections on the political economy of

social values in the group sociology of Bourdieu

culture to Bourdieu's systematic critique of Kant­

(1979) and Moulin (1967). Indeed it is difficult

ian judgement, the feminist deconstruction of cre­

enough to conceive of a traditional art form such

ativity as a historically gendered category, or the

as the ex-voto (an image offered in gratitude) of the

post-colonial rejection of 'Western' artistic values

eighteenth century in France (Cousin,

(Bourdieu,

1979; Nochlin, 1989; Pollock, 1988; Said, 1978; Tickner, 1988). An important aspect

belonging to the same cultural formation as its

1980) as

of the sociology of art has been its appositional

the same terms as modern, avant-garde painting.

contemporary salon art let alone to think of it in

relationship to what it sees as conservative AEs­

Significantly, however, we must assume that the

THETICS, whether they be articulated through philo­

sociological study of any of these will treat aesthetic

sophical rationalism or the demands of the art

value as part of the system of beliefs that frame the

market. Working from a complex and highly differ­

individual work.

entiated political terrain, sociology of art is com­

In the work of the social art historians Antal

mitted to showing that 'art' as a category is always

(1948) and Klingender (1968) understanding art

and in many ways overdetermined. At the same

has required a radical and subtle differentiation of

time it has continued to be concerned with or

public, patronage and conditions of production for

reserve the problem of the specificity of art and

different works or types of art. Antal's Florentine

the questions that this presents for any totalizing

Painting and Klingender's Art and the Industrial

explanation of art's meanings (Wolff,

1981; Fran­ 1967; Raphael, 1968).

Revolution suggest as much a new form of social

The fractured character of the subject is further

a role as a signifier rather than as an illustration.

castel, 1965; Duvignaud,

history as a history of art- one in which art is to play

emphasized if art is taken to include Music and

The practices of art in fourteenth-century Florence

LITERATURE. Now the paradigmatic basis for the

or nineteenth-century Britain become primary evi­

sociology of art is seen to be inseparable from

dence of processes of social formation and repre­

the more general problematic of how to theorize

sentation.

the ensemble of modern cultural forms. Commen­

With Baxandall

(1980), in his work on fifteenth­

taries on and theories of modern cultural formation

century German sculpture, even the author func­

from the poet Charles Baudelaire in the nineteenth

tion comes to be seen as an effect of the complex and

century to the writings of Kracauer

uneven conditions of production and the conten­

(1937), Bloch

(1985) and Adorno (1963) have focused on musical

tion of interests between artist and patron to which

form as a model of artistic discourse. The work of

they give rise. The sculptor signs the work to estab­

Lukacs

lish his position in an unequal relationship with a

(1970) and Goldmann (1967) has provided

methods for the contextual framing and analysis of

patron who owns the means of production. The

literature from which the sociology of art has de-

signature signifies an attempted appropriation of

ART, SOCIOLOGY OF

29

power rather than the locus of creativity. Baxan­

However it should be emphasized that many

dall's work thus suggests ways in which the theor­

texts which explain art in broadly sociological

etical propositions of Foucault (1969) can be

terms do not have the elaboration of a sociology of

rethought through a long-term historical process.

art as a primary or even as a conscious objective.

Yet it also suggests that historical and sociological

Thus the work of Champfleury (1869) on French

critique of the idea of the 'artist' requires a variety

folk art or ofWagner (1849) on the origins of artistic

of carefully inflected techniques of enquiry. A

feeling and expression are focused around the prob­

fifteenth-century sculptor cannot be framed in the

lem of defining a national CULTURE. A preoccupa­

same terms as a late ninteenth-century 'mad genius'

tion with art as part of the formation of national

such as Vincent van Gogh. Even if both come to be

consciousness emerges once again on both sides of

framed within a modern system of beliefs about art,

the political camp in the 1920s and 1930s. In Italy

the specificities of their history, as of this system

Gramsci (1985) understood the popular consump­ tion of detective comics and opera as indicating a

itself, need to be carefully differentiated. It may also be argued that a broadly sociological

weakness in proletarian class formation, while in

concern with art precedes the emergence of the

Germany the idea of modern art as a symptom of

word sociology and the modern idea of the artist.

decadence was elaborated. At any point in its de­

This prehistory can be exemplified in the discus­

velopment the sociology of art is overdetermined by

sions of the French Royal Academy where, in the

a variety of discourses on the sociability of art.

eighteenth century, it was common to explain the

A potentially systematic sociology of art is gen­

supremacy of ancient Greek art by the representa­

erally understood to emerge in the writing of Marx

tion of Athens as a healthy and successful society.

and Engels and with Hyppolite Taine's histories of

Academic arguments that had recourse to extra­

art and literature. While Taine became notorious

aesthetic categories, such as climate, the coherence

for his deterministic formula 'environment, race

of social order and the wisdom of patronage, to

and moment' (Taine, 1853), with its echoes of the

explain and define artistic quality flourished along­

previous century, its influence in professional soci­

side cultural relativism and materialism in Montes­

ology or in social history has been less significant

quieu or Diderot. At the end of the century the

than that of Marxism. In the German Ideology Marx

theocratic apologist Louis de Bonald was also able

and Engels attempt to explain the power and sign­

to suggest an explanation of artistic change that was

ificance of a Renaissance artist such as Raphael in

in its turn appropriate to the justification of a need

terms of a complex historical process which alone

for social continuity (Reedy, 1986).

made his painting possible:

In the 1840s, when the idea of the individual, expressive artist was on its way to becoming cur­

Raphael as much as any other artist was deter­

rent, single works of art came to be read as socially

mined by the technical advances in art made

symptomatic,

critical.

before him, by the organisation of society and the

Proudhon, with his Du Principe de l'art et de sa

division of labour in his locality, and, finally, by

whether

redemptive

or

destination sociale (1865), was pre-eminent in con­

the division of labour in all the countries with

structing a history of modern art in which his

which his locality had intercourse.

interpretation of the work of artists such as J ac­ ques-Louis David and Gustave Courbet articulated

Marx and Engels were here arguing against the idea

a general political and social theory. By the mid­

of a 'unique' individual as propounded by Max

century in both France and England one can com­

Stirner, but in so doing they begin to map out a

monly read histories of art, art criticism or essays on

frame of reference made up of social and economic

folk art, as well as discussions about industrial

relations that form part of the conceptual structures

progress or Universal Exhibitions, that deploy

of the sociology of art up to our own time.

some system of social reference in understanding

They also attempt to define art as specific to its

art as a sign of its times. It is arguable that a concept

mode of production, pointing to the sales pitch of

of art as inherently social was, in effect, thoroughly

the capitalist press of the 1830s and 1840s as the

diffused by the 1850s. As Thore-Burger put it in his

condition for the emergence of the serial novel. In

review of the Parisian Salon of 1855, 'Do not the

Theories of Surplus Value, where this discussion is

arts themselves represent the historical traditions,

developed, they laid out two further lasting param­

the real life of the peoples?'

eters. One of these is the concern with the artist as a

30

ART, SOCIOLOGY OF

particular type of worker who is essentially an 'un­

(Wind, 1958), for example, calls for a knowledge

productive labourer'. The other is the preoccupa­

of the sociability of different levels of culture from

tion with the 'commodification' of art itself and its

banal and everyday phenomena to humanist com­

conversion by capitalism from its previous histor­

mentaries on classical texts. The exceptional art­

ical statuses into no more than an item of exchange

work becomes one point at which disparate forms of

value, whether this notion is construed as monetary

knowledge and cultural practice find a relatively

or ideological (Marx and Engels,

total articulation.

1976). Here again

is a starting point for discussions on the relation of

But despite the value of approaches that either

art and society as distinct as those of Gyiirgy

deduce the meaning of a work of art from social data

Lukacs, Theodor Adorno, Waiter Benjamin or

or induce the fabric of the social from the reading of

Pierre Bourdieu. The sociology of art may turn

the artwork, the notion of cultural objects as ex­

out to be at the centre of twentieth-century Marx­

pressive of totality or as 'total social facts' has fallen

ism. But the concept of alienation will fuel both

into disrepute. The work of art may belong to any

Benjamin's willingness to accept the popular and

one or more than one of a series of knowledges.

Adorno's definition of art as necessarily the neg­

Thus the construction of the public for a painting

ation of the social forces that produce it.

may be as one of the psychoanalytic category of

Recently, in the writing of Jacques Ranciere,

voyeur, implicated in the modes of scopophilia,

Adorno's negativity has been used to revalue the

without a primary regard for social stratification.

Kantian aesthetic. If the transcendent and the nega­

Or it may be as a social group with access to the art

tive can be read through each other, then the desire

market and an eye to figuring its own prestige

for art must be understood in terms of the negation

through purchase. Two contemporaneous paint­

of the social structure (Ranciere, 1983). From this

ings may share a position in a commonly accepted,

point of view, Bourdieu's elaboration of the pro­

historical language of visual signs and yet belong to

duction and consumption of art as the confirmation

quite different sites in the development of art edu­

and reproduction of social status turns out to be a

cation and the systems of production and distribu­

wholly inadequate framing of the complexities of

tion. Art criticism may as well be read in terms of its

social identity, the sociology of art a hollow enter­

relation to literary and political discourse as in

prise. Analogously both feminist and post-colonial

terms of its declared object of attention. The future

discourses frame the social in such a way as to

development and configuration of the social history

suggest that much of what has been taken as ad­

and sociology of art alike will necessarily depend on

equate sociology, and by implication, sociology

the recognition of this diversity as of the problems

of art, needs to be radically rethought. The con­

that it presents. To be truly fruitful, interdisciplin­

struction of art as either a form of domination or

ary work may well have to accept that difference is

as a means of accession to social value is poly­

more structuring than totality.

morphous and inexhaustible, ever constrained and continuously reworked in historically specific con­ ditions. In his essay of 1923, 'On the interpretation of Weltanschauung', Karl Mannheim presciently out­

lined these problematics in a sociology of culture

Reading Adorno, T. 1963: Q}tasi una Fantasia. Bourdieu, P. 1979 (1984): Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Clark, T. J. 1973: The Absolute Bourgeois: Artists and Politics in France 1848-18Sl.

(in Mannheim, 1952). Rejecting a reductive pro­

Duvignaud,J. 1967 (1972): The Sociology ofArt.

cedure of cultural analysis derived from the model

Francastel, P. 1965: Oeuvres 11, La Realite figurative,

of natural science, he tried to demonstrate how an understanding of the 'objective', 'expressive' and 'documentary' meanings of a cultural object would lead to a complex mapping of the parallel, but not necessarily causal, relations of a sociocul­

elements structurels de sociologie de l'art. Hauser, A. 1959: The Philosophy ofArt History. Mannheim, K. 1952: Essays on the Sociology ofKnowledge, ed. P. Kecskemeti. Marx, K. and Engels, F. 1845-{) (1970): The German Ideology.

tural totality. Arguably the flow and interweaving

Mou1in, R. 1967: Le Marc he de la peinture en France.

of methods in Mannheim 's disclosure of a cultural

Proudhon, P.-J. 1865: Du Principe de l'art et de sa destin­

whole requires the same kinds of skill as do the iconological analyses of the Warburg school of Art History. The study of a painting by Botticelli

ation sociale. Wo1ff, J. 1981: The Social Production ofArt. ADRIAN D. RIFKIN

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

31

The term describes what

was the pattern the different configurations all fall

is shown by a machine when it emulates cognitively

under. This particular project has since come to

sophisticated human performances.

fruition (in optical character-recognition devices of

artificial intelligence

Mechanical

calculators (beginning with the 'calculating clocks'

great human significance), but the problem of pat­

of the seventeenth century) and even mechanical

tern recogmtlon in a variety of other domains

robots of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

remains

could be seen as early vehicles, but it is in the

Firscheim, 1987).

significant

and

taxing

(Fischler

and

programming of computers in the twentieth cen­

The project of teaching the computer English

tury that artificial intelligence began to be identified

(that is, natural language) similarly began its long

as a field of study (Pratt, 1987).

and as yet uncrowned career as an attempt to make

The term came into currency following its use

the machine more user friendly to the programmer.

in the title of a conference convened in 1956 at

It is one that has gained in perceived significance

Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, by John

even as its difficulty has been borne in upon those

to

who have worked at it (Alien, 1987; Gazdar and

define a collection of projects which attempted to

Mellish, 1989). There is a view that visual percep­

exploit the potential of the electronic computer,

tion is mediated through the concepts of natural

which had been born in World War II and, in the

language, and it is also quite possible that know­

McCarthy

(MacCorduck,

1979).

It

served

early 1950s, was emerging into the civilian world. Leading projects at that time included attempts

ledge is articulated and memorized using linguistic structures (Winograd, 1983).

to get the machines to play draughts and chess, to

To a striking degree most of these foundation

solve geometry and logic problems, to recognize

projects have continued to absorb interest and defy

patterns and to 'understand' ordinary English (Fei­

complete solution. New ones have also been em­

genbaum and Feldman, 1963). These reflected two

braced. During the second decade of AI's existence

types of interest which came together in the forma­

great attention was focused on robots, with the

tion of the new field, and which have persisted to

attempt to equip mechanical devices with refined

the present day. One is an interest in human psy­

motor controls and with the ability to use visual

chological processes, the other in getting the ma­

data obtained from the surroundings to enable

chine to do ever more sophisticated (and therefore

them to move about or manipulate objects or

to human users, more convenient) things. Some of

both. This work issued in the automated assembly

the earliest Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs, for

lines that have now become commonplace (Engel­

example ones that generated proofs in logic, were

berger, 1980).

devised as a way of studying human decision­ making.

Others,

programs

playing

chess

and

Latterly, the great preoccupation of AI has been with understanding how human knowledge might

draughts particularly, were conceived as studies in

be stored in the machine, in such a form as to make

learning. Latterly, the perspective that looks on the

that knowledge, and any implications it might have

brain as an 'information processor' has created cog­

for the solution of everyday problems, easily access­

nitive psychology (not so much a new branch of an

ible. This is the effort to construct 'expert systems'

old subject as a proposal to replace it), and from this

which would take the place of or at least assist

point of view trying to achieve emulation of human

human experts of various kinds (teachers, solicitors,

behaviour or performance by programming the

financial consultants).

machine is a powerful research technique (Ander­ son, 1980). Pattern recognition studies began with the other

The future will probably see a developing revival of interest in the learning potential of 'nerve nets', a plurality of processors linked multiply together

motivation - with programmers wanting to equip

(Hinton and Anderson, 1981). Breaking with the

their machine with the capacity to read typescript,

structure that has become the norm for a computer,

so that programs could be fed into it using that

which funnels all the action through a single pro­

medium. They discovered that, for example, a

cessor, the 'nerve-net' alternative attempts to get

letter of the alphabet is not to be defined by a

closer to the structure of organic nervous tissue (an

coordinate-definable configuration of dots, but

idea pursued without success by a forerunner of AI,

that an indefinite number of such configurations

cybernetics, in the 1950s). The present hope is that

can be identified by the human eye as the same

the new structures may be got to provide guidance

letter; what the computer had to be got to pick out

as to the future behaviour of complex systems, not

32

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

by working out the various laws which together

and propositions are to be treated as lists of sym­

govern it but by getting the net to pick up the

bols, the members of which could be got at and

pattern of past behaviour and project it into the

manipulated. A computer language, LISP (LISt

future. 'Connection science' is sometimes used as

Processor) was invented to facilitate the carrying

a label for this perspective (Rumelhart et al., 1986;

out of such processes on the machine, and has

Zeidenberg, 1989).

turned out to be so generally useful for the projects

The notion of a 'heuristic', originally applied in

pursued by the AI community that the use of it

the realm of seeking mathematical proofs, is one

almost serves to define the field (McCarthy, 1963).

important idea that has been developed in the

From the earliest days AI workers have seen the

course of a number of AI projects. Solutions to

relevance of LOGIC to their concerns. Being able to

certain problems can be discovered in principle by

reason seems to be an aspect of possessing intelli­

going through a finite list of possibilities. For

gence, and one way of thinking of logic is as the

example, in a game like chess there are at any

attempt to articulate the rules of valid reasoning,

point a finite number of moves open to a player,

the rules which allow us to conclude, from a list of

and moreover each possible sequence of moves will

things we know to be established, that certain other

issue at some point in one of three endings: a win for

things must also be true. If the machine could be

one or other of the two players, or a draw. One

got to manipulate propositions according to these

approach theoretically therefore would be to work

rules (supposing we knew what they were) it would

through a complete set of 'what if conjectures.

not only eliminate the role of the human logician

Unfortunately (or fortunately - chess is a nice

and mathematician (for their occupation is showing

game), even a machine taking no more than a mil­

that such and such a proposition can be proved) but

lionth of a second to calculate each possible position 95 in a 40-move game, would require 10 years to

represent a considerable aid in all kinds of human

work out a first move (Shannon, 1954).

ledge plays a part.

endeavour where reasoning from established know­

Needed for a practical chess-playing program are

For a certain type of reasoning, as a result of the

ways of improving on the systematic but blind

labours of logicians down the centuries, the rules

generation of candidate moves, ways of ruling out

have been worked out (Prior, 1962). They are

without consideration unlikely possibilities if not of

straightforward to represent on the computer, and

positively picking out likely ones. One might, for

so representing them was one of AI's earliest pro­

example, ignore all moves to unprotected squares.

jects. Applied to the particular domain of medical

The merit of generating all possibilities systematic­

expertise, for example, the computer implementa­

ally is that if you carry on long enough, you cover

tion of this part of logic yielded a program which

them all. It is this merit that such short-cuts, or

offered a diagnosis of medical conditions. Medical

'heuristics', sacrifice: in place of certainty in the

knowledge is incorporated into the program in the

long run you have something less than certainty

form of rules which express the known links be­

within a more acceptable timespan.

tween symptoms and possible illnesses. The patient

Even with the help of heuristics, AI problem­

is prompted to add in the symptoms they are actu­

solving frequently involves checking through large

ally suffering from and the program then uses the

numbers of possibilities, and has thus highlighted

rules of logic it has been given to work out what

the need to store information in such a way as to

diagnosis is implied (Shortliffe, 1976).

maximize the efficiency of searching through it. A

Systems of this kind are not without practical

branching 'tree' structure has been one influential

value, though the fact that they can emulate only a

outcome here. Another technique, not exactly new

restricted type of reasoning is a severe limitation. It

with AI, but receiving in AI work the precise ar­

is the type formulated in what is known as the

ticulation that programming demands, is to resolve

propositional calculus, and the limitation is that it

the problem that has to be solved into component

cannot represent reasoning that hangs on the in­

simpler problems, and those problems into even

ternal structure of propositions. For example, the

simpler ones - and so on until a level is reached

propositional calculus treats the doctor's reasoning

where solutions can be found (Newell and Simon,

'If Tom has a high temperature, he must be ill' as

1972).

having the form 'If p then q', where p stands for the

AI has also given, particularly in its early years,

proposition 'Tom has a high temperature' and q for

substantial sponsorship to the idea that concepts

'he must be ill'. But a great deal of reasoning does

ASIAN VALUES hang on the internal structure of propositions (for

Simon, H. A. 1970:

example: 'If every number has a successor, then

Turing, A. M. 1954: Can a machine think? In

there is no number such that it is larger than every

33

The Sciences ofthe Artificial. The World of

Mathematics, vol. 3, ed. J. R. Newman. VERNON PRATT

other number'). Logicians have, however, been successful with these other types of reasoning too, inspired by the

Asian values

work of Gottlob Frege towards the end of the

straddles two meanings. On the one hand, it de­

'Asian values' is an expression that

nineteenth century, developing what is known as

notes a subset of human values in general, purport­

the predicate calculus (Kneale and Kneale, 1962).

edly discerned by anthropologists during close

For reasons uncovered in famous mathematical

ethnographic encounters or identified by sociolo­

work by Kurt Giidel and others (Davis, 1965),

gists and economists investigating the Asian path to

there can be no certainty in advance that a mechan­

modernization. In this context, 'Asian values' as­

ical representation of the predicate calculus will

pires to be a scientific concept seeking to explain

issue in a determination of every legitimate enquiry

Asian cultural and economic exceptionalism. Typ­

put to it. In completing, the machine is giving the

ically, debate turns on how Asian values are espe­

answer 'Yes' to the enquiry put (essentially, does

cially conducive to consistently high rates of

such and such a proposition of the predicate calcu­

economic growth, an argument that inverts earlier

lus follow from the information available?). But

claims that, for instance, Confucianism was a stub­

before it has completed the user doesn't know

born cultural obstacle to modern capitalism. On

whether this is because the answer is 'No', or be­

the other hand, and in recent times most promin­

cause the answer will never be determined. This

ently,

creates an unwelcome degree of uncertainty, but

highly charged, polemical set of assertions of some

ways of coping with the limitation have been de­

Asian leaders designed to deflect criticisms of

vised which leave predicate calculus machines

their human rights record and to affirm, with

nevertheless with a good deal of utilitarian potential

various

(Shepherdson, 1983).

societies are better - more ethical, cohesive and

One fruit of this work has been the construction of a computer language called PROLOG (from

'Asian

values'

degrees

of

is inseparable from

triumphalism,

that

the

Asian

disciplined - than their decadent counterparts in the West.

'programming in logic') which applies the rules of

The term 'Asian values' gained particular sali­

the predicate calculus to work out what propos­

ence in the 1980s and 1990s to highlight the success

itions follow from the facts put into the system,

of the Asian 'Tiger' economies (Singapore, Malay­

considered in conjunction with the 'knowledge

sia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea) in pro­

base'

moting

it

has

previously

been

provided

with

high

rates

of

economic

growth

and

development. In good measure, however, the term

(Kowalski, 1979). Another has been the construction of a new gen­

was defensive. Spearheaded by two very different

eration of expert system programs, the promise of

personalities - Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's elder

which at the present time still however outstrips

statesman, and Mahathir bin Mohamad, the prime

accomplishment.

minister of Malaysia- 'Asian values' was a way of

See also COGNITIVE SCIENCE.

turning the tables on critics of authoritarian Asian regimes. For Lee and Mahathir, espousing a kind of

Reading

Orientalism in reverse, Asian values do not simply

Beardon, C. 1989:

explain the Tigers' post-war economic success but

Artificial Intelligence Terminology. Boden, M. A. 1986: Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man, 2nd edn. Michie, D. 1974: On Machine Intelligence. Minsky, M. 1967: Computation: Finite and Infinite Ma­ chines. O'Shea, T. and Eisenstadt, M. eds 1984: Artificial Intelli­ gence. Shapiro, S., Eckroth, D. and Vallasi, G. 1987: Encyclo­ paedia ofArtificial Intelligence. Sharp1es, M., Hogg, D., Hutchison, C., Torrance, S. and Young, D. 1989:

Computers and Thought.

are also evidence of a superior mode of society (Mallet, 1999). The Asian cultural valorization of hard work, discipline and thrift; the commitment to family and community; the willingness to defer to authority and to prioritize duties over rights; all of these 'values' are contrasted invidiously with the high levels of crime, divorce, one-parent families, drug abuse and- the source- rampant individual­ ism typical of Western societies (of which the United States is the archetype).

34

AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS Since the Asian financial meltdown of 1997, and

the continuing, if mitigated, travails of south-east Asian and Pacific Rim economies, 'Asian values' are

Mallet, V. 1999: Trouble with Tigers: the Rise and Fall of South East Asia.

Patten, C. 1998: East and West. PETER BAEHR

flaunted less confidently than hitherto. But the concept was always problematic and not only for the obvious reason that it excluded the Indian sub­

Austrian economics

continent from its purview. A key objection to it is

distinct mode of economic reasoning and a research

that it caricatures a region notable for its rich reli­

agenda. During the 1970s and 1980s Austrian eco­

The label connotes both a

gious (Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Shint6, Christian)

nomics came to the fore as one among several con­

diversity; its heterogeneous political systems -

tending streams of economic thought suspicious of

democratic

(Hong

mainstream economics (see PosT-KEYNESIANISM). It

Kong), state socialist (e.g. PRC), junta centred

is called 'Austrian' because it traces its pedigree to

(Burma)

(Taiwan),

etc;

varying

semi-democratic stages

of

development

the original triumvirate of Car! Menger (1840-

(Schwenkter, 1998); and interethnic rivalries: for

1921), Eugen Biihm von Bawerk (1851-1914) and

instance, between Chinese, phenomenally success­

Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926), who taught in

ful in business, and ethnic Malayans and Indones­

the University of Vienna during the twilight of the

ians (Landes, 1999, pp. 475-80). Other objections

Habsburg Empire.

centre on the argument that East and West have

The Austrian, or Viennese, school constituted

been far more porous entities, historically, than is

one important strand - along with the English

often imagined (Goody, 1996); that Asian societies

(Marshallian) and Lausanne (Walrasian) traditions

have strong traditions of tolerance and religious

- of what became subsequently known as NEOCLAS­

scepticism (Sen, 1999); and that there is something

SICAL (as opposed to classical political economy) or

racist in the implication that a 'real' Asian could not

MARGINALIST ECONOMICS. While in broad agree­

be a supporter of individual freedom and demo­

ment with these other streams of thought with

cratic governance.

respect to general outlook, theorists in the Austrian

Is the concept of 'Asian values', then, a simple

tradition distinguished themselves from the outset

fraud, code for institutionalized cronyism, lack of

by a more relentless elaboration of the subjectivist

transparency,

authoritarian govern­

turn in economics. The Austrian theory of value is a

ment and rubber bullets? The real situation is

case in point: in contrast to classical notions, value

more

internationalization

was not deemed to be measurable in an intersubjec­

( 'GLOBALIZATION' ) increasingly breaks down cul­

tively valid way on the analogy of the length of a

tural boundaries, the societies of Asia are still very

table; it did not turn on some material property

distinctive from Western societies and from each

intrinsic to goods, rather it was seen to be at the

other. The nuclear family, for instance, is more

heart of a relationship obtaining between appraising

stable in Korea and Japan than it is in America;

decision makers and the objects of their appraisal.

corruption,

complex.

Although

crime rates are also much lower (Fukuyama, 1999,

Conceiving of value as a subjectivist concept paved

pp. 130-9). Few peoples in the world, Asian

the way for a redirection in the focus of economics.

peoples included, work harder than the Chinese of

In line with a general shift away from problems of

the diaspora. In short, cultural distinctiveness, pe­

production and technology, i. e. wealth creation, to

culiar habits and mores remain strong in Asia. The

issues of consumption and demand, the choosing,

point is to recognize and explain these factors while

economizing agent began to occupy centre stage in

avoiding

for

economic analysis. The move entailed a concern

whom, in Warren Christopher's bracing phrase,

the

simplifications

of

politicians

with (a) individual decision processes enveloped

cultural relativism is the last bastion of repression

in the vagaries of time and ignorance; and (b)

(Patten, 1998, p. 150.)

linking those decisions up with an explanation of the emergence of the complex web of intercon­

Reading Fukuyama, F. 1999: The Great Disruption. Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order.

nected exchange relationships constituting the market order. The identity of the Austrian contribution came

Goody, J. 1996: The East in the West.

into sharper focus as a result of several fierce con­

Landes, D. S. 1999: The Wealth and Poverty ofNations.

troversies: with the German historical school in the

AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS

35

so-called METHODENSTREIT; with the theorists of

that cannot be spatialized) and structural, ineradic­

AUSTRO-MARXISM; in the debate with the cham­

able ('utter') ignorance (i.e. ignorance that cannot

pions of market socialism over the possibility or

be removed by buying oneself out of it). While

calculation

agents are not seen as being mesmerized by - in

under socialism (see SociALIST CALCULATION); and

]. M. Keynes's memorable locution - 'the dark

impossibility

of

efficient

economic

with the adherents of the new KEYNESIANISM. By the late 1940s the intellectual and political

forces of time and ignorance', there is no reason to assume that the problems posed by time and ignor­

ascendancy of the Keynesian revolution, in particu­

ance will somehow go away or that they can suc­

lar, had discredited Austrian economics to such an

cessfully be evaded. Thus Austrian economics

extent that it seemed as if it had become a closed

occupies a middle ground, giving due weight to

chapter in the history of economic thought. Apart

the knowledgeability and competence of agents in

from Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and his stu­

their daily dealings and goings-about, while at the

dents Israel Kirzner (born 1930) and Murray Roth­

same time insisting on the inherent limits to their

bard (1926-95) in the United States, and Ludwig

knowledgeability. And it is this middle-range pre­

M. Lachmann (1906-90) in South Africa there was

dicament which provides the background for entre­

hardly anyone during the 1950s and 1960s - F. A.

preneurial processes and market institutions to

Hayek (1899-1992) had by then abandoned eco­

unfold. The focus of Austrian investigations is on

nomic theory for social and legal philosophy -

the nature of entrepreneurially driven, rivalrous

who espoused an explicitly Austrian position. The

market processes rather than on the contemplation

situation changed drastically, however, when the

and comparison of equilibrium states. It is in this

widely felt dissatisfaction with the drift of post­

sense that 'Austrian' has rightly become synonym­

war economics which had begun to assert itself in

ous with 'market-process' economics and with an

the late 1960s and early 1970s encouraged a lot of

emphasis on the discovery aspects of markets (see

soul-searching among economists and the resur­

COMPETITION and ENTREPRENEURSHIP). Writers in

gence of once discredited ideas, tendencies and

the Austrian tradition set great store by a theory of

traditions. The revival of Austrian economics,

the emergence of social institutions as spontan­

spurred by the joint award to F. A. Hayek of the

eously evolved, undesigned outcomes of individual

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in

pursuits guided by general, abstract rules, and not

1974, began gradually as a diminutive genre in the

by 'the common good'.

United States (with the Austrian Economics Pro­

Given the humble base from which Austrian

gramme under Israel Kirzner's aegis at New York

economics started in the early 1970s, its success -

University playing a pivotal role); it then spread to

epitomized by the number of students attracted,

Britain (with think-tanks such as the Institute of

study programmes and publications, seminars and

Economic Affairs acting as a catalyst) and parts

conferences - has been nothing short of phenom­

of the Continent, and even to South America.

enal. While it would be a gross exaggeration to

During the 1990s it was in the intellectual vanguard

claim that it has taken mainstream economics by

of the Czech and Polish economic reform move­

storm, there is a growing sense that it occupies a

ments.

precious ecological niche. The samizdat years are

There is an overriding research agenda that

definitely over for Austrian economics. Nagging

informs Austrian contributions to economics and

questions of self-identity can be put behind: Aus­

that can be phrased in two questions: first, what are

trian economics at the turn of the millennium pre­

the institutions most conducive to the dissemin­

sents itself as a

ation of dispersed knowledge in a disequilibrium

academy. It has entered a new stage in its evolution,

economy? And, second, what are the conditions

an age of probation, as it were, and the question is

most hospitable to the generation of new know­

no longer 'Where do we come from?', but rather

self-confident

subset in

the

ledge? Such issues of economy-wide coordination

'Where do we go from here?'. Again, history comes

can be traced back to classical roots.

as a reliable ally. Given its historic research agenda,

At the level of the individual agent, Austrian

Austrian

economics

seems

exceptionally

well

economics may be viewed (see O'Driscoll and

placed to respond to the intellectual challenge

Rizzo, 1996) as a way of coping with the problems

posed by the ubiquitous touting of the 'knowledge

posed by historical, novelty-bearing time (i.e. time

society'.

AUSTRO-MARXISM

36

Reading

between causality and teleology, emphasizing that

Boettke, P. J. ed. 1994: The Elgar Companion to Austrian

there are diverse forms of causality and that the

Economics.

causal relation in social life is not a mechanical

Kirzner, I. M. 1973: Competition and Entrepreneurship. Kirzner, I. M. ed. 1994: Classics in Austrian Economics:

A Sampling in the History ofa Tradition, 3 vols. Lachmann, L. M. 1986: The Market as an Economic

Process. Lavoie, D. 1985: Rivalry and Central Planning: the Social­

ist Calculation Debate Reconsidered.

one, but is mediated by consciousness; this was a view which he later expressed by saying that even 'economic phenomena themselves are never "ma­ terial" in the materialist sense, but have precisely a "mental" character'

(1930, p. 118). Adler regarded

as the basic concept in Marx's theory of society,

Littlechild, S. C. ed. 1990: Austrian Economics, 3 vols.

'socialized humanity' or 'social association', and

O'Driscoll, G. P. Jr and Rizzo, M. J. 1996: The Economics

treated this in neo-Kantian fashion as being 'tran­

of Time and Ignorance. Vaughn, K. I. 1994: Austrian Economics in America: the

Migration ofa Tradition.

STEPHAN SOEHM

scendentally given as a category of knowledge'

(1925), that is, as a concept furnished by reason, not derived from experience, which is a precondi­ tion of an empirical science. This conception of Marxism as a sociological

Austro-Marxism

One of the earliest distinct

schools of Marxist thought, which

developed

system provided the framework of ideas which directed the studies of the whole Austro-Marxist

from the work of a group of thinkers in Vienna

school, as is particularly clear in Hilferding's eco­

at the end of the nineteenth century, the most

nomic analyses. In his criticism of marginalist

prominent among them being Max Adler, Otto

economic theory

Bauer,

Renner.

individualist 'psychological school of political econ­

This new form of MARXISM, according to Bauer

omy' Marx's theory of value, which is based on a

Rudolf

Hilferding

and

Karl

(1904) Hilferding opposed to the

(1927), was a response to new philosophical doc­

conception of 'society' and 'social relations', while

trines

to

the Marxist theory as a whole 'aims to disclose the

developments in economic theory (Austrian mar­

social determinism of economic phenomena', its

(neo-Kantianism

and

positivism),

ginalism) and to the issues raised by the problem

starting point being 'society and not the individual'.

of nationalities in the multinational Habsburg

Elsewhere, in the preface to Finance

Empire; but it was also influenced by the revisionist

he referred directly to Adler in asserting that 'the

Capital (1910),

controversy in Germany (see REVISIONISM) and

sole aim of any [Marxist] enquiry - even into

by the remarkable flowering of Viennese cultural

matters of policy - is the discovery of causal rela­

and intellectual life at the turn of the century, as a

tionships', and went on to investigate the major

result of which it was innovative in many different

causal factors in the most recent stage of capitalist

fields.

development, concluding with an analysis of im­

The first public manifestation of a new school of thought was the creation in

1904 of the Marx­

perialism which was the basis of later studies by Bukharin and Lenin.

Studien, a collection of monographs edited by

Another major field for sociological investigation

Adler and Hilferding and published irregularly

was that of nationality and nationalism. Bauer's

1923, and this was followed by the publica­

classic study (1907) set out to provide a comprehen­

tion, from 1907, of a theoretical journal, Der Kampf,

sive theoretical and historical analysis, from which

which soon came to rival Kautsky's

he concluded:

until

Die Neue Zeit

as the leading European Marxist review. The Austro-Marxists were all active in the leadership of the growing Social Democratic Party (SPO), and they devoted themselves particularly to the promotion of workers' education. The philosophical and theoretical foundations of Austro-Marxism were developed mainly by Adler, who conceived Marxism as 'a system of sociological

For me, history no longer reflects the struggles of nations; instead the nation itself appears as the reflection of historical struggles. For the nation is only manifested in the national character, in the nationality of the individual ...[which] ... is only one aspect of his determination by the history of society, by the development of the conditions and techniques of labour.

knowledge ... the science of the laws of social life and its causal development'

From a different perspective, concentrating on the

first major work

legal and constitutional problems of the different

(1925, p. 136). In his (1904) he analysed the relation

AUSTRO-MARXISM nationalities in the Habsburg Empire, Renner

37

THE ECONOMY). From this situation two lines of

also contributed important studies, in

development were possible: towards socialism if

the course of which he advanced the idea- original

the working class were to gain state power, or

in its time and not without relevance to the present

towards a corporate state if the capitalist monop­

(1899, 1902)

development of Europe- of a transformation of the

olies maintained their political dominance. In Italy

empire into a 'state of nationalities' which might

and Germany the latter possibility was realized in

become a model for the socialist organization of a

the form of FASCISM, and Bauer

future world community.

one of the most systematic Marxist accounts of the

Renner is best known, however, for his pioneer­

(1936)

provided

economic and social conditions in which the fascist

ing contribution to a Marxist sociology of law. In

movements were able to emerge and triumph. Sub­

his study

sequently, Hilferding

(1904) of the social functions of law he set

(1941)

began a radical revi­

out to show how the existing legal norms change

sion of the Marxist theory of history, in which he

their functions in response to changes in society and

attributed to the modern nation state a more inde­

more particularly to changes in its economic struc­

pendent role in the formation of society, arguing

ture, and then raised as major problems for a soci­

that in the twentieth century there had been a

ology of law questions about how the legal norms

profound 'change in the relation of the state to

themselves change and the fundamental causes of

society, brought about by the subordination of the

such changes. In this

as in other

economy to the coercive power of the state', and

writings, it is clear that Renner attributes an active

that 'the state becomes a totalitarian state to the

role to law in maintaining or modifying social rela­

extent that this subordination takes place' (see To­

tions and by no means treats it simply as an ideology

TALITARIANISM).

discussion,

reflecting economic conditions, citing as consonant

The changing class structure, and its political

with this view Marx's comments on law in the

consequences, were other subjects to which the

introduction to the Grundrisse. Another important

Austro-Marxists devoted much attention. Bauer

contribution to formulating the principles of a

made an important contribution in his comparative

Marxist sociology of law was made by Adler

account of the situation of workers and peasants in

(1922)

who, in the course of his critique of Hans

the Russian and German revolutions, in his detailed

Kelsen's 'pure theory of law', which excludes any

analysis

enquiry into either the ethical basis of law or its

his critical writings on the emergence of a new

(1923)

of the Austrian revolution, and in

social context, examined in detail the differences

dominant class in the USSR as the dictatorship of

between a formal and a sociological theory of law.

the proletariat was transformed into the dictator­

The Austro-Marxists also undertook major stud­

ship of an all-powerful party apparatus (see espe­

ies in other fields. They were among the first Marx­

cially Bauer,

ists

context of

to

examine

systematically

the

increasing

1936).

the

Adler

(1933),

defeat and

writing in the

destruction of

the

involvement in the economy of the 'interventionist

working-class movement in Germany, analysed

state'. Renner

the changes in the composition of the working class

(1916),

writing on the effects of pre­

war capitalist development and the 'war economy',

in capitalist society; while noting that 'already in

noted 'the penetration of the private economy down

Marx's work the concept of the proletariat displays

to its elementary cells by the state: not the national­

a certain differentiation', he argued that more recent

ization of a few factories, but the control of the

changes had been so extensive as to produce a 'new

whole private sector of the economy by willed and

phenomenon', so that 'it is doubtful whether we can

conscious regulation', and he continued: 'state

speak of a single class'. In this new proletariat there

power and the economy begin to merge ...the na­

were several distinct strata which had given rise to

tional economy is perceived as a means of state

three basic, often conflicting, political orientations:

power, state power as a means to strengthen the

that of the labour aristocracy, comprising skilled

national economy ...It is the epoch of imperial­

workers and office employees; that of the organized

1915

workers in town and country; and that of the per­

Hilferding developed, on the basis of his

manent or long-term unemployed. But even among

analysis in Finance Capital, a theory of 'organized

the main body of workers, he argued (in a manner

ism.' Similarly, in essays published between and

1924,

capitalism' in which the action of the state begins to

reminiscent of Roberto Michels's account of OLI­

assume the character of a conscious, rational struc­

GARCHY), the development of party and trade union

turing of society as a whole (see SociALIZATION OF

organizations had created a fatal division between

38

AUTHORITY

the growing stratum of salaried officials and repre­

Reading

sentatives, and the largely passive membership. The

Bottomore, T. 1989: Austro-Marxist conceptions of the

weakness of the working class in the face of fascist movements was largely due, he concluded, to this differentiation of socioeconomic conditions and pol­ itical attitudes (see W oRKING

CLASS).

After World

War II, as the class structure continued to change even more rapidly, Renner (1953) focused his atten­ tion on the growth of new social strata - public officials and private employees - which he referred to collectively as a 'service class' of salaried employ­

transition from capitalism to socialism.

T.

Bottomore,

and

Goode,

Kolakowski, L. 1978:

Austro­

!VIain Currents of !VIarxism, vol. 2,

Leser, N. 1966: Austro-Marxism: a reappraisal. Journal of

Contemporary History I. 2. (1985): Zwischen Reformismus und Bolschewis­ mus. Der Austromarxismus als Theorie und Praxis, 2nd

--1968

abridged edn. Mozetic, G. 1987:

Die Gesellschafistheorie des Austro­

marxismus. TOM BOTTOMORE

'the real study of class formation in society, and above all the continuous restructuring of the that 'the working class as it appears (and scientifi­

eds 1978:

eh. 12.

relationship of wage labour'. Many Marxists, he

classes'. In particular, they had failed to recognize

P.

Marxism.

ees whose contracts of employment did not create 'a considered, had adopted a superficial approach to

International

Journal of Comparative Sociology 30. 1-2.

authority

Although authority can conveniently

be defined as the right, most often by mutual rec­

no

ognition, to require and receive submission, there is

The 'golden age' of Austro-Marxism was the

its nature. This is not surprising, since different

cally was bound to appear) in Marx's

Capital

longer exists'. period from the end of the nineteenth century to 1914, when the seminal writings of these thinkers were published and the work of the school as a whole had a wide influence in the European social­ ist movement. After the Russian revolution, how­ ever, it was overshadowed first by Leninist and then by Stalinist versions of Marxism; the course it followed, 'between reformism and Bolshevism', in expounding an undogmatic Marxism open to revi­ sion and development in response to new historical experience and to critical questions posed by other approaches to social analysis had little international influence. But in Vienna, where the SPO was con­ tinuously in power from 1918 to 1934, Austro­ Marxism still provided a coherent framework of ideas for an ambitious and effective policy of social reform, until it was finally overwhelmed by the rise of Austrian fascism and the incorporation of Aus­ tria into the Third Reich. Since the late 1960s there has been a notable renewal of interest in the Austro-Marxists, not only in Austria where their ideas still have a significant influence on the devel­ opment of socialism, but in other European coun­ tries. In the conditions created by the disintegration of 'official Marxism' throughout Eastern Europe, it may be that these ideas, and further elaborations of them, will have an even greater impact on the organization of the economy, the construction of democratic institutions, and attitudes to the persist­ ing problem of nationalities, in system.

a

new European

endemic disagreement among social theorists about conceptions of authority tend to reflect different social and political theories and worldviews. How­ ever, the various conceptions of authority seem to have two components in common. One is the non­ exercise of private judgement; the other is the identification of the authorities to be recognized. This leads to some useful distinctions. If some­ body submits to the judgement of authorities by reference to a set of rules prevalent in a society, we speak of a

de jure authority.

However, if somebody

submits to the judgement of others because he or she accepts their claims to be the rightful author­ ities, it is an instance of a typically have both

de facto authority. Parents de jure and de focto authority

over their children. It is conceivable, however, that they have the former kind of authority without having the latter, and vice versa. If authority is identified and recognized over belief, we speak of

an authority (such as a doctor advising a patient). If it is, on the other hand, identified and recognized over conduct, then it is a case of somebody being in authority (such as a policeman directing traffic). Perhaps the best way to elucidate the concept of authority is to describe different solutions to three problems about it. In the first place, why is there a need for the concept? While Hannah Arendt and Bertrand de Jouvenel give different accounts of authority, they agree (with most other social theorists) that the cohesion and continuity of social life cannot be adequately explained in terms of coercion, LEADER-

AUTHORITY SHIP or rational discussion. Arendt (1960) believes

39

existing tradition and his actions are unintelligible

that authority implies an obedience in which people

apart from it: indeed Jesus said that he had not

retain their freedom. She distinguishes it from

come to break the law, but to fulfil it. It should

PoWER, force and violence, and also from persua­

also be pointed out that the difference between legal

sion, because in persuasion people are equal. The

and traditional authority on the one hand and cha­

rise of totalitarianism in the twentieth century was

rismatic authority on the other, in Weber's theory,

preceded by the loss of authority, she believes: the

is somewhat similar to the difference between Jou­

lonely crowd seeks comfort in political mass move­

venel's arbitrator of existing and conflicting claims

ments and feels a need for leaders.

and aims, rex, and his leader or originator of new

According to Jouvenel (1957), authority is the

policies, dux.

ability of somebody to get his or her proposals

The third question is why people should defer to

accepted. It is different from power, because it is

authority. Radical political thinkers, notably an­

exercised only over those who voluntarily accept it.

archists and Marxists, believe that they should

However, the people in authority, or the rulers,

not.Marxists contend that authority is asymmetric,

may have authority only over a part of their sub­

masking the class nature of the capitalist state and

jects, but over a sufficient number that they may

the imposition of a legitimating ideology. Ji.irgen

coerce the rest; this would be power over all by

Habermas (1973) believes, for example, that the

means of authority over a part, or an authoritarian

state in 'late capitalism' faces a legitimation crisis.

state. It is a mistake, J ouvenel believes, to oppose

Modern anarchists, like Robert Paul Wolff (1970),

authority to liberty, because authority ends where

fasten their eyes on the alleged conflict of individual

voluntary assent ends: the dissolution of human

autonomy and authority. According to them au­

aggregates is the worst of all evils, he says, and

thority necessarily implies the private surrender of

police regimes come in when prestiges go out.

judgement.

Secondly, how do people in authority come to

Conservatives and liberals reply that an extensive

have it? Max Weber (1921-2) distinguished be­

intellectual division of labour is necessary in today's

tween three types of authority, or 'legitimate dom­

complex social order. They also point out that a

ination'. Legal authority rested on a belief in the

certain kind of law structures rather than restricts

legality of enacted rules and the right of those

individual liberty, and that it therefore serves as a

elevated to authority under such rules to issue

condition, not a constraint, of autonomy.

commands. Police officers are obeyed because the

Modern liberals typically distinguish between

authority conferred upon them by the legal and

the authority of the law, which they regard as ne­

political order is accepted. Traditional authority

cessary for facilitating social cooperation, and the

rested on an established belief in the sanctity of

power of individuals, which they tend to distrust.

immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of those

They differ, however, on how they derive the au­

exercising authority under them. This kind of au­

thority of the law.ForJohn Rawls (1971) andJames

thority is also defined in terms of a set of rules, but

M. Buchanan (1975), it derives from a SociAL CON­

the rules are mostly expressed in traditions and

TRACT. People defer to authority, because it is in

customs. Finally, charismatic authority rested on

their interest; they would choose (a certain kind of)

devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or

authority if provided with the relevant information

exemplary character of an individual person, and

or if placed in the appropriate setting.For Friedrich

of the normative patterns or order revealed or

A. Hayek (1979), authority emerges from a long

ordained by him (see CHARISMA) . The best example

historical process of the mutual adaptation of indi­

is Jesus, who spoke 'with authority' in the Temple,

viduals, as expressed in statutes, traditions, conven­

though only 12 years of age, and whose utterances

tions and customs: except where the political unit is

were of the form, 'It is written, ...but I say unto

created by conquest, he argues, people submit to

you.'

authority not to enable it to do what it likes, but

According to Weber, these three types of author­

because they trust somebody to act in conformity

ity are 'ideal types'. They almost always exist in a

with certain common conceptions of what is just.

mixed form. Peter Winch (1967) has pointed out

For Robert Nozick (1974) the authority of the state

that, in the final analysis, all three rest on tradition.

rests on its non-violation of individual rights.

Even charismatic authority presupposes tradition,

On the other hand, some modern thinkers,

since the charismatic leader always reforms an

Michael Oakeshott (1962), Hannah Arendt and

40

AUTOMATION

others, taking their lead from Aristotle, Rousseau and Hegel, do not refer to interests or rights, but to social identities. They replace the unencumbered (and to them enervated) selves of liberal theory by situated selves, partly constituted by their social roles, practices, places and times. The reason we accept authority, these 'communitarian' theorists contend, is that it expresses our common will or that it reflects our common identity, our shared values and beliefs. While some communitarian ar­ guments against liberalism are similar to those put forward by conservatives (especially British Tories) in the early nineteenth century, they usually lead to more egalitarian policies. But when the selves are situated in an individualist culture, communitar­ ians can become quite libertarian, Oakeshott being one example. Finally, political 'realists' believe that authority does not come into existence by shared beliefs or by convention, but by imposition. Vilfredo Pareto de­ scribed politics as the competition among elites trying to pursue their own aims by the manipula­ tion of mass support: 'All governments use force and all assert that they are founded on reason' (Pareto, 1916-19, sect. 2183). According to Gae­ tano Mosca (1896), the governing class dominated the unorganized majority, legitimating its power by a 'political formula'. Marxists and anarchists agree to some extent with the political realists about the nature of authority, although the two groups, unlike the realists, find it unacceptable and want to replace it by something else about whose nature, however, they do not agree. But most political philosophers and political sociologists alike believe that authority is an inevitable and ineradicable fea­ ture of social life. Reading Arendt, H. 1960: What is authority? In Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought. Jouvenel, B. de 1957: Sovereignty: an Inquiry into the Political Good, trans. J. F. Huntington. Lukes, S. 1978: Power and authority. In A History of Sociological Analysis, ed. T. Bottomore and R. Nis­ bet. Peters, R. 1967: Authority. In Political Philosophy, ed. A. Quintan. Weber, Max 1921-2 1978: Economy and Society: an Out­ line of Interpretative Sociology, ed. Gi.inther Roth and C1aus Wittich. Winch, P. 1967: Authority. In Political Philosophy, ed. A. Quintan. HANNES H. GISSURARSON

In describing a system in which machines are used to control processes and perform sequences of tasks that previously required human attention, activity and intervention, the term does not refer merely to using machines to carry out single tasks (mechanization), a capability humans have long possessed, but to the method of harness­ ing electronic sensing and control devices in order to model, replace and, increasingly, outperform human senses, minds and bodies in repeated oper­ ations. Automated systems have distinguishable aspects: automation

2 3

4

5 6 7

8

A source of power to carry out the task; Action, for instance, drilling, heating, spraying, treating with chemicals; Positioning, which may involve movmg, turning, aligning, transferring, conveying from one place to another; Control, referring to the means of carrying out decisions, e.g. a valve that can be made to open and close; A computer program, with instructions for carrying out a process, as in (2) to (4) above; A computer program in command of the whole operation, that is, of the sequence of processes; A means of sensing (identifying and measuring) and reporting the qualities of what is being processed, such as size, optical properties, weight and heat; and Decision-making elements, which compare reported information with a required state and make appropriate corrections of deviations.

These aspects working together form a feedback system capable of operating with minimal human intervention. Automation made its initial impact on manufac­ turing (especially automobile) industries in the 1950s. It was intended to increase production, productivity and reliability, improve efficiency, re­ lieve humans of unpleasant or hazardous tasks, reduce operating costs and carry out procedures that were beyond human capabilities. Industrial robots, in the form of reprogrammable, jointed manipulators designed to carry out a variety of tasks, made possible greater flexibility in manufac­ turing. As computing power, both in software and hardware, rapidly expanded, the field of robotics emerged, specializing in the creation of sophisti­ cated machines with some human-like functions.

AUTOMATION

41

At the same time, automated controls became wide­

been an increase in new types of nonrepetitive,

spread, invisible and taken for granted by the

skilled jobs. Whether trends in unemployment

public, in many environments and applications,

were ever due to automation as such, or whether

such as housing, domestic appliances, information,

they reflected the dislocation of traditional labour

communication, entertainment and transport.

markets in a changing world economy, is open to

Since automation is now so firmly embedded in

question.

the fabric of every technologically advanced coun­

The impact of automation on the shift from

try, there can be no easy conclusions about the

manufacturing to service industries has also not

outcome of the complex relationships involved. In

been clear-cut. Even in countries with an apparent

the early years, speculation about the likely eco­

decline, the fortunes of manufacturing industry

nomic, social and cultural consequences for soci­

fluctuate, reflecting changes in domestic and export

eties and individuals tended to draw on what was

demand as well as government policy, so that a link

known about the precursor of automation in indus­

between the manufacturing-to-services shift and

trial production- the mechanization of production

automation is not directly demonstrable. In any

lines. This split production into subprocesses, each

case, the shift was established before automation

aided by a machine. Since workers were treated as

took its modern form. Furthermore, although auto­

adjuncts of the machine, the effect was to degrade

mation first affected manufacturing industries, it is

and limit workers' skills. At the level of the individ­

having widespread impacts on all activities, includ­

ual production worker, deskilling, involving a re­

ing office management, communications, transport,

duction of craft knowledge and a loss of freedom,

distribution,

was foreseen as a major direct consequence of

banks and financial services, retail trade, printing

clerical

and

administrative

work,

automation. Deskilling as a concept depended on

and publishing, health and public services, design

the idea that individuals have specific fixed skills, in

and the information technology industry itself. As

a stable industrial environment. It did not ant­

the use of 'intelligent' knowledge-based systems

icipate the emergence of completely new manufac­

spreads in professional activity, automation affects

turing jobs, requiring more skills and training, not

work and decision making in almost every occupa­

less, in such areas as CIM (computer-integrated

tion. Consequently, successful knowledge manage­

manufacturing),

(com­

ment has become crucial to effective organizations.

puter-aided design and computer-aided manufac­

Once it is accepted that knowledge is a primary

including

CAD/CAM

turing). At the level of the organization, greater size and

commodity in the economy, the distinction be­ tween manufacturing and service industry

no

complexity would evidently require new manage­

longer seems as fundamental as it was taken to be

ment skills, stressing information and control. At

in the last half of the twentieth century.

the level of society and economy, inequality and

The impact of robotics raises new questions

unemployment were expected to grow, and overall

about automation, the individual and society.

a shift was predicted, away from industrial produc­

Some see 'intelligent', mobile, autonomous robots

tion and towards service industries. Nevertheless,

as desirable and achievable. Others deny the possi­

the fundamental changes now being brought about

bility of emulating or exceeding human capabilities,

by the growth of the knowledge-based economy

as cognitive science reveals the complexity of

and by the expansion of information and communi­

human intelligence. Still others predict the evolu­

cation networks were hard to imagine, even at the

tion of ever more powerful robots, but fear the

end of the twentieth century.

emergence of unexpected, threatening properties.

The supposed causal relationship between auto­

Nevertheless, the need for policy decisions about

mation and unemployment has proved not to be a

the applications of robotics still lies some decades

simple one. Common-sense arguments which saw

into the future.

the obvious effects of replacing workers by indus­ trial robots, for example, led to simple conclusions about the disappearance of jobs and the growth of a so-called 'leisure society', which failed to material­

Reading Adler, F. et al. eds 1989: Automation and Industrial Workers: a Fifteen Nation Study, vol. 2.

ize. Despite the destruction of traditional jobs,

Giddens, A. 2001: Sociology, 4th edn.

devastating to old industrial communities (such as

Handy, C. 1995: Beyond Certainty: the Changing Worlds of

those based on coal, dock labour or steel) there has

Organisations.

42

AVANT-GARDE

Kelly, K. 1994: Out of Control: The New Biology of Ma­ chines. Moravec, H. 1998: Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind.

LORRAINE

avant-garde

F.

BARIC

This French term literally means

the vanguard or foremost part of an army. Its meta­ phorical uses date roughly from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, though the idea, that of political or cultural LEADERSHIP by an enlightened, self-appointed elite, is in one sense at least a century older and in another as old as the human race. In

�

Angl phone usage the English term 'vanguard' is generally reserved for political leadership (as in Lenin's idea of a 'vanguard party'), and its French equivalent for cultural and artistic leadership (our present concern). The expression 'avant-garde' presupposes or im­ plies the following:

to

be

initiated,

articulated

or

directed by an 'advanced' minority, usually in accordance with some allegedly immanent his­ torical process (cf. PROGRESS);

2

Reluctance on the part of the 'led' (variously the proletarian 'masses' or the bourgeois 'phil­ istines') to be so 'led' (see MASS CULTURE);

3

A non-mandated right on the part of the avant­ garde to 'lead' them, or at least to goad, insult or irritate them by offering to do so;

4

Though they have both ENLIGHTENMENT and Romantic roots, avant-gardes are essentially a mod­ ernist

and

proto-modernist

phenomenon,

one

which to a great extent overlaps with another, that ofiNTELLECTUALS. Even when culturally and polit­ ically conservative (as in the case ofT. S. Eliot and many other modernists), avant-gardes are radical in their expressive techniques, which will be self­ consciously obscure, mannered, ironic, erudite, al­ lusive, or even (as in the Dadaist movement of Tristan Tzara and others in the early twentieth century) deliberately meaningless. Like modernism generally, avant-gardes are in part a reaction to bourgeois democracy, an aristo­ cratism of the declasse. Hence they have often depended on the traditional aristocracy for their support. However, their chief clienteles nowadays are precisely (a) democratic governments anxious,

A condition of permanent cultural or aesthetic revolution,

relation of simultaneous dependency and ALIEN­ ATION.

This right to be justified, if at all, by the avant­ garde's claims willy-nilly to represent the inner, unacknowledged aspirations of those excluded from it (cf. the Marxist doctrine of 'false con­ sciousness', to the effect that under imperfect social arrangements the unenlightened are kept

when commissioning public buildings, appointing curators and funding arts organizations, to parade their 'progressive' credentials; and (b) the seriously rich but still culturally status-hungry bourgeoisie. This has led to the so-called 'institutionalization of the avant-garde', and has done much to damage the credibility (though not the profitability) of avant-gardes. It seemed lately that a revived trad­ itionalism (especially in architecture) might even­ tually dominate the cultural scene, but this has not so far happened. Of all the arts, literature, which more than the others depends on a flourish­ ing popular market, has for some decades been the least avant-garde, yet, unlike the wilder var­ ieties of contemporary visual art, has certainly not ceased to develop in interesting and unpredictable ways. ROBERT GRANT

ignorant of their 'real' needs and desires, which only the 'vanguard' can perceive). An avant-garde is constituted not by conven­ tional status determinants such as wealth, birth or administrative function, but solely by personal

Reading Butler, C. 1980: After the Wake: the Contemporary Avant­ Garde. Ortega y Gasset, J. 1972: The Dehumanization ofArt and Other Writings on Art and Culture.

merit or aesthetic talent (as assessed by itself). It

Poggio1i, R. 1968: The Theory ofthe Avant-Garde.

stands to the surrounding culture in the ambivalent

Wi1son, E. 1931 (1984): Axel's Castle.

B base and superstructure

These are Marxist

The idea is implicit in the writings of Marx and

metaphors to describe the relations between the

explicit in those of Engels. Feedback explains the

economy (production relations) and government,

appearance of the functionality of a superstructure

politics and ideology. Marx and Engels never de­

towards its base. Statements about the functions of

veloped their ideas about the base and superstruc­

government or ideas can be translated into condi­

ture in a specific treatise and in a systematic

tional sentences acceptable within the scientific

manner, but it is possible to discern at least three

mode of explanation. The feedback thesis is com­

basic characteristics of their thought on the subject:

patible with both the strong and the weak interpret­

compatibility, feedback, and non-reductionism.

ation of the compatibility thesis. 3 All properties of the superstructure are not

I A society can exist if there is a compatibility

dependent on some properties of the base. There

between its government (politics, laws), its ideas

are entities in, and properties of government and

and its economic structures. Everything is not pos­

thought that cannot be explained by recourse to

sible: if the economy changes, the government and

statements about the base (or their descriptions

the ideas will have to change. Marx probably

cannot be reduced to the descriptions of the base).

thought that there could be one and only one type

A superstructure develops from a preceding one,

of superstructure compatible with a given base.

and results from a free choice or chance actions

G. V. Plekhanov, Lenin and Stalin certainly as­

within the structural restraints imposed by the com­

sumed this view. Compatibility has also been inter­

patibility and feedback conditions. Superstructure

the

is deemed a necessary component part of any human

superstructure following the change of the base.

preted

as

the

inevitability

of

change

in

society; it is not purely a servant or slave of the base.

This is the strong interpretation of compatibility. According to the weak interpretation, the number

Feedback and non-reductionism are covered by

of compatible superstructures has to be smaller

the composite label 'relative autonomy of the super­

than the number of all (possible) superstructures;

structure'. The concept of base and superstructure

the correspondence is one-to-many. Thus state­

thus becomes a concept of restraints and enabling

ments about the superstructure can still be ex­

conditions of human actions and activities. No gen­

plained by recourse to statements about the base

eral method of stating

but the description of the superstructure cannot be

and entities within some superstructural institu­

inferred from the description of the base. The in­

tions are dependent on the base, and which are

ante factum which properties

evitability thesis can also be weakened into a com­

not, is available in Marxist writings. Thus we do

pound thesis that (a) if a base changes then either

not have a general sociological theory, although we

the superstructure changes to restore compatibility,

do have a useful theory-sketch pointing to some

or the base returns to the former type, or the society

important relationships within a society that can

is destroyed by an internal conflict; and (b) if a

be used as the core of a research programme in

superstructure

history, sociology, social anthropology, law and

changes

then

either

the

base

changes to restore compatibility or the superstruc­ ture returns to the former type or the society is destroyed.

political science. The expression 'base and superstructure' is widely applied to the relationships between societal

2 There is a feedback relationship between base

institutions. It is also applicable to the relations

and superstructure. The term 'feedback' was first

between levels within the compound institutions

systematically used in this context by an East

(families, hunter-gatherer bands, ethnic units, and

German philosopher, Georg Klaus, after 1960.

so forth).

44

BEHAVIOURISM The words 'base and superstructure' were intro­

whole corpus of Marx's and Engels's wntmgs.

duced by Marx (1859). He claimed that state, polit­

J. Plamenatz has argued that Marx interpreted

ics and ideological forms made up a superstructure

production relations as legal ownership relations.

built on the base of production relations, the latter

This view has been rejected by G. A. Cohen, who

being compatible with a definite level of the means

has also provided analyses of the microfoundations

of production. Thus the superstructure was not

of the base-superstructure relations. Cohen's views

described by Marx as directly dependent on tech­

are based on good textual evidence (Marx, 1859).

nology. The dependence was mediated by the eco­

There is a tendency in modern Western writings

nomic structures. As early as 1844, Marx wrote in

about MARXISM to treat the ideas about the base and

his Paris manuscripts that some human values were

superstructure as explanatory principles. G. A.

dependent on economic conditions (in particular,

Cohen insists that relations between superstructure

alienated attitudes towards work and freedom were

and base are functional and that functional explan­

described as being dependent on the presence of

ation is a valid form of explanation. This has led to a

alienation in the economy). The claim that thought

controversy in analytical studies of Marxism over

and government are based on the MoDE OF PRODUC­

the nature of functional relations and the role of

TION is pervasive in the German Ideology (Marx and

functional

Engels, 1845-6). Engels discussed the relations be­

social science, ExPLANATION had not yet become a

explanations.

In

nineteenth-century

tween the base and superstructure in a number of

fashionable word. Marx and Engels were essentially

letters written between 1890 and 1895. He intro­

interested in finding out what they thought were

duced the feedback description of the relationships

real relationships between real entities. Although

between the base and superstructure, pointing out

they developed concepts and terminology for the

that the institutions belonging to the superstructure

purposes of understanding and explanation, their

have some characteristics not determined by their

interest was not centred on the concepts but on

base. Sometimes he used the term base rather

social reality and revolutionizing that reality.

loosely, to include the natural environment and the whole mode of production (Engels, 1894). In the 1920s some Soviet writers began making

The simplistic non-metaphorical use of the con­ cepts 'base and superstructure' by some Marxists and anti-Marxists is essentially a twentieth-century

distinctions between the technological base (part of

development. Marxism was made into a closed, all­

the means of production) and the economic base.

embracing and non-falsifiable theoretical system by

The latter consisted of the relations of production,

some Second International thinkers, by Lenin, and

exchange and

by the Stalinist interpreters of Marx.

distribution.

Western economic

writings since 1870 were practically unknown to Soviet philosophers and economists; thus there

Reading

are no detailed investigations of production rela­

Cohen, G. A. 1978: Karl Marx's Theory ofHistory.

tions by the majority of Marxists. Nevertheless, the

Collins, H. 1982: Marxism and Law.

expression 'base' (or 'economic base') is not used by

Elster, J. 1985: Making Sense ofMarx.

Soviet authors to denote the whole mode of pro­ duction. They also treat superstructure as being outside the mode of production and based on the mode. Their majority view came to be that although production relations are the major determining factor for the superstructure, there can also exist

Newman, K. S. 1983: Law and Economic Organization: a Comparative Study ofPreindustrial Societies. Plamenatz, J. 1954: German Marxism and Russian Com­ muntsm. Plekhanov, G. V. 1895 (1975): The development of the monist view of history. In Selected Philosophical Works in Five Volumes, vol. I.

direct determining relations from the means of

Therborn, G. 1980: What Does the Ruling Class Do When

production towards the superstructure. A socio­

It Rules? State Apparatuses and State Power under Feu­

economic formation is said to combine a mode of

dalism, Capitalism and Socialism.

EERO LOONE

production and a superstructure. This Soviet (and East European) use differs from that of some West­

This has been the

dominant

ern writers influenced by a French Marxist tradition

behaviourism

according to which the word 'base' is used to denote

school of thought in academic PsYCHOLOGY since

both the means and relations of production. The

the publication of]. B. Watson's classic work Be­

standard Soviet usage agreed well with Marx

haviourism in 1924. Few psychologists since his

(1859) and seemed exegetically to be closer to the

time would accept his theory without reservations.

BEHAVIOURISM

45

Most, however, would subscribe to the general

shaped by favoured ends of action. It requires the

features of his position. He claims:

language of successful and failed performance, not merely the neutral description of bodily move­

2

3

Mental events cannot constitute the data of a

ments, which is normally thought to be the scien­

reputable science, the proper object of psycho­

tific bedrock of psychological theory. Defining

logical study being behaviour, not thought or

behaviour to meet the data requirement is a

feeling;

problem for behaviourism generally. The classic

All behaviour is the effect of reinforcement, that

maze experiment is constructed on the assumption

is the response to a stimulus is the consequence

that the subject will be gratified to come upon the

of the repeated coincidence of the response with

reward, and will then solve the maze more quickly

a reward (or punishment); and

on

Experimental techniques in psychology allow

not described more exactly by analysing it into its

further

trials.

The

strategy

behaviour

already

is

us to manipulate behaviour towards socially

units.

approved ends. Since all behaviour is condi­

the subject is seeking the reward. But it is then

tioned anyway, the objection to conditioning

not clear why we can't say straightaway that

as opposed to rational persuasion fails.

Experimental

subject's

assumes

the subject wants the reward and knows how to find it.

The school of behaviourism first arose in protest

Much of the energy devoted to maze experi­

against the unsatisfactory state of psychology at the

ments has had the less ambitious objective of arriv­

turn of the century. Wilhelm Wundt, Edward

ing at numbers recording, for example, the rate of

Titchener and WilliamJames supposed that psych­

learning. Whether these results have important im­

ology studied mental events by means of introspec­

plications for our understanding of the behaviour

tion.

and the structure of organisms may itself be ques­

This process was notoriously

unreliable,

lacking any way of replicating reported findings. It

tioned. Rate of learning experiments neither entail

was anathema to a generation guided by a concep­

nor exclude inner events. Neither do they require

tion of science drawn from Ernst Mach and envious

description in terms of bodily movements. Learn­

of scientists widely celebrated for their successes in

ing is an achievement; it is experimental data. Be­

predicting events in the physical world. Bodily

haviour in that context is what organisms do, not

movements, in contrast, seemed to satisfy the scien­

merely how they move. Skinner's large claims to

tific demand for reliable data. The assumption that

efficacy

behaviour is always a response to reinforced stimuli

methods sanitized of mental content appear at

in

changing

behaviour

by

employing

provided the conditions for controlled experiment.

odds with his equally large claim that, given suffi­

So far then, behaviourism is the point of view of

cient control over an organism, we can get it to do

experimental psychology itself.

pretty much anything we want. Dogs walking on

Watson, however, went further. At Chicago he

their hind legs, dolphins leaping through hoops of

had been a student of Jacques Loeb, who was

fire, soldiers marching into battle testify to the

celebrated for his claim to have created life in a

possibility of control. But a description of the

test-tube, and who thought of science as a means

methods of conditioning appears to entail some

to control and change nature. Watson shared this

reference to ends, intentions and motives, at least

(1938; 1959;

of the experimenter. If so they entail as well a

1971), made popular an image of behaviourism as a

description of organisms as acting, not merely ex­

recipe for solving individual anxieties and the

hibiting physical movements.

view, and with his pupil B. F. Skinner

world's ills. Where psychologists like Clark L.

Many of Skinner's critics have objected to his

Hull and E. C. Tolman thought of stimulus­

views on moral and political grounds. He reduces

response (S-R) as a technique to refine our concep­

human motivation, they say, to the most simplistic

tion of the mental or physiological apparatus which

form of hedonism. He advocates positive reinforce­

they supposed must mediate between a stimulus

ment (rewards rather than punishments), not be­

and a response, Skinner looks upon reinforcement

cause it is better to be kind but because, in his view,

as a device used by the experimenter to induce

it is a more efficacious method of manipulation. His

behaviour.

claims to efficacy are moreover overstated. Re­

This view might be called ideological behav­

sponses fade over time (extinction), and thus re­

iourism, since it entails a conception of behaviour

quire frequent bouts of retraining. Fading habits

46

BEHAVIOURISM

may of course be explained theoretically, but as a

It is no longer as clear as it may have seemed

1950

method of social policy, conditioning would burden

around

society with staggering costs.

contributed much to our understanding of the be­

Criticisms of this kind are important, though

that psychological behaviourism has

haviour of organisms. Some of the grounds for

they focus, perhaps too exclusively, on Skinner's

scepticism have been noted. The most far-reaching

polemical work. Nonetheless they bring out the

criticism is based on the work of Wittgenstein

ends-oriented aim of much of experimental psych­

(1953)

ology, which vitiates the claim to have described

described as behaviourists, because they agree that

behaviour without recourse to the language of

introspection is not the appropriate means of access

motive, purpose and action.

to the mind. Wittgenstein argues that we cannot be

and Ryle

(1949),

who have themselves been

Purging psychological language of purposive and

sure we correctly apply a term to private experi­

mentalistic language was as we have seen a reaction

ences. Thus our talk about thoughts and feelings

to the unverifiable claims of introspectionists. This

cannot logically be reports of private data. Ryle

reaction took two forms. Radical behaviourists like

attacks the conception of the mind as a place

Watson and Skinner denied the existence, or at

where mental events take place. We do not observe

least the significance, of events discovered through

our thoughts and report them; our thoughts are our

introspection. Assuming that any use of purposive

speech. We do not describe our feelings so much as

or mental talk implicated the speaker in the dis­

we express them. Mental activity, or much of it, is

credited process of introspection, they were led to

what we do.

deny that anything intervenes between the stimulus

But in Wittgenstein and Ryle the externalization

and response. All references to drives, motives or

of the mind is not motivated by the attempt to

awareness are reducible to the S-R language. Skin­

define behaviour in scientific terms. Their inquiry

ner is thus led to exclude physiological explanation

leads instead back to ordinary life and the everyday

(1927), provided an

language we use to facilitate it. In this setting, it is

important impetus to the development of behav­

inappropriate to speak of the movements of organ­

which, since the time of Pavlov

iouristic methods. The work of Hebb

(1949)

is an

isms as the basis for inferences about thoughts,

instructive example. Physiologists require refined

intentions, feelings and goals. Our ground-floor

ways of describing bodily movement in order to

descriptions of behaviour consist of talk about suc­

draw inferences about the structure and function

cessful and failed action, not movements. The implications of philosophical 'behaviour­

of the nervous system. Other psychologists, like Hull

(1958),

(1943)

and Tal­

ism' for empirical psychology are momentous.

supposed the precise identification of

If its arguments are sound, the bloated mental

stimulus and response was necessary to get at the

universe of the introspectionist is purged without

man

interior processes which introspectionists imper­

leaving a vacuum to be filled by scientific research.

fectly observed. Their views received encourage­

We have seen how far experimental design in

ment from the prevailing view that in science one

psychology is implicated in the point of view of

posits 'hypothetical constructs' or 'intervening

daily life. The maze is built with a view to discover­

variables',

ing how quickly the subject solves it. The food pellet

from

which

experimental

evidence

reward

follows logically and by which further events can

is called a

be predicted. For some the models do not refer to

stimulus or drive-excitation, language which is

and hours of food deprivation a

real events or structures, but are merely heuristic

hard to distinguish conceptually from remarks

devices for making predictions; for others exact

about the subject's hunger, its preferences, its strat­

description of the learning process was warranted

egies and discoveries. This is language in which an

on the grounds that it can give us more accurate

understanding of behaviour is implicit. 'In psych­

maps of the mind (for instance, Tolman). The

ology', Wittgenstein says, 'there is experimental

concept of drive plays a central role in all theories

method and

conceptual confusion' (Philosophical In­

of this type. Drive strength is alleged to facilitate

vestigations,

II, p. xiv). The behaviourist's reduc­

prediction. (Skinner, of course, would argue that

tion of action to movement is successful if it focuses

there is no difference between the drive and the

attention on psychological problems; otherwise

summary of responses.) It also supports claims

it seeks its justification not in the puzzles about

about interior processes, whose nature nonetheless

what we do, but in positivist recipes for doing

remains problematical.

science.

BLOOMSBURY GROUP There has been a marked falling off in recent years in behaviourist theory, though this has been accompanied by new defences of the S-R model by

47

Watson, J. B. 1924: Behaviourism. Wilson, E. 0. 1975: Sociobiology. Wittgenstein, L. 1953 (1967): Philosophical Investigations.

ALFRED LOUCH

epistemologists and philosophers of LANGUAGE. Quine's Word and Object (1960) is a good example.

This expressiOn has long

But in psychology, conceived as an autonomous

Bloomsbury group

scientific discipline, little has been done since

been used to denote an informal nexus of aesthetes

Spence's (1956) attempts to carry forward the

and INTELLECTUALS influential, or at least conspicu­

work of Hull. During the past 15 years the idea

ous, in the first half of this century, and still, on

that the experimental study of the responses of

account of their unconventional opinions and (es­

organisms under controlled conditions could lead

pecially) sex lives, of apparently inexhaustible

to a science of behaviour has come increasingly

interest to popular biographers. The name derives

under attack from those who believe that no legit­

from the removal, on the death of the Victorian man

imate account of behaviour is possible except in the

of letters and first editor of the Dictionary of Na­

context of a biological and evolutionary under­

tional Biography Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), of

standing of organisms. Classical behaviourists look

his four children, who included the painter Vanessa

at what organisms do strictly within the perspective

(Bell) and the novelist Virginia (Woolf), from Hyde

provided by explicit rewards or aversive stimuli.

Park Gate to 46, Gordon Square, in the then highly

They are thus incapable of recognizing the sign­

unfashionable

ificance of altruistic be ha viour. This is a response,

London. Here they and their friends met for regu­

sociobiologists say, only explainable on the assump­

lar soirees and discussions, and a nucleus of like­

Bloomsbury

district

of

central

tion that altruism maximizes the chance of genetic

minded people evolved which long survived the

material passing on to the next generation. The

break-up of the original household.

development of SociOBIOLOGY has marked similar­

The group never had any official identity, though

ities to psychological behaviourism, and has been

many of its members had belonged to Cambridge

criticized in much the same way. It is of interest

University's elite Society of Apostles. The Blooms­

here because it draws attention to what is funda­

bury group, in fact, was almost exclusively earn­

mental to behaviourist strategy, and its deficiencies.

bridge-educated and (later) Cambridge-based: it

Behaviourism is best seen as an attempt to mark off

included the philosophers G. E. Moore and (per­

psychology as a science from other disciplines.

ipherally) Bertrand Russell (both Trinity College), the historian G. Lowes Dickinson, the art critic

Reading

Roger Fry, the biographer and literary critic Lytton

Austin, J. 1961 (1970): A plea for excuses. In Philosophical

Strachey, the novelist E. M. Forster, and the econo­

Papers. Chomsky, N. 1959: Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal

Behaviour. Language 35. Hebb, D. 0. 1949: The Organization ofBehaviour. Hull, C. L. 1943: Principles ofBehaviour. MacCorquodale, K. and Meehl, P. E. 1948: On a distinction between hypothetical constructs and intervening variables. Psychological Review 85,95-107.

mist ]. M. Keynes (all graduates or Fellows of King's College). Lesser lights were the critic Clive Bell (husband of Vanessa), the painter Duncan Grant, and the colonial administrator and Fabian thinker Leonard Woolf (husband of Virginia, and also founder, with her, of the Hogarth Press). The group's influence persisted well into the 1950s and

Melden, A. I. 1961: Free Action.

beyond, in part through their children but also

Pavlov, I. 1927: Conditioned Reflexes.

through such younger recruits as the Sunday news­

Peters, R. S. 1958: The Concept ofMotivation.

paper critic Raymond Mortimer (said to be the

Ryle, G. 1949 (1963): Concept ofMind.

model for the depraved Prince Daniyal in the most

Scriven, M. 1958: A study of radical behaviourism. In Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, ed. H. Feigl and M. Scriven. Skinner, B. F. 1938: The Behaviour of Organisms.

--1959: Verbal Behaviour.

Man.

E.

C.

1958:

Behaviour

and

novel The Root and the Flower (1935) ). Bloomsbury

was

essentially

the

bohemian

offspring of enlightened, upper-middle-class, late Victorian Cambridge. From Cambridge it took its

--1971: Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Spence, K. 1956: Behaviour Theory and Conditioning. Tolman,

powerful of all satires on Bloomsbury, L. H. Myers' s

Psychological

rationalism, scepticism and religious agnosticism, but rejected its elders' UTILITARIANISM, puritanism and public spirit (typified by the Stephen and

48

BLOOMSBURY GROUP

Strachey clans, which boasted, as well as early

or preferences for which no apology was thought

Evangelical connections, a number of distinguished

necessary beyond the traditional liberal appeal to

legal, military and administrative figures among

the sovereignty of the individual (see LIBERALISM;

their number). The Bloomsbury outlook was Epi­

INDIVIDUALISM).

curean, hedonistic, pacifist, subjectivist and (except

Accordingly most critics of the Bloomsbury

where art and 'personal relations' were concerned)

group (including one of the fiercest, the writer

somewhat

'Nothing

D. H. Lawrence, himself notably eccentric) have

Memoir

accused them of an amoral trivial-mindedness,

monotonously

irreverent.

mattered,' Keynes noted in a famous

(1949), 'except states of mind, our own and other

made possible only by the financial independence

people's, of course, but chiefly our own . . . We re­

to which most of them were born, and which

pudiated entirely customary morals, convention,

enabled them to insulate themselves from the quotidian pressures which work and ordinary un­

and traditional wisdom.' Bloomsbury's sole

debt

to

Oxford

was

in

sought social life impose on the less fortunate.

AESTHETICS. Here it took its cue from Fry, who

There is some truth in these strictures. In

had been influenced by the FoRMALISM and aver­

most Bloomsbury thinking there is indeed a perva­

sion to NATURALISM of the Aesthetic movement

sive 'thinness', even a certain self-congratulatory,

as typified by Waiter Pater and Oscar Wilde. For

clique-ish complacency. But it is surely extrava­

Fry, as for]. A. McNeill Whistler, the value of a

gant, and a darkening of counsel, to lay (as has

painting was located in the abstract, disinterested

been done) the inflationary crises of the economic­

'aesthetic states' supposedly induced in the sensi­

allyKeynesian 1970s at the door ofKeynes's homo­

mores generally. The

tive spectator by its form, texture and colour

sexuality and Bloomsbury

alone, irrespective of representational content. He

supposed link is that Keynesian economics (as

found these qualities of Significant Form (as Bell

exemplified by demand management and deficit

called it) pre-eminently exemplified in the work

finance), homosexuality and the pursuit of mere

of Paul Cezanne, whom he introduced to the

aesthetic 'sensation' alike look only to the 'short

Anglo-Saxon world through two 'post-impression­

run'; but it is now known that (by his own account)

ist' exhibitions he organized in London in 1910

Keynes was prescribing mainly for the peculiar

and 1912.

conditions of the 1930s, even if he also said, incon­

This idea - in itself far from novel - that value was essentially

sui generis was substantially echoed,

trovertibly enough, that 'in the long run we are all dead'.

if not actually prompted, by G. E. Moore's view of

Doubtless second- or third-raters such as Stra­

Principia Ethica

chey and Bell have survived only because the

(1903), which has been called 'the Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury group as a whole has caught the public

bible'. For the Good, too, was irreducible, except thetic stimuli on the one hand and friendship (or

imagination (though Strachey's early Landmarks in French Literature and his posthumous Books and Characters are still worth any educated person's

'personal relations') on the other.

attention, unlike Bell's snobbish and pretentious

the moral life as set forth in his

to the subjective 'states of mind' provoked by aes­

Moore's metaphysics, as he himself said, were

Civilization). But people such as Keynes, Russell

those of 'common sense'. Things had a real exist­

and even Moore would surely have been outstand­

ence independent of our perception of them, a view

ing in any period or milieu, while writers such as

contemptuously dismissed by the earlier generation

Forster and (above all) Virginia Woolf display not

of Idealists against whom Moore had reacted.

only a technical inventiveness, but a fragile, pre­

Nevertheless, the Bloomsbury outlook made few

cious and genuine spirituality that no age could or

concessions to any objective or external world in

can afford to dispense with.

the vulgar sense. It was essentially 'ivory tower'. Values might theoretically be 'objective', but in practice the individual was free to make up his own, since, being embodied only in ineffable pri­ vate sensations, they were opaque to public inspec­ tion or criticism. (In this, oddly enough, they resembled

the

despised

Puritan

'conscience'.)

They amounted in the end to little more than tastes

Reading Bell, Q 1972: Virginia Woo/f.· a Biography, 2 vols. Forster, E. M. 1947: Howards End. Fry, R. 1920: Vision and Design. Harrod, R. F. 1951: The Life ofJohn Maynard Keynes. Johnstone,J. K. 1954: The Bloomsbury Group. Keynes,J. M. 1949: Two Memoirs. Moore, G. E. 1903: Principia Ethica.

BOLSHEVISM Myers, L. H. 1935 (1984): The Root and the Flower. Strachey, G. L. 1948: Eminent Victorians.

49

At the heart of this approach to the topic lies a banal fact which it is still important not to lose

Woolf, V. 1966: Collected Essays, 4 vols.

sight of, namely that 'the psycho-physical unity'

--1927 (1977): To the Lighthouse.

ROBERT GRANT

which forms our individuality is also a body. It is like an envelope which in turn is enveloped within the external world. Many philosophical, psycho­

body, sociology of the

In a short article on jeans

logical and sociological analyses insist quite rightly

Umberto Eco demonstrates the dialectic between

on the profound epistemological consequences of

depth and surface which essentially dictates the

this platitude. It amounts to saying that the body

lifestyle of a given moment in history. Summariz­

cannot be identified unless it has been delimited

ing his argument: worn as a type of armour, clothes

and situated. One thing is certain: this situational

have influenced the behaviour, hence the external

approach and, to coin a term, the 'envelopmental­

Moreover the

ism' which is its correlative, allow us to evaluate the

examples he quotes show that morality per se, in

profusion of body-centred practices observed by

other words customs, are determined by how the

today's

body covers itself.

dietetics, cosmetics, theatricality ...). In particular,

morality, of civilization (Eco,

1983).

sociologists

(body-building,

body-care,

Let us dwell on two major points of Eco's analy­

'corporealism' allows us to understand that all

sis. 'Epidermic self-consciousness' on the one hand

the various types of appearance belong to a vast

(see also IDENTITY) , and the concept of the body as a

symbolic system where social effects are far from

'communication machine' on the other. This is not

negligible. One is even tempted to suggest that

the place to go into the crucial role Eco attributes to

the increasingly dominant role played by CoMMU­

the aggregation factor, that is, the way diverse types

NICATION in contemporary society is nothing but

of uniforms come to be adopted by people living in

today's version of that symbolic system. This in­

an urban civilization. What is certain is that the

sight could cast a new light on all those periods in

anthropological structure constituted by the body

history generally thought of as naive but which

is both cause and effect of the intensification of

lived out intensely the symbolic-communicational charge of the 'envelopmentalism' specific to the

social activity. The concern with body image which is expressed

body itself or to the social body. One could add

in fashion, body-building and so on is not simply a

that the concern and the care for the body which

gratuitous or superficial display, but is part of a vast

are so conspicuous today, the masks and dress fash­

symbolic game and expresses the ways in which we

ions which form an anthropological constant can

can touch one another, form relationships and 'so­

be analysed as yet another way human beings situ­

cialize', that is, create society. This is the lesson

ate themselves in relation to others. Seen in this

which the sociology of the body draws from dress

context, the body becomes both cause and effect

fashion and from the various ways of endowing the

of communication, in other words,

body with value and significance. Together they

itself.

create the 'social body' and constitute, in the sim­

of society

See also EVERYDAY LIFE.

plest sense of the term, its specific economy. They show how figure, form and image, despite their

Reading

static connotations, also play an important role in

Berthelot, J. M. 1985: Les Sociologies et le corps. Current Sociology 33.2.

social evolution. Thus the 'frivolous'

(fashion,

design,

style,

everything which expresses the ambient 'corporeal­ ity') proves on closer inspection to have unsus­ pected depths, for in the act of display the body is

Eco, U. 1983 (1986): Faith in Fakes. Featherstone, M. ed. 1991: The Body, Social Process and Cultural Theory. Guyau, M. 1911: Les Problemes de l'esthetique contempor­ atne.

always both cause and effect of dynamic sociality.

Maffesoli, M. 1982 (1985): L'Ombre de Dionysos, 2nd edn.

At the same time it is clearly a pre-eminent mani­

Mauss, M. 1935 (1973): Les Techniques du corps. Trans.

festation of aesthetics in the etymological sense of the word: that of sharing the same emotions,

in Economy and Society 2.1, pp. 70-88. Turner, B. S. 1984 (1996): The Body and Society.

MICHEL MAFFESOLI

the same environment, the same values, so that individuals can finally lose themselves in an all­ embracing theatricality.

Bolshevism

See LENINISM

50

BONAPARTISM

Bonapartism

A type of rule, epitomized by

ists proved less cautious. Accordingly Bonapartism

the regimes of Napoleon I and Ill, in which

was alleged to be evident in Kerensky's Provisional

CIVIL SOCIETY and representative political institu­

Government (Lenin, 'The beginning of Bonapart­

tions are subordinated to military-police power.

ism' and 'They do not see the wood for the trees',

The Bonapartist regime is installed through coup

in Collected Works, vol. 25; Trotsky, 1932, pp. 663-

d'l:tat, a consequence of the prior disintegration

8), 'the Stalin regime' (Trotsky, 1937, pp. 277-9);

of republican institutions and of social turmoil.

and

The leader at its head claims to express directly

and

the

pre-Nazi

administrations

of

Hindenburg-Papen-Schleicher

Bri.ining (Trotsky,

the indivisible will of the sovereign People, and

1932; see also Kitchen (1974) on Thalheimer). In

attempts, but is unable, to establish a dynasty.

these cases, Bonapartism takes on varying shades

Exceptional measures are legitimated by mass pleb­

of meaning, but the idea of relative state autonomy,

iscite. This bald definition, however, fails to convey

arising from social class equilibrium or stalemate,

the term's range of inflections, and also the concep­

remains fundamental, as does the opprobrium that

tual sophistication it has on occasion received, par­

accompanies the term. More recent Marxist discus­

ticularly in Marxist thought.

sions of Bonapartism have re-emphasized its mili­

The term Bonapartism was already in use by 1815-16

(OED, 1971, p. 245; Robert, 1966,

tary character (Hobsbawm, 1977, pp. 177-91), its similarities to, and differences from,

FASCISM

p. 510), but its familiarity in educated European

(Kitchen, 1976, pp. 71-82), its existence as one

circles was largely a phenomenon of the 1850s and

form of regime (others include Bismarckism, fas­

1860s. In this period the word described, criticized

cism, military juntas) which the 'exceptional capit­

or praised the rule of Louis Bonaparte. His govern­

alist state' is capable of assuming (Poulantzas, 1974,

ance, first as President, then as Emperor (1852-70)

pp. 313-30; cf. Engels, 1884).

of France, was felt to enshrine a novel political mutation: simultaneously populist (see

The second usage of the concept locates it

PoPULISM),

squarely in its own time: 'Bonapartism' becomes a

authoritarian, patriotic and militarily adventurist.

means of interpreting and reconstructing elements

The word was often used as a synonym for

CAESAR­

of nineteenth-century European history. Often this

ISM, though some writers polemicized against

itself has proceeded within a Marxist-influenced

that equation, accusing it of anachronism (Marx,

framework: for instance, depicting the 'Bonapart­

1852; Mommsen, 1901, p. 325) or even irreverence

ism' of the French Second Empire as a 'moderniz­

(Mommsen, pp. 326-7).

ing dictatorship' (Magraw, 1983, pp. 159-205), or

Twentieth-century usage can be roughly divided

as an 'authoritarian bureaucratic' regime (Perez­

into two overlapping categories. The first offers a

Diaz, 1978), or expanding the concept to embrace

sociopolitical, Marxist account of Bonapartism and

Bismarck's 'revolution from above' in nineteeth­

seeks to apply the term to 'modern' conditions.

century Prussia (Wehler, 1970, and 1985, pp.

According to Marx and Engels's many-sided ana­

55-62; but see also Mitchell, 1977, and Eley,

lyses (not always consistent: see Rubel, 1960; Wip­

1984, pp. 149-53). Yet non-Marxist writers have

permann, 1983), Napoleon Ill's regime was made

also found work for the concept. Some have

possible both by the pervasive bureaucratization of

employed it to indicate the parallels and contrasts

French society and by a specific conjuncture: the

between the regimes of Napoleon

balance of class forces which lent the executive arm

(for instance, Fisher, 1928). Others have used the

substantial room for political manoeuvre. Bonapar­

term to map the historical complexity of the phe­

I

and

Ill

tism's historical significance lay in its ability to

nomena it denotes: for instance the evolutionary

promote vigorous capitalist development in condi­

quality of Napoleon Ill's rule, the uneven geo­

tions where the bourgeoisie required massive state

graphical distribution of its mass base, its links to

intervention on their behalf (Marx, 1852 and 1871;

Orleanism - the political movement which sup­

Engels, 1871).

ported the idea and institution of constitutional

Marx himself rarely employed the term Bona­

monarchy - and republicanism, its relation to the

partism, probably because he was reluctant to ele­

rural and urban populace, the origins and varieties

vate the Napoleonic experience into a general

of its right-wing support - say, from notables

political category - something which the 'ism'

and clerics (Zeldin, 1979, pp. 140-205; Remand,

suffix, from the Greek ismos, evolved to convey

1966, pp. 125-65, 366-84, who also compares

(Koebner and Schmidt, 1965, p. xiv). Later Marx-

Gaullism in twentieth-century France to Bonapart-

BOURGEOISIE ism;

Bluche,

prompted

Finally,

1980).

interest

as

a

has

Marx's conception (and that of later Marxists)

nineteenth­

had several distinctive features. It formed part of a

Bonapartism

term

in

51

century political discourse, and has been studied

general theory of history as the succession of modes

as one of a family of concepts - which includes

of production and forms of society, each character­

despotism, tyranny, usurpation, DICATATORSHIP

ized by a determinate level of development of the

and CAESARISM - denoting changing forms of 'il­

forces of production (primarily technology) and a

legitimate domination' (Richter,

1982

and

1988).

particular class structure (or relations of produc­ tion) within which there is endemic conflict. In

Reading

capitalist society, which emerged, according to the

Draper, H. 1977: Karl Marx's Theory ofRevolution, 2 vols.

Marxist view, from the growth of new productive

Vol. I, State and Bureaucracy. Groh, D. 1972: Cisarismus, Napoleonismus, Bonapartis­ mus, Fi.ihrer, Chef, lmperialismus. In Geschichtliche

Grundbegrif{e, 7 vols. Vol. I, ed. 0. Brunner, W. Conze, and R. Koselleck, pp. 726-71. Hammer, K., and Hartmann, P.C. 1977: Der Bonapartis-

mus: Historisches Phanomen und politischer Mythos.

powers and the class struggle of the bourgeoisie against the feudal system, historical change is more rapid than ever before: 'The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than all preceding generations together'

Wehler, H.-U. 1985: The German Empire 1871-1918.

(Marx and Engels,

Zeldin, T. 1958: The Political System ofNapoleon Ill.

brought into existence a new class, the proletariat,

--1979: France 1848-1945: Politics and Anger.

which engages in ever more widespread and intense

PETER BAEHR

1848);

but at the same time it

conflict with it. Two distinct processes, therefore, go on in cap­

bourgeoisie

A term dating from the thirteenth

italist society. The bourgeoisie continues to revolu­

century which (like such equivalents as burghers,

tionize the system of production, one effect of

Bi.irgertum) originally denoted a category of town

which is an increasing centralization of capital in

dwellers in medieval Europe, particularly mer­

large corporations, facilitated by the expansion of

chants and artisans, who enjoyed a special status

credit money provided by the banks (Hilferding,

and rights within feudal society. But with the

1910),

development of capitalism, and especially from

massive internationalization of capital (Mandel,

the eighteenth century, the meaning of the term

197 5). But bourgeois dominance is also increasingly

and, in the twentieth century particularly, a

gradually changed and it came to refer more spe­

challenged

cifically to wealthy employers who were active in

WoRKING CLASS), whose struggle, according to

by

the

industrial

proletariat

(see

manufacture, commerce and finance - a usage

Marx, would eventually give rise to a new, socia­

which is partly reflected in Hegel's conception of

list and classless, society.

(civil society) as the sphere

burgerliehe Gesellschafi

of private economic interests.

Marx, who was

Marx's expectations

depended in part on his view that society would be increasingly polarized between the two major

mainly responsible for giving the term its wide

classes, a small bourgeoisie formed as a result of

currency in later social thought, started out from

the 'expropriation of many capitalists by few', and a

Hegel's distinction between the bourgeois and the

large proletariat constituting the 'immense major­

citizen but soon developed, from his critical study

ity' of the population; though he also recognized

of Hegel's philosophy and still more from his vor­

that there were significant intermediate strata, in­

acious reading of political economy, an entirely

cluding the petty bourgeoisie made up of small

different conception of the bourgeoisie as the dom­

independent producers, traders and professional

inant class in a specific (capitalist) mode of produc­

people, and even expected the middle class as a

tion. As Engels

(1847)

summarized this view, the

whole to increase in size (to judge from two pas­

bourgeoisie 'is the class of the great capitalists who,

sages in the manuscripts of

in all developed countries, are now almost exclu­

Value).

Theories of Surplus

sively in possession of all the means of consump­

Later Marxists, in the twentieth century, have

tion, and of the raw materials and instruments

had to deal with more complex problems arising

(machines, factories) necessary for their produc­

from the rapid growth of the 'new middle class' of

tion'; and later

'the class of modern capital­

clerical workers, technical and professional em­

ists, owners of the means of social production and

ployees and service personnel of all kinds (see

employers of wage labour'.

MIDDLE CLASS), higher living standards and more

(1888)

BUDDHISM

52

extensive social welfare, which have almost every­ where diminished the intensity of class conflict in recent times. The bourgeoisie of the present day, still

immensely

wealthy

and

controlling

giant

corporations, is nevertheless more constrained in

Riedel, M. 1975: Burger, Staatsbi.irger, Bi.irgertum. In Geschichtliche Grundbegrif{e, ed. 0. Brunner et al., vol. I. Sombart, W. 1913 (1967): Der Bourgeois, trans. as The Q}tintessence of Capitalism. TOM BOTTOMORE

various respects than its nineteenth-century prede­ cessor, by varying degrees of public ownership and economic planning and by a limited redistribution of wealth and income, so that its lifestyle and social prestige is no longer perhaps in quite such blatant contrast with that of a substantial part of the rest of society. Many social thinkers had always emphasized other aspects of the social role of the bourgeoisie, and these features have become more prominent in recent debates. Max Weber

(1904-5) associated the

capitalist spirit with the Protestant ethic, and saw the bourgeoisie as being animated by ideas of ra­ tionality and enterprise, individual liberty and re­ sponsibility,

which

equipped

them

for

the

leadership required to maintain a dynamic and democratic society.]. A. Schumpeter

(1942)

simi­

larly emphasized the importance of enterpreneur­ ship and connected the development of mod�rn democracy with the rise of capitalism, but unhke Weber he saw in socialism a continuation of the bourgeois outlook: 'The ideology of classical social­ ism is the offspring of bourgeois ideology. In par­ ticular it shares the latter's rationalist and utilitarian background and many of the ideas and ideals that entered the classical doctrine of democracy' (pp.

298-9).

A historian, Henri Pirenne, also saw the

bourgeoisie (or middle class as he sometimes calls it) in medieval towns as 'spreading the idea of liberty far and wide'

(1925,

p.

154),

though many

late medieval towns were in fact dominated by a small number of patrician families (Holton,

1986,

pp. 79-83). Most recently, in the writings of Hayek

(1973-9)

and some thinkers of the NEW RIGHT, the

existence of a free and democratic society is rigor­ ously connected with private ownership of pro­ ductive

resources

(though

the

concept

of

a

bourgeoisie is not generally used) and with free markets, which together are also considered to achieve a high level of efficiency in the economy. Reading

Bottomore, T., and Brym, R. J. eds 1989: The Capitalist Class: An International Study. Holton, R. J. 1986: Cities, Capitalism and Civilization. Lamont, M. 1992: Money, Morals and Manners. Pirenne, H. 1925: Medieval Cities.

Buddhism

Over the course of

25

centuries,

Buddhism has developed into a distinctive pan­ Asian religious tradition and civilization, but at the same time it has always readily accommodated local variation. This has been especially the case with the forms of social life accepted by Buddhists; Buddhist social life in China has had more in common with Confucian values (see CoNFUCIAN­ ISM) than with those affirmed by South Asian Bud­ dhists who shared many of their social values with Hindus (see HINDUISM AND HINDU SOCIAL THEORY). As a result, the social configurations and practices of the Buddhist tradition have historically been extra­ ordinarily diverse, so much so that the first Western observers of Buddhism found it difficult to recog­ nize that the religion they encountered in Japan was related to that found in Thailand. At the same time, Buddhist thinkers generally expended little effort in attempts to make sense of this diversity by defining the nature of the ideal society, especially in com­ parison to intellectuals in other religious traditions, _ such as Islam and Hinduism. This has changed m the twentieth century, and an interest in articulating social knowledge and values that are distinctively Buddhist is a striking feature of contemporary Bud­ dhism around the world. Traditionally, normative Buddhist thought was quite ambivalent about social life. For example. �he ' Aggaiiiia Sutta, a canonical myth about the ongt�s of community, portrays the emergence of the baste elements of social life, such as the family, as a response to immorality and greed. Moreover, in�ti­ tutionalized social structures were portrayed as m­ herently compromised and morally suspect because they often accommodated and sometimes abetted the propensities towards evil found among humans. Other authoritative accounts portray social life as an inevitable source of suffering because of the natural impermanence and commonplace duplicity of relations among humans. Actual social life pro­ vided abundant confirmation of this dark vision. In contrast, the ideal Buddhist life was meant to root out the inclination to evil and to end suffering. It was often portrayed as highly individualized, free of social

responsibilities,

with

social

interaction

BUDDHISM

53

limited to consensual relations among beings differ­

In the twentieth century, cosmology, rebirth and

entiated only by spiritual attainment. This ideal

karma are generally no longer at the centre of Bud­

was institutionalized in the Buddhist monastic

dhist thought, largely because such ideas often

order

(sangha), in which the patterns of dependence

appear suspect in the light of modern scientific

and hierarchy typical of all human communities

knowledge. Other aspects of Buddhist thought

were rejected. In short, Buddhist thinkers com­

have consequently received more emphasis than

monly saw life in society as irredeemable, and con­

has traditionally been the case, although this re­

cluded that the best that an individual might do is to

thinking has generally been in the guise of a return

cease to participate in its concerns and expectations.

to the original teachings of the Buddha, the fifth­

This negative attitude towards social life was a

century

source of criticism and scorn directed against Bud­

Buddhism. In this rethinking, the individual, rather

dhism by thinkers in rival communities in India and

than the community, still occupies centre-stage,

China.

but in place of the traditional account of karma,

Although traditional Buddhist thought saw little

BCE

Indian teacher who was the founder of

special emphasis is given to the human capacity

possibility of truly reforming human society, cer­

for critical thought, for mental and moral self­

tain social virtues were recommended as ways of

discipline, for change in the light of better under­

minimizing the commonplace cruelties of social

standing of human nature and the natural world.

life. These included filial piety, generosity, grati­

This rethinking also suggested the possibility of

tude, patience, and a sense of proportion. The exact

reforming, if not changing, the structures of society

definition of such virtues and the specification of

in the light of improved knowledge, instead of

other social virtues varied from society to society

accepting them as a cosmological given.

in the Buddhist world. Similarly, traditional Bud­

The possibility of social change has inspired

dhist teaching recommended kingship as an accept­

Buddhists to reconsider the resources of their trad­

able political structure; in traditional Buddhist

ition in search of new models for better societies.

political theory, it was a king's responsibility to

Some Buddhists have seen the idealized portrayal

enforce law and to promote general wellbeing, but

of the monastic order in Buddhist scriptures as an

again there was no agreement across the Buddhist

inspirational model for a perfect society. This vol­

world about what constitutes law or the good soci­

untary society is based in spirit on the rejection of basic evils such as self-gratification and greed, as

ety which a king should promote. Some aspects of Buddhist thought were fre­

indicated by the prohibition on the use of money by

quently used for legitimizing existing social struc­

monks and the affirmation of such virtues as humil­

tures. A central feature of Buddhist thought is the

ity and discipline, which check the dangers of indi­

doctrine of karma, which provides an explanation

vidualism. Its governing structures give preference

of how certain aspects of one's present existence are

to consensus, which is seen by contemporary Bud­

the result of previous acts, especially actions in

dhists as a perfect form of democracy, while its

a previous life. In traditional Buddhist thought,

economic orientation would be socialist, with re­

the effects of karma were correlated with the exist­

sources shared in common according to an ethic

ential hierarchy found in Buddhist cosmology,

of sufficiency. It is organized around a common

which included a range of heavens and hells as

interest

well as humans, animals and ghosts; one's future

according to the schema of Buddhist soteriology,

in

promoting

spiritual

advancement,

birth in one of these realms would be determined

and all members of the society benefit from part­

by the good or evil that one did now, just as one's

icipation.

current circumstances were the result of previous

steps towards actually implementing this model,

There

have

been

some

preliminary

among

such as U Nu's programme for Buddhist Socialism

humans in a given community was located within

in Burma, but these attempts have hardly proved

this cosmic hierarchy and social inequalities were

prom1smg.

actions.

The

existing

social

hierarchy

thus justified as the fair consequences of moral

Another important trend in contemporary Bud­

or immoral action. The basic thrust of this religious

dhism has been the emergence of a new emphasis on

worldview was conservative; individuals might be

social activism. When it first appeared earlier in this

able to change their own position within the social

century, this new orientation was generally not mo­

and cosmic hierarchy, but the hierarchy itself was

tivated directly by the social or ethical values found

fixed.

in the Buddhist tradition, but rather was an attempt

54

BUREAUCRACY

to ensure that Buddhism would not become irrele­

into distinct societies, with particular structures,

vant in the modern world and thus disappear. The

or even of thinking about human community

emphasis on social activism did inspire a reconsid­

in

eration of the ethical resources of the Buddhist

world.

tradition in a search for distinctively Buddhist war­ rants for such behaviour. These activities are thus now encouraged as effective ways of cultivating and expressing traditional Buddhist virtues such as compassion and generosity. Monks are now com­

isolation

from

the

Dharmasiri, G. 1989: Dumoulin, H.

Fundamentals ofBuddhist Ethics. Buddhism in the Modern

ed. 1976:

World. Keyes, C. F. 1989: Buddhist politics and their revolution­

monly encouraged to supplement, if not actually

ary origins in Thailand.

Review 10, 121-42.

social services as a way of addressing the suffering

Swearer, D. K. 1981:

globally. Similarly, lay people throughout the Bud­

interdependent

Reading

replace, their traditional forms of practice with caused by the rapid changes typical of modern life

larger,

International Political Science

Buddhism and Society in Southeast

Asia. Welch, H. 1968:

The Buddhist Revival in China. CHARLES HALLISEY

dhist world have supported the establishment of schools, hospitals, and other charities. Given the

One of the central categories of

magnitude of the problems which these activities

bureaucracy

address, Buddhists have frequently discovered

modern social science, it refers to a type of adminis­

themselves to be part of a community that tran­

tration in which the power to make decisions is

scends the individual groups in which they nor­

invested in an office or function rather than a par­

mally participate.

ticular individual. In the course of history bureau­

In searching for a systematic basis for distinct­ ively Buddhist social thought, many Buddhist thinkers have turned to the core doctrine of 'eo­ dependent origination'

(paticca samuppada) which

cracy

appears

in

widely

different

social

and

economic formations, but at the same time it dis­ plays several common features, the most important of them being the following.

articulates the fundamental interconnection of

Bureaucracy separates itself from society, both

all reality. This doctrine defines the world as a

from the ruling class and the masses. It is organized

place where nothing can exist independently; each

within a particular institutional system in which a

existent necessarily occurring in a causal relation­

special ideology, an ethos and various formal pro­

ship with other existents. The doctrine of interde­

cedures develop. All this appears as a kind of sub­

pendence displays the connection of an individual

culture. The source of its power lies in the fact that

with the entire human race and lays a foundation

guidance and control functions have emerged

for moral responsibility towards others. This moral

which society's basic classes cannot fulfil. Usually,

responsibility exists at both a personal and a social

however, it attaches new tasks to the historically

level and obligates each individual and group

necessary functions (for instance, irrigation in an­

to work towards the solution of global problems,

cient societies) which ensures the growth of its

such as nuclear disarmament and the environmen­

power over society.

tal crisis. Of course, this move to a more inclusive

It is a characteristic feature of bureaucracy that

common good does not stop with humanity but also

administration is carried out not by lay persons but

embraces the natural world, since humans and

by specialists who regard this work as their life

the natural world are not distinguishable within

career rather than as a temporary activity per­

the doctrine of eo-dependent origination. Thus,

formed for certain periods of time. In the bureau­

ironically, another kind of ambivalence about soci­

cratic institutional system a standardized set of

ety has emerged in twentieth-century Buddhist

requirements comes into existence, such as the

thought. Even as modern Buddhist thinkers have

examinations for old-style Chinese state officials,

been more concerned with specifying the nature

and those in all modern states, which is one of the

of a good society, and contemporary Buddhists

bases for the stability of bureaucratic power and at

have attempted to improve social conditions and

the same time involves some exclusivity.

bring into being more moral societies, the aspects

Bureaucracy as defined in the social sciences

of Buddhist thought to which they have turned to

differs from everyday usage. In many languages

justify their concerns and actions have tended

the latter merges with the so-called bureaucratism

to undermine the legitimacy of dividing humanity

of incompetent clerks whose work is characterized

BUREAUCRACY and

notably

by

Max

Weber,

55

by ineffective, soulless, slow and often irrational

thinkers

formalism. In contrast to this, bureaucratic admin­

works demonstrate his specific anti-bureaucratic

whose

(1921-2, part 3, eh. 6)

attitude and his specific scientific approach - the

argued, proved more effective, rapid and competent

latter in the spirit of a verstehende (interpretive)

than alternative historical forms of administration.

sociology.

istration, as Max Weber

This explains why in modern societies bureaucratic

From the beginning of the century economic life

administration is expanding, not only in state or­

and other areas of society were increasingly bureau­

ganizations but in almost every field of social life.

cratized, and a particularly important feature has

The phenomenon is especially conspicuous in the

been the bureaucratization of political parties, with

economic arena where the management of medium

an ever increasing influence over the entire society

and large enterprises is being totally bureaucratized

because of the emergence of Western democratic

(see the comments by Schumpeter,

1942, pp. 205-

parliamentarianism, a process analysed by Roberto

7). Confronted with this tendency, many social scientists (such as W. Mommsen, 1974) refer to

Michels

the total bureaucratization of life.

ated by anti-capitalist tendencies, encountered a

Different schools of social science have various

(1911).

The trade unions, whose formation was domin­ new 'enemy'- industrial bureaucracy- and at the

approaches to the problem of bureaucracy. The

same time they also produced their own bureau­

theoretical approach of the Marxist classics is inco­

cratic organs. The conflict of interests between

herent in many respects. In Marx's early work a

workers and capitalists came to appear as a confron­

definitely anti-bureaucratic stance is apparent. His

tation and consensus between industrial and trade

experience of the Moselle district hunger crisis

union bureaucracies, a development described by

made him understand that besides the ruling class

Sidney and Beatrice Webb.

and the subordinated social groups there existed a

In Western societies the process of bureaucrat­

state bureaucracy with its own particular interests

ization has continued into the postcapitalist and

represented by these apparatuses as general social

postindustrial period, with several of its character­

or state interests. The special spirit of bureaucracy

istic features altered. In the economy, an ever­

is the secrecy and mystery which protect the par­

growing role is played by state apparatuses but

ticular interests of this group against the external

they do not control economic life in an independent

society and interpret every internal matter as a state

way, as in the period of late feudalism and early

secret. But in the later works of Marx and Engels

capitalism, but in association with the industrial,

the problem of bureaucracy was relegated to the

finance and trade union bureaucracies. This has

background and the struggle between workers and

produced a highly intricate texture of economic

capitalists came to the fore. They failed to foresee

power, called the techno-structure by]. K. Gal­

two circumstances. The first was the expansion of

braith (see also TECHNOCRACY). Chiefly in the econ­

bureaucracy to the economy and other areas of

omy but also in other areas, bureaucracies in

society. They did not foresee that the leadership

Western countries go beyond national boundaries

of industry and of the economy in general would

and assume an international character, and in cer­

pass into the hands of certain bodies distinct from

tain respects this makes the fight for independence

the owners who exercised power over the workers

which characterizes national states illusory. It may

directly, although with their existence continuing

be argued that the significance of anticapitalism was

to depend on the proprietors who, as shareholders

exaggerated by Marx and Engels to the detriment of

or as family owners, expected them to work

antibureaucracy. In today's practice it is apparent

efficiently and increase the profit. In this case, too,

that the emancipation of humanity in the modern

the bureaucratic system of institutions strives to

world requires antibureaucratism rather than anti­

extend its power, and thus profit becomes a second­

capitalism.

ary motivation in their decisions. At the time of classic capitalism the bureaucrat­

The second error of the classical Marxist authors is that in their socialist vision they failed to see the

ization of the economy was still in statu nascendi.

danger of the bureaucratization of society. They

The management of the enterprises was still largely

postulated the rapid 'withering away' of the state

carried out by the owners themselves. In this re­

and the socialization of all types of administration.

spect a major change came at the turn of the cen­

But the experiences of the former Soviet Union and

tury, as was analysed with greater clarity by several

the East European countries have shown that a

56

BUSINESS CYCLE

whole range of interwoven bureaucratic institutions

ation between various associations of workers (see

comes into existence to perform the administrative

COOPE RATIVE MOVEMENT; SOCIAL MOVEMENT). It is

functions, and at the centre of this institutional

another question

network was the monolithically dominant one­

movements may also produce their own bureaucra­

party system and its leading organs. These played

cies, as historical experiences have revealed. In spite

an integrative function among various bureaucratic

of this, the world of bureaucratic phenomena and

institutions (industrial, economic, military, cul­

the struggle against it are some of the most import­

tural) and exercised control over the mass organiza­

ant features of our age.

tions

(trade

unions,

youth

and

official

peace

whether the

antibureaucratic

See also DIVISION OF LABOUR.

movements and so on) and over the mass media organized from above. Strict party control over

Reading

bureaucratic institutions debilitated the forms of

Albrow, M. 1997: Do Organizations Have Feelings?.

existence of CIVIL SOCIETY, including political and cultural movements and ethnic and religious organ­ izations. This bureaucratized world did not only characterize state-management socialism, so-called Stalinism, but also the Yugoslav self-management system where in practice various bureaucratic

Galbraith, J. K. 1967: The New Industrial State. Hegedi.is, A. 1976: Socialism and Bureaucracy. Michels, R. 1911 (1962): Political Parties. Mommsen, W. 1974: The Age ofBureaucracy. Mouzelis, N. P. 1967: Organisation and Bureaucracy. Rizzi, B. 1985: The Bureaucratization ofthe World. Webb, S. and Webb, B. 1897: Industrial Democracy.

organs preserved their dominant role. Social activ­

Weber, M. 1921-2 (1967, 1978): Economy and Society,

ity, however, increasingly asserted itself against the

part 3, eh. 6. Also in Gerth, H. H. and Mills, C. W.

bureaucratization of administration,

eds 1946: From Max Weber.

and aspir­

ANDRAS HEGEDUS

ations developed for a world in which bureaucracy as such no longer exists and power is directly in the

business cycle

hands of the people.

As recurrent fluctuations in the

The modern world cannot do without bureau­

economic activity of industrial economies, business

cratic institutions, and a realistic anti-bureaucratic

cycles can be observed statistically when one exam­

goal can only be control over the bureaucratic

ines the historical record of a nation's overall eco­

power by civil society. That underlines the import­

nomic performance- say, annual statistics of gross

ance of the reforms of political institutional systems

national product corrected for price change (real

in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, precisely

GNP). Typically what is apparent is a pattern of

for the following reasons. As a result of the reforms

long-term growth marked by alternations of expan­

the

sion and contraction. These recurrent alternations

monolithic

system

has

been

transformed

into a pluralistic one and this has destroyed the

above and below the long-term trend are business

hegemony of bureaucracy dominated by the one­

cycles. The word cycle suggests fixed and perhaps

party system. In the course of the reforms civil

symmetrical timing patterns but economists have

society has been revived. Political parties, organiza­

long rejected that notion. Although some econo­

tions and movements have emerged over which

mists now prefer to describe these phenomena as

bureaucracy no longer has any control, while the

'economic fluctuations', the term business cycle

main aim of civil society is to control this very

remams m common use.

bureaucracy.

Cyclical movements in an economy are perva­

Reform socialism (or SociAL DEMOCRACY), in

sive. When real GNP rises (or falls), so do employ­

contrast to the state-management system, is a

ment, real income, profits and other broad aspects

socio-economic formation in which, though various

of activity. Relatively few industries depart from

bureaucratic institutions survive, their monoli­

the overall pattern, although industries producing

thic domination ceases to exist and they operate

durable goods are subject to greater than average

under effective control by civil society. Thus anti­

fluctuations. Furthermore the movements, first in

bureaucratic movements can also be observed in

one direction and then in another, tend to persist

Western societies, which may be termed alternative

for extended periods of time- unlike seasonal fluc­

movements. Especially significant among them is

tuations, for example, which occur within the com­

the working out and introduction of a so-called

pass of a year. In business cycle parlance, rising

alternative enterprise structure which is not dom­

activity or the expansion culminates in a peak, and

inated by a hierarchical bureaucracy but by cooper-

then gives way to a recession (also referred to as a

BUSINESS CYCLE

57

downturn or contraction), whose low point is des­

ous' factors. These are different from the internal

ignated as a trough. This is followed by the recov­

working of the economy itself and its tendency to

ery, or upturn, which is the initial phase of the

fluctuate over extended periods. These are 'en­

expansion. In the United States the half-century

dogenous' rather than exogenous factors or 'propa­

since 1949 has witnessed eight expansions ranging

gation

in length from one year to about nine, with a

disturbances

mechanisms' or

as

distinct

impulses.

from

Writers

shocks,

recognized

median duration of about 3.5 years. Contractions,

these distinctions before World War II, but they

much less variable, have averaged a little less than a

usually put the greater emphasis on the working of

year. Both expansions and contractions have shown

the economic system itself, that is, the tendency of

great variability in intensity. The Great Depression

the economy towards instability even in the absence

of the 1930s had a profound effect on subsequent

of outside disturbances.

economic policies of governments but its severity

In his renowned 1937 League of Nations study

and length were unique in twentieth-century busi­

Prosperity and Depression, Gottfried Haberler's an­

ness cycle records.

alysis of modern business cycle theories led him to

Theories of the business cycle have abounded

group theories into several broad classes, although

although interest on the part of economists has

he noted that differences among classes were chiefly

itself been subject to its ups and downs. Interest

a matter of emphasis. He pointed out that most

in the 1920s, stimulated by Britain's economic

modern theories viewed the business cycle as the

problems, was greatly intensified in the next decade

result not of any single factor but of several, many

because of the Great Depression. Keynes's (1936 )

of which were common to different theories, and

General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

that the factors giving rise to a cycle in one period

was not primarily concerned with the traditional

were not necessarily the same as those causing a

core of business cycle theory- explaining the recur­

cycle in another. These judgements of a half­

rent fluctuations in overall economic activity- but

century ago remain valid. However, these early

not long after the General Theory appeared the

theories, unlike those after World War II, tended

belief became fairly common that government sta­

to emphasize endogenous factors rather than out­

bilization policies could make the business cycle a

side influences as causes of the business cycle.

thing of the past. Economists shifted their attention

Among the more important categories in Haberler's

to the new field of macroeconomics, which became

classification of theories are: those he describes as

the dominant field of interest for those concerned

purely monetary; overinvestment; underconsump­

with overall activity. The prosperity of the decade

tion; psychological; and those attributing cycles to

or two after the end of World War II encouraged

price-cost maladjustments.

the view that the business cycle was outmoded. An

Several theories are embraced under the rubric

international conference of business cycle special­

of overinvestment theories, which stress the key

ists in the late 1960s produced a volume entitled Is

role of business spending on new buildings and

the Business Cycle Obsolete? (Bronfenbrenner, 1969).

durable

Most economists did not think that was so, but any

goods are long-lasting and are bought with an eye

equipment.

Because

these

investment

doubts about whether the cycle might have disap­

to the future it is not difficult intuitively to see how

peared were dispelled in the 1970s and 1980s,

errors in businessmen's judgements can give rise to

which witnessed severe business downturns and

excesses in investment and their inevitable correc­

high rates of both unemployment and inflation.

tions. F. A. Hayek was one of several writers who

The 1970s also saw the emergence of new theoret­

gave a monetary explanation of overinvestment (see

ical developments and a renewed interest by econo­

also MoNETARISM). Non-monetary explanations

mists in the business cycle, which persisted through

were given by economists such asJoseph Schump­

the 1980s.

eter, who stressed the special role of innovations,

In seeking causes of the business cycle econo­

the opening of new markets and their subsequent

mists have distinguished between factors outside

shrinkage. An important variant of the overinvest­

the economic system and those within the system

ment theory assigned a crucial role to the 'acceler­

itself. Wars, major inventions or changing govern­

ation' principle, according to which a mere decline

ment fiscal and monetary policies are examples of

in the rate of increase in business sales, say, to

outside causes and have been variously referred to

consumers, could give rise to an absolute decline

as 'disturbances', 'shocks', 'impulses' or 'exogen-

in the production of investment goods. These stand

58

BUSINESS CYCLE

in contrast to underconsumption theories, put forth

Reserve pursue a policy in which the money supply

by writers such as]. A. Hobson, which held that as

would grow at a stable rate. The early 1970s saw the

the expansion proceeds consumers tended to 'over­

beginnings of a new theory, attributable to Robert

save', as a result of which consumer demand de­

Lucas (1977), Thomas Sargent and others, which

clined.

rekindled academic interest in the business cycle.

A number of theories are classified as psycho­

This was the rational expectations-equilibrium

logical. The distinctive feature of these, in Haber­

theory of macroeconomics, which was mainly a

ler's words, is that the response of total investment

critique of the Keynesian macroeconomic view of

to objective factors is stronger than rational eco­

the world but which has also had business cycle

nomic considerations would suggest (Haberler,

applications.

1937, p. 147). During the boom businessmen are

POTHESIS.)

(See RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

HY­

subject to 'errors of optimism', which lead to errors

Since the appearance of Keynes's General Theory

in the opposite direction once businessmen see that

the dominant macroeconomic view has held that

their anticipations cannot be realized. Keynes's

prices and wages are either rigid or very sluggish

theory of the business cycle (a chapter in the General

in responding to changes in overall demand and

Theory, pp. 313-32) placed major stress on busi­

thus fail to perform their traditional market­

nessmen's anticipations and the key role they played

clearing functions. In the Keynesian view increases

in business decisions to invest (see KEYNESIANISM).

or decreases in overall demand in the short run,

The flagging of interest in business cycle theory

such as occur in a business cycle expansion or con­

in the two decades or so after the end of World War

traction, are reflected mainly in changes in the real

II was not only due to Keynes and the general

economy, that is, in production and employment.

prosperity. Several factors fostered interest in em­

However, proponents of the rational expectations­

pirical

equilibrium

research:

the

development of

national

theory

maintain

that

supply

and

income and product statistics, advances in econo­

demand even at the level of the overall economy

metric model building and the appearance of elec­

are constantly being balanced by adjustments in

tronic computers for the solution of large complex

prices and wages. According to these newer views,

models. Model building proliferated and some

which hark back to pre-Keynesian economists, the

models seemed to 'work', that is, given certain

real economy is not fundamentally unstable. How

assumptions about policy they tracked the behav­

then to account for the pronounced fluctuations in

iour of the economy fairly closely. Thus they

economic activity so readily apparent? One answer

seemed to validate the economic principles on

(and several have been put forth, tested and found

which they were based. This period witnessed a

wanting) is that workers and businessmen, although

shift in emphasis away from endogenous models

rational about the markets in which they themselves

to models in which exogenous influences were

operate, are ignorant about every other market and

dominant, notably government spending and tax

consequently are prone to make mistakes - about

policies, and private business investment. In these

how much to produce or how much labour to supply

essentially Keynesian models monetary policy did

in response to a change in demand. Making these

not appear to be very important. In addition, they

errors and then correcting them give rise to cyclical

embodied a trade-off between the rate of inflation

movements. A more recent theory in the equilib­

and the rate of unemployment in the short run.

rium genre is that of the real business cycle, which

In his presidential address before the American

attributes fluctuations to 'productivity shocks', the

Economic Association, Milton Friedman (1968)

responses to which by business and labour occur

made a monetarist counterattack on the Keynesian

with a pronounced Jag. If these theories have not

system and models based on it. Unlike Keynes,

been entirely convincing (Okun, 1980; Gordon,

Friedman saw the private economy as fundamen­

1986, pp. 8-9), their persistence in varying forms

tally stable; like R. G. Hawtrey early in the century,

thus far must be due in large part to the breakdown

Friedman attributed instability in the economy to

of Keynesian macroeconomic models in the 1970s,

changing monetary policy. Changes in monetary

when the inflation-unemployment trade-off in the

policy by the central bank - to stimulate or slow

short run vanished and high rates of inflation

down the economy - constituted the chief outside

existed side by side with high rates of unemploy­

shocks to the economic system, and it was for this

ment. In addition, the new theory of rational ex­

reason that Friedman advocated that the Federal

pectations emphasizes a long-established tenet

BUSINESS CYCLE central to economic analysis, namely, that economic

59

tial nature can never be captured by an econometric model of whatever sophistication or novelty. It is

agents are rational optimizing individuals. Another strand of the business cycle worthy of

perhaps a commentary on the unsatisfactory state of

note is the empirical approach associated with

affairs that exists today with model forecasts that

Wesley Mitchell early in the century and later

empirical forecasting tools find a ready market.

with his colleagues at the National Bureau of Eco­

Forecasting goes hand in hand with the business

nomic Research. They examined thousands of

cycle. It is a burgeoning activity in most large

economic time series, seeking recurring patterns

market-oriented industrialized countries, engaged

and regularities from which might be derived gen­

in by businesses, governments and international

eralizations that would describe and ultimately ex­

organizations, and has itself given rise to a substan­

plain the cyclical behaviour of the economy. This

tial forecasting industry. Gauged by the US experi­

started the work, which has continued to the pre­

ence, economists have had a fair degree of success in

sent, of measuring expansions and contractions,

forecasting economic activity (real GNP) about a

dating turning points (peaks and troughs), classify­

year ahead, with a notable lack of success in fore­

ing particular statistical series as leading or lagging

casting turning points (McNees,

at business cycle turning points, and the like. Al­

distinctly better than 'naive models' which predict

though Measuring Business

that the change in next year's real GNP will be the

Cycles (Burns

and

1988).

They do

was greeted with disdain by main­

same as the past year's; by this standard they do less

stream economists for its failure to bow in the

well, however, in predicting the rate of inflation.

direction of the new Keynesian macroeconomics

Some of this success, such as it is, can be attributed

(Koopmans,

the approach has shown a cer­

to what economists have learned about macroeco­

tain hardiness partly because business cycles have

nomics, although how much is an uncertain quan­

persisted and partly because the leading indicators

tity.

Mitchell,

1946)

1947)

have become transformed into a forecasting device.

See also L ONG WAVES.

Where do we stand today on the business cycle, which is so much a part of modern economic life? It is very likely that economists and governments have learned enough to prevent a repetition of the Great Depression but beyond this there is no single dom­ inating theory to which most economists would subscribe, as Victor Zarnowitz made clear in his comprehensive review article of

1985.

Probably

most would agree that the business cycle has many causes, some coming from outside the eco­

Reading Bronfenbrenner, M. ed. 1969:

Is the Business Cycle Obso-

lete? Gordon, R. J. ed. 1986:

The American Business Cycle. (1958): Prosperity and Depression. 1983: Business Cycles, Inflation and Forecast-

Haberler, G. 1937 Moore, G. H.

ing,

2nd edn.

Sheffrin, S. M. 1983: Inflation and unemployment. In

Rational Expectations.

nomic system and some a reflection of the way in

Zarnowitz, V. 1985: Recent work on business cycles in

which the system itself works. Either source can be

historical perspective: a review of theories and evi­

real or monetary in nature. It may be that the

dence. Journal

business cycle itself is of such complexity in a modern industrial economy that much of its essen-

ofEconomic Literature 23, 523-80. MURRAY F. FOSS

c Caesarism

A term denoting a form of dictator­

and legitimated by direct appeals to the masses,

ship loosely modelled on the career ofJulius Caesar

through the medium of plebiscites. This kind of

(100-44 BC), the populist general and autocrat who

usage is discernible, with modifications, in Thody

seized power from the Roman senatorial oligarchy

(1989), and Namier (1958), where the Caesarist

49 BC, and whose regime accelerated the collapse

pantheon is extended to include figures such as

in

of the Roman Republic. However, this definition

Perain and de Gaulle, Mussolini and Hitler.

requires immediate qualification. For not only has

In contrast, the second camp of thinking about

the term been employed to include figures who

Caesarism develops the notion much more hap­

predate Julius - like the Athenians Pisistratus (c.600-527 BC) and Pericles (c.495-429 BC) and the Spartan Cleomenes Ill (c.260-219 BC) (Neumann, 1957, pp. 237-8; Weber, 1921-2); it is also the case that Augustus Caesar (63 BC to AD 14), notJulius,

hazardly, and with only the most cursory reference

has sometimes been credited as the exemplar of

to

the

two

Napoleons.

Thus,

Caesarism

is

employed to designate: the electoral manipulations, awesome stature and 'illegitimacy' of Bismarck (Weber,

1921-2; Baehr, 1988); the leader-domin­

ated nature of modern British politics (Ostrogorski,

1958). Moreover, though

1902, pp. 607-8; Tiinnies, 1917, pp. 49-53; Weber,

many twentieth-century usages seek analogy with

'Politics as a vocation', in Weber, ed. Gerth and

ancient Rome, others do not, so that today Caesar­

Mills,

ism is a concept in the utmost confusion.

return to 'formlessness' and 'primitivism' (Spen­

Caesarism (Riencourt,

1845 (Biih­ 1868, pp. 277-9), the word received its first

Coined probably by]. F. Biihmer in mer,

sustained Romieu

treatment

from

the

Frenchman

A.

(1850). Thereafter Caesarism became

gler,

1970, p. 106-7, and 1978, p. 1452); a cyclical

1918-22, vol. 1); a theocratic-militaristic type

of 'oriental despotism', exemplified by the Diocle­ tian empire of the Romans (Gerth and Mills, p.

210; a 'populist' or 'democratic'

1954,

DICTATORSHIP,

widely employed in European educated circles -

comparable to, or manifested in, Peronism in South

particularly in France and Germany - to describe

America, among other regimes (respectively Cano­

the regime of Napoleon Ill (from 1851 to 1870) and

van, 1981, p.

its implications for modern politics (Momigliano,

accretion of power evident in the American presi­

1956, 1962; Groh, 1972; Richter, 1981, 1982; Goll­ witzer, 1987). By 1920 the term was no longer in

dential system (Riencourt,

popular currency and has survived only as a tool of

draws on the Napoleonic example and also departs

academic analysis.

137; Neumann, 1957, pp. 236-43); the 1958).

Finally, a usage of Caesarism exists which both from it in fundamental ways. Of Marxist proven­

Broadly speaking, three camps are evident in

ance, this position relates Caesarism to BoNAPART­

1929-35, pp. 215, 219); distinguishes

twentieth-century thinking on the subject. The

ISM (Gramsci,

first continues the tradition of explicitly linking

between 'progressive' and 'reactionary' Caesarism,

Caesarism to the BoNAPARTISM of Napoleon Ill,

depending on whether it aids or hinders revolution­

and also Napoleon I. Here Caesarism is depicted

ary class struggle (Gramsci, p.

as a highly personalized, militaristic form of leader­

the notion to describe coalition, centrist political

coup d'etat), char­

alliances or governments whose presence marks an

ship, born of illegality (such as a

acterized by populist rhetoric (the leader claims to embody and defend 'the people'

en bloc, against the

narrow, divisive interest of elites or classes), con­

219); and augments

interim stage between a social crisis and its reso­

220; Hall, 1983, pp. 309-21; 1985, pp. 33-62).

lution (Gramsci, p. Schwarz,

temptuous of established representative political

In the majority of academic usages, it must be

institutions (the Caesarist ruler governs by diktat,

said, 'Caesarism' bears little resemblance to the

employing police measures to stifle opposition),

career and biography of its most famous namesake

CAPITALISM (see Gelzer,

1969). Arguably, only the military and

populist aspects attributed to Caesarism are histor­

61

CLASS)- bourgeoisie and proletariat (see WoRKING CLASS).

ically compelling. For Julius Caesar was both a

Marxist theory had a profound influence on most

brilliant strategist (and inspirational field com­

later studies. Max Weber, while rejecting Marx's

mander) and was also called by his class contem­

theory as a whole and constructing quite a different

popularis, that is, a

model or 'ideal type' of capitalism, nevertheless

demagogue, or champion of the people (Croix,

incorporated in it important elements derived

1981, pp. 352-5, 362; Taylor, 1949, p. 15; cf. Cicero, Pro Sestio and In Vatinium, trans. Gardner, 1958, pp. 167-79).

among the basic conditions of a capitalist economy

poraries, in derisive tones, a

from Marxist thought. In particular, he specified the 'appropriation of all physical means of produc­ tion ...as disposable property of autonomous pri­

Reading

vate industrial enterprises' and the existence of

Baehr, P. 1987: Accounting for Caesarism. Economy and

'free labour', that is, of persons 'who are not only

Society 16, 341-56.

Brantlinger, P. 1983: Bread and Circuses: Theories ofMass Culture as Social Decay.

Mosse, G. L. 1971: Caesarism, circuses and monuments. Journal of Contemporary History 6, 167-82.

Thody, P. 1989: French Ca esarism: From Napoleon I to Charles de Gaulle.

legally in the position, but are also economically compelled, to sell their labour on the market without restriction'. At the same time he intro­ duced other elements; the 'method of enterprise' as a basic characteristic, and such further pre­ conditions as 'freedom of the market', 'rational capital accounting', 'rational technology ...which

Yavetz, Z. 1983: Julius Caesar and his Public Image.

PETER BAEHR

implies mechanization', 'calculable law', and the 'commercialization of economic life'

capitalism

A type of economy and

society

(1923, pp.

207-9).

which, in its developed form, emerged from the

Weber's interest as a historian, however, was

Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century

directed more to the question of the origins of

in Western Europe, capitalism was subsequently

capitalism, which he explained by sociological as

conceptualized in a variety of ways by econom­

well as economic factors - the influence of a new

ists, historians and sociologists (the term itself only

religious ethic (Weber,

came to be widely used in the later nineteenth

cities, and the formation of a 'national citizen

century, particularly by Marxist thinkers). Marx

class' in the modern nation-state (Weber, 1923, p. 249) - than to the dynamic features of capitalism

(Capital, 1867, vol. 1) defined it as a 'commodity­

1904-5), the growth of

producing society' in which the principal means

and its continuing development, which preoccupy

of production are owned by a particular class, the

Marxist thinkers and also Schumpeter. The latter

BouRGEOISIE, and labour power also becomes a

devoted his major writings to expounding a theory of economic

ception

analysing the fluctuations of the capitalist economy

was elaborated

in

the

framework

of

development

(Schumpeter,

1911),

commodity that is bought and sold. This con­

(1939), and examining those

Marx's theory of history- his 'economic interpret­

in the business cycle

ation' - and capitalism was regarded as the most

tendencies in the development of capitalism which

recent stage in a long process of evolution of

he considered would lead to the supersession of the

(1942). In

human modes of production and forms of society.

capitalist social order by SociALISM

Its distinctive features, according to Marx, were

the first of these books he emphasized the role of

its capacity for self-expansion through ceaseless

the entrepreneur, as the innovator who continually

accumulation (the centralization and concentra­

drives the economy in new directions in a turbulent

tion of capital), its continual revolutionizing of

process of change and expansion. The second book

the methods of production (strongly emphasized

analysed in detail the phases of economic growth

Communist Manifesto), intimately connected

and subsequent recession in this process, giving

in the

with the advance of science and technology as a

particular prominence to the LONG WAVES of ap­

major

proximately

of

its

productive force, the cyclical process

of

development,

character

marked

by

phases of prosperity and depression, and a more

ing

50 years' duration. Finally, in discuss­

capitalism

and

socialism

he attributed

a

fundamental importance to the SociALIZATION OF

clearly articulated division, along with increas­

THE ECONOMY, whereby large corporations came to

ing

dominate the economic system in a new period of

conflict,

between

two

major

classes

(see

62

CAPITALISM

'trustified' capitalism which he contrasted with an

rejected the view of the mainstream neoclassical economists that capitalism, through the operation

earlier 'competitive' capitalism. Much of Schumpeter's argument is very close to

of MARKET mechanisms, tended spontaneously to­

that of later Marxist theoriests, and in particular the

wards equilibrium and sustained growth. On the

Austro-Marxists (see AusTRO-MARxiSM ), who also

contrary, writing during the depression of the

distinguished a new phase of capitalism that had

1930s, he argued that specific government policies

emerged clearly by the beginning of the twentieth

in various fields- taxation, money supply, interest

century, characterized by the formation of trusts

rates, public works, budget deficits- were essential

and cartels, protectionism, and imperialist expan­

in order to achieve full employment and economic

sion (see IMPERIALISM). At the same time they em­

growth. The work ofKeynes and his followers thus

phasized the role of the banks in the formation of

encouraged government intervention in, and regu­

large corporations and cartels (Hilferding, 1910),

lation of, the economy, if not economic planning in

and this conception too was incorporated, though

a wider sense, and it had a significant influence on

in a narrower form, into Schumpeter's later defini­

economic policy-making for three decades after the

tion of capitalism (1946) as involving not only pri­

war.

vate ownership

of

means of

production

and

The economic changes were accompanied by

production for private profit, but also the provision

important social changes, notably in the occupa­

of bank credit as an essential feature. The Austro­

tional and class structure, with the decline of trad­

Marxists,

(Bottomore,

itional manufacturing, the expansion of clerical,

1985, pp. 66-7), went on, however, to distinguish

technical and service occupations, and more gener­

a further stage of'organized capitalism' after World

ally the movement towards a knowledge-based

War I, characterized by a continued growth of large

economy in which information technology plays

and

notably

Hilferding

corporations, and in addition by increased state

an increasingly important role (see INFORMATION

intervention in the economy and the introduction

TECHNOLOGY AND THEORY). A significant change in

of 'partial planning'.

social attitudes has also taken place compared with

These conceptions are important in analysing the

the prewar period, evident in the broadly diffused

more recent development of capitalism since 1945.

commitment to the social policies of the welfare

In this post-war period the structure of capitalism

state and to public ownership in the sphere of

society again changed significantly, with a further

basic infrastructural services, although there are

growth of giant corporations, increasingly trans­

major differences between countries in these re­

national in their operations, and still greater state

spects.

involvement in the economy (particularly in West­

However, this halfway house, or welfare capital­

ern Europe) through the extension of welfare ser­

ism, does not seem to have the long-term stability

vices, public ownership of some sectors of the

that was attributed to it by some social theorists in

economy, and an enhanced role for economic and

the 1960s and 1970s. In the first place it was still

social planning, so that public expenditure reached

predominantly capitalist, and hence subject to the

new levels of some 40 per cent, or even higher in a

fluctuations of the business cycle, notwithstanding

few countries, of the gross domestic product

government anti-cyclical policies, as became clear

(GDP). This new type of capitalism was conceptu­

with the onset of recession in the mid-1970s, and

alized by orthodox Marxist-Leninists as MoNOP­ OLY

CAPITALISM,

and

subsequently

after a modest recovery, a renewed and deeper

as 'state

recession in the late 1980s. Much lower rates of

monopoly capitalism', but Hilferding's discussion

economic growth, rising unemployment and ageing

of 'organized capitalism', remains more illuminat­

populations then created fiscal problems for the

ing, and it has affinities not only with Schumpeter's

welfare state and generated increasing social ten­

(1950) idea of a 'halfway house' between capitalism

sions. At the same time economic growth itself, in

and socialism, but also with more recent analyses,

some of its major aspects, has come to be more

by some Western social theorists, of welfare capit­

widely questioned in terms of its effects on the

alism, the mixed economy, the social market econ­

global environment, and this has stimulated discus­

omy, and CoRPORATISM. A major contribution to

sion of an 'alternative economy'.

the conception of welfare capitalism was made

One response to the problems encountered by

earlier by Keynes (1936) who, while not undertak­

welfare capitalism has been a revival of neoclassical

ing an analysis of the capitalist system as a whole,

economics in its Austrian version (see AusTRIAN

CASTE

63

ECONOMICS). From this standpoint the welfare state

century seems likely to persist. But it will do so in

is criticized for creating a 'dependency culture' as

new circumstances, of much greater complexity,

agaisnt a 'culture of enterprise', and the virtues and

in which the principles and basic elements of an

achievements of a more laissez-faire type of capital­

alternative economic and social system are more

ism, defined as a free market and free enterprise

difficult to specify precisely; and any movement

system (see ENTREPRENEURSHIP), are strongly re­

towards this alternative society appears most likely

asserted. In some countries, including some former

to involve a continuing gradual modification of

Communist countries in Eastern Europe, such

capitalism, of the kind that has been taking place

ideas have been translated into government policies

over the past century, rather than any abrupt

of privatization of publicly owned enterprises, a

changes.

curtailment of planning and regulation, and so far as possible reduced spending on public services. The future development of capitalism is uncer­ tain. In so far as Austrian neoclassical policies are pursued, a renewal of economic growth would seem to depend on an upturn in the long wave, and this, if we follow Schumpeter's analysis, requires a new burst of innovation like those which produced in the past a 'railroadization', a 'motorization', or a 'computerization' of the world. But there is little indication at present of such new entrepreneurial

Reading Bottomore, T. 1985: Theories ofModern Capitalism. Braudel, F.

1981-4:

Civilization

and

Capitalism,

3

vols.

Maddison, A. 1991: Dynamic Forces in Capitalist Develop­ ment.

Mandel, E. 1975: Late Capitalism. Schumpeter, J. A. 1942 (1987): Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.

Weber, M. 1923 (1961): General Economic History, part 4.

opportunities, and in addition there are fresh con­

TOM BOTTOMORE

straints imposed by environmental concerns, as well as problems resulting from the shift in eco­

capitalism, monopoly

nomic power from the USA to Japan and to the

ALISM

See MONOPOLY CAPIT­

European Community (led economically by Ger­ many), and from the growing rivalry between these

caste

three centres. Furthermore, the long-term success

ous group associated with a traditional occupation

The term denotes a hereditary, endogam­

of capitalism in promoting economic growth has

and ranked accordingly on a scale of ritual purity.

had as its dark side economic instability, social

Despite changes and much criticism, caste survives

injustice, unemployment and poverty, so that as a

as a structure and ideology in the twenty-first cen­

social, and not simply an economic, system it has

tury.

been continuously criticized by thinkers and social

The Portuguese used the word

casta,

derived

movements advocating an alternative type of soci­

from the Latin

ety.

communities which they encountered in India. Al­

It should be observed further, in this context,

castus

(pure) to mean the distinct

though SociAL STRATIFICATION is a universal human

that the most successful period of capitalist eco­

phenomenon and the term 'caste' is used loosely for

nomic development, in the 1950s and 1960s, was

groupings elsewhere, this entry focuses on caste in

associated with a great expansion of the economic

the context of Hinduism in South Asia- particu­

activities of the state, involving in many countries

larly India - and of Hindu diaspora communities

an extension of public ownership and economic

worldwide (see also HINDUISM AND HINDU SOCIAL

planning, designed to mitigate the harmful conse­

THEORY).

quences- both economic and social- of an inad­

In scholarly discourse on South Asian commu­

equately regulated free enterprise, free market

nities, caste means 'jati' (a word with the root

economy.

The experience of recession in the

1990s may therefore lead eventually to an abandon­

meaning

of

birth),

a

hereditary

endogamous

group. Each jati consists of exogamous lineages

ment of those economic and social policies associ­

(gotra). Complex marriage rules dictate into which

ated with the NEW RIGHT, and a revival of more

gotras a particular person may acceptably marry.

interventionist policy-making. In that sense, the opposition

between

capitalism

and

socialism

The total number of jatis runs into thousands and each region of India has its specific hiera­

which has been a focal point of ideological and

rchy. However, Hindus locate their own jati and

political confrontation throughout the twentieth

other people's on a scale of four varnas (classes),

64

CASTE

recognized throughout the Hindu world. There is often a discrepancy between the varna to which members of a jati claim to belong and the lower varna to which others ascribe them. The four classes are respectively the brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra varna. In the Rig Veda, a sacred text composed about 1000 BCE, Purusha, the cosmic person, an image for society, is dismembered. His mouth is equated with the brahmin (priest), his arms with the kshatriya (war­ rior), his thighs with the vaishya (trader) and his feet with the shudra (serf or menial). The men of the first three of these classes came to be regarded as twice-born, as their investiture with the sacred thread signifies rebirth into Hindu society. In the approximately 2,000-year-old Lawbook of Manu (Manu-smriti or Manava dharma shastra) the be­ haviour permitted for each varna is clearly set out together with penalties for deviation. In the Bhagavad Gita, a favourite Hindu scrip­ ture, Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu (a major deity), exhorts the reluctant prince, Arjun, to fight because this is his dharma (sacred duty) as a kshat­ nya. Over many centuries every jati evolved an un­ written code of practice. Members were not to marry or dine with members of another jati, al­ though both rules, particularly the latter, have, in some contexts, been considerably relaxed. Details of domestic custom and religious ceremony distin­ guish one jati from another in the same locality. In traditional village society, prior to the domin­ ance of money as a medium of exchange, members of all castes provided other villagers with caste­ specific services on a reciprocal basis. This system is known as jajmani. The castes that were lowest on the scale of purity received least in return for their work. Aspects of this interdependency survive, as when a brahmin performs a ritual and receives clothes or other gifts from his patrons. In each village one or more castes would wield power over the others. Economic power neeed not correspond with high varna. The caste system is organic and constantly adapting to changing circumstances. Twentieth­ century anthropologists conceptualized the under­ lying processes in various ways. M. N. Srinivas ( 1967) postulated Sanskritization, a process whereby members of a low caste change their customs, ritual, ideology, and way of life in the direction of a higher caste (for instance by adopting a strictly vegetarian diet appropriate to brahmins).

By refusing to give their daughters in marriage to families which have not so adapted they create in effect a new jati. The term kshatriyization refers to emulation of wealth and status rather than ritual purity. During the twentieth century the less ad­ vantaged castes have tended to strive for power and wealth via education. They have also mobilized as religious movements, giving new meaning to an­ cient myth and symbol, and building self-respect Uuergensmeyer, 1982). Among non-Hindus of South Asian origin, caste often persists as a factor in social interaction even when a community's religious teachers inveigh against caste. So, for example, local Christians may worship in separate congregations which happen to be of high and low caste origin respect­ ively. The Sikhs have continued to marry within caste although their Gurus stressed the equality of all and the irrelevance of one's caste to the reunion of the individual soul with God. With Western-style education, increasing social mobility and industrialization, the link between hereditary occupation and jati weakened in the twentieth century, although the association persists in people's minds. By working as a pilot, school­ teacher or computer programmer one cannot alter or escape the connotations of one's jati. Some shudra occupations, such as removing nightsoil or tanning hides, were regarded as highly polluting to all with whom members of those jatis came into contact. As a result these jatis were seg­ regated from the rest of society. In addition to the prohibitions on intermarriage and interdining, they were forbidden to enter many schools and temples or to draw water from the same well as others. They lived, as many still live, outside the village. If the shadow of an 'untouchable' fell upon a brahmin the latter would return home to purify himself. Largely because of the degradation of the un­ touchables, reformers in the nineteenth and twen­ tieth centuries attacked the inequities of the caste system. Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) preached that, according to the V eda, society should be divided not into innumerable castes but into four varnas, of which membership should depend on merit rather than birth. Mohandas Kar­ amchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948) valued some aspects of the caste system for building a harmonious society, but he passionately advo­ cated the view that: 'Untouchability is not a sanc­ tion of religion, it is a device of Satan' (Gandhi,

CAUSALITY

65

1951). By victims of caste discrimination Gandhi's

century, contact with India was maintained, castes

approach is now regarded as paternalistic. They

remained endogamous and caste associations were

reject the term 'harijans' (children of God) which

set up.

he popularized, preferring the use of 'Scheduled

In Britain, Hindu and Sikh marriages are still

Castes'-the official designation in India since 1935

usually between members of the same caste. Many

-and 'dalit' (oppressed). Their hero is Dr Babasa­

public places of worship are run by members of

heb Ambedkar

(1891-1956), the lawyer who rose

particular castes, such as Ramgarhia, Bhatra and

from an untouchable family to frame India's consti­

Ravidasi gurdwaras

tution. This was promulgated in

1950 and recog­

Hindus of Gujarati origin have caste organizations

(Sikh places of worship).

nizes not castes but equal citizens. Ambedkar

which arrange social and religious events, especially

argued that caste was an ideology which could

during the festival ofNavaratri.

only be abolished if the Hindu religious sanctions for it were removed. He exhorted his followers to abandon Hinduism for Buddhism. There are currently in India some

150 million

people (one-seventh of the population) bearing the stigma

of

notably

the

untouchability. Untouchability

Despite

legislation,

(Offences)

Act of

1955, as well as policies of positive discrimination in education and in the reservation of certain jobs, prejudice persists. Indeed, with the implementa­

Reading

Dumont, L. 1970: Homo Hierarchicus. Juergensmeyer, M. 1982: Religion as Social Vision. Mahar,J. M. ed. 1972: The Untouchables in Contemporary India.

Schwartz, B. M. ed.

1967: Caste in Overseas Indian Com­

munities.

Searle-Chatterjee, M. and Sharma, U.

1994: Contextual­

ising Caste: Post-Dumontian Approaches.

ELEANOR M. NESBITT

tion of such policies the tolerance of higher castes sometimes hardens into hostility. Like the advent of the train in the nineteenth

causality

In Hume's memorable words, causal­

century, the increased provision of education, rapid

ity is 'the cement of the universe', the relation

urbanization and industrialization have brought

through which one event is bound to another,

members of different castes into contact as never

through which one type of occurrence brings

before. These developments, coupled with modern

about another. It is a notion which plays a central

sanitation and piped water supply, have benefited

role in our explanations of the world around us (see

the Scheduled Castes by removing some causes for

ExPLANATION), for example when we respond to

obvious discrimination. Some members of low

'why' questions with sentences beginning 'because'

castes have become wealthy or achieved high

that identify the antecedents by virtue of which the

office. However, the caste system has not been

thing to be explained occurred.

replaced by a class structure of the Western type.

The concept of causality has proved difficult to

Features of both systems interact. The democratic

analyse, however. The problem is how to under­

political system enables caste to exert a powerful

stand the cement that binds cause to effect, the

influence as casteism. Candidates play on caste

necessity with which we think of effects following

sensibilities to gain support. Many politicians

their causes. Modern accounts usually begin with

depend on castes as vote-banks.

Hume's empiricist analysis. (EMPIRICISM is the view

Caste survives in Hindu communities outside

that all knowledge must be based on experience.)

India although the history of specific societies has

According to Hume, causal connections are not

given each a distinct character. In Bali, Indonesia, a

necessary in the sense of being logical relations,

distinction survives between the shudra majority

for, he argues on the basis of his empiricism, the

and the brahmin, kshatriya and vaishya classes.

description of one event does not entail (logically

The Hindu communities of Fiji, Mauritius, Trini­

necessitate) the occurrence of any other events.Nor

dad and Surinam date back to the mid-nineteenth

is the binding of an effect to its cause a relation that

century when indentured labourers arrived with

exists in the world, or if it were we could have no

little hope of return to India. In these countries

knowledge of it, for we do not have any experience

caste distinctions have largely disappeared except

of such a necessary tie between one event (a cause)

that only brahmins exercise priestly functions. In

and another (its effect), only of the two events

East Africa, however, where indentured labourers

themselves. Consequently, in Hume's view, even

came from India at the beginning of the twentieth

though we may through habit come to think of

66

CAUSALITY

causality as encapsulating necessity, in the world,

following night, and the cost of damage increasing

causal connections are no more than constant con­

with the number of firefighters attending a fire,

junctions of contiguous and consecutive but logic­

which are constant conjunctions but without the

ally and materially independent events. As it is

binding cement of causality connecting the antece­

nowadays usually accepted that causes can act at a

dent occurrence to the consequent one. Humeans

distance and that causes and effects can occur sim­

have sought to solve this problem by adding logical

ultaneously, what remains of the Humean view is

or epistemic criteria to differentiate causal laws

that causality is embodied in regularities that ex­

from accidental generalizations, but critics main­

types of

tain that all such attempts fail. The difficulties in

events. All causal happenings are to be understood

producing an adequate Humean analysis of causal­

as instances of such regularities.

ity led some empiricist philosophers to suggest that

press constant conjunctions between

The notion of constant conjunction can be elab­ orated in terms of necessary and sufficient condi­ tions. (This is a different sense of necessary to that

causality has no place in the mature sciences (Rus­ sell,

1917).

Non-Humean

analyses

of

causality

extend

in the discussion above.) A necessary condition for

beyond the restriction of empiricism. One of the

an event is one that always occurs whenever the

most interesting, the realist view, maintains that the

event occurs, while a sufficient condition is one

necessity that characterizes causality is physical

which, whenever it occurs, the event occurs too.

necessity (see Realism). Cause and effect events

This enables complications to be taken into ac­

are not independent, as the Humeans insist, but

count: for example, that an effect might be con­

intrinsically related. Causes have the power to

nected with a conjunction of causes or with

bring about their effects, there being a real relation

different independent causes, and might occur

between them, a generative mechanism physically

only if certain countervailing causes are absent.

linking cause to effect, even though this link is

These complications are brought together in con­

often beyond our experience. According to this

stant conjunctions of the form 'all LMN or PQR or

view, constant conjunction might be evidence for

STW are followed by event E', where N symbolizes

a causal connection, but does not exhaust its mean­

the absence of a condition of type N and where each

ing, which derives from the natural mechanism

letter represents an 'inus' condition forE, that is, an

connecting cause and effect. Indeed, real causal

insufficient but non-redundant part of a joint con­

connections might not manifest themselves as re­

dition (e.g. LMN) which is itself unnecessary but

gularities, for countervailing causes can intervene

sufficient for the result E (Mackie, 1965). An

between the operation of a cause and the appear­

example is a theory of revolution that combines

ance of its effect. For example, pressing a light

ideas from Marxism and from relative deprivation

switch might not have the effect of illuminating

theory and argues that revolutionary activity (E)

the room if a fuse blows and prevents the light

follows either from the joint occurrence of the po­

bulb from glowing. The failure on this occasion -

larization of capitalist society into two classes, the

the absence of a constant conjunction - does not

bourgeoisie and the proletariat (L), the immisera­

lead us to reject as causal the real connection be­

tion of the proletariat (M), and the absence of

tween pressing the switch and the bulb lighting

proletarian false consciousness (N) or the joint oc­

through the underlying mechanism of a flow of

currence of the division of society into a hierarchy

electrical current. The difficulty with this realist

of groups

conformity of the members of one

view is that having violated Humean empiricism

group to the norms of another, higher group (Q)

by granting existence to imputed mechanisms and

and the absence of legitimate routes of mobility

invisible powers beyond the epistemic control of

from the lower to the higher group

experience, what restrictions are there upon the

(P),

(R).

Other

theories of revolution can be added as extra sets of

mechanisms that can be invoked as causal explan­

inus conditions (e.g. STW).

ations? If viruses are to be admitted, why not

Even this elaborated version of the Humean ac­

demons or witches' spells?

count suffers from the problem that, like simpler

Given that there are problems with all attempts

versions, it fails to distinguish causal regularities

to analyse causality, some have argued that it is an

from what philosophers call accidental generaliza­

unanalysable primitive (Anscombe,

tions, and what social researchers call spurious or

not need to be made intelligible in terms of other

cosymptomatic

notions. On a different tack, even if it were possible

relations.

Examples

are

day

1971) that does

CHARISMA

67

to arrive at a satisfactory analysis of causality in the

In Weber's analysis, charisma denotes an excep­

physical world, questions remain about its place in

tional quality (real or imagined) possessed by a

the biological world and even more so in the social

single individual who is able thereby to exercise

world. Are functional explanations of organs and

influence and LEADERSHIP over a group of admirers.

cells (or social institutions and actions), which

The devotees of the charismatic leader see it as their

appeal to emergent properties of whole biological

duty to obey him or her, and this they do voluntar­

organisms (or whole societies), reducible to causal

ily and with rapturous commitments. Charisma is

explanations?

of

capable of assuming a variety of guises correspond­

human actions, which refer to human intentions,

ing to the spheres of its influence (military, polit­

reducible to (mental, physiological or physical)

ical, ethical, religious, artistic) but in all cases its

Are

teleological

explanations

causal explanations on any of the various interpret­

consequence is to affect spectacularly the lives of

ations of causality? Most generally, are human

those it touches. Charisma is an inwardly revolu­

actions caused, and if so, is free will an illusion?

tionary force with the power thereby to mobilize

See DETERMINISM.

human effort and transform the ossified material world it confronts. In Weber's terminology, cha­

Reading

risma is a particular form of'domination' or author­

Davidson, D. 1980: Essays on Actions and Events.

ity.

Harre, R. and Madden, E. H. 1975: Causal Powers: a Theory ofNatural Necessity.

Hume, D. 1748 (1975): An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. L. A. Selby Bigge.

ation with two others: traditional (where obedience is based on custom and revered precedent: typical

Mackie,J. L. 1974: The Cement ofthe Universe.

of preindustrial societies) and rational-legal (char­

Melior, D. H. 1995: The Facts of Causation.

acteristic of the modern world where conformity to

Sosa, E. ed. 1975: Causation and Conditionals. Wright, G. H. von 1971: Explanation and

Weber contrasts this unorthodox, emotionally highly charged and revolutionary form of domin­

Under­

standing.

PETER HALFPENNY

legally established, and bureaucratically executed, rules and procedures is the norm, and where com­ pliance is typically owed to position rather than person). Traditional and rational-legal modes of

change, social

change,

See SociAL CHANGE

technological

See

TECHNOLOGICAL

CHANGE

domination are markedly different in many re­ spects. Yet they both share the same lacklustre quality of being stable, routine and relatively pre­ dictable structures of everyday life. Charisma, on the other hand, is explosive - it openly challenges traditional ways, mocks the rigid soullessness of

charisma

Today 'charisma' is mostly employed

to describe a heroic or extraordinary quality of an

impersonal legality - and, in its pure form, is mer­ curial and transient.

individual person, but the term's history is curious

Four additional features of Weber's discussion

and complex. From obscure beginnings in early

are worth noting. First, the charismatic leader's

Christian usage, where it meant 'the gift of grace',

ethical qualities are irrelevant to the concept. It is

charisma is now a popular catchword among jour­

their dynamism as individuals which is crucial.

nalists and lay people alike. Its twentieth-first-cen­

Second, charisma is a contingent phenomenon.

tury connotations, and the debate it has occasioned,

Though it has a tendency to arise in certain propi­

are inseparable from the thought of Max Weber

tious circumstances, notably conditions of excite­

(1864-1920).

ment, enthusiasm or distress, there is no suggestion

Weber adapted the term from the theologian

in Weber's writings that its appearance is socially

Rudolph Sohm, who had employed it to interpret

destined to occur. Third, the existence and dur­

the development of the early Christian church.

ation of charisma's enchantment depends, above

Extended to encompass secular as well as religious

all, on the response of others. To retain its spell

phenomena, the concept became pivotal to Weber's

over hearts and minds, a person's charisma must be

analysis of history and domination (see especially

continually displayed and proved in, for instance,

Weber, 1904-5 (1930, 1974), p. 178; Weber, 19212 (1967, 1978), vol. I, pp. 241-71, and vol. 2, pp. 1111-57; 1951, pp. 30-42, 119-29).

miracles (Jesus) or brilliant military campaigns (Napoleon). When devotion turns to indifference, charisma's magic vaporizes. Finally, charisma in its

68

CHARISMA

pristine form only ever exists transiently. Because

First, it has been employed in relation to leaders of

of its personalized character, charisma faces diffi­

religious sects and cults whose leaders attract a

culty of transmission when, for instance, its bearer

devoutly committed following (for example, Wallis,

dies. There are various solutions to this problem.

1982). Second, it has been used to describe and

But in all cases charisma is either extinguished or

account for the appeal of certain political leaders

becomes 'routinized', that is, it becomes channelled

(Apter,

into traditionally or legally oriented institutions,

Among these we find leaders of countries who

1968; Schweitzer, 1984; Willner, 1984).

thereby losing its quintessentially heroic quality

were able to develop a mission which both promised

and becoming instead an attribute of, say, heredity

freedom from colonial domination and overcame

(for instance, a monarch) or office (for instance, the

the conservative implications of allegiance to trad­

premiership or presidency).

itional authority (Gandhi, Nkrumah); revolution­

While Weber's analysis of charisma is widely

ary Marxist leaders (Lenin, Castro); leaders of

regarded as seminal, it has also attracted criticism

modern

or qualification. Some have maintained that his

leaders who achieved power in the context of

dictatorships (Hitler,

Mussolini);

and

focus on personal leadership lacks a coherent ex­

modern democracies (Churchill, F. D. Roosevelt).

planation of why people regard such leadership as

Third, the most fertile area in recent years has been

inspiring or compelling, and underestimates 'the

in relation to some leaders of business organizations

social significance of the leader as symbol, catalyst

(see, for example, Conger,

and message bearer' (Worsley,

invariably extol their legendary efforts to produce

1957 (1970), p. 293).

1989). Such accounts

For if charisma depends on social recognition, as

a radical transformation of organizational fortunes,

Weber insists it does, then the culture and sensibil­

their ability to maintain the ongoing success of their

ities of those to validate it require greater specifica­

firms, or to found new and vital organizations (for

tion (Baehr,

1990). Moreover, Weber's discussion

of charisma's aura tends to leave it in somewhat of a

example, Kets de Vries,

1998). In addition, there

has been a growth in the treatment of charismatic

mystical condition. In contrast, recent sociological

leadership as a variable to be manipulated in an

studies of political oratory and body language (for

experimental setting (for example, Howell and

example, Atkinson,

Frost,

1984), have shown that what

1989) or to be measured (for example, 1998). In each case, the aim

often passes for charisma is in good measure a

Conger and Kanungo,

technique -a collection of skills, practices and mes­

is to determine whether apparently charismatic

sages learnt and orchestrated by politicians.

leaders fare better than their noncharismatic coun­

Charisma's contribution to social stability, as

terparts in terms of several indicators of success.

distinct from revolution, is another area that

Research based on the measurement of charismatic

Weber may have underplayed (though he did not

leadership shows that it is a successful form of

overlook it: see the earlier discussion of routiniza­

leadership in a commercial context (for example,

tion). Shils, for instance, writes about a 'charismatic

Conger and Kanungo,

propensity' that can be found in all societies,

However, like the experimental stream of research,

revealed in the 'awe and reverence' with which

such investigations tend to ignore the importance of

certain objects are regarded. Accordingly, charisma

the features that Weber saw as crucial, such as the

1998; Fuller et al., 1996).

is not solely something that is possessed by exem­

exceptional qualities attributed to the charismatic

plary leaders, but can inhere in 'ordinary secular

leader.

roles, institutions, symbols, and strata or aggre­ gates' (Shils,

1965, p. 200). Objects and persons

Two important dichotomies tend to be employed with some frequency in the literature. First there is

who are deemed by society to possess charisma do

the distinction between original and routinized cha­

so because they embody the society's core values

risma. Here research shows that, on the one hand,

and therefore relate to the ultimate questions with

charismatic leaders sometimes develop elaborate

which it is concerned, so that charisma is about the

strategies to resist the incursions of routinization,

need for social coherence. Thus, in Shils's hands,

as in the case ofDavid 'Mo' Berg and the Children

charisma is changed into a force which is instru­

of God (Wallis,

mental in maintaining the social order, whereas

ization is not always successful: thus Trice and

Weber emphasized its revolutionary attributes.

Beyer's

1982). On the other hand, routin­

(1986) study of two organizations con­

More recently social scientists have made use of

cerned with alcoholism shows how routinization

the concept of charisma in a number of spheres.

of the founder's charisma can be frustrated by in-

CHICAGO ECONOMICS appropriate structures or by unexpected events.

69

the University of Chicago at least since the 1930s.

Equally, studies show that the process of routiniza­

Not every economist connected with the University

tion entails a delicate balance between the craving

of Chicago has been a member of the 'Chicago

for continuity and the retention of the original

school'. Not every member of the school is con­

charismatic impulse (Poloma, 1997).

nected with the University of Chicago. But Chicago

A further distinction is sometimes proffered be­

is undoubtedly the Mother Church of a way of

tween real and manufactured charisma (or pseudo­

thinking whose founders taught at Chicago and

charisma).

whose subsequent high priests studied or taught

This pairing contrasts the genuine

appeal of a truly charismatic individual with the

there or both.

stagecraft and media massaging that often go into

The doctrine has not been constant over time

the generation of modern charisma (Bensman and

and at any one time all members have not been

Givant, 1975). Those researchers who centre their

equally orthodox. However, the common tenets as

attention on manufactured charisma point to the

of 1989 may be summarized as follows:

variety of ways in which modern society offers opportunities for self-mythologizing through the

Economics is about the behaviour of fully

mass media and other sources (for example, Bilu

informed

and Ben-Ari, 1992). Arguably, however, this dis­

their utility in competitive exchange markets MARKET) .

seeking

to

maximize

tinction is itself problematic for it fails to recognize

(see

that all charisma is in a sense manufactured, that is,

human behaviour are not 'economics'. Also,

dependent

there probably is no other useful, general

on

presenting

an

image

appealing

enough to enlist a band of followers who will in turn act as emissaries of the cause or mission at

also

individuals

Other explanations of

theory. 2

If the world were organized in the way econom­

stake.

ics pictures it, certain important beneficial

See also MESSIANISM.

results would follow. In such a world each indi­

Reading

he could get without forcibly depriving others.

vidual would get as much out of his resources as Bendix, R. 1971: Charismatic leadership. In Scholarship

3

and Partisanship: Essays on Max Weber, ed. R. Bendix

factory approximation according to the econo­

and G. Roth.

mists' MoDEL and realizes the benefits that the

Berger,P. L. 1963: Charisma and religious innovation: the social location of Israelite prophecy. American Socio­ logical Review 28, 940-50.

The real world operates to a reasonably satis­

model predicts. 4

Government decisions, like decisions made in the private economy, are made by individuals

Bryman, A. 1992: Charisma and Leadership in Organiza­

seeking to maximize their own gains. Therefore

tions.

the government cannot be counted on to

Conger, J. A. and Kanungo, R. N. 1998: Charismatic

achieve any particular objectives - such as

Leadership in Organizations. Haley, P. 1980: Rudolph Sohm on charisma. Journal of

efficiency or equity - other than the objectives

Religion 60,185-97.

of the officials involved.

Lindholm, C. 1990: Charisma. Spinrad, W. 1991: Charisma: a blighted concept and an alternative formula, Political Science Qyarterly, 106: 295-311. Tucker,R. C. 1968: The theory of charismatic leadership. Daedalus 97,731-56. Weber, Max 1921-2 (1967, 1978): Economy and Society, ed. G. Roth and C. Wittich (2-vol. edn). Willner,A. R. 1984: The Spellbinders: Charismatic Political

5

The quantity of money is the key factor influen­ cing the beha viour of the level of prices and the stability of aggregate output (see also MoNET­ ARISM). The founders of the Chicago school in the 1930s

were Professors Frank H. Knight, Lloyd Mints, Henry C. Simons and Jacob Viner - although Viner denied that he was a member of it. From

Leadership.

ALAN BRYMAN AND PETER BAEHR

their teaching, students acquired great respect for the free market as a method of economic organiza­

Chicago economics

This is a distinctive way of

tion. Teaching of economics in the 1930s did, how­

looking at economics and economic policy -

ever, give much attention to respects in which the

strongly emphasizing free markets as description

real world might differ from the model and would

and prescription - that has been associated with

not be ideal even if it conformed to the model. The

70

CHICAGO ECONOMICS

1930s was scarcely a time for thinking that the

A process of purification also went on in the

economic system as it existed was yielding ideal

approach to macroeconomics. The private market

results. The policy implications of the gap between the

was found to be less inherently unstable than had been thought in the 1930s. The positive role for

well-functioning model and the clearly visible

government in stabilizing the economy was refined

world were spelled out chiefly in the writings of

from an ad hoc combination of fiscal and monetary

Henry Simons. Three points were critical:

measures into the maintenance of a constant rate of growth of the money supply. The possible bene­

2

3

An adequately competitive market with well­

ficial effects even of monetary policy on real output

informed participants might not exist and could

and employment were thought to be very tempor­

not be counted upon to come into being spon­

ary and in some versions non-existent.

taneously. The government had a role, there­

In the third place, Chicago economics became, in

fore, in promoting competition and the flow of

George Stigler's term, 'imperialistic'. It reached

information.

out to apply its hypotheses and methods to soci­

The private market might generate an un­

ology, law and political science. The application to

acceptable degree of inequality in the distribu­

law and political science particularly tended to sup­

tion of income, and the government had a

port the case for free markets by showing that

proper role in correcting that.

correct interpretation of legal rights would enhance

Private markets did not guarantee stability of

the efficiency of markets and by showing the unre­

aggregate demand, meaning basically stability

liability of the political process as a corrective to

of the price level. It was the responsibility of the

market failures if they existed.

government to use its fiscal and monetary pol­ icies to stabilize the economy.

Probably only a small minority of American economists ever considered themselves to be Chi­ cagoans. But the Chicago influence on economic

Thus, as of, say, 1940, 'Chicago' thinking left con­

thought was profound. Even economists who did

siderable but limited room for government action.

not go as far as the Chicagoans felt the need for a

After World War II leadership of Chicago eco­

more open-minded and subtle analysis of the

nomics passed to a new generation, of which Milton

market model as explanation and prescription

Friedman and George Stigler were most prominent

than they had previously done. Similarly, econo­

and in which Aaron Director and Ronald Coase

mists who were not 'monetarists' came to agree on

were also highly important. By the 1970s a third

the importance of money and on the need to seek

generation could be identified, with Gary Becker

better strategies for managing it.

and Robert Lucas among its leaders.

Some members of the Chicago school are de­

After World War II, Chicago economics evolved

barred from claiming any influence on public

in three main ways. First, like economics in most

policy, because they believe that policy is made by

places, it became more empirical and quantitative,

self-interested individuals or groups who have all

relying less on logical deductions from self-evident

the information they want. But in a less restrictive

propositions and commonplace observations and

view one could see an important influence of Chi­

more on systematically collected historical and stat­

cago thinking, during the 1970s and 1980s, in re­

istical data. Second, it became 'purer'. It found that

duction of government regulation, in the floating of

many of the qualifications to the efficiency of free

the dollar, in new directions of antitrust policy and

markets that had been previously conceded were

in monetary policy.

invalid or unimportant. The number of competi­ tors needed to achieve the beneficial results of com­ petition was determined to be small. What had previously been regarded as inefficiencies due to inadequate information were seen as efficient adap­ tations to the cost of obtaining information. The market failures alleged to exist in cases where pri­

Reading Friedman, M. 1953: Essays in Positive Economics. Knight, F. H. 1935: The Ethics of Competition. Patinkin, D. 198 1: Essays on and in the Chicago Tradition. Reder, M. W. 1987: Chicago School. In The New Palgrave Dictionary ofEconomics, ed. J. Eatwell, M. Mi1gate and P. Newman, vol. I.

vate actors had no incentive to take account of

Simons, H. C. 1948: Economic Policy for a Free Society.

effects on others were found to be correctable by

Stig1er, G. J. 1988: Memories ofan Unregulated Economist.

contracting among the parties.

HERBERT STEIN

CHOICE, PUBLIC

71

on

It has often been charged that the Chicago de­

which much of American sociology was built in

partment neglected sociological theory and stood

Chicago

sociology

Laying

foundations

the twentieth century, the department of sociology

for a mindless empiricism. This was not the case.

at the University of Chicago was created by Albion

Men like Thomas and Park had studied in Ger­

W. Small, a historian and sociologist who had pre­

many under some of the country's renowned

viously been the president of a small college in

scholars. Park wrote his dissertation under the

Maine. The new University of Chicago, largely

guidance of the prominent neo-Kantian philoso­

financed by John D. Rockefeller, saw it as its mis­

pher Wilhelm Windelband. But it is a fact that the

sion to compete with the older universities on the

Chicago sociologists, in contrast to most of their

eastern seaboard of the USA and to demonstrate

colleagues elsewhere, stressed that sociology could

that the Middle West was capable of nourishing and

only develop in America if it addressed itself to the

fostering a seat of learning that was second to none.

study of the many social problems that confronted

The department of sociology shared the univer­

urban America in the rapid wave of urbanization,

sity's ambitions and Small built a first-rate depart­

industrialization and capitalist expansion a fter the

ment.

Civil War. The members of the department studied

The Chicago department was not the first to

taxi dance halls, waitresses, hobos, Chicago land

provide instruction in sociology - there were

values, juvenile delinquents, thieves and Chicago

courses already offered at Brown University, at

race relations. Chicago students were expected to

Yale and at Columbia, but it was the first initiative

deal with concrete social problems and issues not

whose course offerings and research programme

only in their dissertations but also in their subse­

did not reflect the personal vision of a central

quent careers. And as former students began to

figure but was rather a collective enterprise. The

dominate new departments of sociology in the

most prominent members of the department,

Middle West and elsewhere, they gave their dis­

before World War I and after, in addition to Albion

tinctive Chicago colour to them.

Small, the chairperson, were W. I. Thomas, Robert

The Chicago orientation dominated American

Park and Ernest Burgess. The new department also

sociology into the 1930s. The Chicago department

had close relations with the department of philoso­

published the American Journal

phy in which John Dewey and George Herbert

long had a monopoly position among sociological

ofSociology, which

Mead developed a pragmatic philosophy with a

publications, and it colonized newer departments

reformist bent that was congenial to members of

much as ancient Athens in the classical age had

the department of sociology and allowed its stu­

colonized new cities in the eastern Mediterranean.

dents easy access to pragmatic philosophy in gen­

The Chicago dominance was overthrown in the

eral and social psychology in particular. As Martin Blumer has noted, 'The Chicago

1930s when Harvard, Columbia and other eastern universities began to institutionalize sociology, but

school presented the first successful American pro­

it had dominated for so long that even afterwards it

gram of collective sociological research' (1984, p.

was often still seen as the very epitome of American

xv).

empirical sociological research.

In the early years, the department of sociology still presented course offerings and accepted doc­ toral theses that were inspired by Christian reform­

Reading Blumer, M. 1984: The Chicago School ofSociology: Insti­

ist social thought or the more secular impulses of

tutionalization, Diversity, and the Rise of Sociological

reformers such as Jane Addams. In these early years

Research.

dissertations such as Cecil North's The Influence of Modern Social Relations upon Ethical Concepts were by no means atypical. But immediately before World War I, and again after, the department shed some of its reformist zeal and under the

Faris, R. E. L. 1967: Chicago Sociology: 1920-1932. Kurtz, L. R. 1984: Evaluating Chicago Sociology. A Guide to the Literature with an Annotated Bibliography.

Matthews, F. H. 1977: Q}test for an American Sociology: Robert E. Park and the Chicaf{o School.

LEWIS

guidance of W. I. Thomas, and later under Robert Park, turned to empirical investigations in urban settings. It regarded the city of Chicago as its la­ boratory.

choice, public

See PUBLIC

CHOICE

A.

COSER

72

CHRISTIAN SOCIAL THEORY

choice, social

See SociAL CHOICE

vidual who comes to faith in Jesus. Thus the Christian words which reflect the Hebrew 'justice'

Christian social theory

Such theory embraces

words moved away from their social context and

systematic statements or bodies of knowledge about

from the order and harmony in nature and in

the relationship of Christianity to society. At one

the whole cosmos of God's creation. This too­

level, these systematic statements are 'theories' in

anthropocentric a view of creation and salvation in

the strict sense of 'overview of the nature of soci­

early Christian thinking narrowed the vision of

ety', paralleling, that is, secular 'social theory' and

God's grace in the world and restricted the devel­

'political theory', but including a transcendent per­

opment in Christian social theory of an ethic of

spective. At another level, Christian social theory

responsible stewardship over creation and of duties

can be viewed as a 'praxis', in the Aristotelian sense

to ecology, environment and other creatures.

of a study of society with an end, namely, that of

The tension between the demands of the other­

facilitating the flourishing of a good and just life in

world and of this-world, which entered Christian

the polis.

thinking with the New Testament and the develop­

The distinctive perspective referred to may be

ment of systematic THEOLOGY, came to have a

termed 'personalism', which is used to indicate that

strong influence on Christian social theory in the

'the foundation, cause and purpose of all social

Patristic period, which spanned the first eight cen­

institutions are individual human beings, people,

turies of Christianity. Even if it can be shown that at

that is, who are social by nature and are raised to an

times, especially after the conversion of the Em­

order of things which surpasses and subdues

peror Constantine, some of the Fathers engaged in

nature' (Pope John XXIII, Mother and teacher, no.

more worldly-minded discourse, it is safe to claim

219). Social systems, in other words, have no pur­

that 'other-worldliness' was a dominant and funda­

poses, reasons or needs; strictly speaking, only in­

mental element in their thinking.

dividual human persons do. In Christian social

As the Christian church grew in numbers, wealth

theory, then, voluntarism and the purposive char­

and political power, and as the state itself finally

acter of human conduct are stressed, as well as the

became Christian in the first quarter of the fourth

capability of actors to choose between different

century, tension grew between the vital concern for

goals and projects. This does not exclude the analy­

the life after death and the demands of life here on

sis and discussion of structures, but it means that

earth. In the economic sphere, the main concern of

Christian social theory is primarily a theory of

the Fathers was for the glaring gap between rich

action.

and poor, to which their solution was almsgiving. It

The feature, appearing in different forms, which

was not the function of alms to eliminate poverty,

has characterized Christian social theory through­

but only to relieve extreme distress. In this sense,

out the history of the subject has been tension.

there is no economic solution in the corpus of

Perhaps only in Old Testament social teaching has

patristic writings. They accepted the right to pri­

this not been the case. In the Old Testament, which

vate property, though attributing its origin to ori­

is a foundation source for Christian social theory,

ginal sin, and arguing that, in the beginning of

Hebrew thought retained inseparable ethical and

human society, all things were held in common.

theological links between creation and salvation.

In terms of developing Christian social theory, it

There was no separation of this-worldly and

can be pointed out that Augustine was opposed to

other-worldy activities. This sense of the unity of

individualism, even to that possessive individual­

God's acts of creation and salvation, and of our

ism which became the characteristic of modern

response to these areas, can be observed in the

liberalism. In consequence of this understanding

broad range of meanings of the words for 'right­

of the common destination of human goods, the

eousness', 'justification' and 'faith', as well as in the

Fathers emphasized the obligations of the rich to

importance of the Hebrew notion of tiqqun ha-olam,

share, and they held out the common use of riches

restoration of the world. The context of these words

as an ideal. many modern writers have commented

is usually social and political.

on this 'socialistic' aspect of patristic teaching, and

In the New Testament, however, and especially

it is certain that there has been a continuing tension

in the writings of St Paul, 'salvation' is most fre­

in Christian social theory between the defence of

quently linked with the 'justification' of the indi-

private property and the ideal of social ownership.

CHRISTIAN SOCIAL THEORY

73

In their general presentation of social teaching,

necessary only because of unbelief. This is a differ­

the scholastics of the medieval period remained

ent social theory from the older Catholic one, which

faithful to the earlier emphasis placed by the New

acknowledged the need for potestas

Testament and patristic doctrine on the primacy of

ical power) as a consequence of original sin, while

coactiva (polit­

the 'spiritual' over the 'temporal'. In this form,

accepting the need for potestas

Christian social theory remained, rather, as a radic­

istrative state), even before the Fall. In this whole

directiva (an admin­

ally theological social doctrine. The influence of

matter, Luther argued that whatever the quality of

Stoic and Aristotelian thought, however, brought

secular rule, good or bad, the two kingdoms should

developments which made Christian social teach­

never be confused, a principle picked up by Karl

ing, as a whole, a philosophical science with certain

Earth who insisted that 'the divine must not be

'additions' of a theological kind. This new tension

politicized and the political must not be divinised.'

between moral-philosophical or theological foun­

The dualism of 'private' and 'public' responsi­

dations has remained a feature of Christian social

bilities which was derived from Luther's Two

theory right up to the modern period. The Roman

Kingdom doctrine, came to be used to justify the

Catholic and Anglo-Catholic traditions have re­

absolute claims of political power. The particular

tained the long-reflected style of moral philosophy,

form of his Christian social theory prepared the way

whereas Reformed traditions have adopted radic­

(quite unintentionally) for this interpretation. Each

ally theological approaches. In Catholic social

Kingdom was ruled vertically, but separately, by

theory, a foundation on 'natural law' (an almost

God, but there was no obvious way in which the

instinctive apprehension of a rule of reasonable

Gospel could penetrate, horizontally, the secular

behaviour appropriate to rational human beings)

kingdom.

assisted the development of the 'common good' (a coincidence, driven by justice, of individual good and the good of the community), 'distributive just­

In the modern period

ice' (proportionality of the status of members to the

In Christendom there had been no secular, only a

community), the 'principle of subsidiary function'

single community of priesthood and kingdom. But

(that state power must be used not to displace

once the secular as a domain was instituted by

initiative but to enable lesser communities and in­

scientific rationality and political pretension, and

dividuals to be themselves) and 'the right to private

then recognized by the Christian religion, the

property'.

sacred became privatized and spiritualized. In

The elaboration of Christian social theory in this

relation to Christian social theory, SECULARIZATION

philosophical form, while taking the motives for

created

action from theology, has had the practical advan­

Hobbes and Spinoza established autonomous social

the

conditions

tage of making this teaching accessible to those not

theory;

sharing Christian beliefs, which has proved appro­

grounds.

independent,

in

that

which Is,

of

Grotius, theological

priate in present-day pluralist society. This ac­

The challenge was a serious one, since (as John

counts for the insistence in recent papal social

Milbank says) Christian social theory must be

teaching that the writings are for all people and

either an application of a theology or social ethic

not just Catholic believers. While the unifying principle of natural law made

which, as a metadiscourse, positions secular discip­ lines; or else it is positioned, itself, by secular

it possible, in the Catholic style of Christian social

reason. In the face of this challenge, Christian social

theory, to mediate between the world of religion

theory has tended to accept that social sciences

and the sociopolitical arena, it also led to confusion

carry out fundamental readings of reality, which

in which the ecclesiastical authorities, in the name

may be handed on to theology or social ethics.

of the church, became earthly rulers, while secular

The

powers claimed authority in matters spiritual.

Troeltsch, in his monumental work,

agenda

is

set

by

secular

reason.

Ernst

Luther's solution was to propose, after the style of

The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches (1911) argued

Two Cities, a doctrine of the Two

that this experience should be accepted and that

St Augustine's

Kingdoms, which became the first Protestant

Christian social theory should seek to establish

understanding of a political ethic. The two king­

some coherence with secular rationality. In the

doms are Church and State, the latter being made

conclusion to his work he pointed out that the

74

CINEMA

application of the Gospel's spiritual ideal 'cannot be

social theology, they limit themselves to interpret­

realized within this world apart from compromise'.

ations of the remainder.

He went on to conclude that,

A radical challenge to all existing forms of Chris­ tian social theory has recently been posed by John

Nowhere does there exist an absolute Christian

Milbank

( 1990), who argues that theology itself is a

ethics, which only awaits discovery; all that we

sociology. Christian social theory, he maintains, has

can do is to learn to control the world-situation

put itself in a weak position by making itself de­

in the successive phases just as the earlier Chris­

pendent on scarcely validated secular theories and

tian ethic did in its own way. There is no absolute

by abandoning its own strength as a specific social

ethical transformation of material nature or of

theory. It may legitimately claim to be a sociology in

human nature; all that does exist is a constant

the sense that it is a description of the entire PRAXIS

wrestling with the problems which they raise.

(content, narrative, practice and doctrine) of a par­ ticular community, and in that it provides a specific

Christian social theory's terms of compromise,

account of the final causes at work in human his­

in the case of challenge from secular political

tory. In respect of methodology, this theory should

theory, was to accept the autonomy of politics;

pay more attention to 'insider' understandings of

and, in the case of political economy, to acknow­

the social implications of Christian praxis, and be

ledge a rational market. The consequences for

less dependent on 'outsider' perceptions. This is

Christian social theory have been, in the first in­

not to exclude the importance of outsider under­

stance, to incorporate a tame political theory which

standings, but only to emphasize that Christian

accepted a balance of power between autonomous

social theory cannot be reduced to any exact reading

orders; and, in the second, to embrace a benign

of the historical and social context, but must in­

consensus about the free market as some final eco­

clude a 'speculative moment' (as Milbank calls it)

nomic form.

which apprehends doctrinal elements and conse­

Two recent forms of Christian social theory have been developed in an attempt to break with received

quent propositions of a distinctive sociotheological nature.

styles of political and economic thought. 'Political

In conclusion, Christian social theory, from one

theology', which may be defined as a critical cor­

point of view, must be in continuity with certain

rective to the tendency of contemporary theology

aspects of antique ethics. From another point of

to concentrate on the private individual, has chal­

view, it must go beyond antique ethics by reason

lenged the political tendency of modernity to erect a

of the need for a content of specific virtues and of its

direct relationship between the sovereign state and

being a theory about a distinctive community with a

the 'private' individual, which thus cuts out all

particular praxis.

middle associations. The communitarian elements in Christian social theory, presented in the form of subsidiarity (in Catholic social teaching) and in 'sphere sovereignty' (in the Reformed tradition) argues for the devolution of power to appropriate intermediary levels. The second contemporary form is LIBERATION THEOLOGY, which has tried to recover the social meaning of the Gospel for Third World countries engaged in the struggle for justice. It has drawn selectively on Marxist analysis, but many commentators are doubtful if this analysis can be used without also accepting the

Reading Bonino, J. M. 1983: Towards a Christian Political Ethics. Boswell,J. 1990: Community and the Economy: a Theory of

Public Co-operation. Milbank, J. 1990: Theology and Social Theory: Beyond

Secular Reason. Phan, P. C. 1984: Social Thought: Message ofthe Fathers of

the Church. Troeltsch, E. 1911 (1981): The Social Teaching of the

Christian Churches. Viner,J. 1978: Religious Thought and Economic Society.

FRANCIS

materialist interpretation of history. In general, it

P.

MCHUGH

may be said of political and liberation theologies This refers to the technologies and in­

that they have, after the restricted style corn­

cinema

mended by Troeltsch, to appropriate some existing

stitutionalized practices through which films, and

form of social theory (from Marx, say, or Haber­

especially fictional narrative films, are produced,

mas), along with the secularization which these

distributed, exhibited and consumed. Although

usually entail, and then, in their social ethics or

techniques for producing the illusion of moving

CINEMA

75

images have long been known, cinema as such only

mount, MGM, Fox, Warner Bras and RKO) had

just predates the twentieth century. Thomas Edi­

achieved a remarkable degree of vertical integration

son took out patents on the Kinetograph and the

across production, distribution and exhibition.

Kinetoscope in 1891, and it was in the mid-1890s

This was only broken, partially at least, by the

that companies like Mutoscope in the USA and

combined impact of antitrust legislation and the

Lumiere Brothers in France began to put on film

arrival of television after World War II. From

shows for audiences in vaudeville theatres and other

then on, Hollywood has been in a state of economic

public spaces.

flux.

In the early years of the new century, cinema

To compete with Hollywood's global hegemony,

began to emerge as a mass medium in the USA as

other cinema industries have had either to ape its

storefront exhibition theatres - the nickelodeons -

output or to offer alternative genres and styles. The

provided cheap entertainment for a proletarian,

Expressionism of directors like Fritz Lang, Georg

urban, and largely immigrant audience. In 1908,

Wilhelm Pabst and Friedrich Murnau in the 1920s

ten leading film producers and manufacturers of

was in part an attempt by German studios to iden­

cameras and projectors formed a cartel, the Motion

tify a niche in the international market. And even

Picture Patents Company, to milk the young indus­

while Sergei Eisenstein, Lev Kuleshov and Dziga

try for profit by exploiting their patents on the

Vertov were undertaking their radical innovations,

technologies of cameras, printers and projectors.

the great majority of films actually being screened

They succeeded in convincing bankers to invest in

in the Soviet Union were Hollywood imports. Still,

cinema, and in creating a nationwide distribution

the idea of a 'national cinema', the authentic voice

market. Nevertheless, they failed to withstand the

through which a country supposedly speaks itself,

challenge of independent producers who, far from

has often had a greater cultural significance than the

the Trust's New York base, were making films

marginal box-office success of the films produced

around Los Angeles, especially in Hollywood.

would indicate. Other examples would include the

These producers, the architects of the studio

British documentary movement of the 1930s, the

system, exploited the advantages of the West

neo-Realist cinema which attempted to articulate a

Coast: cheap land, a temperate climate, varied land­

new Italian identity in the wake of fascism and

scapes for use as locations, and non-unionized

defeat, and, increasingly in recent years, a variety

labour. Rather than selling film by the metre, they

of Third World cinemas. (See also SociOLOGY OF

offered for rent longer narratives featuring familiar

ART.) There have also always been forms of film­

fictional figures and then, increasingly, named star

making less concerned with box-office popularity

performers. They also gained control of film distri­

than with film's potential as a medium for avant­

bution domestically and- thanks to the devastation

garde experimentation or as a tool of radical polit­

of the European industry by World War I - glob­

Ics. Theories about the aesthetic possibilities of film

ally. It was also during the second decade of the

and the social functions of cinema began to appear

century that the norms of the classical Hollywood

within a couple of decades of the first commercial

style were established. Techniques were developed

exhibition of movies. In 1916, for example, the poet

to reproduce the conventions of character motiv­

Vachel Lindsay proposed a Whitmanesque soci­

ation and narrative development familiar from

ology of cinema as an element in an emerging

the

'hieroglyphic' American democracy, and the Har­

framing of shots and use of close-ups were all

vard philosopher Hugo Mi.insterberg offered the

existing

popular forms.

Editing,

lighting,

used to produce a coherent and plausible story for

first account of the mental dynamics of film specta­

the spectator, an illusion of actions unfolding

torship. Ever since then, theorists have attempted

within a unified space over continuous time.

to define the unique nature of film as an aesthetic

This style of film-making lent itself to industrial

medium and also to specify its actual and potential

efficiency, with one producer overseeing the most

social functions. Often the two aspects have been

economic deployment of labour, sets and equip­

linked, as by the Soviet theorists and film-makers in

ment across several films simultaneously. This

the 1920s. Against Eisenstein's theories of montage

Taylorized system was little affected by the coming

as the key to the cinematic experience, Andre Bazin

of recorded sound and dialogue in the late 1920s. By

constructed a widely influential ontology of film.

then, the five major Hollywood studios (Para-

He argued that film is (or should be) above all an art

76

CITIZENSHIP

of reality, a medium with a unique capacity for

a distinctive character. First, formal citizenship is

reproducing the experience of an innately ambigu­

now almost universally defined as membership of a

ous reality.

nation-state. Second, however, substantive citizen­

In the 1960s and 1970s, cinema became the focus

ship, defined as the possession of a body of civil,

of an extremely lively set of debates that drew on

political and especially social RIGHTS, has become

SEMIOTICS, structuralism and poststructuralism,

increasingly important.

Althusserian Marxism and Lacanian psychoanaly­

In both these aspects there has been a process of

sis. Cinema was theorized as an apparatus: that is, as

development during the twentieth century, and

technologies deployed to cultural and ideological

most markedly since World War II, which poses

ends, and at the same time as a specific disposition

some new questions. Formal citizenship became a

of semiotic techniques that address the dynamics of

more central issue following the massive post-war

desire and fantasy. Cinematic spectatorship was

immigration to Western Europe and North Amer­

seen as both a determinant and a consequence of

ica, which resulted in a new politics of citizenship

that apparatus. Theorists like Jean-Louis Comolli,

(Brubaker, 1992). At the same time there has been a

Jean-Louis

Stephen

growth of 'dual citizenship', in spite of inter­

Heath and Laura Mulvey attempted to demon­

national efforts to diminish it, where immigrants

strate how the symbolic codes of dominant cinema

retain citizenship in their country of origin (Ham­

simultaneously deploy and mask strategies of spec­

mar, in Brubaker, 1989), and in a different form in

tator positioning. Hollywood's 'invisible' narrative

the

techniques, they held, offer the spectator a position

member states will eventually have a second citi­

of imaginary coherence and omnipotence, the illu­

zenship in the EC.

Baudry,

Christian

Metz,

European

Community

where

citizens

of

sion of a unified, transcendental subjectivity. That

The development of substantive citizenship was

is why cinema can be seen as a paradigm for the

analysed in a classic study by T. H. Marshall in

mechanisms of IDEOLOGY, particularly as they

1950 (reprinted in Marshall, 1992), which depicted

relate to questions of sexual identification and

a sequence of the extension of civil, political and

difference. That model has since been challenged,

social rights to the whole population of a nation. In

on both historical and theoretical grounds. Never­

Western Europe after 1945 it was the growth of

theless, it did successfully identify the dual import­

social rights -the creation of a WELFARE STATE -

ance of cinema. It has been a key global industry.

which produced the greatest changes, establishing

Above all, though, through its mass dissemination

more collectivist and egalitarian principles and pol­

of fantasy scenarios, it has been the decisive archi­

icies which counteracted to some extent the inegali­

tect of popular imagination in the twentieth cen­

tarian tendencies of the capitalist economy. The

tury.

situation was different, however, in Eastern Europe

See also MASS CULTURE; MASS MEDIA.

where the communist dictatorships severely cur­ tailed civil and political rights at the same time as they provided a considerable range of important

Reading Andrew,J. D. 1976: The Major Film Theories. Bordwell, D., Staiger, J. and Thompson, K. 1985: The

social rights. The opposition movements which finally brought about the collapse of these regimes did in fact emphasize very strongly the idea of

Classical Hollywood Cinema. Hansen, M. 1991: Babe/ and Babylon: Spectatorship in American Silent Film.

citizenship as embodying basic civil and political rights, and also the related conception of a neces­

Pen1ey, C. ed. 1988: Feminism and Film Theory.

sary independence of the institutions of CIVIL SOCI­

Rosen, P. ed. 1986: Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology.

ETY from the state.

Sitney, P. A. 1974: Visionary Film: the American AvantGarde Film.

JAMES DONALD

Another general question concerns the relation between the rights and the duties of citizens. The revival of ideas of citizenship in the European Re­ naissance drew largely upon the example of Roman

Ideas of citizenship have flourished

citizenship, emphasizing self-discipline, patriotism

in several historical periods-in ancient Greece and

and concern for the common good; and such con­

citizenship

Rome, in the towns of medieval Europe, in the

ceptions are clearly still important for the further

Renaissance

citizenship,

development of citizenship in the twentieth cen­

though influenced by such earlier conceptions, has

tury, with 'patriotism' perhaps transmuted into the

cities - but

modern

CIVIL SOCIETY idea of greater popular participation in the business

77

Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society

of government, not only of a national community

(1767); but what they were in fact doing was making

but also of wider regional associations. Participation

the analytical distinction that was soon to transform

of this kind, however, depends crucially on the

the meaning of the concept.

growth of social rights to provide a sufficient gen­ eral level of economic wellbeing, leisure and educa­

It is to Hegel that we owe the modern meaning of the concept of civil society. In the Philosophy of

tion, and no doubt also on new formulations of what

Right (1821), civil society is the sphere of ethical

is the 'common good' (see ET HICS).

life interposed between the family and the state.

Reading

content of civil society as largely determined by the

Brubaker, W. R. ed. 1989: Immigration and the Politics of

free play of economic forces and individual self­

Following the British economists, Hegel sees the

Citizenship in Europe and North America.

--1992: Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Ger­ many.

King, D. 1987: The New Right: Politics, Markets and Citizenship.

Marshall, T. H. and Bottomore, T. 1992: Citizenship and Social Class.

Miller, D. 2000: Citizenship and National Identity. Turner, B. S. 1986: Citizenship and Capitalism. TOM BOTTOMORE

seeking. But civil society also includes social and civic institutions that inhibit and regulate economic life, leading by an ineluctable process of education to the rational life of the state. So the particularity of civil society passes over into the universality of the state. Marx, though acknowledging his debt to Hegel, narrowed the concept of civil society to make it equivalent simply to the autonomous realm of pri­ vate property and market relations. 'The anatomy

civil society

This is an old term, common in

of civil society', he said, 'is to be sought in political

European political thought up to the eighteenth

economy.' This restriction threatened its useful­

century. In this traditional usage, it was a more or

ness. What need was there for the concept of civil

less literal translation of the Roman societas civilis

society when the economy or simply 'society' - seen

and, behind that, the Greek koinonia politike. It was

as the effective content of the state and political life

synonymous, that is, with the state or 'political

generally - supplied its principal terms? In his later

society'. When Locke spoke of 'civil government',

writings Marx himself dropped the term, prefer­

or Kant of burgerliche Gesellschafi, or Rousseau of

ring instead the simple dichotomy 'society-state'.

etat civil, they all meant simply the state, seen as

Other writers too, and not only those influenced by

encompassing - like the Greek polis - the whole

Marx, found less and less reason to retain the con­

realm of the political. Civil society was the arena of

cept of civil society. The 'political society' of Alexis

the politically active citizen. It also carried the sense

de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835-40)

of a 'civilized' society, one that ordered its relations

recalled the earlier sense of civil society as educa­

according to a system of laws rather than the auto­

tion for citizenship; but Tocqueville's example did

cratic whim of a despot. The connection of citizenship with civil society

little to revive the fortunes of what was increasingly regarded as an outmoded term. In the second half of

was never entirely lost. It forms part of the associ­

the nineteenth century

ation that lends its appeal to more recent revivals of

disuse.

'civil

society' fell into

the concept. But there was a decisive innovation

It was left to Antonio Gramsci, in the writings

in the second half of the eighteenth century that

gathered together as the Prison Notebooks (1929-

broke the historic equation of civil society and the

35), to rescue the concept in the early part of this

state. British social thought was especially influen­

century. Gramsci, while retaining a basic Marxist

tial in this. In the writings of John Locke and Tom

orientation, went back to Hegel to revitalize the

Paine, Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson, there was

concept. Indeed he went further than Hegel in

elaborated the idea of a sphere of society distinct

detaching civil society from the economy and allo­

from the state and with forms and principles of its

cating it instead to the state. Civil society is that part

own. The growth of the new science of political

of the state concerned not with coercion or formal

economy - again largely a British achievement -

rule but with the manufacture of consent. It is the

was particularly important in establishing this dis­

sphere of ideology or 'cultural politics'. The insti­

tinction. Most of these writers continued to use the

tutions of civil society are churches, schools, mass

term civil society in its classical sense, as in Adam

media,

trade

unions

and

other

organizations

78

CIVILIZATION

through which the ruling class exercises 'hegem­

Gellner, E. 1996: Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and Its Rivals.

ony' over society. By the same token it is also the arena where that hegemony is challengeable. In the radical decades of the 1960s and 1970s, it was Gramsci's concept of civil society that found favour with those who attempted to oppose the ruling structures of society not by direct political confron­

Hall, J. ed. 1995: Civil Society: Theory, History, Comparison. Keane, J. ed. 1988: Civil Society and the State: New European Perspectives. Kumar, K. 2001: 'Civil Society', in Kumar, 1989: Revo­ lutionary Ideas and Ideals.

tation but by waging a kind of cultural guerilla

KRISHAN KUMAR

warfare. Culture and education were the spheres where hegemony would be contested, and ended.

civilization

From the Latin civis, city, the term

New life was also breathed into the concept by

civilization explicitly concerns the CULTURE of

the swift-moving changes in Central and Eastern

cities, something of which Karl Marx reminded us

Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. Dissidents in

when he stated that the seat of ancient civilization

the region turned to the concept of civil society as a

was the city (Grundrisse, 1857-8), and that what

weapon against the all-encompassing claims of the

Aristotle meant by zoon politikon was simply that

totalitarian state. The example of Solidarity in

man is a town dweller (Capital, vol. 1). Max Weber,

Poland suggested a model of opposition and regen­

following up Marx's insight, analysed the city

eration that avoided suicidal confrontation with the

under four aspects: the city as a geographical or

state by building up the institutions of civil society

spatial entity or locale; the city as a market, or

as a 'parallel society'. In the wake of the successful

merchant city for producers; the garrison city; and

revolutions of 1989 throughout the region, the con­

the consumer city, which lives off the court. The

cept of civil society gained immensely in popular­

ancient city of the hop lite soldier was characterized

ity. To many intellectuals it carried the promise of a

by civil rights granted as the quid pro quo for

privileged route to the post-communist, pluralist

military service, but the medieval city enjoyed

society, though they were vague about the details.

what rights to self-regulation of the city and its

Western intellectuals too were enthused anew with

trade it enjoyed precisely by virtue of immunity

the concept. For them it suggested a new perspec­

from garrison duty (Weber, 1921-2, chapter on

tive on old questions of democracy and participa­

'The city').

tion in societies where these practices seemed to have become moribund. Civil society, it is clear, has renewed its appeal. As in the eighteenth century, we seem to feel once

Ancient civilization literally controlled the hin­ terland from the city; the ancient cities of Mesopo­ tamia,

for

instance,

actually

enclosed

date

plantations and fields, which were farmed by

more the need to define and distinguish a sphere of

urban entrepreneurs with venture capital and

society that is separate from the state. Citizenship

slaves, within the city walls, which is why they

appears to depend for its exercise on active partici­

were so extensive. This situation was reversed

pation in non-state institutions, as the necessary

only in the European Middle Ages when, as Max

basis for participation in formal political institu­

Weber tells us, the seat of landed property coin­

tions. This was Tocqueville's point about Ameri­

cided with the locus of power - in the countryside­

can democracy; it is a lesson that the rest of the

and towns existed mainly as markets for the ex­

world now seems very anxious to take to heart.

change of the surplus produced by nobles on their

Despite considerable disagreement on the meaning

large estates.

of the term, and even more on what precisely needs

Weber's distinction between the ancient econ­

to be done to nurture civil society, civil society has

omy and the bourgeois mode of production, like

entered the vocabulary and thinking of scholars,

Marx's, rests then on a distinction as much regional

statesmen and journalists across the world, to an

as

extent unthinkable a generation ago.

urban, entrepreneurial littoral or riverine cultures

chronological,

between

the

densely

settled

of the Mediterranean basin and the decentralized, Reading Alexander,]. C. ed. 1998: Real Civil Societies: Dilemmas of Institutionalization. Arato, A. and Cohen,J. 1997: Civil Society and Democratic Theory.

agrarian life of the Germanic and Celtic tribes organized in patriarchal families. The first was city-based political civilization in the literal mean­ ing of the term, as founded on the polis, or city; the second economic in the literal sense, from oikos or

CIVILIZATION family, the economy of extended households. The

79

empire, a transition that the Greek polis, for in­

Weberian distinction between economic and polit­

stance, never made (Mann, 1986), was a function

ical man, made in this way, is assumed by the

precisely of the following developmental compe­

political philosopher Hannah Arendt, who un­

tencies:

favourably compares modern society based on the economy of collective housekeeping with the ideal

Impersonal government administered by a

of the classical citizen, and by Gunnar Myrdal

bureaucracy;

(1953), who made a study of the development of

2

The conception of man as citizen;

the economy of collective housekeeping.

3

Forms of political representation;

A tradition of post-modern criticism flourished

4

The creation of an economic surplus;

in Germany from the late nineteenth century, in­

5

A monetarized economy, accompanied by the institutions of credit, commercial law, trade

cluding works on the decline of the West by Oswald

treaties and international laws of contract;

Spengler (who had a British counterpart in Arnold Toynbee) and, later, members of the Frankfurt

6

A standing army, equipped with advanced

school, especially Theodor Adorno, Max Horkhei­ mer and Herbert Marcuse. Sigmund Freud's Civ­

military technologies; 7

Social stratification along functional lines,

ilization and its Discontents (1930) may also be read

comprising classes of farmers, artisans, mer­

more specifically as a work about urban culture or

chants, an administrative elite and priestly

civilization in the literal sense, his notion that civil­ ization lives off repression, channelling sublimated

caste; 8

The concept of nature as governed by rational

sexual energy into cultural projects, being exem­ plified in the great artistic monuments and the

laws; 9

Institutions for the acquisition, organization

elaborately constructed cultures of the city ancient and modern. In some respects Freud's critique of

and dissemination of knowledge; and 10

The development of writing and basic sciences of mathematics, geometry, astronomy, naviga­

civilization - in terms of the costs to individual gratification, the unequal division of the economic

tion, architecture, engineering and highly de­

surplus, the psychoses and neuroses produced by

veloped skills in construction, metalworking,

the propensity to compare and the economic and

pottery,

social competition to which civilization gives rise -

(Drucker, 1979; Mann, 1986)

textiles,

sculpture

and

painting.

builds on a long tradition of the critique of civiliza­ tion that we find in the 'four stages' theory of

Much reinterpretation of this sort has taken

civilization. It has its roots in Stoic thought and

place in the twentieth century. To take the case of

was developed in the Enlightenment by Rousseau,

Sumeria,

Diderot and members of the Scottish Enlighten­

1976; Kramer, 1963; Oppenheim, 1969) now sug­

ment, Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson.

gest that city-states like those of Lagash were ad­

Across several disciplines now scholars have ob­

ministered

scholars

by

(Diakonoff,

parallel

1974; Jacobsen,

temple

and

palace

served certain shortcomings in the received histor­

bureaucracies, agents of each required to counter­

ical canon which posits an evolutionary schema

sign shipments in and out of the state granaries, for

from primitivism to polis to modern (Western) civ­

instance (Oppenheim, 1969, pp. 7 ff.). The consid­

ilization, the states of the East constituting a re­

erable lands of the city comprised palace and temple

sidual category. Studies in Assyriology, Iranology,

complexes and their holdings; noble estates and the

Egyptology, among area specialities, disclose highly

lands of commoners were organized in 'patriarchal

developed ancient civilizations which exhibited

clans and town communities', whose property

considerable technological competence. More dis­

could be bought and sold by chosen family repre­

quieting still is the fact that economic and technical

sentatives in transactions for which, around 2400

competencies were accompanied by the full array of

BC,

social and cultural traits that we associate with

mer, 1963, pp. 75-7). Corresponding to these, now

we already have documentary evidence (Kra­

'development' as it is currently conceived (see also

classic, property divisions was a surprisingly con­

DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT) . The cap­

ventional division of political power. By 2300

acity of the 'irrigation societies', so called, of an­

evidence exists for a bicameral assembly in Lagash,

BC

cient Sumeria, Mesopotamia more generally, Egypt

the upper house of which was controlled by the

and China to make the transition from city-state to

nobility, the lower house confined to commoners,

80

CIVILIZATION

access being granted on property qualifications.

theories of 'oriental despotism', for instance, on the

Magistracies, appointed on an annual basis, were

control of water. But, contary to these assumptions,

rotated among an isonomous elite constituted by

ancient Egypt was in its early history also charac­

the judicial, administrative and merchant classes

terized by independent city-development (Bietak,

(Oppenheim, 1969). Lagash has the honour of

1979; Trigger, 1983, pp. 40, 48), private and noble

recording in its annals the first known use of the

patronage systems (Kemp, 1983, pp. 83-5), and a

word 'freedom' (Kramer, 1963, p. 79), celebrated in

high level of individualism as attested by the per­

the Urukagina Reform Document of around 2350 BC

in terms strikingly reminiscent of Solon's sei­

sonal signatures of artists to works as early as the Pyramids ofGiza (Drucker, 1979, p. 44).

sachtheia nearly 1,800 years later. Freedom meant

It is not necessary to list in detail the techno­

precisely protection against the predations of the

logical accomplishments of ancient Mesopotamia

palace tax collector, as well as redress of adminis­

and Egypt. It is worth pointing out, however, that

trative abuses by the 'ubiquitous and obnoxious

each of the instances Max Weber gives in his pref­

bureaucracy' of the temple, U rukagina (like Solon

ace to The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capital­

later) promising release of those imprisoned for

ism (1904-5) for the administrative, scientific and

debt bondage.

technical superiority of the West over the East is

Some of the best evidence we have for govern­

erroneous. So ubiquitous are assumptions of West­

ment by an impersonal bureaucracy is yielded by

ern development and Eastern underdevelopment

the third-millennium Mesopotamian site of Ebla,

that a thinker who spent a good deal of his life

in the form of some 20,000 clay tablets. A prosper­

writing about Eastern systems felt no need to

ous city of some 260,000 people, Ebla was ruled by a

check his facts. He claims that Babylonian astron­

king, a council of elders and some 11,700 bureau­

omy lacked a mathematical basis, neglecting to

crats whose ledgers, daybooks and inventories ac­

mention also the invention of geometry as Egyptian

count for some 13,000 clay tablets (Bermant and

(cf. King, 1978, 1980); he claims that Eastern legal

Weitzman, 1979; Matthiae, 1980). Further evi­

traditions lacked the systematic quality of Roman

dence for bureaucratically administered rule of

and canonical law - whereas, in fact, Roman Law is

LAw is to be found in the provisions of a series of

derived from the law-codes of the Eastern prov­

codifications of the common law of the area, from

inces, codified by those Easterners, Papinian and

the Ur-Nammu Code of 2050

Ulpian from the Beirut school of law (cf. Cumont,

BC

up to and includ­

ing the famous Hammurabi Code. The code ofUr­

1911; Driver and Miles, 1952-5). Weber (1904-5)

Nammu upheld the rights of orphans, widows and

further claims that 'though the technical basis of

small landholders against powerful 'grabbers of

our architecture came from the

property'. It undertook regulation of the market­

Orient lacked the solution to the problems of the

Orient ... the

place by the introduction of standard weights and

dome' - quite the contrary, the Orient provided

measures, instituting a schedule of fines for in­

the solution not only to the problem of the dome,

fringement against the laws of fair trade, in line

but also of the arch. On the subject of the compil­

with other codes for the area, including the Hittite.

ation and dissemination of knowledge, Weber

Court proceedings for the period record litigation

claims

regarding 'marriage contracts, divorces, inherit­

to those of China and Islam, 'superficially similar',

ance, slaves, hiring of boats, claims of all sorts,

but lacking 'the rational, systematic and speciali­

pledges and such miscellaneous items as pretrial

zed pursuit of sciences with trained and specialized

that

Western

universities

are

superior

investigations, subpoenas, theft, damage to prop­

personnel' - he neglects to point out that Islamic

erty, and malfeasance in office' (Kramer, 1963, pp.

universities like al-Azhar were older than those

8 4-5).

of the West, which did not begin life as scientific

In ancient Egypt, too, although it was perhaps a

institutes either. Evidence for the early existence of

less litigious society, property transactions were a

medical and law schools, to which women were also

document-ridden affair, asset dossiers comprising

admitted, dates in fact to the third-millennium Ebla

every piece of paper associated with a given piece of

site, which also furnishes lists of precious metals,

property (Lloyd, 1983, p. 314; Pestman, 1983).

minerals and other scientific information (Bermant

Ancient Egypt is often painted as the archetypal

and Weitzman, 1979, pp. 153-5). Weber goes on to

centralized state, based, according to the Marxist

claim, rather surprisingly since this is his special

theory of 'the Asiatic mode of production' or later

subject, that it is an accomplishment of the West to

CLASS staff its bureaucracies with a specially trained

organization of officials. More startling still is his claim that the organization of labour based on freedom to contract is a triumph of the West. But stipulations regarding freedom to contract are to be found in the earliest known Mesopotamian law codes, the Hammurabi Code, for instance, including extensive

treatment

of

both

agricultural

and

commercial labour contracts regarding rates of hire, offences and liabilities involving oxen, hus­ bandmen, agricultural implements, graziers, shep­

81

Reading Braudel, F. 1979 (1983): The Wheels of Commerce: Civil­

ization and Capitalism. Elias,

N. 1939 (1978-82):

The

Civilizing Process,

2

vols. Vol. 1: the History of Manners; vol. 2: Power and

Civility. Mann, M. 1986: The Sources of Social Power, vol. 1: A

History ofPower from the Beginning to AD 1760. Oppenheim, A. L. 1969: Mesopotamia- land of many cities. In Middle Eastern Cities: a Symposium on Ancient

Islamic and Contemporary Middle Eastern Urbanism, ed. lra M. Lapidus.

herds, wagons and seasonal workers and wages

Trigger, B. J. 1983: The rise of Egyptian civilization. In

and rates of hire for craftsmen (Driver and Miles,

Ancient Egypt: a Social History, ed. B. J. Trigger and

1952-5).

B. Kemp.

If the division and specialization of labour are indices of the level of development of civilizations,

Weber, M. 1921-2: Economy and Society: an Outline of

Interpretive Sociology, chapter on 'The city'.

PATRICIA SPRINGBORG

premodern societies rated high, ancient Rome recording

some

150 professional corporations,

medieval Cairo some 265 manual occupations, 90

class

types of banking and commerce specializations, and

groups

around the same number of different 'professionals,

economic goods and/ or preferential division of

officials,

religious functionaries and

In its social sense the term denotes large among

which

unequal

distribution

of

educators'

political prerogatives and/ or discriminatory differ­

(Goitein, 1967, p. 99). By 1801 Cairo had 278

entiation of cultural values result from economic

occupational corporations and by 1901 Damascus

exploitation, political oppression and cultural dom­

had 435 recorded recognized occupations. Such evidence calls into question evolutionary

ination, respectively; all of these potentially lead to social conflict over the control of scarce resources.

and developmental assumptions about economic

In the tradition of social thought, social class is a

PROGRESS and the sequence of modes of production

generic concept utilized in studying the dynamics

underlying

of the societal system in terms of relational rather

nineteenth-

and

twentieth-century

macrohistorical schemas, including those of Marx

than distributional aspects of social structure. In this

and Weber.

sense, classes are considered as not merely aggre­

An interest in the phenomenon of civilization

gates of individuals but as real social groups with

and its dynamics is not confined to the West, and,

their own history and identifiable place in the or­

indeed, the first great premodern analyst, Ibn Khal­

ganization of society. However, the idea that social

dun (1332-1406), described not only the endogam­

classes can be equated with aggregates of individ­

ous life-cycles of civilizations, but the exogamous

uals distinguished on the basis of similar level of

cross-fertilization of nomadic desert cultures and

education, income or other characteristics of social

the sedentary civilizations of the ancient cities.

inequality still persists and leads to confusion of

Study of the city and the full array of characteristics

this concept with SOCIAL STRATIFICATION. There­

we associate with URBANISM- concentrated settle­

fore, the meanings attached to the term social class

ment; internal differentiation into quarters corres­

vary and refer to different types of societal STRUC­

ponding

TURATION. In theoretical and historical sociology

to

occupational

divisions;

specialized

division of labour; functions as industrial and

various types of structuration appear in substantive

market centres; defence and religious functions -

discussions of economic classes, political classes

has emerged in the twentieth century as one of the

and cultural classes.

great subjects of sociological and historical enquiry, with the work of the Frenchmen Henri Pirenne, Henri Lefebvre, Gabriel Baer and Fernand Brau­

Economic classes

del. The relation between civilization and manners

In his general theory of societal evolution Karl

and the court, to take a different tack, has been the

Marx distinguished pairs of antagonistic classes

subject of a fascinating study by Norbert Elias

specific to each period: slaves and masters in an­

(1939).

cient societies, serfs and feudal lords in feudalism,

82

CLASS

capitalists and workers in capitalism. He elaborated

Parkin (1979) suggested several elaborations and

in detail the concept of economic ExPLOITATION of

extensions of Weber's approach to class; Lockwood

workers by capitalists, expressed in terms of surplus

(1958), Goldthorpe (1980) and Runciman (1972)

value. In his view, the relations of economic ex­

conducted empirical research informed by Weber's

ploitation form the basis for the 'superstructure' of

ideas.

the society, namely political and ideological order: 'The executive of the modern state is but a commit­ tee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.' The IDEOLOGY that rules in capitalist

Political classes Gaetano Mosca (1896) formulated a theory of

society justifies and sanctifies the totality of social

'ruling' and 'ruled' classes as groups emerging in

relations which have emerged on the foundation

any society which reached a level above the primi­

of economic exploitation and is functional for

tive. Unequal distribution of power prerogatives is

reproducing them. Marx believed that classes are

a functional requirement and structural necessity.

collections of individuals who, by acquiring the

The existence of the state causes the existence of the

consciousness of common social position and

ruling class. That class is composed of all of those

common fate, are transformed into real social

who play an important role in politics and fulfil

groupings, active in the political arena. He expected

state functions. People who actually rule come

that economic exploitation would lead workers to

from a milieu in each historical period that has the

political revolution, overthrowing capitalist society

resources appropriate to acquiring the expertise to

and clearing the ground for a new, socialist society

rule. Mosca took for granted that, in his society,

without classes.

wealth was essential for a political career.

Max Weber suggested a distinction, at least ana­

Normally, in addition to the ruling class there

lytically, between two separate orders of economic

exists a second, 'lower' segment of society on which

classes: property classes and commercial classes. In

efficient rule depends. This segment may be a

the first, owners-rentiers are the 'positively privil­

middle class or BUREAUCRACY. Moreover, within a

eged class' and debtors- 'declasse' people without

modern political structure several 'social forces'

property, in general- are the 'negatively privileged

emerge. Mosca writes that the military segment

class'. In the second, industrialists belong to the

wishes to rule as well as intellectuals, lawyers,

positively privileged class while workers belong to

teachers, businessmen and workers. He expresses

the negatively privileged class. Weber assumed that

the opinion that good government should incorpor­

the capitalist economic system forms the most fa­

ate all of them into the process of ruling.

vourable background for the existence of 'commer­

Parallel withMosca, Pareto (1916-19) presented

cial classes'. He defines the individual's 'class

his concept of the 'elite' which can be interpreted in

situation' as determined by the opportunities to

class terms. According to him, the 'governing elite'

sell commodities and professional skills. Although

is composed of those who have proven themselves

he does not state it explicitly, his approach to the

best able to rule- that is to capture power and hold

structuration of commercial classes allows investi­

it. 'Circulation' of governing elites is a process of

gators to construct various aggregations of individ­

changing the composition of political classes either

uals into groupings with the same opportunities. In

by force or by peaceful infiltration and coaptation

this sense the boundaries among them seem arbi­

(see ELITE THEORY).

trary. The general ideas ofMarx and Weber have been

The concept of ruling class appears less fre­ quently in discussions of contemporary Western

continuously elaborated, extended and modified.

societies with their democratic political systems

Bottomore (1965) suggested the lasting validity of

than in discussions of contemporary societies with

the fundamental premises of theMarxian theory of

authoritarian rule. In the first case, it appears in the

classes while Dahrendorf (1957) postulated its crit­

theories of new trends in societal development and

ical revision. Roemer (1982) proposed an extension

new strategic groups considered as the agents of

of Marx's concept of economic exploitation, which

those trends. In these theories it is expected that

was utilized by Wright (1985) to construct a new

new classes will deprive the democratic system of

scheme of classes in capitalist society. Poulantzas

its real functions by taking the lead and controlling

(1974) and Wesolowski (1966) presented integrated

the society. These classes may be composed of

theories of 'class domination'. Giddens (1973) and

managers (Burnham, 1941; Gurvitch, 1949), gov-

CLASS

83

ernment bureaucrats (Geiger, 1949), or certain pro­

ture'. In the Weberian perspective, culture may be

fessionals - like planners, organizers, scientists -

seen as an active, integrative force in class-formation

who form alliances with politicians and old-type

processes.

businessmen (Bell, 1974). Theories of totalitarian and post-totalitarian rule

Alvin Gouldner (1979), inspired directly by Machajski,

formulated

a

theory

according

to

in the former USSR and Eastern Europe (cf. To­

which the 'new class' of humanistic intellectuals

TALITARIANISM)

and technical intelligentsia, the class of the bearers

invoke the concept of ruling class in

relation to the top leaders of the communist party

of knowledge, is on the way to social domination.

and high officials of the government who were

Members of the new class are owners of 'cultural

assigned to their posts by the party and held mon­

capital' which exists primarily in the form of higher

opolistic, unlimited and arbitrary power (Djilas,

education. They have begun to replace the 'old

1957; Hegedi.is, 1976). Since both the party and

moneyed class' in the process of social development

the government were organized according to bur­

as well as in the functioning of the postindustrial

eaucratic principles, the rule can be called bureau­

societal system. According to Gouldner, the future

cratic, monoparty rule. In the totalitarian system,

belongs to them, not to the 'working class' as Marx

the power structure controls and directs economic

supposed. Members of the new class will guard

and cultural institutions. Many authors argue that

their own material and non-material interests -

bureaucratic and administrative control of eco­

higher income and higher prestige for those with

nomic processes serve as tools for the exploitation

knowledge - but simultaneously, they will repre­

of workers by political rulers.

sent and promote the interests of the society as a whole, to a much higher degree than any other class

Cultural classes Jan Waclaw Machajski (1904) outlined a theory of future society in which the 'educated class' or 'in­ telligentsia' of bourgeois society gives rise to a new class that dominates manual workers. Writing from an anarchist perspective, he said that the elimin­ ation of capitalists is not enough to change society. Reading Marx's Capital(1867, 1885, 1894) he finds

hitherto known in history. The new class subverts the old-type hierarchy and promotes the culture of critical discourse, but at the same time introduces a new social hierarchy of knowledge. Since it is both emancipatory and elitist, he says, it is a 'flawed universal class'. Integrative versus analytical approach

the thesis that work which is more skilled, hence

Economic classes, political classes and cultural

requiring more education, should be better paid

classes may be conceived of as separate class orders

than work requiring less education. Machajski em­

or as one integrated order comprising three aspects.

phasizes that the Marxist and social democratic

If a theorist views class structure as an integrated

programmes for the future socialist society imply

order, then the important problem for him/her is

the survival of educational inequality and, conse­

how the three aspects produce an integrated whole.

quently, economic inequality.

Marx suggested the causal chain from the base, that

Max Weber indirectly influenced the formation

is economic relations, to the 'superstructure' of

of the concept of cultural class. He proposed that

political and ideological relations. Thus the eco­

we investigate 'status groups' which have de­

nomic class produces other aspects of class. He

veloped a specific style of life. Some status groups

did not ignore the feedback influence of the political

clearly do not belong to class-type phenomena, but

and cultural aspects on the base; nonetheless, eco­

some do, emerging on the basis of common eco­

nomic structure 'in the last resort' determines all

nomic situations or common position within the

class aspects (see

DETERMINISM).

power structure, or both (such as feudal lords):

Mosca seems to be less concerned with causal

'Status groups are often created by property

relations among the three aspects of class than with

classes.' From Weber's writing one can infer that

the problem of the significance of the power aspect

social classes show an affinity to status groups be­

for the totality of social relations. Division into rulers

cause both develop their own culture or style of life.

and ruled is the critical phenomenon in all civilized,

Weber considered the bourgeoisie of rising modern

non-primitive, differentiated societies; therefore, it

towns a 'social class' and attributed to it three

explains more of the global societal system. Among

characteristics: property, citizen's rights and 'cui-

contemporary approaches, Lenski (1966) follows

84

CLASS

Mosca's tradition, although he does not ignore

control over the means of production and labour

Marx. For Lenski there are two main forms of

power are treated as independent, explanatory vari­

power: political power and the power of property.

ables. The class paradigm proves its usefulness if an

What he emphasizes is that in the whole history of

application of a class scheme to a particular popula­

civilization, political power exerts a formative influ­

tion leads to the conclusion that interclass differ­

ence on the distributive system, that is, on the distri­

ences

bution of economic privileges and prestige.

significantly larger than intraclass differences.

respect

to

specified

variables

are

1970)

If social class and social stratification are con­

aims at an integrative approach by suggesting mul­

sidered autonomous categorizations of social struc­

Bourdieu

(1987;

with

Bourdieu and Passeron,

ticausality and interactions in the formation of

ture, one of the empirical questions is the degree of

'social power' as the globalized characteristic of

their interdependence. Are social classes consist­

class. This power is a trajectory of financial, cultural

ently ordered with respect to the formal education,

and social capital possessed by individuals. The

occupational

interaction among these three forms is not prede­

members? Descriptive statistics for various coun­

rank

and

total

income

of

their

termined by any petrified weight of each capital or a

tries demonstrate the validity of the argument of

stable relation between forms of capital. Recently

class theoreticians that, although social class and

he has elaborated the concept of 'symbolic capital'

social stratification have much in common, they

which integrates all other capitals and reinforces the

are

social power of the dominant class in the public

countries the association of the social class of indi­

far from identical.

In Western industrialized

viduals with the components of their social stra­

arena. The analytical approach stresses the autonomy of

tification position - education, occupation and

economic class, political class and cultural class.

income- is strong, albeit leaving substantial room

The premise on which this approach has been

for non-class determinants of social inequalities.

founded is that there are autonomous spheres of

Moreover, the order of social classes on various

life- economy, politics and culture- within which

dimensions of social inequality is not the same.

emerging groupings do not overlap. It is also argued

Owners of the means of production are certainly

that an analytical approach is more appropriate than

at the top on the economic dimension, while intel­

an integrative one for studying modern, as con­

lectuals rank highest on the educational dimension.

trasted with premodern society. This approach

In the middle of the hierarchy, white-collar workers

has its roots in Weber's ideas, although some

usually have higher prestige from their jobs than

impact on its formulation was also exerted by Sor­

small commodity producers have. These kinds of

okin's

(1927) suggestions on

autonomous channels

of social mobility. Among contemporary authors, Lipset and Zetterberg

(1966)

argued for this ap­

proach and suggested separate study of occupa­

rank shifts confirm that social classes represent

discrete categories rather than categories consistently arranged along a multidimensional stratificational continuum (Wright,

1978

and

1985).

tional class, consumption class, social class and

The interest in the social consciousness of classes

power class. However this approach, as well as the

stems from the traditional Marxist distinction be­

analytical approach, has been criticized and their

tween

concept of class contested on theoretical grounds

a common consciousness) and Klasse for

( Calvert,

1982).

Klasse an sich

(class-in-itself, that is, without

sich (class­

for-itself, that is with a common consciousness). For many years it has been observed that members of privileged classes tend to be more openminded,

Social class in empirical sociology

more intellectually flexible and more self-directed

A 'class paradigm' is one of the best established

in their values than members of deprived classes.

aproaches for analysing data on social structure.

Class differences are substantial not only with

on

regard to the content of economic and political

detecting differences among social classes with re­

issues but also with regard to the ways in which

spect to (a) their share of unequally distributed

people think, in terms of level of abstraction. Kahn

Within

this

paradigm,

research

focuses

goods; (b) various attitudes and opinions; (c) polit­

(1969;

ical behaviour and common group-actions; and (d)

that these class differences can be attributed to the

Kahn et al.,

1990)

advanced a hypothesis

the patterns of social mobility. In research practice,

conditions of life, especially in the work situation.

class schemes based on sets of criteria involving

Those who are more advantageously located in the

CLASS

1982;

1981).

85

class structure have greater opportunity to exercise

speech (Touraine et al.,

occupational self-direction; their experience in the

its extreme formulation, class conflicts in these

work situation becomes generalized to other realms

countries have been described as those between

Staniszkis,

In

of their life, psychological functioning included.

owners (those who decide on the use of the means

Essentially, class differences in psychological func­

of production), rulers (those who control the means

tioning are explained by the learning-generalization

of administration and coercion) and ideologues

mechanism. It should be noted, however, that this

(those who control the means of interpretation

interpretation, although psychological in its es­

and inculcation of values) on the one hand and the

sence, is far from a so-called 'subjective interpret­

masses on the other. Because of these generalized

ation of classes'. In the latter case the assumption

class conflicts, Nowak

that people in similar economic circumstances de­

class formation.

(1983) calls socialism a supra­

velop a similar sense of reality leads to the concept

From a theoretical point of view, the degree of

of social classes 'as psychologically or subjectively

intergenerational SociAL MOBILITY is of central im­

based groupings defined by the allegiance of their

portance for class formation since it influences both

members' (Centres,

1949,

p.

210).

In the former

the composition of classes and the continuity or

case, psychological variables are treated only as

change of life experience. For these reasons,

correlates of classes.

among neo-Marxists (Westergaard and Resler,

However, independent of the

interpretation, the differences in the 'psychology of

1975;

class' support the differences in the 'behaviour of

(Parkin,

class', political behaviour in particular.

been made to give the idea of mobility a major role

The relationship between social class and polit­

Bottomore,

1979;

1965) and neo-Weberians 1973) serious efforts have

Giddens,

in class theory. Goldthorpe and his associates

ical behaviour focuses on differentiated class inter­

(1980)

ests defined with respect to the material situation.

theses pertaining to class mobility: (a) the closure

have examined and partly rejected three

In practice, political parties in Western democra­

thesis, according to which in order to maintain their

cies appeal to certain segments of society and seek

advantageous location in social structure, privil­

their support. Studies of voting behaviour have

eged classes apply strategies of social closure/ ex­

routinely found a correlation between the social

clusion against inferior classes; (b) the buffer zone

class position of voters and the party they typically

thesis proposing the division between manual and

vote for. Persons belonging to the ownership and

nonmanual occupations as a fundamental line of

managerial classes are more likely to vote for a party

cleavage within class structure; and (c) the counter­

which stands for protection of business interests

balance thesis which claims that worklife mobility­

and little welfare legislation than are persons

in comparison with social origin -is becoming less

belonging to the working class. Historically, polit­

probable because access to the middle and higher

ical parties have come to represent specific coali­

positions depends more and more on formal educa­

tions of class interests. However, there is some

tion and less and less on training on the job. The

evidence that in Western democracies class voting

critique of these theoretically advanced theses led

has

decreased

(Franklin,

substantially

in

recent

decades

1985).

sociologists to seek complex patterns of class mo­ bility on the basis of data from various countries.

Strikes and revolts are certainly more class-based

They found that the pattern of class mobility is

than voting behaviour in both Western industrial­

essentially the same in all Western industrialized

ized countries and non-socialist developing coun­

countries. Moreover, the pattern of class endogamy

tries. In the countries of Eastern Europe, some

-that is, the degree to which people tend to choose

1953 (East Ger­ 1956 (Hungary and Poland), 1968 (Czecho­ slovakia), 1970 and 1980 (Poland) and those of 1989 may be interpreted in terms of class conflicts not only

- reveal the same pattern of class barriers in the

between the economically deprived and the eco­

economic, political and cultural dimensions of

nomically privileged but also between the ruled

social structure.

aspects of the political revolts of

spouses from social classes similar to their own -

many),

shows little intercountry variation. Class mobility and class endogamy-as well as friendship networks

and the rulers. Since in these countries, economic and political power overlapped to a great extent,

Reading

class conflicts became very generalized and in­

Bottomore, T. B. 1965

volved issues from wage claims to freedom of

Ca1vert, P. 1982:

(1991): Classes in Modern Society. The Concept of Class.

86

CLASSICS OF SOCIOLOGY

Clark, T. N. and Lipset, S. M. eds 2000: The Breakdown of

Class Politics. Giddens, A. 1973: The Class Structure of the Advanced

Societies. Marshall, G. et al. 1988: Social Class in Modern Britain. Ossowski, S. 1957: (1963): Class Structure in the Social

Consciousness. Wright, E. 0. 1985: Classes. Wright, E. 0. 2000: Class Counts.

the one side are so-called 'presentists' (e.g. Nisbet, 1966; Dawe, 1978), who emphasize the perennial and covenantal importance of classic texts to con­ temporary thought, an importance considered to lie in the outstanding contribution they have made to the clarification of themes, dilemmas and problems emblematic of Western culture. On the other side are 'historicists' (e.g. Peel, 197l;Jones, 1977), who:

WLODZIMIERZ WESOLOWSKI and

criticize the anachronistic character of presentist

KAZIMIERZ M. SLOMCZYNSKI

analysis; insist on the need to reconstruct the con­

An oxymoron if ever there

debates to which they are articulated; seek to iden­

was one, this term refers to texts (or authors) that

tify the authorial intentions that animate textual

have assumed an exalted position in sociology as

production; and point to the existence of 'lapsed

vital theoretical contributions to, and as fundamen­

alternatives' (Camic, 1986) in the history of social

tal points of reference for, the discipline as a whole.

thought that a fetishistic attitude to classic works

Classics are texts that are accorded a privileged

effectively obscures.

ventions governing the texts in question and the

classics of sociology

status, which means that 'contemporary practition­

Borrowing extensively from literary theory, a

ers of the discipline . . . believe that they can learn

fourth approach to the classics examines the discur­

as much about their field through understanding

sive and institutional processes through which

this earlier work as they can from the work of their

certain texts and authors acquire classical stand­

own contemporaries' (Alexander, 1989, p. 9). But

ing. Work in this genre is concerned to chart vari­

what is the nature of classical eminence and how

ous dimensions of the reception process: cultural

are classics best understood? Modern discussion

resonance (the ability of a book or essay to attract

of these questions falls under four related ap­

attention through being appealing or controver­

proaches.

sial); textual suppleness (the potential of a text to

First, classics are deemed to perform certain

be read in multiple ways); reader appropriation

functions for sociology: offering some standardiza­

(the willingness of a literary audience to harness a

tion of vocabulary in an increasingly specialized and

text for a particular project or, alternatively, polem­

fragmented discipline; providing touchstones of

ically disavow it); and social transmission and diffu­

excellence to be emulated by neophytes and co­

sion (agencies -groups, institutions, media-that

gnoscenti alike; affording a master heuristic of

promote a text, transporting it to the classical

methods, tools and perspectives for social research;

pantheon) (Levine, et al. 1976; Baehr, 2001).

conferring on ambitious social scientists authorial

Classic texts are also investigated in the context

legitimation (as they link the classics to their own

of conflicting 'coalitions of the mind' fighting to

projects); and giving sociologists a sense of histor­

monopolize an audience's attention space and con­

ical continuity (Coser, 1981; Stinchcombe, 1982).

strained by the law of the small number: the fact

A second approach to classic texts focuses on the

that 'the number of active schools of thought

rhetorical and aesthetic properties they purportedly

which reproduce themselves for more than one

share. Classics, from this vantage point, acquire

or two generations in an argumentative commun­

their status not because their arguments are true

ity is in the order of three to six' (Collins, 1998,

but because their language is seductive; through

p. 81).

various linguistic techniques, they are able to

Finally, one should note that discussion of the

'turn' an audience in a certain direction, exploiting

classics is today often entangled in two other con­

its 'mental map'. It follows that an investigation

cepts: founders (referring to persons - Marx,

into classic texts is simultaneously and irreducibly

Weber, Durkheim and Simmel are invariably in­

a study of the topoi and tropes that enable this

voked as exemplars) and 'canon', a term employed

allurement to succeed (Davis, 1986).

in derisory tones by those who claim that sociology

Third, the study of classic texts raises the ques­

has been, historically, an exclusionary discipline

tion of how they are best comprehended. Two

that marginalized or subdued the voices of women

ideal-typical responses are especially salient. On

and minorities.

87

COERCION

Reading

Column

Alexander, J. 1989: Sociology and discourse: on the cen­ trality of the classics. In Structure and Meaning.

L

R

(Left)

(Right)

Baehr, P. 2001: Founders, Classics, Canons: Modern Dis­

1

putes on the Origin and Nature ofSociology. Camic, C. ed. 1998: Reclaiming the Sociological Classics.

T

The State of the Scholarship. Theory ofIntellectual Change. Merton, R. K. 1968: On the history and systematics of

1

3

Row

0

sociological theory. In Social Theory andSocialStructure. B

PETER BAEHR

coercion

haviour of another by the threat, or actual impos­

0

(BR)

(BL)

(Bottom)

Whenever one party controls the be­

(TR)

(TL)

(Top)

Collins, R. 1998: The Sociology of Philosophies. A Global

3

2

2

ition, of intolerable pain, damage or loss, there is

Gl

coercion. One way to understand coercion, there­ fore, is through the analysis of threats. A threat can be defined as the creation or main­

Column

tenance, by one party (the 'source'), of a negative incentive for some other party (the 'target') to behave as the source wishes. As Schelling

(1960)

L

R

(Left)

(Right)

indicated, against a 'rational' target, a threat, to be

1

successful, must be both adequate (the threatened

T

consequences of non-compliance must be serious prospect from it) and credible (the target must have good reason to believe that in the event of

(TL)

(Top)

enough to outweigh, for the target, the gains in

3 (TR)

1

3

Row

0

0

non-compliance, the threatened consequences will B

ensue). The point is illustrated in the game theory

(BL)

(Bottom)

matrices in the figure. In each matrix one player, Row, chooses between

2

2

Top (T) and Bottom (B) rows and the other,

G2

Column, between Left (L) and Right (R) columns. For each 'outcome' (combination

(BR)

of choices),

Row's payoffs are as in the bottom left-hand corner

Schelling suggests three devices whereby, in a

of the box, and Column's in the top right. The

G2

order of play is that first Row can 'threaten', then

threat's credibility: putting implementation outside

situation, a source might hope to establish a

Column must choose, and finally Row must choose.

its control (for instance, 'threatening' burglars with

Both players are assumed to have full knowledge of

bodily harm by installing a ferocious guard dog);

the facts set out in the matrix.

cultivating a reputation for recklessness ('the ra­

In

if Column can be induced to choose L,

tionality of irrationality') or for always carrying

Row can gain 3 units by choosing T. A threat by

out its threats regardless; and reducing its own

G1,

Row to choose B if Column chose R would be both

payoff

adequate (since Column's payoff for BR is lower

Row's for TR from

than that for TL) and credible (since Row's payoff

into a legally binding commitment to pay a sum to a

for

non-implementation

1 to say- 1 ),

(in

this

case,

either by entering

for BR is higher than that for TR). Schelling calls

third party in that case, or by maximizing the loss of

this a 'warning'. In

face that would result.

G2,

however, though Row's

threat is still adequate (Column is still better off at

The price of such credibility, however, is rigid­

TL than at BR), its credibility is in doubt, since

ity. Row is now less able to adjust to unforeseen

Row now does better not to implement (at TR) than

circumstances. In real life, as Lieberman

to implement (at BR).

pointed out, a threat may be both adequate and

(1964) has

88

COGNITIVE SCIENCE

credible, and yet not advisable, for two kinds of

tivities of a computer, constitutes the conceptual

reasons. First, targets of threats may fail to respond

centre of cognitive science. On the other hand, the

rationally through stress, avoidance of information,

building and investigation of computer programs

or bureaucratic incompetence, and the fact of coer­

intended as working models of cognitive processes

cion may breed resentment or make forbidden fruit

provides a central method of enquiry. The influence and character of the computational

more attractive. with

view of the mind can be seen in the terminology of

Deutsch (1963, p. 111) as 'the ability to afford not

'algorithms', 'data', 'information', 'mechanisms',

to learn', coercion, from the source's point of view,

'modules', 'processes', 'representations', 'syntax'

is the refusal to learn. By imposing the entire

and so on which pervades the literature of cognitive

burden of adjustment and goal changing on the

science.

Secondly,

while

power

can

be seen,

target, the coercing source may thus deny itself information which, by revealing how it needs to

The

computational

approach

to

cogmtwn

emerged in the mid-1950s, the Harvard Centre

adjust its policies or goals, may ultimately be essen­

for Cognitive Studies was opened in 1960, the

tial to its survival. Thus as Gurr (1970), on the basis

journal Cognitive Science appeared in 1977 and the

of a major study of rebellions, concludes, increases

Cognitive Science Society was founded in 1979.

in political VIOLENCE are not usually attributable to

The 1980s saw university courses in cognitive

weakening coercive control. Moreover, even if the

science springing up in the United States and in

ruthless suppression of dissidence does keep rebel­

Europe, and among many publications, a full

lion at bay, a government may thereby lose its

history of the field in Gardner (1985), the first

legitimacy and with it the ability to mobilize its

student textbook in Stillings et al. (1987), a lay­ person's introduction in Johnson-Laird (1988)

subjects' communal spirit. According to recent game-theoretical studies by Robert Axelrod (1984) and Michael Taylor (1987),

and an important collection of papers in Posner (1989).

coercion may not be necessary to keep the peace and

The variety of work done in the field is consider­

ensure the minimum cooperation among members

able, but much of it falls under two general para­

of a social group, even assuming that they are, and

digms. During the early phase of development, the

remain, wholly self-interested. Were these studies

predominant paradigm has been a symbol-process­

shown to be generally applicable to human behav­

ing view of mind, which has come to be known as

iour, the domestic coercive apparatus on which

the 'physical symbol system hypothesis' (Newell

practically all states to some extent rely could, in

and Simon, 1976) or 'classical cognitivism' (Clark,

principle, be abolished.

1989). On this view, cognition consists in the ma­ nipulation, by algorithms or rules, of data which are

See also PoWER.

symbolic, explicit, precise, static and passive in Reading

character.

Gurr, T. R 1970: Why Men Rebel.

An alternative, connectionist paradigm stems

Lieberman, E. J. 1964: Threat and assurance in the con­ duct of conflict. In International Conflict and Behav­ ioural Science, ed. R. Fisher. Pennock,J. R. and Chapman,J. W. eds 1972: Coercion. Schelling, T. C. 1960: The Strategy of Conflict. Tay1or, M. 1987: The Possibility of Cooperation.

RODERICK C. OGLEY cognitive science

A newly formed, interdiscip­

originally from work with computer simulations of neural networks. The 'knowledge' of a connec­ tionist network on a computer consists not in sym­ bolic data and instructions for its manipulation, but in the pattern of'activation values' of the individual units which make up the network, and the'weights' or strengths of connection between them. The cap­ acities of these networks for learning, graceful deg­

linary investigation of cognition and knowledge,

radation (gradual degradation in performance given

this area of science draws principally on cognitive

inaccurate input), generalization and completion of

psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy of

partial information are thought to indicate fidelity

mind, linguistics and neuroscience.

to natural cognitive processes (Rumelhart and

The computer plays a vital and twofold role in

McClelland et al., 1986; Smolensky, 1988; Clark,

this endeavour. On one hand, the belief that cogni­

1989). The associated view of cognition is of a non­

tion has a computational, information-processing

rule-based activity in which data are represented in

character, bearing important similarities to the ac-

a dynamic, and in some cases a distributed, implicit

COLLECTIVE ACTION

89

and imprecise way. It is also relevant that a hard­

especially Karl Marx and Max Weber, the key text

ware implementation of a connectionist network

in the modern debate is that of Olson

runs in parallel, and so is thought to emulate the

concept of the 'free rider'. In relation to this work a

activity of the brain better than the usual sequen­

number of other contributions have examined how

tial, von Neumann computer architecture.

suboptimal outcomes may result from individuals

The difference and oppositions between these two general approaches to cognitive modelling

(1965) and the

pursuing their own interests and not what would be in their collective interest.

can, however, be exaggerated, and some recent

Olson employs the prisoner's dilemma game in

work has claimed that they are in fact complemen­

order to analyse the nature of collective action. The

tary, and has attempted to combine them in hybrid

contradiction of the game is that if each prisoner

systems.

pursues his/her individual self-interest then they

In the philosophy of mind, considerable atten­

end up with a result that is less satisfactory than if

tion has been given to the plausibility of the com­

they had been able to cooperate and to sacrifice such

putational view of the mind, and to such associated

individual interests. Olson generalizes from this

issues as the 'language of thought hypothesis', 'folk

situation to every organization that attempts to

psychology' and the 'functionalist' answer to the

mobilize large numbers of self-interested individ­

mind-body problem (Lycan,

1990;

Said et al.,

uals. Where the group to be organized is large and where the benefits are collective or public and

1990). In its short history, the 'mind's new science' has

cannot be confined to specific individuals, then

produced a substantive body of work, and in add­

individuals will not join or cooperate unless non­

ition a lively interaction between its component

collective benefits are provided. Without such se­

disciplines. Cognitive science at present has a dis­

lective benefits individuals can 'free ride', gaining

tinctly mechanistic and

the collective advantages of the organization if any

(Winograd and Flares,

'rationalistic' character

1986),

and is not primarily

concerned with such factors as subjectivity, feeling or culture. However, the attribution of a particular

should materialize, but not incurring any of the costs of membership or commitment. Large groups, such as TRADE UNIONS or political

aspects of the mind

parties, are most likely to suffer from the problem of

does not imply that all mental activity is of this

the 'free rider'. In such cases each individual's

type, and the future of cognitive science may

contribution will make little difference to the out­

confirm a plurality of approaches to the mind's

come and there will be an absence of intense small

computational nature to

some

group pressures likely to induce commitment.

many manswns. See also ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, LINGUISTICS.

Olson argues that members of a social class are particularly likely to 'free ride' since individuals

Reading

will gain the benefits of class actions whether or

Clark, A. 1989: Microcognition: Philosophy, Cognitive Sci-

not they actually participate. It is rational to defect

ence, and Parallel Distributed Processing.

Gardner, H. 1985: The Mind's New Science. Johnson-Laird, P. N. 1988: The Computer and the Mind. Posner, M. 1989: Foundations of Cognitive Science. Rumelhart, D. E., McC!elland, J. L. and the PDP Research Group 1986: Parallel Distributed Processing: Ex­ plorations in the Microstructure of Cognition, 2 vols.

Smolensky, P. 1988: On the proper treatment of connec­ tionism. Be havioural and Brain Sciences 11, 1-74. Stillings, N. A. et al. 1987: Cognitive Science: an Introduc­

from such actions according to Olson. Various refinements and amendments have been added to Olson's rather simple claims. First, many actual organizations are of an altruistic sort and are not based on such obvious self-interest at all. Second, it is doubtful whether 'selective benefits', such as those provided by trade unions to individual members, could explain the enormous diversity and scale of voluntarily joined organizations in most industrialized societies. Third, social life should

tion.

DONALD PETERSON

be seen as iterative. As a result individuals who

The literature has been con­

there are collective benefits which will result from

cerned to establish under what conditions separate

the pursuit of what may appear to be individually

should rationally defect may come to learn that

collective action

individuals will engage in concerted action to

non-rational solutions. Through continued inter­

strengthen or defend their situation. Although

action in certain contexts people may become con­

many social scientists have discussed this question,

cerned and informed about each other and this

90

COLONIAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT

transforms their pattern of preference. Fourth, at­

for legal thinking, a demonstration of how much

tention needs to be paid to the ideologies present

mental capacity had been lying unused in Asia, with

within different societies or parts of a society.

its refined cultures and semi-barbarous political

Where these emphasize INDIVIDUALISM, as in the

life. Lawyers were to play an immense part in

USA, the 'free rider' problem is likely to be more

national movements of the more pacific kind.

acute. Fifth, analysis needs to be provided of how

In India Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah were all learned

different structural positions, such as capital and

in the law.

wage labour, have different possibilities of collective

The national idea originated in Western Europe,

action in a sense built into them. The social world

and from then on there were always - as there still

does not merely comprise separate individuals but

are- Europeans striving for national independence.

also structures and resources, languages and dis­

When patriots in distant lands began to look round

courses, and these are also relevant to the possibil­

their world they found a ready-made ideology to

ities of collective action, offsetting or transcending

take over, and heroes to emulate like William Tell

the 'free rider' problem.

or Garibaldi. Some of their countries inherited at least an inchoate sense of nationhood, as Vietnam

Reading

did with its tenacious memories of Chinese attacks

Barry, B. and Hardin, R. eds 1982: Rational Man and

Irrational Society.

repelled long years ago. Others, like India and many in Africa, had little or no such consciousness,

Elster, J. 1978: Logic and Society. Lash, S. and Urry,J. 1984: The new Marxism of collective action: a critical analysis. Sociology 18, 33-50. Offe, C. and Wiesenthal, H. 1980: Two logics of collective action: theoretical notes on social class and organ­

though the British occupation of India had stiff regional resistance to overcome. Western rule gen­ erated discontents on one hand, ambitions on the other. Both could lead to a conviction that what was

izational form. Political Power and Social Theory I,

necessary was for a people to form itself into a

67-115.

nation, and move towards freedom.

Olson, M. 1965: The Logic of Collective Action.

JOHN URRY

Such an idea could only dawn first in minds with access to foreign education and example; to gather force it had to expand much wider. Would-be

colonial liberation movement

Colonial rule

leaders had to convince their people that the plight

nowhere brought about any radical social recon­

of most of them was due to foreign injustice. What

struction. Those at the bottom of the pile were apt

was known in Indian nationalist circles early in this

to sink deeper, while the benefits of the new dis­

century as the 'drain theory' (it was originated

pensation went to those already better off. Univer­

partly by British sympathizers) taught that India

sities were set up, holding out opportunities to

was poor because of tribute carried off year by year

those who could enter them, but little was done in

to Britain. This argument and its many parallels

the way of primary education. In all colonies illiter­

elsewhere had an underlying basis of fact, as well as

acy remained the common lot; women continued to

some exaggerations;

be very much the 'second sex'. New elites coming to

equally true, that a great many Indians and others

they

disguised

what was

the front largely derived from older ones, though -

were exploited by their own countrymen. If of

as in modernizing Japan - not from their highest

course these fellow-countrymen sided with the for­

and most fossilized layers.

eigner when it came to a tug of war, their social

There was, all the same, real change, affecting all classes. Novel means of travel and communication

misconduct as well as their unpatriotic attitude could be given due emphasis.

quickened the spread of ideas. Western education

Grievances took many specific forms; they were

opened many windows, if at first only for a few;

all heightened by the psychological impact of for­

colonial peoples were drawn into closer contact

eign rule, the arrogance of the white man and his

with one another, as well as with Europe. New

unconcealed belief in the inferiority of those under

kinds of business activity made their appearance;

his sometimes harsh authority. Too many of those

new professions, like Western-style law, medicine,

with modern qualifications, higher or lower, had to

journalism, gave rise to a modern intelligentsia.

compete for government posts which were always

Within its ranks national consciousness could be

too few, for want of other employment. The more

born, and inspire interest in a nation's history,

highly qualified wanted better positions, civil and

language, culture. India quickly displayed a genius

military, to be opened to them instead of reserved

COLONIAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT

91

for white men. They desired a share in government,

after their conquest, so that British rule could take

modest enough at first. They could find allies

on an aspect of naturalness and permanence. A

among businessmen of the newer sort, learning

generation after the Mutiny feeling of a new polit­

the ways of foreign traders and millowners and

ical sort was stirring, at first within an English­

then aspiring to rival them, as they were doing by

educated elite nourished on English historical

the 1920s in the jute industry in Bengal. It was a

annals, from Hampden to Gladstone. In 1885 the

growing complaint that native industry was not

Indian National Congress was launched, with some

protected by tariffs, as it was in industrializing

British encouragement. It was at first no more

nations in the West.

than an association of public-spirited members of

Lower down, and frequently breaking out in

the small professional elite, with English education

small local revolts or riots, usually quite separate

and ideas, meeting annually to discuss the country's

from any organized national movement, were pro­

needs; little by little it learned to mobilize broad

tests against land taxes paid by peasants, or in

popular support for its proposals, and grew into

some African colonies poll taxes; erosion of custom­

a regular political party, India's first and big­

ary rights on waste lands or in forests; compuls­

gest. Provision of cautious safety valves was the

ory labour, and in some empires, especially the

official response. One was a newspaper press, to­

French,

conscription into the armies that all

lerated though carefully watched. Local govern­

empires raised in their colonies and often made

ment bodies elected on a narrow franchise were

use of abroad, even, during both world wars, in

set up, and subsequently given greater scope;

Europe.

they gave politicians, many of them lawyers,

Resolve to modify and eventually terminate co­

their first foothold. In a non-committal way minis­

lonial rule could either follow a mainly peaceful,

ters let it be understood that India was being

'constitutional' path, or resort to force. Which

trained for self-government in some unspecified

course was taken depended both on a country's

future.

history and social structure and culture, and on

This moderate reformism, respected on both

the attitude of the ruling power. Gandhi's tactics,

sides, on the Indian side was accompanied by loud

with their emotionally religious colouring, were

and not insincere professions of loyalty to the Brit­

peculiar to Hindu India; they could only be prac­

ish connection. Impatience was growing, none the

ticable under a regime as comparatively liberal and

less. All Britain's colonies of white settlement had

restrained as the British. A French or German

been granted self-government: it was a parallel

viceroy at Delhi would have given the Mahatma a

process to the extension of voting rights at home,

much shorter answer. British officialdom had to

and the American revolution had been a warning

harmonize, allowing for some time-Jag, with the

against delay. But Indians could not help asking

trend of opinion at home. There had been grave

why preference over them in this respect should

lapses earlier: in Ireland in 1798, in India in 1857-8

be given to Afrikaners, a very few years after the

during the Mutiny, in Jamaica in 1865. Britons

Boer War when they had been denounced as worse

were infected, it must be added, more than most

than barbarians. Bengal, the oldest British pro­

Europeans with racial prejudice. Still, after 1858 it

vince, was the first to begin erupting, in the years

was only once, in the Punjab in an end-of-war

before 1914, with a boycott of British goods and

hysteria in 1919, that the British in India ran

some limited terrorist activity. Here Ireland was the

amok. The French temper was more militaristic.

model. During the 1914-18 years the National

French authority in Indochina rested too heavily on

Congress both expanded and took on a more radical

the Foreign Legion; in North Africa it lay, notori­

complexion. This reflected wartime pressures on

ously, more with the army of occupation than with

India. Economically there was a boom, which

the government in Paris. Serious opposition could

strengthened the commercial and industrial sec­

take only one form, insurrection.

tors, while high prices and shortages inflicted pain­

The 1857 explosion belonged to an old India

ful hardships on the public. Politically, there was

more than a new, and failed to spread outside the

much talk in the Allied camp of this being a war for

Ganges valley. It did bring Muslims and Hindus

freedom and progress; the setting up at its end of

together, and in this century has been looked back

the League of Nations was supposed by nationalists

on as the starting point oflndian nationalism. Most

in many lands, as far away as Korea, to herald a

provinces however were quiescent for long periods

new age.

92

COLONIAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT Gandhi was now the moving spirit in the Con­

party had expanded, as in Burma, under Japanese

gress, with his tactics of mass mobilization com­

patronage. Discredited by France's collapse early in

bined with non-violence and 'civil disobedience'.

the war, the French empire could not be set right

They appealed most to the middle classes; workers

either by massacres in Algeria and Madagascar or

and peasants were organizing on different lines,

by the unveiling of a 'French Union' in 1946 which

with partly communist leadership, and the critical

differed from the empire only in name. In Vietnam

points in their struggles did not coincide with those

there were many causes of discontent, among them

of the national movement. This was a weakness

the seizure of land to be turned into plantations by

for it, but at the same time, preserved Congress

French settlers, and ill-treatment of labour on

from internal class division or socialist infection.

them. Restoration of French power was at once

Wealthy businessmen, always averse to left-wing

resisted. In the north the lead was quickly taken

nationalism, were therefore ready with financial

by Ho Chi Minh and the communists, who as in

support. They had much to hope from independ­

Malaya had been fighting the Japanese (while the

ence. Another Congress defect was that, remaining

French submitted to them). They were recruited

in many ways a socially conservative body, it had a

mainly from the peasantry, but as in many countries

solidly Hindu and anti-Muslim right wing. Jawa­

were joined by students, and more gradually by a

harlal Nehru, with his socialist sympathies, wanted

good part of the old-fashioned, largely rural, intelli­

it to draw in the Muslim masses, by taking up their

gentsia. Guerrilla operations led by stages to the

social and economic complaints; Congress could

creation of the field army which in 1954 defeated

not do so, because these complaints were directed

and captured a French army at Dien Bien Phu.

against the wealthier Hindus as well as against the

The French gave up and withdrew, but their

British. From the later 1930s Muslim communal­

place was soon taken by the Americans, who per­

ists preaching separation were gaining ground.

sisted in a dreadfully destructive attempt to crush

During the war years the Muslim League headed

the national movement until 1972. In the mean­

by Jinnah was at liberty to push its propaganda,

time, a few months after Dienbienphu the Algerian

while Congress was in opposition and its leaders,

revolt led by the FLN (National Liberation Front)

after the defeat of the 'August rising' of 1942, were

broke out. Algerians too had been deprived of much

pnson.

of their land to make way for French or cosmopol­

After the war independence was inevitable, if

itan planters. Algeria was in theory, or legal fiction,

only because Britain was tired, and could no longer

a part of France, not a colony, and the settlers,

rely on the loyalty of the now very large Indian

backed by the army, vetoed any withdrawal. In

m

armed forces. The Labour government elected in

1958 the post-war Fourth Republic fell, and de

1945 was sensible enough to recognize this, and

Gaulle returned to power. In 1961 he in turn was

independence came in 1947; but so did partition,

almost overthrown by the army, but in 1962 he was

and communal massacres on a horrific scale, the

strong enough, as well as rational enough, to aban­

plunge into bloodshed that Gandhian politics had

don the conflict. Fighting had not risen above the

been designed to prevent. With India given up,

guerrilla level,

Burma and Ceylon necessarily followed. Labour

damage on the Algerian people.

but it had inflicted enormous

ministers were slow to realize that Africa was

In 1919 the Third or Communist International

waking up, but by 1960, when Nigeria was set

was set up at Moscow, with a programme of activity

free, British Tories also agreed that there was no

in the colonies as well as in the West. Socialism,

alternative. They made an exception of colonies

usually in its communist form, became a factor in

where white settlement had taken place. In West

nationalist agitation nearly everywhere, and espe­

Africa climate and disease had prevented this from

cially when fighting was involved. It could come to

happening.

guerrilla

the front either because, as in Vietnam and China,

Everywhere in the colonial world the slump

qualities, or because no such classes or parties

years around 1930 had been a calamitous time,

existed, as in Portuguese Africa. Within various

and intensified dislike of Western rule. In Indonesia

nationalist movements there was chronic contro­

In

Kenya

and

Rhodesia

struggles were fought.

middle-class parties failed to show the necessary

and Indochina there were attempts at armed

versy as to whether communist membership or

risings. After 1945 the Dutch fought in vain to

collaboration should be accepted, and within com­

recover control of Indonesia, where the nationalist

munist parties as to whether they ought to cooper-

COLONIALISM ate with 'bourgeois nationalists' or stand apart and organize the working class and peasantry separ­ ately. In India communists were always viewed with suspicion by Congress conservatives and their capitalist allies, as well as by the religious zealots, and themselves viewed Congress, and Gandhi personally, as timidly reformist and com­ promising. They kept out of the 1942 rising, when

93

Gupta, P. S. 1975: Imperialism and the British Labour Movement, I9I4-I964.

Hodgkin, T. 1981: Vietnam: the Revolutionary Path. Kiernan, V. G. 1982: From Conquest to Collapse: European Empires from IBIS to I960.

Mansfield, P. 1971: The British in Egypt. Sarkar, S. 1989: Modern India, I88S-I947. Seal, A. 1968: The Emergence ofIndian Nationalism. Wolf, E. R. 1971: Peasant Wars ofthe Twentieth Century.

Congress came closest to adopting revolutionary

V. G.

KIERNAN

tactics like their own, because it was damaging to the war effort, and consequently to the USSR.

colonialism

Thereby they forfeited much public respect.

for forcible, long-term occupation by a metropol­

Much of the value of colonial liberation move­ ments lay in their effect on archaic social structures,

This

term

has

come

to

stand

itan country of territory outside Europe (or the USA).

shaking them up more thoroughly than colonial rule

Territorial conquest, inspired by a great variety

-in some ways petrifying-had done. Women, for

of motives, seems to have run all through history,

instance, took a considerable part in both political

wherever there have been peoples above the most

and military activities. Armed struggle required

unsophisticated level. It was carried furthest by

popular energies to be fully enlisted. Where it tri­

modern Europeans. By the mid-nineteenth century

umphed, native collaborators of the colonial regime

their ownership of most of the New World had been

were swept away with it; though a war as devastat­

shaken off, but it had been imposed on much of

ing as Vietnam's might leave a country too ex­

Asia: above all on India, the grandest of colonies;

hausted for any rapid recovery. On the other

and, in the second rank, on the Philippines by

hand, the slighter the effort the more likely was

Spain, on Indonesia by Holland, and on Siberia by

imperial rule to be exchanged only for neo-colonial.

Russia.

Colonies turned adrift without any preparation, as

The period from the 1870 s to 19 14 has often been

those in sub-Saharan Africa were by de Gaulle, or

called the 'age of imperialism', when the hunt for

the Congo by Belgium, were left stagnating, or in

colonies reached its climax; a prominent feature of

chaos. Malaya has been somnolent ever since the

it was 'the scramble for Africa', on lines agreed on at

British, after defeating a rising by guerrillas from

the Berlin Conference in 1884 . Among the old

the Chinese half of the population, entrusted power

treasure-hunters, Britain occupied Malaya and

to the native Malays and their safely conservative

what was left of Burma, and much of Africa; zest

chiefs.

for empire reached its hysterical height in the Boer

When India became free the British-trained civil

War of 1899-1902. French power expanded in

service, which had been loyal to the last to its old

northern Africa and Indochina. Portuguese exped­

masters, was taken over unchanged by their succes­

itions were pushing inland from their old coastal

sors; but its inertia was counteracted by the radical

settlements in Angola and Mozambique. New­

outlook of Nehru and the more progressive Con­

comers were Germany, active in Africa and the

gress wing. India remained faithful to the British

Pacific, and Italy in eastern and northern Africa.

model of parliamentary government. After armed

Japanese modernization was accompanied by a pre­

conflict as in China or Cuba, the outcome was likely

cocious emulation of Western colonialism; in 1894-

to be some form of left-wing dictatorship. Where

5 China was defeated and Taiwan annexed. The

there was no meaningful popular struggle, as in the

United States, swollen by continual wars against

Philippines or Pakistan or the Congo, it was a

Amerindians and seizure of large territories from

dictatorship of the Right.

Mexico, in 1899 picked a quarrel with Spain and

See also CoLONIALISM.

entered the world arena by annexing the Philip­ pines and Puerto Rico, and turning Cuba into a

Reading Betts, R. F. 1985: Uncertain Dimensions: Western Overseas Empires in the Twentieth Century.

protectorate. Competition for colonies had been the cause of many wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen­

Davidson, B. 1955: The African Awakening.

turies, and it began again to intensify dangerously.

Fanon, F. 1961 (1983): The Wretched ofthe Earth.

In 9 1 04-5 Japan defeated Russia in a war over

94

COLONIALISM

Manchuria. Italy's seizure of Libya in 1911 led to

tion of native troops. For the French indeed,

war with Turkey. In 1914 World War I was set off

acutely conscious after 1870 of their numerical in­

in part by colonial ambitions. It brought fresh gains

feriority to the Germans, a reservoir of colonial

to the winners, who took over the German and

manpower to draw on could be thought of as one

Turkish possessions, nominally as 'mandates' to

of the prime rewards of empire.

be supervised by the new League of Nations. In

At bottom the motives of colonialism were eco­

the 1930s Italy overran Ethiopia, and Japan, having

nomic. Raw materials were wanted for manufac­

occupied Manchuria, launched its massive attempt

tures, and markets for the products. Trade swelled

to subjugate all the rest of China.

chiefly between industrial countries, but there was

Many theories were put forward, at the time and

stiffening competition as industrialism spread, and

later, to explain why industrialized nations were

protective tariffs threatened to close many outlets.

seeking colonies so feverishly. Most celebrated

In its own colonies a British company could expect

was one advanced by Lenin during World War I.

a favoured position, a French company a monopol­

A good deal of this was taken over from the English

istic one. Most colonies must have meant a net loss

liberal economist]. A. Hobson, writing under the

to national economies, but there were always some

fresh impression of the Boer War; and much else

who profited. Britain's huge empire undoubtedly

from the Austrian economist Rudolf Hilferding's

yielded huge gains, largely of a parasitic sort which

book Finance Capital, published in 1910. According

may have had the bad effect of tilting the economy

to these men's thinking, at this late stage in capital­

away from productive activity. Indian exports of

ist evolution control of capital was coming to be

opium, tea and jute gave Britain a favourable trade

concentrated more and more in a few hands, which

balance instead of a deficit.

left too little purchasing power in the home market

In Britain as elsewhere profits went chiefly to the

for the commodities that could be produced. Be­

stock exchange, business, the civil and military

cause of this underconsumption, capital was being

services. It was another contention of Lenin's that

exported instead of invested at home, and in un­

some 'crumbs' from the feast found their way to the

developed regions, which might contain valuable

more privileged strata of the working classes, and

raw materials, it needed the protection of a colonial

by raising their standard of living reconciled them

government. In fact, however, most capital, even in

to capitalist rule. What may have been more im­

the case of the biggest exporter, Britain, was going

portant was the employers' ability to tell workers

not to colonies but to other industrial countries,

that they were living better because they had col­

above all the USA.

onies, not because they had trade unions. Britain's

There can in reality be no single explanation. In

empire besides was unique (apart from Siberia) in

particular cases much of the expansionism may be

containing vast areas, such as Canada and Australia,

traced to the desire of frontier officials or army men

suited to white settlement. They offered a better life

to distinguish themselves, or to special business

to poor emigrants, and this was certainly a weighty

interests. Governments could always count on co­

reason for the empire's popularity. Few ordinary

lonial successes to impress both foreigners and their

folk cared much about India or black Africa. Italian

own voters. Territory was often considered worth

propaganda made much of the opportunities for

having for strategic reasons; here the British, with

settlement by poor peasants that Ethiopia could

their worldwide possessions and 'spheres of inter­

provide.

est', came first. They wanted Egypt partly to pro­

Until well into this century Europe's social

tect their route to India, Afghanistan to close a door

structure, and Britain's in particular, made avail­

into India against the Russians. Military costs

able numbers of men to whom colonial adminis­

might be high, but once in occupation invaders

tration was congenial. They came especially from

could expand their manpower cheaply by recruiting

among younger sons of the landed gentry, a class

native soldiers, from suitable classes or ethnic

which could claim a natural gift for ruling natives

groups, and employing them on policing or for

because it had always been accustomed to ruling its

further acquisitions. The large Indian army, com­

own peasantry. England entered the twentieth cen­

manded by British officers, was made use of in a

tury with its countryside still surprisingly feudal,

great deal of campaigning outside India, at the

though economically capitalist.

expense of the Indian taxpayer. Some colonial gov­

analogous class in the USA, and less wish for direct

ernments resorted, unlike the British, to conscrip-

colonial rule. From the same sources were drawn

There was no

COLONIALISM the officers of the European armies which con­

95

they were reduced to colonies; it was by plundering

quered and garrisoned the colonies. In countries

them that Europe was able to accumulate capital,

like India with a fair degree of literacy it was as

industrialize, and forge ahead.

easy to find the assistants indispensable for running the administration as it was to recruit soldiers.

Except at moments of excitement, usually when a campaign was going on, few Europeans took any

A great deal was heard of the white man's 'civil­

lively interest in colonial affairs, and officials and

izing mission', and there was some fitful determin­

businessmen were left with a free hand. Catholics

ation to make a clean sweep of bad old ways and

and socialists combined at one time to bring about

modernize everything. Before long this was giving

some improvements in Germany's African col­

way to a preference for 'indirect rule', through

onies. An international protest against the atrocities

indigenous institutions and methods familiar to

perpetrated in King Leopold's private colony of the

the people. Too much innovation could be judged

Congo led to its taking over in 1908 by the Belgian

unsettling and risky. In India the 'Mutiny' of 1857

government. In general political terms imperialism

could plausibly be attributed to this, and after it the

was firmly supported by right-wing parties, and less

ousting of native rulers was abandoned: instead

ardently by liberals. Communists were strongly

they were treated as junior partners, subject to the

against it; other socialists wavered, and, like the

minimum of inspection. A quarter of the popula­

Labour Party in Britain, criticized it lukewarmly

tion was left under their usually unenlightened

if at all.

sway. Relations with the semi-feudal landowning

Effects of colonialism varied with local circum­

classes surviving from before British rule, or in

stances and historical backgrounds. It ended the

some provinces created by it, grew increasingly

turmoil which had sometimes prevailed, and took

cordial, to the detriment of the hard-pressed tillers

pride in its guardianship of order. Order might

of the soil. In Java the Dutch likewise entered into

often mean nothing better than police rule, espe­

partnership with the heirs of the old aristocracy. In

cially for poorer people exposed to it, and Western

the Philippines the Americans did much the same.

laws might be ill suited to the societies they were

A French champion of similar methods was Mar­

imposed on. Still, the principle of impartial justice,

shal L. H. Lyautey, Resident-General from 1912 to

an impersonal rule of law, was a valuable innov­

1925 in Morocco; a Catholic conservative, he could

ation. So (if not in all respects) was the advent, for

appreciate the convenience of Islamic conserva­

the first time in history outside Europe, of a body of

tism, and the hazards of disturbing it. In Morocco,

professional lawyers, willing and able to take up

Indochina, Russian Central Asia, old monarchies

cases against the government.

were propped up and kept as figure-heads. In

Economic development was oftener than not

Africa all European regimes made use of tribal

neglected;

'chiefs', many of them, with no real claim to such

whose government felt equally little responsibility

rank, set up by district officials to play an appropri­

for it at home. In India (and in Egypt) its best

This strategy was unwelcome to intelligent Afri­ and

the case of Britain,

achievement lay in irrigation, where it had a stake

ate part. cans

predictably in

Asians,

who

wanted

modernization

of its own because land revenue was for long its mainstay. It built a considerable infrastructure of

instead, and to Europeans who had expected bene­

roads, railways and communications. It did enough

ficial change. One of these was Karl Marx. He held

for health to begin the reduction of epidemics

that seizure of colonies sprang from nothing better

which formerly kept population increase within

than brutal greed, but might give a necessary

bounds. It only very belatedly organized any effec­

though painful shock to societies long sunk in

tive system of famine relief. It could be accused by

torpor, and jerk them forward. Nationalist feeling

nationalists of impoverishing the peasantry, and of

leads many in Asia and Africa nowadays to deny any

hindering instead of fostering industry, for the

such necessity, and to argue- questionably- that

benefit of British exports. Manufactured imports

their countries had been quite capable of making

could also be blamed for crippling native handi­

progress on their own, with some borrowing from

crafts and spreading unemployment.

Europe, just as Japan did. A later offshoot of Marx­

World War II gave a mortal blow to colonialism.

ism, 'dependency theory', goes much further,

Italy and Japan were knocked out. Britain was left

asserting (still less convincingly) that Afro-Asian

overstrained, and its people in no humour to go on

countries only became 'backward' and poor when

fighting. With foolish obstinacy Holland, France

96

COMMODITY FETISHISM

and Portugal went on for years trying to hold on

what had been entitled 'gun boat diplomacy' con­

to their possessions, under the specious Cold War

tinued.

pretext of a fight against communism. So far as real

In a few countries, notably South Korea and

economic interests were concerned, white soldiers

Taiwan, and for some years Brazil, foreign invest­

and officials had become superfu l ous. Colonial

ments and technology, combined with rule by

peoples, or at any rate the elites which had been

American-backed dictators, brought about remark­

emerging, were accustomed to their new place in a

able industrial growth, though the workers' share

world mostly belonging to a single complex,

in the profits has been small. Everywhere Western

and wanted to make the best of it. Decolonization

banks have been making loans on a prodigious scale

was the rational choice, and was warmly favoured

to 'developing' countries; most of the borrowers

by the USA. Ever since entering the world market

have found it hard, some impossible, to keep

as an industrial exporter, in the 1890s, America

up their interest payments, and some loans have

had preached 'open door' ideas; now it felt that

had to be written off. The gap between advanced

the time had come for empires and their barriers

and retarded countries is widening instead of

and

narrowing. Neocolonialism harms poor countries:

restrictions to be dismantled, leaving all

markets to be captured by the strongest competitor

whether it benefits rich ones in any real way must

-itself.

be doubted. It is not long since empires were

Decolonization left true independence still a dis­

thought vital to their owners'

prosperity, yet

tant goal. In the world economy into which exco­

Europe, having lost them, is more prosperous

lonies were sucked, most of them could have only a

than ever.

weak and vulnerable position. Imperial rule was

See also COLONIAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT.

replaced by a 'neocolonialism' which subjected the weaker to the stronger through unequal economic

Reading

relations. Such relations had always existed, side by

Bull, H. and Watson, A. eds 1984: The Expansion of

side with direct political and military control. Much of Latin America in the nineteenth century had been financially dominated by Europe, whose 'informal empire' there was now being taken over by the USA. China was only the biggest of a good many countries often referred to as 'semi-colonies', until the communist revolution put an end to its subservience to the West. Semi-colonies - Persia for one -sometimes fared worse than colonies, in

quest and Capital. Fieldhouse, D. K. 1966: The Colonial Empires: a Comparative Survey from the Eighteenth Century. Gopa1, S. 1965: British Policy in India 18S8-190S. Hobsbawm, E. J. 1987: The Age ofEmpire 187S-1914. Hobson, J. A. 1902 (1968): Imperialism: a Study. Magnus, P. 1958 (1968): Kitchener, Portrait ofan Imperialist. Mommsen, W. J. and Osterhammel, J. eds 1986: Imperi­

the opinion of many observers. Few of the countries now nominally free had respectable leadership; many

International Society. Etherington, N. 1984: Theories ofImperialism: War, Con­

fell before long

under dictators, easily manipulated from outside. World capitalism on the contrary was more power­ fully organized, with the rise of the 'multinational

alism and After: Continuities and Discontinuities. Pomeroy, W. J.

1970: American Neo-Colonialism: Its

Emergence in the Philippines and Asia. Thornton, A. P. 1978: Imperialism in the Twentieth Cen­ tury.

V.

corporations' and the American hegemony, than in

G.

KIERNAN

A characteristic of cap­

its divided past. All the new countries, though they

commodity fetishism

might, like Indonesia, be rich in resources, needed

italist society first identified by Marx. He argued

loans, investments, help of all kinds. 'Aid', direct or

that in a society based on private property in which

through institutions like the World Bank and the

market relations predominate, processes of produc­

International Monetary Fund, could be made use of

tion are independent of one another, separated and

to dictate economic policies. Governments unwill­

private. Only when the outputs of these processes

ing to fall into line could as a rule be got rid of, or in

are sold are these private and independent labours

the official American term 'destabilized', without

commensurated one with another through reduc­

much difficulty. Examples were that of Mossadeq

tion to the common standard of money-in this way

in Persia in 1953, and that of Allende in Chile in

private labour is rendered social. But the relation

1974. Both these leaders paid for their recalcitrance

between private and social labour appears as an

with their lives. In the USA's Caribbean 'backyard'

objective property of the commodity output itself,

COMMUNICATION

97

as in the phrase 'this commodity is worth ten

rationalist standpoint, which insists on the distinc­

pounds'. The social relations established in histor­

tion between the object of knowledge and the real

ically specific processes of producing things disap­

object, and the cognitive appropriation of the latter

pear from view, and appear instead as something

by the former through practice. But simultaneously

different, as relations between acquisitive, ahistor­

the individuals who, on one level, are just the bearers

ical individuals and the commodities they seek to

of systemic structures also subjectively experience

acquire as consumers. Production relations are dis­

and relate to their conditions of existence; they do

solved into market relations, class relations are

this by a system of representations and this process

dissolved into an individualism of utility maximiza­

transforms them into subjects. The contrast be­

tion, and the inanimate products of labour appear to

tween essence and appearance is thus denied and in

possess the animate properties of their producers

its place is substituted a contrast between systemic

and to exercise domination over them. Marx inter­

and experiential existence. However, this latter con­

preted this as an inversion of subject and object,

trast must be a property of any society, in contrast to

produced by the separation of the direct producers

the former's restriction to capitalist society.

from the products of their labour in capitalist soci­

A rather different approach arises out of reflec­

ety via the processes of the market. He further

tion upon Soviet experience. While market phe­

considered any analysis that replicated that inver­

nomena there had different forms and different

sion by personifying things and objectifying people

functions from their counterparts in capitalist soci­

would necessarily be supportive of capitalism

ety, several generations of post-1917 Soviet experi­

rather than critical of it.

ence did not eradicate the alienation characteristic

That the social world of capitalism is constituted

of commodity fetishism.

Further, because the

by appearances that are different from the under­

Soviet experience was largely discredited by cen­

lying reality is the foundation for any epistemo­

tralized authoritarian planning (see SociALIST ECO­

logical theory of Ideology. That appearance or

NOMICS), socialist proposals for a decentralized

form is different from essence or substance implied

democratic alternative to capitalism generally in­

for Marx a scientific endeavour (via a process of

volve some variant of market socialism. But the

abstraction) to uncover the latter from the sense­

unresolved issue is whether commodity fetishism

impressions yielded by the former. Finally, he con­

would necessarily thereby emerge. This turns on

sidered that when production relations were social­

whether market relations can be detached from

ized, so that there was no private property in the

private property relations, whether, that is, a social­

means of production, the contrast between essence

ized market makes either conceptual or practical

and appearance would disappear. Social relations

sense. This has obvious implications for any theor­

would no longer be mediated through market

ization of what socialism might mean in the twenty­

relations but would be immediately transparent

first century.

in the democratic and conscious coordination of labouring activity. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have

Reading Geras, N. 1971: Essence and appearance: aspects of fet­

seen this questioned in three different ways. First,

ishism in Marx's Capital. New Left Review 65 (1971),

positivists have denied the existence of any mean­

69-86.

ingful distinction between essence and appearance. The appearances of reality are just what reality is,

Marx, K. 1867 (1976): Capital Vol. I. Especially chs. I, 6,

19, 23, 24. SIMON MOHUN

and the only illusions or delusions that exist are either inventions of misguided social theorists, or

As well as the specific commu­

psychological misperceptions of the social observer.

communication

However, this criticism fails to engage with non­

nicative processes studied in linguistics, SociOLIN­

positivistic interpretations of Marxism (such as that

GUISTICS and social psychology, a broader concept

based on philosophical REALISM) and hence the

of communication has been a major theme of social

notion of systemic rather than perceptual difference

thought. Aristotle saw the state as a community

between essence and appearance.

involving communication between a multiplicity

A second approach also questions whether reality

of individual perspectives. Whereas this concerns

is constituted by a set of appearances which must be

individual purposive action in the political sphere,

peeled away to reveal its inner essence, but from a

Aquinas

introduced

into

medieval

Christian

98

COMMUNICATION

thought a broader theoretical conception in which

Communication, then, must be seen as a form of

God's nature is communicated in the creation of his

action. Whereas the classical concept of action is

creatures. This model led to the generalization of

based on the differentiation between subject and

the concept of communication to all human beings

object and between means and ends, the more

and at the same time to a differentiation, which

recent social scientific concept of communication

became central for modernity, between the particu­

is based on that between ego and alter. Communi­

lar (political) and the universal (social) communi­

cative action in Habermas's theory aims ultimately

cation community.

at a rational agreement between ego and alter.

This idealizing extension of the concept of com­

Whereas purposive-rational or even value-rational

munication to all human beings, and its simul­

actions form a system by latching on to other

taneous differentiation into political and social

communicative actions form a social system by

communication, made it a favoured point of refer­

attaching themselves to the actions

ence for modern sociology and social philosophy.

this distinction correspond different conceptions

Marx, in the

Grundrisse,

actions,

of others.

To

uses the differentiation

of RATIONALITY AND REASON. Whereas classical Ar­

between political and social communication to

istotelian theories of action, right down to Max

zoon politikon

into a 'society' of

Weber, link the means-ends framework with the

individuals 'acting and speaking together'. C. S.

concept of purposive or success-oriented rational­

turn Aristotle's

Peirce analyses the scientific community from the

ity, Habermas's theory of social or intersubjective

perspective of an (idealized) communication com­

action, which he also calls 'action oriented to

munity, and G. H. Mead brings the social processes

mutual understanding', is based on the concept of

of individualization by means of socialization into

communicative rationality.

the framework of a 'universal discourse'. The point

nicative concept of rationality going back to Peirce,

of this theoretical universalization of the communi­

Mead and Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics

cation community is the claim that, as Ji.irgen

not only sets limits to the generalizability of the

Habermas

(1981,

p.

105)

This pragmatic-commu­

puts it, 'the social life­

means-ends schema, but also goes beyond the limi­

uni­

tations of traditional European thought to a reflex­

process has an inbuilt relation to truth'. This

versalization, along with the socialization (including

ive metaphysics of subject and object (compare

'depoliticization' or internal differentiation) of the

Rorty,

1980).

concept of communication is a characteristic feature

Further differentiation of the concept of commu­

of the postmetaphysical thought of MoDERNITY,

nication opens up a wide variety of theoretical and

marking a radical break between social scientific

empirical perspectives. The differentiation be­

thought and the political thought of the ancient

tween

world and the classics of political philosophy.

shows that communication between those present

One can understand communication as a means

verbal

and

non-verbal

communication

is unavoidable (Watzlawick et al.,

1967).

Corres­

of solving the 'Hobbesian' problem of social order.

ponding to the distinction between direct and in­

How can the action plans of several actors be co­

direct communication is the important difference

ordinated with one another? If one follows Talcott

between simple social systems involving face-to­

double con­

face communication and complex ones based on

tingency, one is struck by the extreme improbability

mediated communication between physically dis­

Parsons in the analysis of situations of

1972).

of ordered interaction sequences and communica­

tant participants (see Luhmann,

tive agreements. Even in a very simplified labora­

ition between symmetry and asymmetry is central

tory situation with two actors and three possible

not just to role theory but also to theories of the

orientations (for example 'selfish', 'generous' and

ideal conditions of communication (see Habermas,

'hostile'), reciprocal expectations of expectations

97

1971).

The oppos­

The differentiation between symmetrical

possible combinations. Hence all commu­

and asymmetrical conditions of communication is

nication is based on complexity-reducing mechan­

important for distinguishing between distorted or

isms such as 'mutual trust', normality expectations,

disturbed and undistorted communication. This

stabil­

distinction in turn is basic to various theories of

ized communicative order by the exercise of exter­ nal influence of the effects of the actions of the others,

communication pathologies (Watzlawick et al.,

or they can reproduce and reconstruct it by means

and critique of ideologies (Ape!,

yield

etc. The actors can maintain or modify this

of an internal

agreement on generalizable grounds.

1967;

Habermas,

1988),

and of the reconstruction

1973).

See also DISCOURSE; MASS MEDIA.

COMMUNISM

99

under capitalism and communist ones under a com­

Reading Ape!, K. 0. 1973 (1980): Towards a Transformation of Philosophy.

Cashdan, A. and Jordan, M. 1987: Studies in Communi­

munist system. Communist theories usually contrast commun­ ism and capitalism, a society with private owner­ ship,

cation.

Habermas, J. 1981 (1984): The Theory of Communicative Action, vol. I.

production

of commodities for sale

on

free markets, and with free labour and capital markets. For the early writers (T. More, T. Cam­

Melior, D. H. ed. 1990: Ways of Communicating. Rorty, R. 1980: Philosophy and the Mirror ofNature. HAUKE BRUNKHORST

panella), communism was probably an alternative to capitalism, later it became treated as a postcapi­ talist society. Some viewed it as a natural state of society, while other writers (Saint-Simon, Fourier,

A term covering a family of closely

Marx) placed it within a necessary sequence of

related concepts designating (a) a type of human

societal types, to come immediately after capital­

commumsm

society; (b) theories describing and justifying a com­

ism. A unilinear sequence of possible societal types

munist society; and (c) political movements trying

was generally implicit in the writings of the nine­

to create a communist society. In the nineteenth

teenth-century authors. Russian Bolsheviks and

century, SociALISM could also be used in all these

their followers accepted this view. For the majority

senses. The term 'primitive communism' is used by

of theorists,

many Marxists to designate the early stages of

of development; Marx supported this eschato­

human society. Soviet and East European Marxist

logical

authors, however, generally preferred expressions

(Marx, 1844). After 1845, Marx and Engels aban­

like 'primitive society', 'primitive communalist so­

doned eschatology, accepted the idea of other soci­

ciety' or 'tribal society'.

view

communism was the final stage in

his

1844

Paris

Manuscripts

etal types following communism, but claimed

A minimal list of properties necessary for a soci­

that speculation about further developments was

ety to be called communist includes common owner­

meaningless because necessary evidence would

ship of the means of production (but not necessarily

be present only when the later stages of commun­

the means of consumption), self-government in all

ism had been reached. This view was rejected by

areas of life, and freedom. Communist theories

the majority

claim that these properties also provide the neces­

but came to be accepted by a number of them.

sary conditions for human happiness (although

Although Marxist theory is compatible with the

of Soviet writers in the

1960s,

they might not be sufficient for securing every­

idea of multilinear societal sequences, the implica­

body's happiness). Theories of communism usually

tions were never worked out for Marxist theory of

stress the absence under communism of some char­

commumsm.

acteristics of contemporary societies, like class

It has never been proven beyond reasonable

exploitation (Lenin allowed for exploitation of

doubt that societies satisfying the conditions of

weak-willed

ones),

applicability of the term 'communist' have actually

government

existed. With no democracy in the USSR, the claim

officials and standing armies. Communist goals are

that its people owned the means of production is

money,

persons

commodities,

by

strong-willed

permanent

compatible with ANARCHISM, but their means for

certainly false. Mass slavery, feudal serfdom for the

achieving goals are often opposite.

peasants and totalitarian dictatorship in Stalin's

Engels used the terms 'private ownership' and

USSR, had no relation to anything called 'com­

'common ownership' to denote ownership by one

munist'

person and ownership by more than one person

sense. After 1953, a dual ownership of the means

in

the

traditional

nineteenth-century

respectively. A cooperative or a shareholding com­

of production emerged, consisting of a higher-level

pany were cases of common ownership. A distinc­

collective owner (the hierarchically organized Polit­

tion is sometimes made between capitalist common

bureau at the summit of the Communist Party of

ownership (the shareholders of the firm are not the

the Soviet Union) and two parallel lower-level

employees of the same firm) and communist

owners (the party and the government hierarchies).

common ownership (the shareholders are the em­

The employees were definitely not the owners of

ployees of the same firm). Lenin claimed that under

their respective enterprises. The Chinese and most

capitalism any form of ownership is capitalistic. He

East European systems were basically similar to

considered cooperatives to be capitalist enterprises

that of the USSR.

100

COMMUNISM

The prevailing early form of communist theories

claims that it is a moral and political way of life that

was a blueprint of a future society designed for

is based on rights of individuals in their all-round

general happiness that sometimes used utopian

development and freedom.

fiction as a literary device. A penetrating critique

Lenin insisted in 1917 that Marx used 'socialism'

of the contemporary society was usually added. In

to refer to the first stage of communism, which is

the Paris Manuscripts of 1844 Marx justified com­

characterized by the common ownership of the

munism as the means to realize an essential value

means of production, retention of the state, absence

(humanism, achieved by overcoming the ALIEN­

of economic classes, but also the absence of an

ATION of labour). After 1845, Marx and Engels

ability to satisfy fully the (material) needs of the

began to oppose blueprint theories, claiming that

people. Socialism was to be preceded by the Dic­

it was impossible to provide a full design for the

TATORSHIP of proletariat (Lenin, 1917).

future free and creative society. Thus, they de­

writers have treated socialism as a separate stage

Some

clined to develop a systematic treatment of the

that is possibly parallel to communism. Within the

properties of communist society.

Communism

former Eastern bloc, the respective societies were

became a strategic utilitarian solution for the

called socialist, in accordance with Lenin's use of

working class as the means of eliminating ExPLOIT­

the term, and never communist.

ATION (in a Marxist sense). It ensured both liber­

Marx used the term 'communist' to designate the

ation of the working class and further human

political movement accepting his ideas, or any

progress. Communism was to be possible only

working-class movement intended to create the

after all the available options for the development

communist society. He certainly supported violent

of the means of production within capitalism were

revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat,

exhausted. Marx never provided an analysis of the

but he presupposed that under capitalism a non­

level of productive forces that he deemed to be

democratic government, combined with permanent

incompatible with the future existence of capital­

officialdom and a professional army, would in any

ism. In the 1840s he thought that capitalism had

case use violence to oppose the majority decision to

already reached saturation point, but he later ad­

introduce communism and he thought it would be a

mitted having made a mistake. Marx (1867) seems

case of a large (probably 80-95 per cent) majority

to think that the point of change from capitalism to

coercing a small minority. Working-class parties at

communism will arrive when the overwhelming

the end of the nineteenth century usually called

majority of mankind will become wage-earners (or

themselves socialist or social democratic. After

working-class). Lenin in his later works claimed

1917, the term 'communist' was used to describe

that a working-class government can in some cases

the parties that accepted violent revolution and the

use political power to build up forces of production

dictatorship of proletariat as the means of transition

to the level necessary for the survival of commun­

to communism, and 'socialist' described those who

ism but he did not provide any articulated descrip­

rejected it. Lenin insisted that only a Marxist party

tion of that level. He seems to have thought that

was to be called 'communist' and that government

these productive forces might be available for

by a single communist party was an essential trait of

borrowing from late capitalist societies. Trotsky

the dictatorship of proletariat. He abandoned the

claimed that, given globalization, the preconditions

requirement for a predominantly working-class so­

of actual transition to communism (or 'socialist

ciety as a starting point of a transition to commun­

revolution') need not be satisfied within a country

ism. Later he admitted that the dictatorship of the

that first starts the revolution. Leninists always

proletariat in Russia has degenerated into a dicta­

described the transition as the 'socialist' and not

torship of the Communist Party and the Red Army

the 'communist' revolution.

over all classes of society; he seems to have actually literature

liked this situation if he was not engaged in political

deals primarily with the transition to communism

polemics within his own party. Western communist

The twentieth-century

communist

and avoids detailed discussion of the concept itself.

parties accepted Soviet claims about the nature of

A. Nave has argued that Marx's (and by implica­

Soviet society in most cases until the end of the

tion, Lenin's) communism is not feasible. Thus,

1960s. Afterwards, they started to abandon the idea

Marx was as utopian as were his predecessors. M.

of the dictatorship of proletariat and, thereafter,

Cornforth rejected the idea that communism is a

even the description 'communist'. Communism

developmental stage (or a mode of production) and

was an influential political force during the twenti-

COMMUNITY

101

eth century but is nowadays intellectually and pol­

munity as a type of social relationship (based on ties

itically insignificant in most societies. Very few

of sentiment or economics). This confusion can be

former communist parties, sometimes under new

traced to Tiinnies (1887) and his seminal concept of

names, were able to stay in practical politics of

Gemeinschafi, which represented the integrated,

parliamentary societies after the demise of the

preindustrial, small-scale community based on

USSR (Italy, South Africa, Sweden).

kinship,

friendship and neighbourhood, where

social relations are intimate, enduring and multi­ stranded. In Tiinnies's formulation, community Reading

was contrasted with its obverse, noncommunity,

Cornforth, M. 1980: Communism and Philosophy: Contem­

or Gesellschafi ('association') - symbolizing the im­

porary Dogmas and Revisions ofMarxism. Marx, K. and Engels, F. 1848 (1967): The Communist Manifesto. Moore, S. 1980: Marx on the Choice between Socialism and Communism. Nove, A. 1977: The Soviet Economic System. --1983: The Economics ofFeasible Socialism. Roemer, J. ed. 1986: Analytical Marxism. Service, R. 1995: Lenin: a Political Life. Vol. 3: The Iron Ring.

personal, anonymous, contractual and amoral ties

Louis Wirth and Robert Redfield, continued to use

EERO LOONE

past: the assumed emotional cohesion and 'good

One of the most widely used yet

to make invidious comparisons with the anonymity,

characteristic of modern industrial society. Following Weber and Tiinnies, American soci­ ologists, particularly Talcott Parsons, Robert Park, community as an ideal type on a continuum be­ tween two poles such as tradition-modernity, rural-urban and sacred-secular. Implicit in this approach was a nostalgic and romantic view of the life' of the traditional rural community was used

community

vague and elusive concepts in social science, com­

isolation and alienation of modern MASS SOCIETY.

munity continues to defy precise definition. Part of

Despite the proliferation of community studies

the problem stems from its diversity of meanings

in sociology and anthropology that followed (Fran­

and the emotive overtones it usually evokes. Com­

kenberg, 1966), this empirical approach 'remained

munity has become an omnibus word used to de­

almost entirely sterile at the theoretical level' (Elias,

scribe social units varying in scale and content from

1974, p. xvi). In the 1960s attempts were made to

villages, housing estates and neighbourhoods to

develop a more dynamic interactionist approach,

ethnic groups, nations and international organiza­

with the emphasis on social networks, factions,

tions. At a minimum, community usually denotes a

cliques and informal or nonterritorial groups (Bois­

group of people within a bounded geographical area

sevain, 1968). However, more recent anthropo­

who interact within shared institutions, and who

logical approaches, exemplified by Cohen (1985),

possess a common sense of interdependence and

have side-stepped the definitional problem of

belonging. However, collectivities of individuals

trying to formulate a structural model of commu­

living or interacting within the same territory do

nity by concentrating instead on meaning. For

not, in themselves, constitute communities - par­

Cohen, community is a symbolic construct with

ticularly if those individuals do not perceive them­

no fixed parameters that exists only in relation and

selves as such. What binds a community is not its

opposition to other perceived communities;

structure but a state of mind; a consciousness of kind

system of VALUES and moral codes that provides

or feeling of solidarity. This subjective dimension

its members with a sense of IDENTITY and moral

a

renders community problematic as a tool for socio­

boundaries. The idea of community as an 'im­

logical analysis because the boundaries of any self­

agined' entity and symbolic 'idea-force' has also

identifying group, from the insiders' perspective,

been successfully used in Anderson's (1983; 1998)

are usually fluid and intangible rather than fixed

work on NATIONALISM and transnationalism. With

and finite. Empirical studies of community often confuse

its

associations

of

fellowship,

inclusion

and

belonging, community has long been a key concept

description with the sociologist's preconceived as­

in political and religious thought. It is given special

sumptions of what community should be (Bell and

emphasis in the socialist and anarchist tradition.

Newby, 1971, p. 21). Another confusion arises from

The community-association dichotomy can be

the conflation of community as a social unit or

linked to contrasting political conceptions of soci­

collectivity (club, hamlet, suburb, town) with corn-

ety - as a loose association of competing individuals

102

COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY

(liberal/Hobbesian view); or as a collective that is

ance of the 'comparative' method in particular

more than the sum of its parts, a moralizing agency

fields of work, they seem repeatedly to have aban­

through which true citizenship can be realized (so­

doned the term 'comparative' after some time on

cialist/Rousseauian view).

the grounds that their work was really in some sense

As an analytical concept community has little

a contribution to 'general' theorizing about the

value, despite its importance as a perceived reality

field. We find thus a pattern of organizational zig­

in most people's lives. It is a shibboleth laden with

zaggmg.

emotive associations of wholeness, cohesion, com­

The explanation for this seeming anomaly is that

munion, the public interest and all things good. As

the concept of comparative social research as a

(1976, p. 76) 'unlike

special subfield is not intrinsic to the logic of the

all other terms of social organisation (state, nation,

social sciences but is a heuristic device to overcome

Raymond Williams observed

society, etc.) it seems never to be used unfavour­

organizational problems within the social sciences.

ably'. As a result, community appears as an adjunct

Comparative sociology (as comparative anthropol­

to a host of institutions whenever deep, horizontal

ogy, and so on) tends to refer to the study of the

and natural comradeship is implied (community

differences in structures and processes among

care, community spirit, the local community, the

macrolevel units, however we define what a macro

European Community), however tenuous the links.

unit is. That is to say, often when particular

It has also been appropriated by politicians, plan­

scholars become suspicious of hypotheses drawn

ners and architects to legitimize policies in the

from empirical work on the grounds that the locus

name of the public interest, however implausible

of the empirical work was one particular spatiocul­

the reality.

tural zone, they argue that looking at the relation­

Reading

would provide evidence on whether the perceived

ship of x and y in the contexts of macro units a and b

Imagined Communities. The Spectre of Comparison. C. and Newby, H. 1971: Community Studies.

Anderson, B. 1983: --

Bell,

correlation of x and y is in fact 'universal' or is

1998:

particular to the macro unit within which it was

Boissevain, J. 1968: The place of non-groups in the social

Man 3, 542-56. 1985: The Symbolic Construction of Community.

sciences, Cohen, A.

Elias, N. 1974: Towards a theory of communities. In

The Sociology of Community,

ed.

C. Bell and H.

originally observed. This is expressed as a call to 'compare' the macro units. The organizational problem which the periodic demand for comparative study reflects is the fact that most empirical social research from the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the

Newby.

Communities in Britain. Keywords.

Frankenberg, R. 1966: Williams, R. 1976:

twentieth - with, to be sure, some notable (and oft-noted) exceptions- was done by scholars within

CRIS SHORE

the framework of a single macro unit. Those who worked in the so-called nomothetic disciplines -

The adjective 'com­

economics, sociology, political science (law) -

parative' has been used to create a subfield in almost

tended to do their empirical work within the

comparative sociology

all the social sciences (or closely allied fields): an­

boundaries of their own country. This was justified

thropology, (study of ) civilizations, history, law,

perversely on the grounds of universalism. Since it

linguistics, politics, psychology, sociology. Yet it

was assumed that the relations of variables hold

has always played a minor role within the organiza­

universally, it was deduced that it was not urgent

tion of knowledge. One has to wonder why.

to vary the loci in which they were collected. In

There is one simple reason that seems on reflec­

practice these were a few countries of Western

tion obvious. All social research necessarily in­

Europe and the USA. From time to time sceptics

volves

advocated the comparative study of these countries.

a

comparison

among

cases

of

some

variables, either explicitly or implicitly. Hence all

Those scholars who called themselves historians

social research is by definition comparative, at

tended to work on a single country, most often their

which point the adjective becomes redundant. Des­

own country. This was justified, however, on

pite this obvious truism, various scholars have re­

the opposite grounds of particularism. Since each

peatedly advocated the use of the 'comparative'

historical situation was particular and complex, its

method in social research. But, then as soon as

study required total devotion on the part of

groups of scholars have banded together in further-

the scholar, who did well to attain the necessary

COMPETITION

103

knowledge of one country and was scarcely able to

In the post-1968 era, modernization theory went

master the study of two countries. Of course, some

into eclipse as part of the general undermining of

scholars studied the history of countries other than

the legitimacy of what had been mainstream social

their own (as with an English scholar of German

science in the post-1945 years. One of the major

history) but they, too, tended to restrict their work

criticisms of modernization theory was that it was

to one other country. Calls for 'comparative history'

'ahistorical'. The 1970s saw a considerable flourish­

(such as those made by Marc Bloch) fell on even

ing consequently of 'historical sociology'. Since,

deafer ears than calls for 'comparative sociology'.

however, this work purported to be 'sociology'

Scholars who were Orientalists were equally

and not merely 'historical', it was not at all idio­

caught up in the belief in particularism and the

graphic in outlook. Thus, implicitly and very often

difficulty of acquiring scholarly expertise, and

quite explicitly, the 'historical' work was simultan­

were thus resistant to the comparative study of

eously 'comparative'. Indeed within sociology the

'civilizations'. No doubt there were audacities

two terms were often combined in the 1980s as

such as those of outsiders like Max Weber as well

'historical/comparative sociology'.

as insiders like Max Mi.iller, particularly in the

Comparative sociology has thus always repre­

comparison of world-religions, but most Oriental­

sented a number of vectors simultaneously: anti­

ists stuck to a narrower last.

ethnocentrism (see also WoRLD-SYSTEM) , interest in

The anthropologists were the most torn on the

the macro levels, and interest in complex struc­

issue. Insofar as they were pushed in an ethno­

tures, hence interest in historical detail. Compara­

graphic, that is idiographic, direction, they tended

tive sociology is not a field, but a critique of

to specialize in one 'tribe' for the same reasons that

whatever seems narrow and reductionist in soci­

historians specialized in one (Western) nation: the

ology. The disappearance of the term will mean

difficulties of acquiring expertise. But insofar as

either the great success or the great failure of this

they had nomothetic pretensions, they could not

critique.

make the logical leap of an economist using data

IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN

drawn from his own (Western) country, that the data represented a fair sample of the universe. The

Reading

anthropologists could only validate their nomo­

Crow, G. 1997: Comparative Sociology and Social Theory:

thetic claims by what came to be called 'cross­ cultural' studies. It is striking nonetheless how rare this kind of comparison of macrolevel units was, prior to the mid -twentieth century. The post-1945 era gave an important stimulus however to 'comparative' work, particularly in sociology and political science. The cause was the entry into public consciousness and scholarly awareness of what came to be called the Third World. One institutional response was the growth of area studies, which minimally led to the comparative study of different countries in the same area (such as Latin America, the Middle East) and maximally led to the 'comparative study of new nations'. After the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956, the subsequent process of 'desatellization' in what had been previously considered in Western countries a monolithic bloc led to the 'comparative study of communism'. Most of this work was done within

Beyond the Three Worlds. competitiOn

The phrase 'to compete' connotes

rivalrous activity between two or more individuals or groups. To compete means to try to outdo the other, as in a sporting event. In economic terminology, however, competition is not so unambiguously defined. The mainstream body of economic thought in the twentieth century came to define competition not as an activity, but as a state of affairs existing in an idealized market- the model of perfect competition. On the other hand, there have existed throughout the twentieth cen­ tury dissenting voices (spanning the ideological spectrum) that were (are) dissatisfied with this static and idealized definition and seek to explore the actual processes of dynamic competition that occur in the marketplace. Scarcity and rationing

the framework of MoDERNIZATION theory which

Competition is an inevitable result of scarcity.

presumed

This was not well understood in the history

parallel stages

of

development

for

nation-states and hence the possibility of a system­

of ideas because the concept of scarcity was con­

atic comparison.

fused with material abundance or wealth by most

104

COMPETITION

nineteenth-century thinkers. Scarcity does mean

which

simply the lack of an adequate supply of a good,

reshuffle resources in more effective ways for the

but also something more fundamental. Scarcity is a

satisfaction of ends. The discrepancy between the

logical concept, unrelated to wealth, that concerns

current array of prices and the imagined future

the passage of time and the necessity of choice. We

array of prices spurs the entrepreneurial quest for

cannot do everything at once, so we must choose.

pure profit.

Economic analysis is about the consequences of those choices. As a result of scarcity, individuals must establish

individuals discover ways to shuffle or

These insights into the workings of the competi­ tive market process were obscured in twentieth­ century economics with the development of the

priorities and ration their time accordingly to

concept of perfect competition and general equilib­

achieve them. Similarly, the social system of pro­

num.

duction and distribution must be premised on some rationing device to cope with the inexorable scarcity that confronts us, be that prices, voting, beauty, or

Perfect competition

other, and to aid in the allocation of resources.

Neoclassical

Competition cannot be eliminated, it can only be

methods of physics, developed a highly refined

transformed.

model of idealized competition termed perfect

Competition in a pure market economy coordin­

competition.

economists,

The

crucial

enamoured

with

assumptions

of

the

this

ates economic decisions through price rationing. A

'frictionless' model of competition include:

price that is too high for the current market leads to

infinite number of buyers and sellers (so that no

an

unwanted inventories and downward pressure on

one buyer or seller possesses any significant degree

the price, while a price that is too low produces a

of market power), complete information about al­

queue and an upward pressure on the price. The

ternative uses, costless mobility of resources and a

active bidding up of price when demand exceeds

homogeneous product. The consequence of such a

supply and down when supply exceeds demand

state of affairs would be: the price of any good is

serves to allocate resources in an effective manner

treated as given and not a variable of decision by

by clearing markets. Price competition brings into

producers (price taking); the price would fully

coordination the most willing suppliers and the

reflect the opportunity cost of production (marginal

most willing demanders of a good. Prices coordinate the multitude of individual

cost pricing); and zero economic profits (produce a level of output that minimizes average costs of

plans that make up the market by informing eco­

production).

nomic actors about the state of existing market

these results, it was argued, the allocation of re­

Under these conditions and with

conditions and the success or failure of their previ­

sources could be termed optimal, that is, allocative

ous plans. Prices perform this task by providing

efficiency would be achieved. No one party could be

incentives and knowledge to market participants.

made any better off without simultaneously making

The price of any good is a reflection of the relative

someone else worse off. In other words, all the gains

scarcity of that good in relation to other goods. If

to be had from exchange would be exhausted in a

the price is high, this signals to market participants

competitive equilibrium.

that the particular good in question is relatively

This model led to the development of the struc­

scarce and should be economized. On the other

ture-conduct-performance paradigm in industrial

hand, the low price of a good suggests its relative

economics. Market structure was presumed to be

abundance. In this manner, economic decision­

either

makers receive information about current market

Whether a firm was in a competitive situation or a

conditions from price signals and this aids them in

monopolistic one could be measured by market

their choices.

share since under perfect competition no firm

Prices also provide information about the eco­

perfectly

competitive

or

monopolistic.

would possess any significant market power. Con­

nomic justification of past decisions. Buying cheap

centration ratios could be used to measure the

and selling dear is rewarded, while buying dear and

extent of market power. A firm possessing too

selling cheap is penalized. The profit and loss

large a share of the market could be assumed to be

system is a learning device by which systematic

monopolistic.

error can be eliminated. In addition to these func­

The pricing conduct of the firm, moreover, could

tions, prices also serve as the backdrop against

be deduced from the market structure. In a corn-

COMPETITION

105

petitive industry a firm would be forced by the logic

The model of monopolistic competition did. But

of the model to set price equal to marginal cost. On

other questions persisted, such as the role of prop­

the other hand, in a monopolistic situation the firm

erty rights and institutions of contract. Economists

would be able to restrict output and raise price

began to recognize that the key problem with mon­

above marginal cost. The consequence being that

opoly was not the ability to price above marginal

under the competitive situation the performance of

cost, but the barrier to entry that afforded such

the industry could be termed optimal, while under

artificially restrictive practices. Economists do not

monopolistic conditions performance would be

possess a positive theory of monopoly, but rather a

suboptimal. This paradigm of industrial economics

normative theory of property rights.

justified much of the government economic regula­

The development of a property rights approach

tion of industry, such as antitrust law, in the twen­

to industrial economics has moved the focus of

tieth century. The dominant paradigm, however, suffered from

analysis away from the conditions of competitive equilibrium and back to the classical economists'

serious drawbacks. From basic confusions of defin­

discussion of the dynamic market process within

ing the relevant market (national or international)

different institutional contexts. As a result the riv­

to serious analytical difficulties in explaining the

alrous behaviour of individuals and firms within

workings of the competitive market process, the

economic processes has once again received atten­

standard structure-conduct-performance paradigm

tion. Competition, rather than being a state of

was found wanting. For example, if everyone

affairs measured by market share and supposed

treated price as a parameter how do prices change

equilibrium conditions, is an active process of

to clear the market? Moreover, the model contained

learning how better to arrange and rearrange re­

the serious dilemma that in a situation of perfect

sources to satisfy more effectively the ends sought.

knowledge a profit opportunity known to everyone

Competition, within an institutional environ­

is actually known to one so that nobody would have

ment of private property, is a discovery procedure

any inducement to pursue profit opportunities -

which generates both incentives and knowledge for

thus the logic of the model of market clearing

the effective allocation of resources. Perhaps the

disappears. The basic model of competitive equi­

most important property of the competitive market

librium, it was discovered, could not even explain

process is its ability to reveal error and provide the

the existence of firms or the use of money, let alone

incentive and knowledge for individuals to correct

shed light on such phenomena as advertising, prod­

past mistakes. This error detection and correction

uct differentiation, brand name loyalty, contracting

property of the competitive market is the vital

practices, and so on. As a positive analytical device

characteristic of the system for the promotion of

for explicating the workings of a pure market econ­

economic prosperity.

omy, the model of general competitive equilibrium was not very helpful. This model of perfect competition, at best, could

See also SOCIALIST

CALCULATION, ENTREPRE­

NEURSHIP, CONSUMER SOCIETY, CHICAGO ECONOM­ ICS and AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS.

only serve as an imaginary construction which, by the method of contrast, could aid us in illuminating the real world of uncertainty and time. In other words, by studying a world without change we may be able to understand the difficulties change introduces into economic life. Unfortunately, the mainstream of economic thinking viewed the model in a much more concrete and descriptive manner.

Reading Armentano, D. T. 1982: Antitrust and Monopoly. Brazen, Y. 1982:

Concentration,

Mergers

and Public

Policy. Demsetz, H. 1982: Barriers to entry. American Economic

Review 72,47-57. Hayek, F. A. 1948: The meaning of competition. In Indi­

vidualism and Economic Order.

--1978: Competition as a discovery procedure. In New The counter-revolution The development of the model of monopolistic competition provided the first immanent criticism of the model of perfect competition. The model of perfect competition could not explain the existence of product differentiation found in actual markets.

Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History ofIdeas. Kirzner, I. 1973: Competition and Entrepreneurship. McNaulty, P. 1967: A note on the history of perfect competition. Journal ofPolitical Economy 75,395-9.

--1968: Economic theory and the meaning of compe­ tition. Qyarterly Journal ofEconomics 82,639-56.

106

CONFLICT

Stigler, G. 1965: Essays in the History ofEconomics. --

Conflict and social structure

1968: The Organization ofIndustry. PETER J. BOETTKE See ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

computing

The impact of conflicts on social structures varies with the character of such structures. In open, pluralistic societies conflicts are likely to have sta­ bilizing consequences. If there are viable channels

conflict

Defined as a struggle over values or

for the expression of rival claims, conflicts in flex­

claims to status, power and scarce resources, in

ible and open societies may lead to new and stable

which the aims of the conflicting parties are not

forms of interaction between component actors and

only to gain desired values but also to neutralize,

allow novel adjustments. In rigid structures, by

injure or eliminate their rivals, conflicts may take

contrast, conflicts tend to be suppressed but are

place between individuals or between collectivities.

likely to be highly disruptive if and when they

These intergroup as well as intragroup conflicts are

occur.

perennial features of social life; they are essential

In open and flexible societies, multiple conflicts

components of social interaction in any society.

are likely to criss-cross each other, thereby prevent­

Conflicts are by no means always 'negative factors'

ing cleavages along one axis. In such societies there

undermining collective life. They often contribute

arise a variety of conflicts in different spheres.

to the maintenance and growth of groups and col­

Hence multiple involvement of individuals in vari­

lectivities as well as to the strengthening of inter­

ous conflicts knits society together by fostering

personal relations. Conflict

and

different alliances for different issues. Actors who CoMPETITION

are

related

but

are antagonists in one conflict may be allies in

distinct social phenomena. Competition focuses

another. This prevents the polarization character­

on gaining specific goals in the face of competing

istic of a rigid society where all conflict tends to fall

actors whereas conflict is always aimed not just

along one axis.

at the gaining of desired values but at hurting

Ever since classical Greek thought a distinction

or eliminating actors who stand in the way.

has been made between conflicts that proceed on

Competition may be conceived as akin to a race,

the basis of societal CoNSENSUS and conflicts that,

whereas conflict may be seen as analogous to a

on the contrary, involve dissensus over the basic

boxing match.

values on which a society rests. There are conflicts

Social philosophers and social scientists have

within the rules of the game and conflicts about the

been divided on the assessment of conflict ever

rules of the game. The first type of conflict may lead

since antiquity. In modern times, views about the

to new adjustments and reform, whereas the second

functions, causes and effects of conflicts in social

is likely to lead to breakdown or revolutionary

structures have been divided into roughly two

change.

camps: those who maintain that conflicts should

Any society contains elements of strain and po­

be viewed as pathological phenomena, as symptoms

tential sources of conflict. In flexible structures

of sickness in the social body; and those who argue

such conflicts provide the dynamics of social

that conflicts are normal forms of social interaction

change. Elements that evade and resist the pat­

which may contribute to the maintenance, develop­

terned structures of values and norms and the ha­

ment, change and overall stability of social entities.

bitual balance of power and interests in such

In modern sociology, the first view is represented

structures can be considered harbingers of alterna­

by, among others, Emile Durkheim and Talcott

tive patterns. In flexible structures conflicts prevent

Parsons, the second can be found in Hegelian and

ossification and decrease the likelihood of purely

Marxist thought, but also in SociAL DARWINISM

routine types of action. Change in general and

and among elite theorists such as Vilfredo Pareto

innovation and creativity in particular counteract

and Gaetano Mosca. Today in sociology- although this has not always

habitual adjustments that freeze social life into rigid moulds.

been the case- there is a tendency for conservative

The clash of values and interests, the tensions

thought to emphasize the negative functions of

between what is and what some groups or individ­

conflict and for radicals to celebrate conflict as a

uals think ought to be, the conflict between vested

vehicle for social change.

interests and new demands for access to wealth,

CONFLICT

107

power or status are far from being pathological

Conflicts and hostile sentiments are different phe­

phenomena - they are stimulants of social vitality

nomena and may not always coincide. Discrimin­

in societies that are flexible enough to allow or even

atory behaviour, for example, may not always be

encourage the unhampered expression of conflict­

associated with prejudiced attitudes. Hostile atti­

ing interests and values.

tudes need not necessarily result in conflict behav­ IOur.

Conflict theory assessed

Nor need we expect that objective discrepancies

Social peace and social feuds, conflict and order, are correlative phenomena. The cementing as well as the breaking of the cake of custom and the domin­ ant systems of wont and use are part of the built-in dialectics of social life. It is hence ill-advised to distinguish a sociology of order and a sociology of conflict or to see a contradiction between a harmony model of society and a conflict model. Conflict theories or integration theories should not be viewed as rival explanatory systems such as, say, Ptolemaic

astronomy

versus

Copernican,

but

should be viewed as partial rather than global com­ ponents of general sociology theory. In the last analysis there can only be one overall sociological theory even though it may consist of sets of partial theories of the middle range. Just as modern polit­ ical theory has abandoned the fruitless discussion of whether coercion or persuasion is the

real

basis of

political structures, and just as most modern psych­ ology has abandoned the vain quest to decide whether either nature or nurture is at the root of personality, so sociological theory should guard itself from encouraging similar fruitless dichotom­ izing. Whenever analysts encounter what appear to

in power, status, class position or income will ne­ cessarily lead to the outbreak of conflict, although they should be conceived of as potential sources of conflict. The way people define a situation rather than the objective features of a situation must be the focus of analytical attention. Potential contenders for a change in status, deference or power and wealth may refrain from resorting to conflict either because of a realistic appraisal of their chances of success, or because they consider the existing dis­ tribution of valued entities to be legitimate. When, as in the traditional Indian caste system, unequal distributions of valued items are considered legit­ imate not only by the privileged but by the under­ privileged as well, conflicts between the haves and the have-nots will not threaten the system. Only when the underprivileged deny legitimacy to an ideology by losing faith in it, as when the relations between their needs and the privileges of the higher ranked become transparent to them, can one expect conflict between the haves and the have-nots to break out.

Realistic and non-realistic conflict

be temporary equilibria they should pay attention

The distinction between realistic and non-realistic

to the conflicting forces that led to their establish­

types of conflicts has of late shown some valuable

ment in the first place. Conversely, the analyst

results in concrete analysis. Realistic conflict arises

should be sensitized to the likelihood that where

when individuals or groups clash in the pursuit of

there is conflict and disjunction there will also be

rival claims and the expectation of economic gain,

forces that press towards the establishment of new

power or status. Participants perceive that conflict

types of equilibria. Preponderant concern with one

might be abandoned or replaced by other means if

or another set of phenomena stands in the way of

these appear to be more effective. On the other

the overall analysis of social structures and pro­

hand, in non-realistic conflicts, which usually arise

cesses. The sociology of conflict aims at explaining

from hostile feelings only, the means to conduct the

variables neglected by other theoretical approaches;

conflict are not replaceable because what is at stake

it cannot supplant the analysis of other social pro­

is the aggression itself. Scapegoating provides a

cesses.

good example. What is replaceable in this case is

Objective and subjective factors

not the means but the object. In such conflicts the target is secondary to the dispositional need for

The objective basis of conflicts over scarce values

attack. Thus in non-realistic conflict there are alter­

and goods such as income, status or power need to

natives as to the target, whereas in realistic conflict

be distinguished from subjective dispositions and

there are alternatives to the means used. In scape­

attitudes such as hostility, aggressivity and the like.

goating, for example, the attacked object may be

108

CONFUCIANISM

victimized because of ethnic group, beliefs or sex,

the past in all but a few instances. As these few

or other characteristics, depending on the specific

examples show, it is possible to decrease the vio­

situation. In realistic conflict, in contrast, a party in

lence or intensity of conflict by chanelling antagon­

industrial relations may decide that arbitration

istic encounters in such a way as to minimize

rather than strike action is more likely to bring

human suffering and costs. If today nuclear warfare

results.

has become unthinkable so tomorrow other obnox­ ious forms of warfare, even though not all warfare, may no longer claim human lives.

Conflict, self-worth and collective strength Feelings of personal worth, strength and dignity among heretofore despised and underprivileged persons or strata are likely to be enhanced and strengthened if the underprivileged have shown their mettle in contentions with those who have hitherto repressed and oppressed them. The civil rights struggles in

the

American South,

for

example, so enhanced the sense of empowerment and worth among the black population that it could now triumphantly proclaim that Black is Beautiful. The working class in all Western industrial coun­ tries was slowly transformed from an object to a subject in history, to a classfor itself, with a sense of power to transform its pariah status. The modern

See also AGGRESSION; VIOLENCE. Reading Collins, R. 1975:

Conflict Sociology: Toward an Explana-

tory Science. Coser, L. A. 1956:

The Functions ofSocial Conflict. Continuities in the Study ofSocial Conflict. Dahrendorf, R. 1957 (1959): Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. G1uckman, M. 1956: Custom and Conflict in Africa. Himes, J. S. 1980: Conflict and Conflict Management. Kriesberg, L. 1982: Social Conflicts, 2nd edn. Rex, J. 1961: Key Problems ofSociological Theory. Simmel, G. 1908 (19SS): Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations. --1967:

LEWIS

feminist movement has transformed millions of women from largely passive sexual objects to self­ conscious actors on the public scene in their quest for full gender equality with men. Conflict between antagonistic actors may not only enhance the sense of worth, power and dignity of one or both of them, it may also lead to a strengthening of their bonds with each other. Be it in race relations or in marriage, conflicts may allow the emergence of stronger ties rather than the de­ struction of such ties. Marriage bonds may be re­ inforced or race relations improved after the relevant actors have gained self-confident strength, after they have clashed in pursuit of their initially divergent interests.

Channelling conflicts

Confucianism

COSER

As an intellectual and ethical

tradition, Confucianism is more than 25 centuries old. Its basic values were embraced not only in China proper, but in Japan, Korea and Vietnam as well, and helped to shape East Asia's self­ consciousness as a distinct cultural region. As might be expected, there is no essential Confucian­ ism which endured throughout this long history. Rather, the Confucian tradition, like other intellec­ tual and religious traditions of comparable age and significance, evolved and changed, even as some real continuities were maintained. This diverse cultural heritage has provided rich resources for twentieth-century East Asians to reflect on contem­ porary social life, although Confucianism has also had to face numerous challenges concerning its

The quest for the elimination of conflict in human

compatibility with

society is bound to fail. Conflict is an ineradicable

values.

part of human living together; it is as fundamental a

A.

new social knowledge and

The Western name 'Confucianism' might sug­

component of human association as is cooperation.

gest that Confucius (a Latinized form of K'ung

What is feasible, however, is to transform specific

Tzu

Fu­

types of conflict behaviour when it is perceived as

teacher who lived in the sixth century BCE, was the

dysfunctional or noxious. Duelling, once a major

founder of this intellectual and ethical tradition. In

component of aristocratic lifestyles, has all but dis­

fact, he saw himself only as a transmitter of a

- Master K'ung), a Chinese philosopher and

appeared. The vendetta survives only in isolated

heritage which had taken shape centuries before

remnants of Western societies. The violent strikes

his time, and generally 'Confucianism' has been

in the labour-management conflicts of the nine­

known in East Asia as the 'Scholarly Tradition'.

teenth and early twentieth century are a thing of

Confucius lived in a period of great political and

CONFUCIANISM

109

cultural disorder. His concern to restore order and

educational system, in principle, was open to

harmony to society and to cultivate individual

anyone, and is one of the few examples of an aspir­

MoRALITY within a social order defined by tradition

ation to universal education in the premodern

became values which motivated and guided the

world. In the past, Confucian social thought gave

subsequent

a special place to the role of the ruler in establishing

development

of

Confucian

social

thought. As a way of life, Confucianism became

the ideal society and encouraging moral perfection

noted for its concern for personal wellbeing, social

in individuals. Some of Confucius' own teachings,

harmony and solidarity, political stability and uni­

collected in the Analects, advocated government by

versal peace, all of which are to be pursued within

exemplary behaviour, rather than by coercion and

structures of meaning inherited from the past. (See

punishment. He advised rulers to lead the people

also TRADITION AND TRADITIONALISM. )

according to the proper rites

Confucian social thought has generally been cor­

(li),

which would

motivate others to fulfil their own roles within

porativist, assuming that the ideal society is a hier­

society; according to Confucian political theory, a

archically differentiated order and that ritually

ruler will not be able to govern effectively without

structured human relationships are essential to

proper personal conduct. The elite community of

this ideal. This emphasis on human relationships

Confucian scholars often aspired to play a role in

was expressed in a linked interest in distinguishing

government as advisors to the ruler. Confucius and

between individuals and differentiating the kinds of

his successors urged rulers to give positions of

relations possible among them. Traditionally, Con­

authority to 'people of virtue and ability', that is,

fucians acknowledged the possibility of many kinds

those who were successful in Confucian education,

of relations between individuals but gave special

and the Confucian tradition generally preferred a

emphasis to 'five cardinal relations' as fundamental

meritocracy to any system of government which

to a proper social order: those between parent and

privileged birthright.

child, those between ruler and subject, between

In the twentieth century, many of the core values

husband and wife, between older brother and

of Confucian social thought have been subject to

younger brother, and between friends. The Confu­

extensive criticism and outright rejection. This is

cian concern with those relations within the family,

particularly the case with the political dimensions

especially those between parents and children, have

of Confucian thought, since few rulers attained

led some observers to describe Confucian social

the moral status necessary to rule according to the

theory as restrictively group oriented, but the Con­

instructions of Confucian political theory. At the

fucian concern with the possibility and significance

turn of the century, Confucianism was identified

of voluntarily constructed relationships, such as

quite realistically with authoritarianism and polit­

those between friends, should not be underesti­

ical corruption, since its ideals could easily be ma­

mated. Each of these cardinal relationships fixes

nipulated

roles as well as responsibilities; duty thus corres­

individuals or groups. This internal critique of

ponds to title. All of these various reciprocal rela­

Confucianism in practice, which had many prece­

tionships

are

best

established

and

through formalized etiquette and ritual

to enhance the

power of particular

cultivated

dents in Chinese history, was accompanied by the

(li)

challenge of alternative social ideals learned from

which

contact with the West in the nineteenth century.

have been received from the past. traditionally

Increasingly, Confucian values and institutions

defined relationships is not only crucial to the es­

were perceived as incompatible with democratic

tablishment of an ordered society, but is essential to

or socialist ideals, or just with MoDERNITY in gen­

Proper

behaviour

within

these

the necessary development of an individual, for in

eral. Much of Confucian social thought in the twen­

the Confucian view of things persons only become

tieth century has thus been necessarily defensive,

human

through a lifelong process of cultural and

attempting to show that Confucian tradition either

ethical learning. 'To become fully human, the self

has values analogous to the new challengers or can

must enter into continuous dialogue with others

promote the attainment of the new ideals.

within the structures of human relationships' (Tu,

1984, p.

5).

The Confucian tradition was institutionalized in

More recently, there has been a revival of Con­ fucian values throughout East Asia as part of ongoing reconsiderations of cultural identity in

patterns of family life, in a sophisticated educa­

the modern world. This revival has emphasized

tional system, and in government. The Confucian

the traditional Confucian insistence that social life

110

CONSENSUS

should be shaped by the moral and symbolic re­

based on the consensus of a moral community of

sources of the past. While it has been critical of the

like-minded and like-feeling individuals.

Confucian tradition which it has inherited, this

social scientists tended to follow in Comte's foot­

revival has also begun to rethink whether modern­

steps while attempting to make his analytical rigid­

ity must necessarily be defined with an emphasis on

ity more flexible. They have stressed, for example,

Later

the autonomy of the individual. The example of

that in no society, however consensual, will such

industrial East Asia suggests that the Confucian

consensus be equally shared by all component

values of respect for authority, social solidarity

members. Nor can it be expected that all members

based on familism, and a preference for consensus

of a group or society will actually wish to participate

rather than independent thought can make positive

in decision making. Nor, on the other hand, are all

contributions to a modern society.

groups or individuals always able to make their voices heard in the public arena. It may turn out

Reading

that what parades as general consensus is only the

King, A. Yeo-Chi 1991: Kuan-hsi and network building: a

consensus of those allowed to play the political

sociological interpretation. In The Living Tree: the

Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today, special issue of Da edalus, 120, 63-84. Levenson,J. R. 1958-65: Confucian China and its Modern

Fate, 3 vols. Rozman, G. ed. 1991: The East Asian Region: Confucian

Heritage and its Modern Adaptation. Tu Wei-ming 1984: Confucian Ethics Today: the Singapore

1985: Confucian Thought: Seljhood as Creative Trans­

formation. --

Consensus has to be distinguished from CoER­ CION, that is, the forceful imposition of norms of

behaviour on the population at large by the political overlords and decision makers. Unreflective con­ formity and the habitual acceptance of social com­ mands

cannot

be

taken

as

the

equivalent

of

consensus either. The latter generally implies a

Challenge. --

game.

process through which agreement between partici­ pant actors is brought about. It is to be conceived as

1991: The search for roots in industrial East Asia:

the case of the Confucian revival. In Funda mentalisms

Observed, ed. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby.

CHARLES HALLISEY

an active process and must hence be distinguished from acquiescence, resigned acceptance or simple conformism. The Nazi regime in Germany, for example, could probably count on the consensus of large parts of Germany's political actors in the

As a term for general agreement be­

first years of the regime, but towards the end of the

tween individuals or groups, not only in thought

Nazi era most citizens seem to have been motivated

but also in feeling, the word does not only refer to

by passive conformity to the injunctions of the Nazi

national agreements but also implies common sen­

leaders.

consensus

timents - sensing together. Consensus exists when

Rules of the game, as we have just seen, may be

a large proportion of the adult members of a society

coercively

or of its subgroups, particularly a large proportion

powerless subordinates. Yet, as political theorists

imposed

by

powerful superiors on

of decision makers, are in general agreement as to

have argued ever since the great Greek philoso­

what decisions are required and what issues have to

phers, coercion alone cannot provide a sufficient

be addressed. Persons or groups who act in consen­

foundation for a social order. If it is true that po­

sus have a sense of affinity with each other and are

licemen can hold a club over potential violators of

united by affective ties and common concerns or

an imposed order such an order cannot solve the

interests. This definition applies, of course, only to

problem of who polices and holds a club over the

an ideal type. In any concrete situation consensus

policemen. A measure of consensus, even if it may

among some will be accompanied by dissensus or

involve only a fraction of the population, must

apathetic withdrawal among others. Consensus and

inspire some actors to follow the directions of the

dissensus are correlative (see DISSENT).

decision makers for motives other than fear of re­

The term consensus was introduced into the

prisal.

language of the social sciences by Auguste Comte

Consensus does not involve clinging forever to

in the nineteenth century; he conceived it as the

fixed standards that guide conduct. On the con­

indispensable cement on which any social structure

trary, historical reflection will show that what was

must rest. He believed that if society was not to

part of the consensus at one time will no longer

collapse into a sandheap of individuals it had to be

govern behaviour at another time. Political parties,

CONSERVATISM at least in modern democratic politics, are continu­

111

incited to do so by the onset of rapid and unsettling

ally involved in conflicts that aim at transforming

change. And even then it finds it hard to give voice

partial consensus into partial dissensus or partial

to instincts which for so long it has taken for

dissensus into partial consensus. For example,

granted, and which (quite literally) it has had no

beliefs about the need for a measure of social secur­

reason to define or defend. For every Edmund

ity during periods of unemployment or in old

Burke, who was 'alarmed into reflection' by the

age are now taken for granted and at least grudg­

French revolution, there were a thousand tongue­

ingly accepted by defenders of the free market,

tied aristocrats and peasants who knew what they

whereas they were seen in an earlier period as

loved, but not why.

utopian fantasies. Quite often, the crackpots of

Hence the 'alarm' which is felt by conservatives

one generation become the venerated innovators

in the face of change more often lends itself to, than

of the next.

leads to, 'reflection'. It is nevertheless correct to

Not only may a given consensus be here today

look for the nativity of conservative thought in

but gone tomorrow because of historical flux and

conservative sentiment. The feeling for the con­

change, but the actors who develop consensus and

crete and the immediate which is so characteristic

consent may also change over time depending on

of the former has its origin in the latter. It can be

the relative openness or closure of access to the

traced back, more specifically, to the premodern

political arena. Consensus is brought about through

ties and practices of the old Europe upon which

a process in which even some originally recalcitrant

the philosophes of the eighteenth-century ENLIGHT­

actors, be they individuals or groups, become mo­

ENMENT heaped so much scorn. Against their drive

tivated, at least in some contexts, to forego egocen­

to reorganize society along 'rational' lines, and to

tric patterns of behaviour through being welded

prize individuals loose from the web of attachments

together by a collective 'we'. In such situations,

in which they had been enmeshed, conservative

initial disagreements may become part of consen­

traditionalists rallied to the defence of their own

sual common beliefs even as newly emerging areas

kind (see RATIONALITY AND REASON). They slowly

of dissensus already begin to point to another turn

raised to the level of reflection their experience of

of the screw.

institutions and customs as inseparable from the

Reading

the then emerging liberal emphasis on wholly indi­

ends of human life. This was in stark contrast to

Comte, A. 1974: The Essential Comte, ed. S. Andreski.

vidual ends and interests, to which institutions and

Key, V. 0. Jr 1961: Public Opinion and American Democ-

forms of life stand in a merely instrumental rela­ tionship. As for long-established institutions, to the

racy. Lipset, S.

1960: Political Man: the Social Bases of

Politics. Shi1s, E. 1975: 'Consensus' in C entre and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology.

LEWIS A. COSER

liberal individualist they have always seemed to be crutches which people 'come of age' can live per­ fectly well without (see INDIVIDUALISM). The con­ servative is altogether less sanguine: people left to their own devices, conservative thinking goes, are people left to their own vices. Society, as the con­

This is a political perspective

servative pictures it, is not a sandheap of individual,

which is universal in a way that the great modern

unconnected atoms. It is rather a communitas com­

ideologies of LIBERALISM and SociALISM and F AS­

munitatum, in which the socially detached individ­

conservatism

CISM are not. An instinctive aversion to change, and

ual- Shakespeare's 'unaccommodated man'- is the

a corresponding attachment to things as they are,

exception and not the rule.

these are sentiments from which few human beings

What began as an instinctive opposition to

have ever been wholly exempt. And sentiments are

modernizing ideas burgeoned into a full-blown

all that conservatism has amounted to for much of

'counter-enlightenment' when it dawned on con­

human history. In advanced no less than in primi­

servatives that bourgeois radicals wanted to ration­

tive societies any other disposition but the conser­

alize and atomize the whole of society. To the

vative has generally seemed aberrant. Unchanging

extent that the latter succeeded in their aims,

customs, rituals and manners governed human be­

some of the conservative opposition to abstract

haviour from generation to generation. Conserva­

modes of thought was depoliticized, as it lost

tism only awakes from its instinctive torpor when

touch with the world as it was coming to be and

112

CONSUMER SOCIETY

took refuge in that internalized experience we rec­

belief in a universal natural law - which is by

ognize as romanticism. But a more durable element

definition applicable to all human beings in all

in the conservative camp emerged as HISTORICISM.

places and at all times - consistent with an attach­

The historical school reacted to the dissolution of

ment to particular and local traditions and customs?

the traditional, static world by reinterpreting the

Not all conservatives, of course, adhere to both

conservative attachment to the concrete as an at­

these views; but those who do are usually forced

tachment to the organic, that is, that which is living

to admit that an existing or traditional culture may

and always evolving. The place which had been

indeed fall far short of certain universal moral prin­

occupied in earlier conservative thought by the

ciples, in which case the former must submit to the

estate and the local community was filled instead

judgement of the latter.

by the organic community of the 'people'

( Volk).

Change, however, may be so vertiginous that a

It remains true that ever since the Enlightenment used its own idea of human nature to demonstrate

historicist response to it ends not in adaptation but

the irrationality of all existing societies, many con­

capitulation. Both history and experience then

servatives have shunned the very idea itself as being

become treacherous grounds on which to mount

altogether too abstract. But it is important to under­

an effective opposition to radical change, for the

stand the great gulf which separates the conserva­

simple reason that - to borrow the language of

tive idea of human nature- as only becoming what

MARXISM - they are on the side of change. This is

essentially it is, as only finding completion, in soci­

why in the twentieth century many conservatives

ety- from the modern liberal idea of it as essentially

have felt the need for a more discriminating mode

asocial. British and American conservatives have

of thought: appealing less to tradition itself than to

sometimes come close to embracing this liberal

the truths which a healthy tradition embodies. It

view by their enthusiastic espousal of CAPITALISM.

was a mark of the Judeo-Christian tradition that all

However, in practice they normally retain some

members of society accepted it as binding upon

vestige of the older conservative belief that free­

themselves. But modern Western man has lost any

dom, including economic freedom, is at once inop­

sense of an objective moral order. The 'privatiza­

erable and intolerable outside a strong social and

tion' of moral values, which is inevitable and good

moral framework. It remains to be seen how far

from the liberal point of view, from the conserva­

conservatism, in anything more than name, can

tive is identical with the affluent nihilism of con­

survive in a society which is more inclined to con­

temporary society. If values rest on nothing more

flate, than connect, freedom with virtue.

solid than our arbitrary choice, as RELATIVISM would have it, we can have no good reason to

Reading

believe in them. The conservative critique of liberal

Burke, E. 1790

individualism here acquires a cultural and meta­ physical - and not just a social and political perspective. Society and its obligations are not founded on the shifting wills and desires of individ­ uals, but ultimately on the nature of human beings. In other words, prior to the deals we make with one another, in pursuit of our interests, we possess certain duties and rights which are, so to speak, non-negotiable or 'given', because inscribed in our very natures.

(1968): Reflections on the Revolution in

France. Eliot, T. S. 1939:

The Idea ofa Christian Society. Notes Towards the Definition of Culture. Kirk, R. 1954 (1986): The Conservative Mind, 7th edn. Nisbet, R. A. 1966: The Sociological Tradition. Oakeshott, M. 1962: Rationalism in Politics. Scruton, R. 1980: The Meaning of Conservatism. --ed. 1988: Conservative Thinkers. --ed. 1988: Conservative Thoughts. St rauss, L. 1949: Natural Right and History. Voegelin, E. 1952: The New Science ofPolitics. --1948:

!AN CROWTHER

The limits placed on change or 'progress' by the twin ideas of human nature and natural law are obviously very considerable. Liberals and radicals,

consumer society

in varying degrees, assume the infinite plasticity of

around the consumption rather than the production

Denoting a society organized

human nature. Natural law conservatives assert to

of goods and services, this term has come into

the contrary that it manifests unchangeable fea­

general use over the past decade. It is commonly

tures, which in turn implies unchangeable norms.

employed to designate an interrelated set of socio­

Some have seen this view as pointing to a possible

economic and cultural tendencies deemed charac­

incoherence in conservative theory: how is the

teristic of the advanced industrial societies of North

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS

113

America, Western Europe and the Pacific Rim and

ologists. Fernand Braudel (1973) has argued that an

is seen to distinguish them both from earlier nine­

understanding of the development of modernity in

teenth-century 'productionist' societies and from

the West requires an appreciation of how changes

the developing societies of the Third World. Popu­

in consumer behaviour in the premodern period led

lar usage frequently contains the implication that

to an increased demand for goods, while McKen­

members of such societies identify high levels of

drick, Brewer and Plumb (1982) identify the 'con­

consumption with social success and personal

sumer revolution' which heralded the arrival of

happiness and hence choose consuming as their

the consumer society as occurring in England in

overriding life goal. As such the phrase is often

the second half of the eighteenth century. Other

linked to a critique of the status-seeking, material­

writers have sought its origins in fifteenth- and

ism and hedonism which are assumed to comprise

sixteenth-century Europe (Mukerji, 1983) and

the dominant values in such societies. Academic

mid-nineteenth-century France (M. B. Miller,

usage has increasingly attempted to eschew such

1981; Williams, 1982).

evaluative overtones while retaining the insight

Such research has given fresh impetus to the

that the key to understanding modernity lies in

debate over how the activity of consumption should

recognizing the centrality of the activities of con­

best be understood. In this context both the neglect

sumption and its associated attitudes and values.

of consumption within neoclassical economics and

The term 'consumer society' is employed to en­

the 'productionist bias' manifest in the writings of

capsulate this view and usually implies an econ­

Karl Marx and Max Weber are frequently noted as

omy which is geared to satisfying the novel wants

a marked deficiency within Western social thought.

rather than merely the recurrent needs of con­

Thorstein Veblen's theory of conspicuous con­

sumers.

sumption (1899) is that most commonly invoked

The idea that the social and cultural changes

in an effort to fill this vacuum, although Pierre

occurring in the more advanced economies of

Bourdieu's (1979) reworking of the traditional

North America and Western Europe should be

Veblenesque themes of taste and social snobbery

understood as primarily associated with a shift

is increasingly cited as a major source of theoretical

from a focus on production to one on consumption

inspiration. Other recent attempts to develop a

was first advanced in the 1950s by David Riesman,

distinctive theory of consumption which could

Nathan Glazer and Reuel Denny in The Lonely

serve as a basis for a theory of consumer society

Crowd (1950) and has since been taken up by

would include those of Appadurai (1986), Camp­

other, more recent interpreters of modern society,

bell (1987) and Daniel Miller (1987).

such as Daniel Bell (1976), Bernice Martin (1981)

See also AFFLUENT SOCIETY.

and Colin Campbell (1987). In these works the transition from a production to a consumer society

Reading

is not viewed as simply consisting of the emergence

Campbell, C. 1987: The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of

of a mass market for luxury goods but is equated with a fundamental shift in values and beliefs. Hence discussion of the nature and origin of the consumer society is linked to attempts to explain the decline of the Protestant work ethic and its displacement by an 'expressive', 'hedonistic' or 'ro­

Modern Consumerism.

McCracken, G. 1988: Culture and Consumption: New Ap­ proaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities.

McKendrick, N., Brewer, J. and Plumb, J. H. 1982: The Birth of a Consumer Society: the Commercialization of Eighteenth-century England.

mantic' ethos (see PROTESTANT ETHIC THESIS). This

COLIN CAMPBELL

concern with the analysis of cultural change has meant that discussion of the consumer society

contradiction

See DIALECTICS

intersects with other debates over the nature of Sometimes referred to

contemporary society (see MASS M EDIA: MoDERN­

conversation analysis

ISM AND POSTMODERNISM).

as CA, this field of sociology is concerned with the

However, the assumption that there is a clear

organization of social interaction in everyday con­

watershed in the recent past separating societies

texts and more specialized institutional environ­

shaped by the forces of production from those

ments. Originating in the research of Harvey

determined by the forces of consumption has been

Sacks and his collaborators Emanuel Schegloff

increasingly questioned by both historians and soci-

and Gail Jefferson, the field emerged as a product

114

COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT

of the influences of ETHNOMETHODOLOGY and the

interviews, medical consultation and so on, can be

interactional analysis of Erving Goffman. From its

documented and analysed.

inception in privately circulated lectures by Sacks

CA research and findings embody an innovative

(1964-72), CA has grown into a field of research

fusion of sociological approaches to the nature of

that is practised worldwide.

social action and interaction with analytic outlooks

The primary research objective of CA is to de­

associated with linguistic pragmatics. The detail

scribe and analyse the social competencies under­

and cumulativeness of these findings is creating

lying the production and recognition of ordinary

new opportunities for precisely focused studies of

social actions. Many of these competencies have a

the workings of specific social institutions and is

normative dimension. CA shares the ethnometh­

exerting a significant impact in the adjacent discip­

odological view that a common body of normative

lines of anthropology, linguistics, social psychology

practices inform both the production and the inter­

and cognitive science.

pretation of action and that they are implemented in a dynamic social context that is altered, to a

Reading

greater or lesser extent, with each successive con­

Atkinson, J. M. and Drew, P. 1979: Order in Court: the

tribution to interaction. Analysis of these practices is made possible by the fact that, during the course of interaction, each party (whether consciously or not) displays an understanding and analysis of the other's conduct through the production of a next action in a sequence. CA embodies an analytic framework that is based on this fact. Thus rather than focusing on speakers and their individual in­

Organisation of Verbal Interaction in Judicial Settings.

Atkinson,J. M. and Heritage,J. C. eds 1984: Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis.

Drew, P. and Heritage,]. eds 1991: Talk at Work. Goodwin, C. 1981: Conversational Organisation: Inter­ action between Speakers and Hearers.

Levinson, S. C. 1983: Pragmatics. Sacks, H. 1964-72(1992): Lectures on Conversation, ed. G. Jefferson, 2 vols.

tentions, CA begins with the normative practices that

shape

sequences

of

interaction

JOHN HERITAGE

between

speakers and the design of particular actions or

cooperative movement

utterances within these sequences. Using this ap­

working together for the production and distribu­

proach has resulted in a very large range of findings

tion of goods, cooperatives have taken a variety of

about the organization of action, of mutual under­

forms in different national contexts. The Inter­

Associations of people

standing within interaction and, increasingly, of the

national Co-operative Alliance, representing almost

extent to which findings deriving from interactional

600 million individual members worldwide, has

data from a particular culture are universal or cul­

singled out six essential principles: voluntary and

turally specific.

open membership, democratic control, limited

The empirical approach of CA is observational

return on capital, surplus earnings belong to

and naturalistic rather than experimental. It is based

members, education and cooperation among co­

on data that are collected from natural settings of

operatives (ICA Commission,

interaction by audiotape or videotape or film

control is the key difference between capitalist and

1967). Democratic

recording. Much of this data is taken from casual

cooperative forms of property. Unlike the joint­

conversations between friends and acquaintances.

stock company each member has the same voting

This sort of conversation represents the most basic

rights regardless of the number of shares held;

form of interaction in most, if not all, cultures. It is,

PARTICIPATION is power, rather than individual

as Schegloff has observed, a primordial site of

ownership of other people's ossified

human sociality and it is of fundamental significance

labour.

abstract

in the study of social action and practical reasoning.

An ethical, idealist impulse has been a common

Moreover ordinary conversation is a form of inter­

feature. From its inception, cooperation was seen

action to which humans are first exposed during the

as a way of building an alternative to capitalism

course of SociALIZA TION and through which social­

from the bottom up, replacing bourgeois INDIVIDU­

ization itself proceeds. Analysis of its underlying

ALISM with a society based on mutuality and social

organization is providing a baseline against which

solidarity. An English cooperator defined the ideal

the conduct that is characteristic of more specialized

thus in

forms of interaction, for example in courts, news

eliminate the present industrial system, and to sub-

1907: 'By means of mutual association to

COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT

115

stitute mutual Co-operation for the common good

nize capital/labour relations (Backstrom, 1974).

as the basis of all human society' (Webb, 1904, p. 2).

Ludlow drafted the Industrial and Provident Soci­

The movement originated in Britain during the

eties Act of 1852 which regulated (in the sense of

development of industrial capitalism in the late

protection and constraint) relations between the

eighteenth century; cooperative mills were estab­

state and cooperatives. This attempt to appropriate

lished from the 1790s, evidence of the contest be­

the meaning of cooperation was effectively coun­

tween the 'moral economy' of the labouring poor

tered by the English and Scottish CWS (established

and laissez-faire ideology and practice (Thompson,

in 1863 and 1868) which articulated a neo-Owenite

1991). The early nineteenth century was punctu­

ambition based on the principle of consumer co­

ated by waves of cooperative experiment; short­

operation (Yeo, 1987, p. 231). This strategy, theor­

lived worker co-ops were set up during the Luddite

ized by Charles Gide in France, contained its own

agitation in 1811-13; Owenite and Chartist stores

contradictions and the constant tension between

were founded from the late 1820s through the

the rights and duties of producers and consumers

1830s.

Although

the

utopian

socialist

Robert

Owen has often been regarded as the 'father' of the cooperative movement, these ventures were neither inspired nor wholeheartedly supported by

has marked subsequent cooperative ideology and practice, in Britain and elsewhere. By

1914

cooperation

had

become

deeply

ingrained within working-class communities, par­

the paternalistic Owen, who preferred modes of

ticularly in the north of England. A counter­

social transformation imposed from above (Taylor,

culture, comprising a wide repertoire of educational

1983, p. 120).

and recreational forms, grew up around the move­

In 1844 Owenite-inspired weavers formed the

ment; here was the equivalent of the cultural con­

Rochadale Society of Equitable Pioneers. This so­

struction which characterized the German SPD

ciety redistributed the trading surplus among

before World War I (Gurney, 1989). The 'unmak­

members according to the value of their purchases,

ing' of this culture is part of the unwritten social

the so-called 'dividend', although the ultimate goal

history of the twentieth century. The movement

was still the establishment of 'a self-supporting

had to struggle not only with its own project but

home colony of united interests' (Webb, 1904, p.

also against powerful outside forces ranged against

69). The society expanded at a phenomenal pace

it. Changes in the capitalist mode of consumption

and demonstrated the usefulness of this form of

(Aglietta, 1976), particularly the development of

working-class association at a time when direct

'consumer capitalism' in the widest sense, has

confrontation with the capitalist state was becom­

checked cooperative advance in Britain and the

ing less feasible. Working-class women had a large

West generally. The capitalist state has frequently

measure of control over consumption strategies and

been hostile and there have been repeated attempts

were consequently highly visible within the move­

to tax cooperative 'surplus' (profits to critics); in

ment from its inception and throughout its subse­

1933 mutual associations were assimilated to joint­

quent history.

stock companies and cooperative reserves taxed

The 'essentially contestable' nature of cooper­

in the same way as capitalist firms (Killing­

ation was apparent from this early phase. Until

back, 1988). This hostility has been apparent even

about 1848 'cooperation', 'communism' and 'so­

when the custodian of political power has been the

cialism' were interchangeable and carried similar

Labour Party; antagonism between different wings

anti-capitalist emphases (Bestor, 1948). These con­

of the labour movement has been a constant disab­

cepts have been sites of complex and protracted

ling factor, a result of the fractured identities of

struggles over the last two centuries. Bourgeois

workers as producers/consumers, men/women,

reformers throughout Western Europe attempted

voluntarists/statists.

to separate 'cooperation' from what were perceived

The British movement inspired cooperative de­

to be more 'revolutionary' modes of social change,

velopment throughout Europe and North America.

especially after the 1848 revolutions. Middle-class

Vigorous national movements grew up in France,

Christian Socialists like E. V. Neale and ]. M.

Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium

Ludlow were fervent advocates of producer co­

and Italy, each with their own peculiarities. Credit

ops and profit-sharing and believed that these

unions played an important role in the German

forms would 'humanize' the worker and harmo-

movement and their founder, Schulze-Delitsch,

116

COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT

considered cooperation an antidote for Marxist social democracy. The French movement, inf­l uenced by the ideas of the utopian socialist Charles Fourier and later by the anarchism of Pierre Proud­ hon and the moderate socialism of Louis Blanc, was shaped by the revolutionary experience of 1848 and 1871. Agricultural cooperatives were dominant in Russia and played a vital role in the Russian Revo­ lution of 1917 prior to collectivization under Stalin (Carr, 1952). Today over 100 million people belong to co­ operatives in Europe and North America. The most promising experiment since World War II is the Mondragon complex in the Basque region of Northern Spain. Founded in 1958 by Arizmendi, a socialist priest, it now consists of over a hundred cooperatives employing 19,000 worker-owners, and supplies banking, housing, education, social wel­ fare and consumer goods; a living, albeit isolated, example of the effectiveness of a 'culture of cooper­ ation'. This has led some commentators to describe Mondragon as 'a new phenomenon in cooperative history' (Thomas and Logan, 1982, p. 76). The principles of voluntary membership and democratic control serve largely to disqualify forms of collective enterprise developed by socialist and communist states from inclusion in this discus­ sion. Their overall lack of success points to the incompatibility between cooperation and statist forms of social transformation. This is well illus­ trated by the Russian kolkhoz or collective farm, which spectacularly failed to solve the problems of agricultural production in the old Soviet Union. The same can be said of the Ujamaa Village in Tanzania imposed from above by Julius Nyerere in the 1960s. However, this rule has not been inviol­ ate: workers' SELF-MANAGEMENT initiatives in the former Yugoslavia and the Chinese Commune can be viewed in a more favourable light. Communes, formed in both rural and urban districts after 'the great leap forward' in 1958, organized and regu­ lated production, consumption, defence and edu­ cation. Some commentators have regarded them as the partial realization of a communist utopia (Mel­ nyk, 1985, p. 43). The positive gains represented by these experiments are in danger of being lost as Eastern Europe and China pursue Western modes of capitalist modernization. Two of the most promising present-day move­ ments are found in India and Japan. Cooperatives exist in almost every village in India. Over a quarter of a million societies with 140 million members

have achieved great success, particularly in dairy farming, sugar and fertilizer production. Initially established by the British and used to buttress colonial power in the countryside, the movement continues to suffer from the legacy of corruption. Political parties have frequently interfered in co­ operative affairs and appointed leaders against the wishes of the membership. The result has been to alienate the movement from the members (Sharma, 1989). By contrast, the Japanese movement, which originated in the late nineteenth century, has de­ veloped a strong democratic structure based around the 'Han' or community group. Established in the late 1950s, the Han is a small group of consumers (10 to 12 families) which makes contracts with suppliers through the local consumers' cooperative and regulates quality and distribution. This form has ensured high member participation and, coupled with the economic boom after World War II, helps account for the movement's growth; Japan now has the world's largest consumer cooperative organization with over 11 million members and a turnover of nearly 13 million US dollars in 1986 (Hasselman, 1989). Many advocates of cooperation continue to regard it as a viable alternative to both state social­ ism and monopoly capitalism; hence the import­ ance assigned to a regenerated Russian movement by President Gorbachev in the late 1980s (Gorba­ chev, 1988). The sector was consequently reborn during perestroika, but following the failure of this initiative it is unlikely that the movement will per­ form the transformative role once envisaged. In the longer term the problems which now confront the world economic system generally may serve to underline anew the relevance of cooperative social and economic forms. Reading Banner, A. 196 1: British Co-operation. Co1e, G. D. H. 1945: A Century of Co-operation. Desroche, H. 1964: Cooperation et developpement: Mouvements cooperatifi et strategie du developpement. Furlough, E. and Strikwerda, C. eds 1999: Consumers Against Capitalism? Consumer Co-operation in Europe, North America and Japan. ]ones, B. 1894: Co-operative Production. Laid1aw, A. F. 1981: Co-operation in the Year 2000. Sapelli, G. ed. 1981: IlMovimento Co-operativo in Italia. Watkins, W. H. 1970: The International Co-operative Alliance, 1895-1970. Webb, C. 1927: The Woman with the Basket.

PETER GURNEY

CORPORATISM

117

In recent usage in the social sci­

public policy objectives, governments effectively

ences, the concept of corporatism has shrugged off

excluded from the bargaining table a rather larger

corporatism

its earlier association with authoritarian and fascist

number of less powerful groups (Offe in Berger,

regimes, and has come to be deployed as a means for

1981).

analysing the role of organized interests in present­ day liberal democracies.

Corporatism has also

There has been a lively debate about what should be the focus of corporatist theory, which has led

passed into common political usage as a shorthand

some critics to doubt its distinctive character. The

for the involvement of trade unions, together with

most widespread modern usage of the term iden­

organizations representing the interests of capital in

tifies the heart of corporatism as the role of interest

bargaining with governments over economic pol­

organizations as intermediating between the state

icies. In public debate corporatism has come to be

and CIVIL SOCIETY. Pluralist theory stressed the role

seen as the antithesis of neoliberalism, in which

of groups as representing the interests of their

governments seek to use competition rather than

members and seeking to influence the direction of

negotiation as the dynamic of policy-making.

public policy implemented through the institutions

Much of the earlier normative writing on corpor­

of the state. Corporatist theory laid an equal stress

atism reflected Catholic social doctrine, and the

on the delegation of public functions to groups, and

search for an ideological alternative to liberalism

their responsibility for the implementation of

and socialism. Corporatist writers espoused organic

public policy. Thus groups did not simply repre­

theories of society, and argued for functional

sent interests, but carried out a double role which

groupings or corporations based on a common set

fused together interest representation and policy

of interests which transcended class divisions. This

implementation. The key test for the effectiveness

idea of corporatism as a blueprint for an ideal social

of a corporatist group was thus argued to be its

system based on the harmonious accommodation of

capacity for disciplining its membership to accept

different social groups was nowhere realized in

and implement bargained agreements with the

practice, although some of its elements found ex­

state. Relatively stable relationships of this kind

pression in the projected corporate STATE in Mus­

have also been termed 'private interest government'

solini's Italy.

(Streeck and Schmitter, 1985).

Among contemporary academic writers, corpor­

The difference between advanced capitalist soci­

atism is usually seen as the antithesis of PLURALISM,

eties where corporatism develops incrementally as a

and indeed the leading exponent of corporatist

consequence of the growing monopoly power of

theory in the 1970s, Philippe Schmitter (1974),

interest organizations, and those where a corporat­

offered corporatism as a critique of what he saw as

ist design is imposed by the state, is captured in the

the dominant pluralist orthodoxy in PoLITICAL

distinction between societal (or liberal) corporatism

SOCIOLOGY. Pluralists interpreted the extraordinary

and state corporatism (Schmitter, 1974). Societal

range and diversity of interest organizations in

corporatism develops where the state recognizes

modern societies as evidence for the openness of

the accretion of autonomous power by organiza­

democratic

of

tions representing the interests of social categories,

influences, and offered a benign view of INTEREST

and enters into a process of political exchange with

governments

to

a

wide

range

GROUP politics as a supplement to electoral mech­

them.

anisms for ensuring democratic accountability. By

strongly institutionalized in countries such as Aus­

Societal

corporatism

has

become

most

contrast, corporatist theory stressed the limited

tria or Sweden where a powerful labour movement

number of politically influential organizations, and

has become a 'social partner' with the peak employ­

the tendency for such groups to achieve a monopol­

ers' association and the state in negotiating eco­

istic position in representing interests within par­

nomic and social policies. State corporatism, by

ticular social categories. Such developments tended

contrast, occurs in societies with relatively weakly

to supplant rather than supplement parliamentary

organized group interests, where states seek to le­

processes. Governments tended to favour the de­

gitimate their rule and accomplish their objectives

velopment of interest monopolies because it made it

by mobilizing the population within subordinated

easier and less time-consuming to bring group

organizations. State corporatism tends to be associ­

interests in line with public policies. By conferring

ated

a privileged public status on those groups whose

regimes, such as those in Latin America (Malloy,

cooperation was considered important for realizing

1977).

with

peripheral

or

dependent

capitalist

118

CORPORATISM

The development of corporatism in liberal dem­

which scored most highly was Austria, that the

ocracies is often associated with a reduction of

United States was the least corporatist country,

the range of decisions which are subject to deter­

and that in Britain corporatism has been relatively

parliamentary

weak. Some attempts (discussed in Cawson, 1986)

processes. Many early accounts assumed an evolu­

have been made to measure corporatism and cor­

mination

through

electoral

and

tionary process of corporatist development with

relate its incidence with other features of national

warnings that parliamentary democracies were in­

political systems. The results are suggestive rather

creasingly becoming 'corporate states'. But with the

than conclusive, but there are indications that cor­

increasing sophistication of corporatist theory, the

poratism is linked to low levels of backlash against

appearance of empirical studies of corporatist pro­

high taxation and public spending. Other studies

cesses and the conscious rejection of corporatist

have suggested that the more 'governable' countries

practices in some countries has come an appreci­

are the strongly corporatist ones, and they tend also

ation of the limits of corporatism and its coexistence

to have lower unemployment.

with parliamentary and pluralist processes. This

Most students of corporatism agree that the

has led to the development of a 'dual state' or

prototypical case of macro-corporatism is Austria,

'dual politics' thesis which suggests that corporat­

followed by the Scandinavian countries, and espe­

ism is limited to intermediation with respect to a

cially Sweden. Austria has a system of compulsory

range of issues concerned with production and

membership in chambers of commerce, labour,

involving producer interests, and will always coex­

agriculture and the professions, and every working

ist with a competitive or pluralistic political process

citizen is a member of at least one of these. Each is a

for the determination of consumption issues in­

highly centralized organization, in which the na­

volving individuals and consumer interest organ­

tional leadership maintains effective control over

izations (Cawson and Saunders, 1983).

sectoral and territorial subdivisions. The peak

Where corporatism has become strongly en­

trade union organization monopolizes the represen­

trenched at the macro level, economic and social

tation of labour, and individual unions are subunits

policies have been determined on the basis of tri­

which depend on the centre for their financial re­

partite negotiation. It has been argued that the

sources. Parity of representation is guaranteed by

ability of some countries to withstand economic

the state in bargaining over price control and eco­

recession without resorting to deflation and the

nomic planning,

creation of unemployment can be explained by the

bargaining is focused on a highly informal non­

and

agency,

collective the

Parity

socioeconomic

extent to which corporatism facilitates bargaining

bureaucratic

between capital and labour over the distribution of

Thus the Austrian example demonstrates the effec­

Commission.

the social product (Goldthorpe, 1984). In such

tive institutionalization of the preconditions of

cases corporatist processes involve class collabor­

macro-corporatism: monopolistic and centralized

ation, and for this reason many Marxist critics (see

interest organizations, parity in class representa­

Panitch in Schmitter and Lehmbruch, 1979) have

tion, and informal adjustment processes. All of

argued that corporatism can be understood as a

these preconditions have emerged over a consider­

strategy which is adopted by capitalist states in

able historical period, and while none is unique to

order to maintain the subordination of the working

Austria, the combination of them certainly is

class. Related to corporatism as a process of macro­

(Marin in Grant, 1985).

economic policy-making is recent work by Scandi­

Less stable and successful examples of corporat­

navian scholars, which has introduced the idea of

ist institutions can be found in a number of other

the 'negotiated economy' as a means of describing

countries. For some two decades after World War II

economic policy-making regulated by a series of

the Dutch Social and Economic Council effectively

bargains between autonomous institutions (Nielsen

produced an interclass consensus on economic

and Pedersen, 1988).

policy, but its influence waned from the 1960s as

An important part of the early writing on liberal

interest organizations became more fragmented and

corporatism concentrated on the comparative an­

the formalized system of functional representation

alysis of nation-states, and several attempts were

failed to adapt. In other cases, such as West Ger­

made to rank countries according to the extent to

many, corporatist institutions have come under

which they conformed to an ideal type of corporat­

pressure as a consequence of economic crisis,

ism. Most authors seemed to agree that the country

when employers and sometimes individual unions

COUNTERCULTURE have sought to circumvent centralized bargaining

119

tional-level indicators, in particular policy areas

procedures. In general the resurgence of neoliberal

such as agriculture strongly entrenched forms of

economic strategies since the 1970s has tended to

corporatist intermediation can be found.

undermine the preconditions for corporatism at the

Corporatist theory has mounted a strong chal­ lenge to pluralism as a model of interest group

macro level (Goldthorpe, 1984). Modern usage suggests the following as a concise

politics, but as empirical evidence feeds into suc­

definition of the concept: Corporatism is a specific

cessive refinements of the theory, it is becoming

sociopolitical process in which organizations repre­

clear that corporatism and pluralism should not be

senting monopolistic functional interests engage in

seen as alternative paradigms for studying interest

political exchange with state agencies over public

politics but as end points on a continuum according

policy outputs, which involves those organizations

to the extent to which monopolistic and interde­

in a role which combines interest representation

pendent relationships between interest organiza­

and policy implementation through delegated self­

tions

enforcement.

(Cawson, 1986).

and

the

state

have

become

established

Three key features of corporatism distinguish it from pluralistic processes of interest group polit­

Reading

ics. The first is the monopoly role played by cor­

Cawson, A. 1986: Corporatism and Political Theory.

poratist bodies; the second is the fusion of the

--ed. 1985: Organized Interests and the State: Studies in

representative role with that of implementation; and the third is the presence of the state both in licensing monopoly representation and in eo­ determining policy. Whereas in pluralist theory interests are identified as prior to organization and political mobilization, in corporatist theory the

Mesa-Corporatism. Grant, W. ed. 1985: The Political Economy ofCorporatism. Malloy, J. ed. 1977: Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America. Schmitter, P. C. and Lehmbruch, G. eds 1979: Trends toward Corporatist Intermediation. Williamson, P. 1989: Corporatism in Perspective.

state is identified as a crucial agent in shaping

ALAN CAWSON

interests and affecting the outcome of group pro­ cesses (Cawson, 1986).

council, democracy

See WoRKERS' COUNCIL

The interest organizations which are most likely to achieve monopoly status and enter into a corpor­

counterculture

atist exchange with state agencies are those which

set of values, norms and behaviour patterns which

represent producer rather than consumer interests,

directly contradict those of the dominant society.

and which command resources of information or

According to the

compliance which are necessary for the implemen­

word was added to the English language in the

A minority culture marked by a

Oxford English Dictionary, the

tation of state policies. Empirical studies suggest

late 1960s and early 1970s, referring to the values

that employers' and trade associations, trade unions

and behaviour of the American younger generation

and professional bodies are the most common inter­

of the 'sixties' who were revolting against the dom­

locutors.

The form that corporatism takes is

inant cultural institutions of their largely affluent

bargaining, with a high degree of delegation of

parents (see AFFLUENT SOCIETY) . Although the

public authority to nominally private bodies. As a

word entered the language in response to this par­

policy mode, corporatism may be contrasted with

ticular generational conflict in America, the idea is

legal-bureaucratic and market forms of regulation

as old as the Judaeo-Christian history of the West;

which involve a markedly different form of rela­

Christianity itself was a counterculture in Jewish

tionship between the state and interest organiza­

Jerusalem and later in pagan Rome. Both]. Milton Yinger, a leading American sociologist of counter­

tions. In addition to the macro level, which involves

cultures (1982), and Christopher Hill, a leading

peak associations in bargaining over public policies,

British historian of the English revolution (1975),

corporatism can be identified at a sectoral or mesa

refer to the Bible in their books on countercultures:

level in the relationship between state agencies and organizations

which

have

achieved

monopoly

These men who have turned

representation of particular sectoral interest cat­

The world upside down

egories. Even in countries such as the United States

Have come here also.

or Canada, which are weakly corporatist using na-

Acts 17:6

120

COUNTERCULTURE

The driving force of Christianity has been built

materialistic values of white America and at­

on the dialectical tension between the Old and New

tempted to turn them upside down in the 1960s,

Testaments, between law and Gospel, between the

the most anti-authoritarian, anti-elitist and disesta­

Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the

blishmentarian decade in American history. In the

Mount. Perfectionists in every generation have

course of the decade, the hegemony of a WASP

usually appealed to the universal Gospel of love as

establishment over an open class system was re­

against the culturally rooted laws symbolized by

placed by a governmental bureaucracy, bent on

the Ten Commandments. Thus among the multi­

levelling downward rather than upward, creating a

tude of seekers spawned by the English revolution

classless society of ranks based on credentials (such

of the 1640s and 1650s, the followers of such sects

as advanced degrees at prestigious institutions)

as 'The Family of Love' were not unlike the flower

rather than native ability and drive.

people and hippies of the 'Love Generation' in the American 'sixties'. Sectarian and countercultural movements have

Coming of age in the shadow of the Holocaust and Hiroshima, and faced with the dehumanizing aspects of ever more rationalized and impersonal

usually had two aspects, radical activists who seek

institutions such as multiversities at Berkeley and

politically to revolutionize society and bohemians

Michigan, many members of this generation found

who withdraw from society to live in isolation.

all forms of racism and ethnic prejudice as well as

Thus John Lilburne, the most popular man in

war unacceptable; reason, scientism and technol­

Cromwellian England, led his Levellers in political

ogy-worship were major parts of the problem rather

revolt, but eventually withdrew from political ac­

than any solution; hard work and social mobility

tivism and became a Quaker; so Staughton Lynd, a

became the 'rat race' to be avoided at all cost (better

guru of the student New Left who went to Hanoi,

an independent and honest carpenter or plumber

showing his solidarity with the enemy when Amer­

than a conforming and conniving bureaucrat); self­

ica was still fighting the Vietnam war, also became a

improvement through self-denial gave way to the

Quaker. Theodore Roszak, in an excellent, early

Playboy

book on the counterculture (1969), includes both

courtship rituals were dropped in favour of 'having

'the mind-blown bohemianism of the beats and

sex'; husbands and wives were replaced by more or

ethic

of self-indulgence,

love-making

hippies' and the 'hard-headed political activism of

less permanent 'significant others' (lasting relation­

the student New Left' within counterculture.

ships were honestly feared); synagogue and church

At the close of World War II, Americans were

attendance, as well as nineteenth-hole rituals at the

confident and proud of their institutions, which

suburban golf club, were left to uptight parents

were rooted in Calvinist cultural values. These

while their children fled in search of meaningful

included faith in reason, science and technology, a

lives in the student civil rights movement in the

Puritan ethic of hard work and self-improvement,

South, New Left politics on the very best campuses

representative democracy limited by law and Con­

of the nation and escape through drugs and various

stitution, and finally, a mildly patriarchical family

Eastern religious cults in the urban bohemian

where divorce was still relatively taboo, parental

scenes like the East Village in New York, or

authority assumed, and family church attendance

Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, as well as the

higher than in any other Western nation. Order and

bohemian fringes of their favourite campuses from

authority in this confident society were shaped by a

Berkeley to Harvard Yard. The Quakers (once

hierarchical, yet increasingly open and opportuni­

called the antinomian Anabaptists of the English

tarian, class system led by elites drawn from, or

revolution, who still believe in participatory dem­

being assimilated into, a secure and hegemonic

ocracy) went through a slow, steady decline in

WASP ('white Anglo-Saxon Protestant') establish­

postwar America and then boomed in the 1960s as

ment.

new Meetings were founded round campus com­

This optimistic society launched the longest eco­ nomic boom in American history, which produced

munities. The largest meeting in Massachusetts was right off Harvard Square.

an unprecedented baby boom lasting well into the

One important thing about the counterculture

1960s. These baby-boomers went to college and on

was its loss of faith in representative democracy in

to graduate and professional schools in increasing

favour of participatory or demonstration democ­

numbers. Meanwhile, a prophetic minority (New­

racy; the student New Left, led by Tom Hayden

field, 1967) of them became disenchanted with the

and other founders of Students for a Democratic

COUNTERCULTURE

121

Society (SDS), was determined to move political

novelist who wrote One Flew over the Cuckoo's

decision-making out of the halls of the legislature to

Nest, which became a cult novel and film of the

the crowd-filled streets; the ballot was replaced by

sixties generation. In this sad summer, 'love

the bull-horn, the privacy of the voting booth by

had fixed itself in a place of excrement' (Wolfe,

lonely crowds chanting simplistic solutions to com­

1968, p. xviii). These love children, who had

plex political problems. The effectiveness of crowd

left homes of stifling comfort and affluence, had

politics depended on television, which soon sent

no idea how to take care of themselves. Barefooted,

vivid audiovisual images round the 'Global Village'

longhaired, dressed in rags from thrift shops and

world, dramatizing the crowd behaviour of 3,000

grandmothers' attics, they lived on drugs and junk

students gathered (for the Free Speech Movement)

food, suffered from bad

on Sproul Plaza, at the Berkeley campus of the

and lack of sleep, and were constantly stepping on

teeth, bad digestion

University of California, in 1964; the crowd of

rusty nails and broken glass; venereal disease flour­

20,000 in the march on Washington against the

ished alongside sexual freedom. A free medical

Vietnam war, in 1965; of 25,000 hippies and New

clinic treated some 3,000 patients a month that

Leftists marching on the Pentagon, in 1967; and

summer.

finally, the angry, frightened student crowds bat­

The greatest happening in the history of the

tling the 'pigs' (policemen) in Grant Park and on

counterculture was the Woodstock Festival of

the streets around the Democratic Convention in

Life when some 500,000 youths, left activists,

Chicago, in the summer of 1968, which demoral­

drop-outs and the just plain curious, found their

ized the liberals (despised enemies of SDS).James

way to a gigantic rock concert held in the middle of

Miller (1987, p. 304) described the end of that day

a muddy farm in upstate New York, in August 1968, just a month following the tragedy of the

in Chicago as follows:

Democratic Convention in Chicago. For three The sun set. Klieg lights were switched on. Tele-

days the stripped-down, happily stoned crowd

vision cameras recorded the action ... Suddenly,

were orderly and friendly, even impressing the

without warning, the police attacked ...Fused by

police and local farmers. If Woodstock was a suc­

panic, rage and pride, the crowd began to chant:

cess, the Let it Bleed festival of Angels and Death,

'The Whole World is Watching! The Whole

run by Mick ]agger's Rolling Stones, 'the world's

World is Watching! The Whole World is Watch­ ing!'

greatest rock and roll band', at the Altemont Race­ way near San Francisco, in December, was a disas­ ter. The Stones, to save money, hired a band of

After Chicago the SDS fell apart, leaving a small

remnant

called

the

Weathermen,

who

Hell's Angels (for 500 dollars worth of beer) to keep order (O'Neill, 1971, p. 261). The crowd of some

were now dedicated to violence. Their end was

300,000 was far more stoned than at Woodstock.

symbolized by two events in 1970; in May a

Rolling Stone magazine, leading authority on rock

splendid town house in New York City on 11th

music, photographed Mick ]agger watching the

Street, right off Fifth A venue, in the Village,

Angels beating a young Negro from Berkeley to

was accidentally blown up, killing three Weather­

death on stage, in front of the freaked-out crowd.

men; the survivors, including the owner's daugh­

Todd Gitlin, obsessed with the stench of death in

ter,

the stoned crowd, asked himself: 'Who could any

went

underground;

in

May,

National

Guardsmen opened fire on demonstrating students,

longer harbor the illusion that these hundreds of

killing four.

thousands of spoiled, star-hungry children of the

The rise and fall of the drug culture paralleled that of the student activists. The year following the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley, two hippies

Lonely Crowd were harbingers of a good society?' (1987, p. 407). See also STUDENT MOVEMENT, YOUTH CULTURE.

opened a psychedelic shop in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. By the 'Summer of Love' in 1967, the Haight became the Mecca of hippie tribes from all over the nation, who had tuned in, dropped out and been turned on by the drug religion of Timothy Leary, a defrocked Harvard professor, and Ken Kesey, the let-it-all-hang-out

Reading Feuer, L. S. 1969:

The Conflict of Generations: the Character and Significance ofStudent Movements. Fraser, R. 1988:1968: a Student Generation in Revolt. Kennan, G. F. 1968: Democracy and the Student Left. Mailer, N. 1968: Miami and the Siege of Chicago.

122

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

Rothman, S. and Lichter, S. R. 1982: Roots ofRadicalism: Jews, Christians and the New Left.

case, the ideology and organization of the military are often contrasted with the low level of institu­

Wo1fe, T. 1968: The Purple Decade: A Reader.

E. DIGBY BATZELL

tionalization of political regimes characterizing praetorian societies - because of the absence or weakness of effective political institutions, social

counter-revolution

See REVOLUTION

forces

confront each

other

nakedly

and

each

employs means which reflect its capabilities: 'the coup d'etat

Defined restrictively by Henry R.

wealthy bribe; students riot; workers strike; mobs

Spencer as 'a change of government effected by

demonstrate; and

the holders of governmental power in defiance of

1968,

the state's legal constitution'

(1963,

p.

508),

the

p.

196).

the military coup'

(Huntington,

Yet it would be an exaggeration to

say that military coups lead only to authoritarian

concept of a coup d'etat would thus tend to cover

regimes: the coup in Portugal in

only the category of executive coups. As underlined

to the fact that a putsch may sometimes open the

by M.N. Hagopian

(1975, p.6), the disadvantage of

1974 bears witness

way to democracy.

such a definition is that it excludes those coups fomented by groups not belonging to the power

Reading

elite (paramilitary coups) or which, despite being

Chazel, F. 1985: Les ruptures revo1utionnaires. In Traite

part of the state apparatus, do not necessarily hold political power (military coups). Unlike revolutions or militarized insurrections which also aim at a change of government (see

REVOLUTION),

a coup d'etat in no way calls on the

masses to mobilize. This prime characteristic does not exclude 'an eventual empirical interdependence of phenomena', a coup that may well occur 'at the

de science politique, ed. J. Leca and M. Grawitz. Hagopian, M. N. 1975: The Phenomenon ofRevolution. Huntington, S. P. 1968: Political Order in Changing Soci­ eties. Luttwak, E. 1969: Coup d'Etat: A Practical Handbook. Spencer, H. R. 1963: Coup d'Etat. In Encyclopaedia ofthe Social Sciences, ed. Edwin R. A. Seligman and A1vin Johnson, vol. 3-4, pp. 508-10. Touraine, A. 1988: La Parole et le sang.

beginning of a revolution, or during it' (Chazel,

1985,

PATRICE MANN

p. 637). The second characteristic lies in its The briefest definition of

manner of execution: prepared and carried out by a

crime and deviance

small number of people, a coup d'etat requires

crime would probably refer to it tautologically as a

above all secrecy and quick action. In this way

breach of the criminal LAW. A little more fully, the

there occurs 'the infiltration of a small but critical

1989 edition of The Oxford English Dictionary stated

segment of the state's apparatus which is used to

that crime is 'An act punishable by law, as being

displace the government from the control of the

forbidden by statute or injurious to the public wel­

remainder' (Luttwak,

1969,

p.

12).

The accent

fare'. And the classic description was offered by the

placed on limited institutional change is not always

jurist William Blackstone in

a pertinent factor. What is true for traditional soci­

or crimes and misdemeanours are a breach and

eties, where coups are generally centred on personal

violation of the public rights and duties due to the

rivalries - these are not so much executive coups

whole community, in its social aggregate capaci­

but rather palace revolutions- is not necessarily so

ty ...treason, murder, and robbery are properly

1973

ranked among crimes; since besides the injury

was accompanied by a significant narrowing of the

done the individual, they strike at the very being

political arena. Elsewhere, even though the stra­

of society.'

for other societies: the coup d'etat in Chile in

tegic skill (secrecy and quick action) of the factions

1778:

'public wrongs,

Some, like the criminologist Paul Tappan, would

mens rea,

is crucial in unseating the holders of power, it is not

add a reference to

sufficient in itself to guarantee the success of the

intention is not an invariant requirement in law.

1920

After all, there are quite serious crimes that are

coup d'etat; the Kapp putsch in Germany in

a guilty mind, but

failed as a result of a general strike. However, the

committed by those who might properly claim

link between coups d'etat and the civilian capacity

that they could not have been aware of the conse­

to mobilize remains quite a complex one, since it is

quences of what they were doing. The doctrine of

not rare for military coups to curb violent situations

strict liability was devised precisely to confront that

imputable, in developing countries, to a sudden

difficulty, its origins lying in attempts made in the

upsurge in the participation of the masses. In this

nineteenth century to control the sale of danger-

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

123

ously adulterated foodstuffs by grocers who denied

treated strictly and exclusively as an attribute of

knowing what was contained in the products they

only a limited number of contemporary, liberal

stocked (see Paulus 1974).

Western societies.

The more conventional definitions are not always

There is the problem posed by the requirement

well regarded in criminology. For example, a small

that crime should be regarded as a breach of law

number of positivist criminologists once declared

punishable by the state. The state does not exist

that entrusting the determination of crime to

everywhere, and certainly not always in a form

lawyers and legislators led to a system of classifica­

familiar to Western criminal lawyers and crimin­

tion that is culturally relative, difficult to generalize

ologists. In the past, it could be but one of a number

and scientifically unsound (see CRIMINOLOGY). In­

of powers armed with legitimate force and the cap­

stead of 'crime', Sellin (1938) proposed 'conduct

acity to punish. Sharpe (1988), a social historian,

norm' as a more rigorous and productive term.

pointed to the conceptual difficulties posed by the

'Conduct norms' are

many offences tried in local manorial and ecclesi­

coherent and

consistent

crime-like things amenable to study by a rigorous

astical courts in England and Wales before the

criminology, but they did not find much favour in

nineteenth century. Similarly, social anthropolo­

the discipline.

gists pointed to preliterate societies which pos­

Again, a group of radical criminologists in the

sessed arrangements that do most of the work of a

1960s and 1970s attached particular importance to

criminal justice system but which lacked the formal

the politics underpinning the identification of

structures of a state. Thus, Llewellyn and Hoebel

crime and criminals. The very idea of crime sug­

( 1941) described policing among the Cheyenne,

gests an effective capacity to produce and enforce

Gluckman (1965) wrote about the Barotse system

interpretations of conduct. In 1976, Chambliss and

of jurisprudence, and Malinowski was quite con­

Mankoff stated simply that 'acts are defined as

tent to entitle one of his studies of Melanesia Crime

criminal because it is in the interests of the ruling

and Custom in Savage Society (1932). Something

class to so define them . . .' (p. xx). So profound

very close to crime can then be said to exist in

were the political, social and moral implications of

communities which have no written laws or a

the word 'crime' thought to be that members of the

formal state. Indeed, Reckless proposed a com­

group were reluctant to allow its definition to

promise definition of crime in 1940: 'in the so­

remain under the control of a state or a class from

called primitive or preliterate societies which do

which they would distance themselves ideologic­

not possess a written or legislated body of criminal

ally. To do otherwise would have been to risk

law, a crime is a violation of the precious customs

coaptation. The concept of'crime' was to be treated

and the mores' (p. xx). It is a definition that intro­

as elastic and metaphorical, a wrong whose meaning

duces a major qualification.

was independent of what reactionary laws, lawyers

There is a second problem. Some states are so

and states might say, and criminology itself was to

weak or disorganized, or so riddled with corruption

be redirected at problems set by a more radical

and malpractice, that it is nigh impossible to talk

programme.

usefully about effectively functioning governments

Schwendinger

and

Schwendinger

(1975), for example, deplored the appropriation of

and systems of law, policing and punishment. Al­

the term by capitalist states and preferred to exer­

geria, Bosnia, the Lebanon, Liberia, Rwanda,

cise their academic and political freedom by de­

Sierra Leone and Uganda have at times been so

scribing

racism,

disordered that they cannot be covered by defens­

imperialism and sexism. The title of 'crime', they

ible distinctions between crime and conformity,

claimed, was part of a hegemonic system, wrapped

criminal and social organization, lawful and arbi­

as crimes such

problems

as

up in a politics of naming and condemning, which

trary orders, state and populace, authority and ban­

should be resisted.

ditry. Where some presidents of African states are

The vast bulk of criminologists have chosen

cannibals, smugglers and embezzlers (see Bayart et

either to neglect the close examination of legal and

al., 1999), where some presidents of South Ameri­

legislative processes or to accept what those pro­

can countries are drug smugglers, where the police

cesses generate as solid and indisputable social facts

routinely rape witnesses and victims in India

and, in so doing, they have retained some version of

(Kumar, 1993), where, as Cohen put it, 'lawlessness

the conventional definitions. But they are defini­

and crime have so destroyed the social fabric that

tions that encounter difficulties unless crime is

the state itself has withdrawn' (1996, p. 9), it is hard

124

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

to adhere to any serviceable idea of crime as a

regulation. Tench concluded in

discrete class of events unless one resorts to the

System of Law

Towards a Middle

(1981) that 'nowadays practically

different, largely unenforceable and uncertain doc­

anything can be a crime' (p. xx). It is a statement

trine of an overarching body of universal human

that invites some scepticism about the conventional

rights.

claim that crime necessarily and clearly harms the

Third, there is the problem that strong states can

public good.

exist without a coherent, predictable and precise

It might be added that practically anybody can be

scheme of criminal law. Ancient Egypt had no

a criminal. 96 per cent of the males in a London­

written laws because legislation would have en­

based self-report study had committed at least one

croached on the absolute power of the Pharaoh to

offence by the age of 32 (Farrington, 1989). Fur­

declare his will. Totalitarian states later retained

ther, according to the 1999 Home

crimes by analogy, crimes that are not a specific

Office Information on the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales,

breach of a code but are deemed practically similar

34 per cent of males and 8 per cent of females born

to such a breach. Article 79 of the 1980 Criminal

in 1953 had a conviction for an offence before the

Code of the People's Republic of China, for in­

age of 40.

stance, stated: 'a crime not specifically proscribed

One repercussion of such a proliferation of laws,

under the special provisions of the present law may

crimes and criminals is that the meanings of crime

be confirmed a crime and sentence rendered in light

appear to have become bifurcated in everyday life.

of the most analogous article under the special

On the one hand, there are many breaches of crim­

provisions of the present law.' Nazi Germany and

inal law whose importance is diluted; they are, in

Soviet Russia had similar stipulations. Crime can

effect, 'mere' crimes or formal infringements with­

then be what the ruling authorities say it is at any

out

time. In such a case, Clinard's (1963) starkly min­

quences. They can take the form of 'ducking and

imal definition of crime becomes quite appealing:

diving' and 'wheeling and dealing' to become

crime, he argued, is merely 'any act punishable by

accepted as a routine, indeed stabilising, feature of

the state' (p. 213).

widespread

and

significant

moral

conse­

large areas of social life (Hobbs, 1988, 1995; Walk­

The identification of crime may be easier in

late, 1998).

states such as Canada where there is a published

On the other hand, there is a second meaning of

criminal code under periodic scrutiny from lawyers

'crime' that still embodies sentiments of outrage

seeking consistency and rationality. Many states

about the harm done to a community, and it may

lack such a code and crimes there are not simple

sometimes be distinguished from the first by being

and distinct at all. Thus the legal system of England

called 'real crime'. 'Real crime' has become some­

and Wales contains such an abundance of laws

thing of a metonym, detached from its strict defini­

affecting so many areas of political, social and eco­

tion in law and dependent on a form of customary

nomic life that it has become hard to discern a

morality. It is behaviour regarded as unambigu­

simple coherent principle underlying their defini­

ously inadmissible, the act of moral outsiders who

tion or application. There are 'crimes' that do not

are increasingly at risk of being identified and ex­

conform to any common-sense notion of what is

cluded as 'Others' (Young, 1999).

criminal. There are acts, particularly in the area of

Those

two meanings

are continually being

public welfare offences, that may be thought harm­

played off against one another in ways that are

ful but are not criminalized. In 1980, a committee of

practically important and politically contested. A

Justice, the British section of the International

'real crime' may evoke censure, informal control or

Breaking the

a call to the police whilst a 'mere crime' could be

that it was unable to discover how many

more or less grudgingly tolerated (Foster, 1990,

Commission of Jurists, reported in

Rules

different crimes there were in English law and

1995). How those issues are resolved will pose

what it was that made some offences crimes rather

larger questions about the legitimacy of the state,

than 'mere' technical contraventions of law. Again,

laws, police, acts, offenders and victims. It was for

there are now many criminal acts that were not

that reason, in part, that radical criminologists were

Fallen Idols

so interested in the political economy and ideology

formerly so: thus Clarke argued in

( 1981) that the rise in financial and business fraud

of the criminal sanction.

in England in the 1970s was due in large measure to

What is quite clear is that crime and PoWER are

the sheer expansion and increase in the reach of

inseparable. W. Tallack, S. Schafer, N. Christie

CRIME AND DEVIANCE and others attached a special importance to the

125

the criminal justice system. 'Social disorganiza­

historical association between the idea of crime

tion', 'social problems' and 'social pathology' had

and the rise of a central state capable of making

been in vogue before 'deviance', and they had been

and executing law. They emphasize the way in

discarded because they were thought not quite

which the state defines and arranges the roles and

capable of capturing the special character of that

relations of victims, offenders and society. The

wider realm, because they had not retained a proper

emergence of the concept of crime itself is treated

neutrality or because they no longer resonated with

as tantamount to the appropriation of private quar­

the intellectual discourse fashionable at the time.

rels by a usurping government. They argue that, in

'Deviance' was adopted partly because it was

what Schafter once called the 'golden age of the

thought to be a nonpartisan term that introduced

victim', and before the rise of a criminalizing state,

novel and interesting questions and phenomena for

people enjoyed some control over their own dis­

comparison and exploration. Law and the criminal

putes. Conflict was personal: it engendered recog­

justice system became newly problematic when

nizable victims and offenders whose quarrels could

they were analysed as just one of the possible re­

be mediated and whose losses compensated. As the

sponses to the breaking of rules, and questions

power to intervene in disputes became concen­

could be raised about when, where and how trans­

trated in fewer and fewer hands (and particularly

gressions became criminalized. There are, after all,

after the founding in 1829 of the Metropolitan

many other (and often more sophisticated) ways of

Police with its authority to investigate and pros­

exercizing social control, including compliance­

ecute crimes); as victims, offenders and conflicts

based enforcement (see Hawkins, 1984), and the

became symbolically detached from one another;

criminal justice system is just one of the available

and as the state acquired a discrete corporate iden­

alternatives (see Rock, 1995).

tity; so, it was claimed, personal victims and their

Most important, perhaps, a change of term sign­

relatives and friends began to fade in significance.

ified the intention to mark an intellectual transition.

In Christie's phrase, they lost 'property' in their

The deployment of the word 'deviance' symbolized

conflict, and the idea of a victim became corres­

a departure from a preoccupation with crime and

pondingly metaphysical. Instead of a visible hurt or

criminology which was considered by some to be

a tangible person, there was an abstract entity, the

too intellectually narrow and cramping. In the

commonwealth or society in what Blackstone called

USA, the transition was associated with the emer­

its social aggregate capacity, which required pro­

gence of the Society for the Study of Social Prob­

tection. In time, it was not to be a specific indivi­

lems and its journal, Social Problems. In Britain in

dual's peace but the Queen's Peace or the public

the late 1960s, it was linked with what was at first

peace that was held to have been broken when

called theYork Deviancy Symposium. It was cele­

disorder broke out. There even rose the possibility

brated in Lemert's Social Pathology, Becker's Out­

of what Edwin

Schur called

victims', crimes involving

'crimes without

drugs,

siders and Cohen's edited collection, Images of

prostitution,

Deviance. The word 'deviance' is thus not only

gambling, homosexuality, abortion and other prac­

denotative but also connotative. It flagged the adop­

tices, that produced no victim other than a meta­

tion of a discrete method and view of the world as

physical representation of the affronted state or

much as a special subject, and it was put to use by

abstract community. Matters came to a head in

the then new symbolic interactionist, phenomeno­

a recent case in London where a group of sado­

logical and ethnomethodological sociologists who

masochistic men lost an appeal against conviction

were interested in the meanings which people gave

for assault in which it was argued that the harms

to their own and others' behaviour; in the dialect­

they suffered were private and voluntary and of no

ical, open and emergent qualities of social life; and

concern to the wider world. Deviance was a neologism introduced to social

in the detail of action in what was called its 'natural setting'.

thought in the 1960s and chiefly as a response to

Deviance is perhaps most commonly and loosely

ideas excited by the publication of Ho ward Becker's

described as a punishable violation of social rules,

Outsiders in 1963. It was one of a string of terms

norms or expectations. There tends to be little

devised by those who have sought to move beyond

difficulty in recognising its more florid forms.

the study of crime to explore a wider realm of

Moreover, Newman (1976) has shown that there

problems that are not distinctively regulated by

appears to be wide agreement within and across

126

CRIME AND DEVIANCE

societies about the substance and ranking of the

homosexuals and drug takers. But the 'deviance

more central prohibitions on murder, rape and

approach', as it became known, was also to be

violence. But 'deviance' is presumed significantly

generalized, stretched and applied to problems

also to encompass less spectacular violations which

beyond deviance proper. Sociologists found in it a

are not always amenable to agreement and which

rewarding way of analysing and exploring processes

seem to blur uncertainly into the activities around

at large although the events or people studied were

them. After all, it is the borderline and contested

not necessarily themselves indubitably deviant.

character of much deviance that is supposed to have

Freidson

enlarged and improved the analytic grasp of soci­

at illness and health, Lemert

ology.

stuttering, Scott

'Deviance' includes crime (and it is most usually

(1970),

for instance, employed it to look

(1969) to

(1967)

to look at

look at blindness, Wein­

(1966) to look at nudism, and Skipper and (1970) to look at strippers. Those, like Liazos (1972), who disparaged the failings of

berg

crime that sociologists of deviance actually studied)

McCaghy

but it was evidently intended to extend to any

A.

penalized straying from the path of convention. It

such an apparently ill-assorted field, have talked

is a term that has been applied very liberally to a

about the sociology of deviance as the misguided

great range of people and activities at the margins.

study of 'nuts, sluts and perverts'. And, more re­

It is socially situated and time-bound, tied to per­

cently and almost certainly prematurely, Colin

(1994)

sons, places and occasions: what is deviant in a city

Sumner

centre at midday may not be so at midnight; what is

that the approach had had its day, and that the

deviant in a 'straight' bar may not be so in a gay bar;

intensive, microsociological examination of deviant

what is deviant for a child may not be so for an adult (and

vice versa);

and what is deviant for a man may

not be so for a woman. It is not therefore always possible for insiders or observers to ascertain quite

repeated that refrain by claiming

worlds should be replaced by a more ambitious and overarching neo-Durkheimian political economy of moral censures.

Deviance

itself is probably not a well-chosen or

what rules pertain in a particular setting, how co­

defensible word. It is not a legal or clinical term.

herent or systematic they are, how they are to be

Neither is it commonly employed in everyday life.

reconciled with other rules, whether they should be

It is peculiarly sociological, its meaning refracting

applied, by whom, to whom, when and in what

the changing concerns of those who use it, and there

measure. Hargreaves's

Deviance in Classrooms

is a

is no great consensus about its exact definition.

revealing essay on such tangled problems of rule

Some, like Leslie Wilkins, described it as statistic­

observance and enforcement in one site, a school:

ally infrequent behaviour but it is apparent that

every rule, it seems, has secondary and tertiary

there is frequent activity that could otherwise be

rules governing its application, every rule can be

usefully regarded as deviant: traffic violations, adul­

overruled in certain instances, and almost every

tery and lying being instances. Talcott Parsons

rule may be countered by a contradictory rule. As

(19 51) took deviance to be a fractured or incomplete

a result, exquisite judgement must be exercised by

articulation of relations between people or institu­

pupils and teachers in the conduct of their affairs.

tions in change, although that description does not

One sometimes wonders at how people manage to

accommodate the stable deviance which may be

contend so competently with the vicissitudes of

built into much social life. Lofland

everyday life.

(1970),

Deviants themselves tend to have a stake in com­

Douglas

(1972)

(1969),

Duster

and others understood de­

viance to be the discredited or devalued standing of

pounding that muddle and ambiguity, in misrepre­

losers in the competitive politics of moral imput­

senting and concealing what they do, in passing as

ation. Erikson

'normal', and in misleading the observer. In Mat­

(1949)

za's words, deviance can lead to deviousness. So

which gives unintended support to social order:

bewildering can it be that Matza

(1972) have

(1969)

and Doug­

(1966),

Bell

(1961)

and Merton

protrayed it as the shadowy face of society

prostitution buttressing marriage; bastardy secur­

chosen to define it by its

ing primogeniture; capitalists being the antithesis

very contradictoriness, ambiguity and absurdity -

of the new communist man and woman; and evil

las and Scott

by its capacity to excite a disquieting sense of be­

illuminating good. Theirs is an old and intriguing

wilderment and unease in the onlooker.

idea but it does rely on a troubling teleology and an

Analysed as deviant have been alcoholics, giants, dwarfs, prostitutes, armed robbers, embezzlers,

unseen hand, and empirical demonstration is not easy.

CRIMINOLOGY

127

Hawkins, K. 1984:

social response. It was to be contrasted with 'sec­

Environment and Enforcement. Doing the Business. -- 1995: Bad Business. Justice 1980: Breaking the Rules. Kumar, R. 1993: The History of Doing: an Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India 1800-1990. Lemert, E. 1951: Social Pathology. Paulus, I. 1974: The Search for Pure Food.

ondary deviation', a process in which the deviant is

Rock, P. 1995: Sociology and the stereotype of the Police.

Deviance abounds, and much of it is fleeting and unformed, unnoticed and undetected, context-de­ pendent, petty and without a lasting power to affect identity. Such behaviour Lemert (1951) called 'pri­ mary deviation', that is, 'mere' ephemeral rule­ breaking which does not necessarily encroach on core ideas about identity or evoke a consequential

obliged by the external or internalized responses of others to undergo a symbolic reorganization of the self and a transformation of the private and public meanings of his or her acts. Deviance may then become a more enduring status which fixes the public meanings of the self, infused, perhaps, by the stigma, stereotype and myth brought to bear by its defining audiences. One may no longer pass publicly as a person who has an occasional drink but become an alcoholic; a lovelorn suitor becomes a stalker; a person who borrows, intending to repay, becomes an embezzler; and the repercussions for oneself and others may be profound. People may

Hobbs, D. 1988:

Law and Society, 22. Schwendinger, H. and Schwendinger,J. 1975: Defenders of order or guardians of human rights. In Critical Crim­

inology,

ed. I. Taylor et al.

Sellin, T. 1938:

Culture, Conflict and Crime.

Sharpe, J. 1988. The history of crime in England. In

A History of British Criminology, ed. P. Rock. Sumner, C. 1994: The Sociology ofDeviance: an Obituary. Sutherland, E. and Cressey, D. 1974: Principles ofCrimin­ ology. Walklate, S. 1998: Crime and community. British Journal of Sociology, 49. Wilkins, L. 1964: Social Deviance. Young, J. 1999: The Exclusive Society. PAUL

change in their attitude towards one, eliciting yet

ROCK

further responses and a further reorganization of the self, in a spiralling cycle described by Wilkins

criminology

(1964)

of closely allied subjects: the study and explanation

as

'deviancy

amplification'.

Secondary

This is a generic name for a group

deviation is particularly likely to ensue if the deviant

of lawbreaking; formal and informal ways in which

is confronted by those supported by the daunting

societies deal with it (penology); and the nature and

power and authority of the criminal justice system,

needs of its victims (victimology). The popular use

and sociologists of deviance have been especially

of the term by novelists and journalists to denote

interested in exploring the social organisation of

the finding and examination of evidence which may

critical transactions between the police, courts and

inculpate or exonerate suspects (forensic science or

suspects. Such moral passages have been the special province of what some entitled 'LABELLING theory',

'scene of crime' scientists are called 'criminolo­

and, in particular, the proposition that, in Lemert's

gists'.

own formulation, it is not deviation that leads to control but control that leads to deviation.

criminalistics) is a solecism. In the USA some

The study of criminals and their behaviour is nowadays the province of psychologists and soci­ ologists. In the past psychiatrists such as Cesare Lombroso and Henry Maudsley, and psychoana­

Reading Bayart, J.-F., Ellis, S. and Hibou, B. 1999:

The Criminal­

ization of the State in Africa. Outsiders.

behaviour as if it were always or usually attributable

Becker, H. 1963:

Chambliss, W. and Mankoff, M. 1976:

Whose Law? What

Order? Cohen, S. ed. 1971:

lysts such as Edward Glover, wrote about antisocial

Images ofDeviance.

-- 1996: Crime and politics: Spot the difference. Brit-

ish Journal ofSociology, 47.

to abnormalities of personality, constitutional or acquired. Today the wise psychiatrist confines his or her generalizations to offenders who suffer from disorders with unmistakable symptoms. They are a minority, even if 'anti-social personality disorders'

Downes, D. and Rock, P. 1998:

are included.

Farrington, D. 1989: Self-reported and official offending

Natural history

Understanding Deviance. Erikson, K. 1966: Wayward Puritans. Cross-national Re­ search in Self-reported Crime and Delinquency, ed. M.

Early attempts to explain lawbreaking suffered

Klein.

from ignorance of its 'natural history' - of the

from adolescence to adulthood. In

128

CRIMINOLOGY

facts of criminal life. Some nineteenth-century

even, in the case of violence, hot weather. Some of

observers,

(1851-62),

these variables, however, such as poor education and

described the violence and dishonesties of the

truancy, may well be effects rather than causes. In

urban poor with realism: but the anti-social behav­

any case, the associations are seldom very marked

notably

Henry

Mayhew

iour of the better-off was left to novelists and court

(gender being the only exception). Even when math­

reporters. It was not until well into the twentieth

ematically combined the most they offer is a means of

century that criminologists, notably Sutherland

discriminating between categories in respect of the

(1937), achieved more detailed descriptions of

probability that a given member engages in law­

criminals' lifestyles, including 'white collar crime',

breaking (specific or non-specific). For example, a

and that publishers discovered a middle-class

girl from a harmonious home, with a good education

market for the memoirs of literate offenders (for a

and a white-collar job, is much less likely to be a

modern example see Curtis,

1973). These accounts

lawbreaker than a boy with separated parents, min­

were not without bias, but put some genuine flesh

imal education and no steady job. From the explana­

on statistics which recorded little more than ages,

tory point of view this is a jigsaw with pieces missing.

previous convictions and sometimes official occu­

There are too many individuals who fulfil the condi­

pations.

tions but whose law-abiding lives can be accounted for only by more personal histories. Some criminologists prefer the 'situational' ap­

Explanation The result was a more sophisticated approach to explanation. The ubiquity and diversity of law­ breaking began to be appreciated. A few sociologists and psychoanalysts

clung to 'general theories'

which purported to account for all or most crime, and even deviance as well (see also

CRIME AND

DEVIANCE); but the natural historians saw that this was no more sensible than offering a single explan­ ation of 'disease'. Even quite specific types of offence such as shoplifting or infanticide are com­ mitted by people of quite different personalities, ways of life, and above all motivation. It was also realized that it is one thing to try to explain why this or that country, or culture, district or school, has a particularly high (or low) prevalence of certain kinds of offending behaviour, and quite another to explain why this or that individual is prone to it. Again, explaining an individual's proneness is

proach. The main determinant is seen as being situations which offer opportunities that tempt, or stimuli that provoke. It is assumed that the vast majority of people will take advantage of opportun­ ities- say for theft- if they are sure of impunity. People differ in what tempts them, and in their confidence about their chances of being convicted; but where there is an attractive 'target' sooner or later it will be hit. The existence of people with strong moral inhibitions cannot be denied, but is relatively unimportant so far as the prevalence of dishonest offences is concerned. Like most new contributions to the subject this overstates; but it is of value, as we shall see in the section on preven­ tion (see, for example, Laycock and Heal,

1986).

Penology This branch of the subject is chiefly concerned with

logically and scientifically distinguishable from ac­

the offical ways in which identified offenders are

counting for a single, unrepeated, lawbreaking, for

dealt with: capital punishment, deportation, incar­

which a 'narrative explanation' may be much more

ceration, fining, probation and other non-custodial

plausible (see Walker,

1977). The contribution of PosiTIVISM, however, has

expedients; but some penologists interest them­

been voluminous and valuable, if sometimes in a

stigma and ostracism. Among the achievements of

negative way. Researchers have found statistical as­

penological research have been evidence that the

selves in societies' unofficial reactions, such as

sociations between lawbreaking (or, more precisely,

death penalty deters no more murderers than does

a history of dishonest or violent offences) and a host

'life' (that is, long and indeterminate imprison­

of variables: gender, age, parental offending, paren­

ment); that general deterrents are not very effective

tal disharmony, housing conditions and locations,

when detection rates are low; that offenders who are

intelligence, educational attainment, truancy, un­

amenable to reformative measures are in a minority,

employment, nature of employment, religious and

and not easily identified at the sentencing stage; and

ethnic affiliations, body build ('somatotype'), abuse

that many offenders detained for long periods in

of alcohol or other drugs, gang membership, and

prisons or hospitals for the protection of others

CRIMINOLOGY

129

would not in fact be dangerous if released under

times, and wary of strangers who accost them.

supervision.

Property can be made slightly safer by security

Much penological research is designed to evalu­

devices and identification marks. Burglars and

ate the effectiveness of sentences or special treat­

muggers can be made more visible by better street

ments

in reducing individuals' repetitions of

lighting, fewer covered passageways (for instance

lawbreaking. Since the 'absolute effectiveness' of a

under streets) and thoughtful architecture. Neigh­

sentence can be assessed only if one can be sure

bourhoods are increasingly willing to organize

whether an offender would have reoffended with­

'neighbourhood

out it, most researchers have to be content with

groups', although the latter are frowned on by law

watches'

and

even

'vigilante

c omparing the effectiveness of two or more types

enforcement authorities because their activities are

of sentence, as measured by counting reconvictions

apt to overstep the limits of what is acceptable (see

(or in the USA rearrests) within a certain period

PoLICE). These are 'focused measures'. Claims have

(usually a few years), and making allowances for

also been made for unfocused policies such as the

differences in gender, previous penal history, type

improvement of housing, schooling and employ­

of offence and age. Unfortunately the same sen­

ment prospects. Evidence that these have worth­

tence, unlike a medical prescription, can subject

while effects on crime rates is scant, and not easy to

different individuals to very different regimes.

interpret with confidence; but such policies have

This partly explains the apparently small differ­

other merits to recommend them.

ences between the effectiveness of different meas­ ures. Comparing regimes instead of sentences is more instructive. Even so, a universal problem is the low percentage of the common offences which lead to reconviction (or rearrest): many an ex­ prisoner or ex-probationer reoffends without detec­ tion. Penologists have also concerned themselves with the unwanted effects of measures such as incarcer­ ation, and have corrected some exaggerations, for example about its psychological effects. Debate about justifications for punishment, or the proper scope of the criminal law, belongs to moral philoso­ phy rather than penology, but familiarity with penological facts is essential. Nevertheless it is still political reasoning rather than penology that is re­ sponsible for most innovations. Prevention Although deterrence is, strictly speaking, one sort

Victimology Preventive thinking gets some assistance from vic­ timology. Early in this century natural historians of crime realized that it does not strike entirely at random and that certain occupations, activities and behaviour carry heightened risks of becoming a victim. Prostitutes, cab drivers, security guards and, nowadays, schoolteachers and social workers are well aware of this. In the 1950s a study of homi­ cides by Marvin Wolfgang (1958) drew attention to the ways in which many of them had been provoked or invited by the victim's conduct, and he coined the term 'victim-precipitation'. Most violence against women is committed by husbands or lovers; most child abuse is committed by parents or members of the household. There may even, it has been sug­ gested, be personality types which, especially among the young, invite violence or sexual improprieties. The victims of frauds and confidence tricks are often

of attempt to prevent crime (and is so classified by

people whose greed blinded them to the implaus­

continental criminologists), 'prevention' in Anglo­

ibility of what they were being offered. In the case of

American criminology tends to mean measures

fights it is often hard for the police, or the courts, to

which focus on potential targets rather than poten­

be sure who was victim and who was aggressor.

tial offenders, who are less easily identified when at

Victims may not always be blameless; but that

large. The situational approach described earlier,

does not lessen their needs. Victims of violence

and the somewhat discouraging findings about the

need medical attention but they also need humanity

efficacy of measures aimed at offenders, suggest that

in interrogation, especially if the offence was sexual.

more resources should be devoted to vulnerable

Confrontation with attackers in court can add to the

targets. They may be individuals or property, or

trauma, especially in the case of children. Special

even 'the environment'. Individuals can be made

procedures have been devised for obtaining and

less vulnerable by making them aware of the

presenting children's evidence. Many jurisdictions

dangers of frequenting certain places at certain

now permit adult as well as juvenile victims of

130

CRISIS

sexual offences to be anonymous so far as the news

offences are not recorded, at least for statistical

media are concerned. 'Rape crisis centres' offer free

purposes. Those who report them may not be be­

counselling and psychiatric help. There have even

lieved, for example because they may be thought to

been experiments which bring together the perpet­

be acting from malice. The incident may sound too

rators and victims of crimes such as burglary and

trivial. Too many recordings of unsolved crimes

rape in the hope of some sort of benefit to both

make a police force look inefficient. The net result

parties. The results have not proved easy to assess.

of under-reporting and under-recording is serious underestimation, which victim surveys to some

Reparation

extent correct. It is conceivable that they will even­

A more material need of many victims is reparation,

tually replace police-generated statistics so far as

especially if they are poor. In many Western coun­

common crimes such as burglary, theft and minor

tries victims can claim financial compensation in

assaults are concerned.

the criminal court, instead of facing the daunting prospect of a civil suit. This does not, however, deal with the basic problem - the inability of many offenders to pay more than a fraction of what courts award, especially if they also have to serve a custo­ dial sentence. State schemes of compensation are

Penal reform In theory the criminologist is a scientist, not a penal or social reformer, and confines himself or herself to providing and interpreting the findings of research, which campaigners may publicize if it suits them to

confined to a limited range of offences, usually

do so. In practice the distinction is often blurred.

those involving violent injury or psychological

The criminologist's choice of subject for research­

harm. No country has yet instituted a scheme of compulsory insurance against property crime. This is a problem which has been only partially tackled (see for example Hodgson, 1984).

say the psychological ill-effects of incarceration- is often dictated by the objectives of the agency which funds it, and even when the choice is with the researcher it probably owes something to his or her own ideology. Fortunately there are criminolo­

Victim surveys

gists whose integrity compels them to report unex­

A valuable development of recent decades has been the

'victim

survey',

in

which

representative

samples of the public have been questioned about offences from which they or their children may have suffered within the last year (or other specified period). These surveys have minor defects. Some categories of victim are too busy, vagrant or men­

pected or inconvenient findings - for example where they have found that the ill-effects of incar­ ceration have been exaggerated by penal reformers (see Bottoms and Light, 1987, eh. 8). Reading Bottomley, K. and Pease, K. 1986: Crime and Punishment: Interpreting the Data.

tally disordered to be easily accessible to interview­

Box, S. 1981: Deviance, Reality and Society.

ers. Young males, who experience a good deal of

Freeman, J. and Sebba, L. eds 1989: International Review

violence, are often out drinking or otherwise expos­ ing themselves to violence, instead of being inter­ viewed about it. Some types of offence do not have specific victims and are unlikely to be reported: illegal pollution is an example. The value of such surveys, however, is that they correct the serious underestimation of crime rates which result from 'under-reporting' and 'under­

ofVictimology, vol. I. Maguire, M. et al. 1994: The Oxford Handbook ofCrimin­ ology Morris, A. 1987: Women, Crime and Criminal Justice. Radzinowicz, L. and Hood, R. G. 1986: The Emergence of Penal Policy. Rutter, M. and Giller, H. 1983:Juvenile Delinquency. Tonry, M. and Morris, N. 1979-: Crime and Justice (annual collections of 'state of the art' papers).

recording'. Many offences are not reported to the

Walker, N. 1991: Why Punish?

police (or other responsible authority) because

Wilson, J. Q and Herrnstein, R. J. 1985: Crime and

those who could report them are too frightened or

Human Nature.

embarrassed (as in the case of sexual offences), or

NIGEL WALKER

consider the offence too trivial, or unlikely to be the We speak of 'crises' in relation to subjects,

subject of any effective action. Some prefer to deal

cnsts

with offenders in their own ways, especially when

a life or a form of life, a system or a 'sphere' of

the offenders are juveniles. Even if reported, some

action. Crises decide whether or not something

CRISIS

131

continues. The paradigm case of crisis is the life

the overcoming and replacement of the old legal

crisis, in which, at the limit, it is a matter of life and

system (family justice, blood revenge,

death. In every crisis those concerned are con­

house-justice) in favour of a bourgeois-political ju­

1983).

oikos

or

fronted with Hamlet's question: to be or not to be.

dicial system (see Meier,

Crises often have objective causes, but they must

mind this connection between law and crisis in his

Hegel still has in

also be able to be experienced as crises by the subjects

theory of tragedy. He describes the downfall of the

or social entities concerned. They always also affect

hero in the crisis of the tragic conflict as a 'rational

the self-understanding and self-definition of actors,

fate' which is played out in the name of a new, tragic

systems or spheres, since they always affect their 'identity', that is, a life or a life situation

as a whole.

The history of the word is important and illu­ minating here. The Greek

krisis

does not distin­

and urbane justice, which replaces the 'old, epic justice' now seen as a pre-legal 'blind fate'. From the Enlightenment to Marx, the present epoch is understood as a crisis and the crisis as

covering

practical, revolutionary criticism, as a case brought

'difference and conflict, but also decision, in the

by the new bourgeois society against the old state or

sense of a definitive outcome, a judicial decision or

by the classes excluded from bourgeois society

indeed any judgement - something which today

against those inside. But Marx is also at the begin­

guish

between

crisis

and

cntJque,

would come within the sphere of criticism' (Kosel­

1973:

197).

ning of social scientific theories of crisis; as these

This original connection be­

develop, the separation of theory and critique is

tween the subjective and objective aspects of crisis

brought out more sharply than in Marx's own phil­

leck,

p.

remains when criticizing becomes fashionable in

osophy of history. But what has been separated in

modernity. In the age of Enlightenment these two

theory is still combined in political practice: there

usages diverge, while continuing to overlap. With

can be no crisis without a diagnosis of crisis. A crisis

this separation, however, the terms critique and

diagnosis makes a strong explanatory claim. It does

crisis, primarily used in the Middle Ages in its

not aim for an end of history, but hypothetically

medical sense, become massively politicized. Sir

constructs

B. Rudyard applied the medical concept of crisis

tification for political action for those who experi­

to the political body: 'This is the Chrysis of Parlia­

ence the crisis. In this sense Kant's was already a

a

history which could operate as a jus­

ments: We shall know by this if Parliaments live or

philosophy of history with a practical purpose, pre­

die.' Even later than the eighteenth century, how­

supposing that the court of critical reason tries

ever, 'Crisis' is a common title for critical and

arguments and not people. From now on crisis

polemical writings. Thomas Paine gave the name

and critique fall into different categories. Although

The Crisis to the journal in which he commented on

criticism can make people aware of a crisis, and a

the events of the American revolution. Here the

crisis can provoke criticism or turn criticism itself

Greek sense of crisis as judgement remains domin­

into crisis, the crisis decides other questions than

ant in a polemical concept of crisis. The judgemen­

those of criticism. Whereas the crisis concerns

tal meaning of 'crisis', referring back to a judicial

whether a form of social life is to be or not to be,

decision, and the medical, diagnostic meaning are

the critique is concerned only with the validity of

combined when we speak, even now, of a

critical

In ancient Athens, it was the activities of judging

(krisis)

arguments; whether they are 'true or false', 'accur­ ate or inaccurate'. This distinction

situation. and ruling

(kratein)

(krisis) is notori­

ously ignored by the conservative metacritique of

that made one into a

the Enlightenment. This fundamental critique,

citizen (Aristotle). Law is a product of the crisis

from Nietzsche and Car! Schmitt to Michel Fou­

and division of ethical life. When it is given effective

cault, conceives argumentation and criticism as war

expression in a judgement, the end of the division or

(polemos),

CoNFLICT is brought about. (The German word

Like the philosophy of history it criticizes, it con­

Ent-scheidung

as a struggle for existence and power.

indicates this process.) The Aristo­

flares critique and crisis and thus sees in criticism

telian link between legal judgement and crisis and

the real crisis of modern times. 'The crisis is con­

the status of political citizen is itself the result of a

cealed in criticism' (Kosellek,

division, separation or differentiation of the spheres of

oikos

and

polis - a

1973).

The social scientific concept of crisis has deep

division in which law plays a

roots in the philosophy of history, but in the twen­

fundamental role. The separation of the political

tieth century it sank new, post-metaphysical roots.

(and thereby the status of citizen) goes along with

The concept of crisis grounded in the philosophy of

132

CRISIS

history has developed into an evolutionary one, in

the philosophy of history and a social scientific

the light of which the philosophy of history is itself

conception of crisis: Habermas's Legitimation Crisis or Daniel Bell's The Cultural Contradictions

relegated to the status of a 'missing link' in the

(1973)

transition from the ancient to the modern concept

of Capitalism (1976) mark the other side. Another

of crisis. The most important connection is un­

example of a social scientific concept of crisis is

doubtedly its temporalization in Christianity. This

Thomas Kuhn's The Structure ofScientific Revolu­

makes judicial decision into the final crisis of the

tions (1962) (see SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE) . Here too it

Last Judgement. The whole of history is thus dom­

is a matter of the life of a particular, concrete

inated by the contradiction that the final decision

community of researchers as a whole, attached to

already occurred with the incarnation of the Mes­

a holistic paradigm, but not of the fate of the Euro­

siah, but must still be left open to be ratified in the

pean sciences, as in Husserl's well-known diagnosis

Last Judgement. This extends the crisis to the

(1937),

whole process between the Revelation or Christ's

physical philosophy of history poised between Fall

life and the End of Time; the permanent crisis

and Salvation.

which has not yet left the paths of a meta­

makes, as Hegel put it, world history into a world

At the centre of the social scientific conception of

court. 'Thus modernity sees the rise of a processual

crisis is the concept of system crisis to which Marx

model of crisis which has impregnated numerous philosophies of history' (Kosellek,

1976:

p. 1236).

first gave clear expression, linking up both with the theories of circulation in classical economics and the

A characteristic feature of the philosophy of his­

French Enlightenment and with Hegel's concept of

tory's crisis diagnosis is the way the epoch is treated

a contradiction between spheres which cannot be

as a whole. The crisis is always the crisis of a

resolved inside a closed system. Hegel's theory of

historical totality. The social scientific concept of

tragedy develops the model of crisis which returns

crisis, by contrast, is always based only on a partial

in system crises and in conflicts which tear apart the

sphere or aspect of a life totality, for example the

social life-world or an image of the world. The

economic system, research programmes, develop­

overarching validity of mutually exclusive legal

mental stages or organizational principles. State­

claims is what differentiates crises from wars, and

ments can no longer be made about ultimate crises

also from revolutions or civil wars.In Greek legend,

or about progress and regress in relation to the

Creon and Antigone do not relate to one another as

Good and the happiness of the Whole. The phil­

friend and enemy in war; they carry in themselves the

osophy of history's perspective on the totality of a

opposition that tears their world apart.

'form of life' (Hegel) remains constitutive for the

The social scientific significance of this crisis

subjective and intersubjective experience of crisis

model goes far beyond its interpretation in the

by those affected by them, but this becomes a mere

philosophies of history of Hegel and Marx (cf.

1947).

subjective component of social scientific analysis.

Kojeve,

What remains from the philosophy of history is a

model of a crisis oriented to the validity claims of

Marx had already combined this

discourse of self-understanding typical of crises -

antagonistic social groups (classes) with that of the

often with therapeutic characteristics. This con­

objective system crisis identifiable in steering prob­

cerns the identity problems of individuals or col­

lems and the imperatives of system maintenance.

lectives. The global discourses of the philosophy of

But even in the diagnoses of the times which mod­

history have their place only within these dis­

ernity has been offering since at least the time of

courses, in which those concerned must make

Max Weber, the tragic model of an ethical sphere

clear who they want or do not want to be (cf. Tugendhat,

1979).

But they no longer have a prog­

divided against itself has remained central. It stretches from the 'world of disintegration' of the

nostic significance. Conversely, social scientific the­

early Lukacs to Weber's diagnosis of the crushing

ories of crisis no longer produce knowledge about

of freedom and meaning in the irresoluble conflict

the outcome and the consequences of crises. In the

of the mutually estranged value spheres of modern

crisis it is open how the dice will fall. 'Every crisis

rationalism, through to Ji.irgen Habermas's theory

evades the planning ...based on the belief in pro­

of the 'pathologies of the life-world' and similar

gress' (Kosellek,

1973).

Books such as Lukacs's

diagnoses offered by neocommunitarian thinkers.

History and Class Consciousness (1923) or Spengler's

Robert N. Bellah and his collaborators

Decline of the West (1918-22) represent one side of

following Alasdair Maclntyre

the distinction between a concept of crisis based on

culture stretched between the poles of instrumental

(1985), (1981), see American

CULTURE and

expressive

individualism.

Michael

Walzer

133

by the contradictions between idiosyncratic world­

perceptively describes how justified and

views and their articulation in a common language.

generally accepted ('justly' divided) spheres of

These contradictions require the actors to tran­

modern life develop critical, indeed life-threatening

scend their own horizon and to 'fuse' it with that

tendencies to overwhelm and 'dominate' one an­

of other actors, in the common language of mutual

(1983)

other. Charles Taylor

(1989) locates the inner con­

understanding (see Gadamer,

1960).

It thus be­

equally

comes possible to experience the conflict between

constitutive goods: universalism and pluralism, sci­

world views or 'value spheres' as a conflict between

tradiction

of

modern

times

among

entism (instrumentalism) and romanticism, moral­

contradictory articulations of one's own worldview

ism and deconstructive scepticism. The social

or value sphere. A crisis, if it occurs, will decide

scientific heirs of the Hegelian and Marxist crisis

whether these are productive or destructive anti­

model have not only dissolved its unhappy link with

nomies (see Kesselring, 1981; 1984). Whether they

the philosophy of history, but also replaced the

are productive and a source of rational motivation

paradigm of reflection by that of language and dis­

may depend in practice on the institutional possi­

solved the unified perspective into a plurality of

bilities for objective discussion and resolution of

crisis tendencies. The contradictions which give

conflicts. This holds for both individual and social

rise to crises and open them up to experience no

evolution, for the outcome of individual crises of

longer have to be understood on the lines of logical

adolescence as well as for the self-enlightenment of

antinomies, produced by the rise of Spirit through

social groups (see Diibert and Nunner-Winkler,

endless stages of reflection, but can be brought back

1978;

to their place in language, the contradictions be­ tween statements and above all in dialogue. Crises of maturity and crises of cognitive and

Eder,

1985).

What is decided in a crisis generally depends on a whole constellation of complex and overlapping crisis tendencies. The conjuncture of identity crises

moral development, like other crises, are generally

and system crises produces critical thresholds, but

sparked off by contingent external circumstances,

the expectation of a systematic link between the two

but they also have an inner, rational aspect. This is

types of crisis which inspired Marx and Marxism

expressed, inter alia, in actors' attempts to reconcile

has been shown to be too speculative. In practice we

their experiences with their image of the world.

seem rather to be experiencing a dissociation or

Experiences which conflict with one's image of

decoupling of the most varied cultural, economic,

the world may provide a rational motive to look

ecological, scientific, administrative and other crisis

for coherent solutions. Crises occur when conflict­

phenomena. An attempt to systematize possible

ing experiences accumulate and can in the end no

crisis tendencies can therefore be related to the

longer be integrated, as occurs with the 'anomalies'

process of differentiation and centring of social

suffered by Kuhn's 'normal scientists'. Suffering

subsystems; one can observe a rough trend away

often inspires the search for new and radical solu­

from socioeconomic crises and towards crises of

tions, giving rise to a higher-level image of the

motivation, legitimation and culture. The high

world which brings old and new experiences into

degree of interdependence and the growing inter­

an intelligible and coherent relation. Communica­

pretation of subsystems, however, and above all the

tive contradictions occur when diverse and incom­

changeability

patible world-images overlap and compete in the

trends, make firm assertions almost impossible.

and

reversibility

of

evolutionary

interpretation of the same or similar experiences. When actors with differing or competing world­

Reading

images are required to dispute and to come to

Habermas, J. 1973 (1976): Legitimation Crisis.

agreement, they must use the common language

Husserl, E. 1937 (1970): The Crisis ofthe European Sciences

of everyday life to articulate their various perspec­ tives and world-images. The articulation of their

and Transcendental Phenomenology.

O'Connor, J. 1973: The Fiscal Crisis ofthe State. HAUKE BRUNKHORST

own world-image, with its always egocentric per­ spective, in ordinary language and with an orienta­ tion towards mutual understanding, pushes the

critical theory

See FRA NKFURT ScHOOL

actors into a decentring of their egocentrism. Learning processes which lead to the decentring

culture

of perspectives on the world can then be explained

history of humankind is the extraordinary diversity

The most striking single fact about the

134

CULTURE

of social forms produced by beings of either the

since it has followed a false trail; this is described

same or very nearly the same genetic type. Differ­

first, as a preliminary to specifying the three ways in

ently put, whereas most species have a form of

which ideas can be said to have an autonomous

social organization

impact on society.

built into their genes,

the

human animal seems to be programmed instead to pay attention to culture. Diversity is possible be­ cause human beings learn through cultural means. Living in accordance with nature is an attractive

Either/ or Much modern social thought has been utterly bi­

idea, but in the human case it actually means living

furcated

with culture.

thinkers from Antonio Gramsci to Clifford Geertz

in

its

approach

to

culture.

'Idealist'

Social science has pointed to two central roles

and from Talcott Parsons to Louis Althusser have

that culture fulfils for social life. First, culture

insisted that a society is held together because

NoRMS).

provides meaning -for most of human history by

norms are shared (see

means of organized religion. If Marx can loosely be

tends to relativism, that is, to the doctrine that, in

This position

seen as insisting that food production is basic to

Pascal's phrase, 'truth is different on the other side

human life, Max Weber insisted quite as strongly

of the Pyrenees'. This leads a rigorous thinker such

that the central problem faced by human societies

as Peter Winch to insist that the pretensions of

was that of theodicy, that is, the necessity to offer

social science to create universal laws are nonsens­

explanation for birth, suffering and death. This

ical. We may dislike magic but it 'works' for the

formulation is unhappy in so far as it suggests that

Azande of East Africa, just as science works for us:

there is a natural fit between human needs and

all that social investigation can do is to translate and

social

life

mediate between separate but equal worlds. In stark

depends on repressing many of our genetically en­

contrast, 'materialists' see ideologies as veils or

coded drives, notably, as Freud rightly stressed,

masks for interested groups; still more importantly,

meaning.

Rather,

organized

social

those concerned with sexuality. Secondly, culture

they tend to believe that most actors are knowledge­

provides rules of social action without which it

able about their own interests, and accordingly

would be impossible for human beings within a

unlikely to swallow beliefs that the powerful try to

society to understand each other at all. It is ex­

foist on them. Social order in this view depends

tremely important to note that the world religions,

either on naked power or on a natural harmony of

very much in contrast to their supposed 'other­

interests between rational, self-interested actors -

wordliness', are, naturally and inevitably, in large

Marxism being an example of the former, and neo­

part compendiums of rules for managing daily life.

classical economics of the latter.

Even a quick glance at Max Weber's studies of the

Neither of these positions makes much sense.

world religions shows that he worked in this spirit,

Materialists implausibly imply that history would

trying as much to explain the creation, content,

have run the same course even had paganism, world

spread and maintenance of belief systems as to

religions and Marxism never been invented. More­

analyse the ways in which they then influence the

over, this begs the question as to why anyone bothers

social order of which they are a part -the insignifi­

to invent belief. In the case of Marxism, either the

cance of the impact of Buddhism interestingly

productive forces are irresistible, in which case

being ascribed to its pure otherworldliness, that is,

there is no need to justify them, or they need to be

its failure to provide a marriage service until the

justified, in which case they are not irresistible. Still

twentieth century.

more important is the actual softness that hides

The inevitable interpenetration of belief and cir­

behind the view of individuals seeking to calculate

cumstance -the fact that they tend not to have, to

their 'real' material interests. This becomes appar­

use David Hume's expression, 'distinct existences'

ent when we think of trying to 'calculate' whether to

coup de foudre

- creates tremendous difficulties for social scien­

marry someone. We need a

tists. Powerful theory depends on being able to

sort of life event, for the simple reason that our

distinguish the moments at which one source of

identities are involved: calculation presumes a

for this

social power influences another, and it is accord­

solidary and single self, and it is all but useless

ingly of vital import to discover those moments

when a decision involves what we are or may

when power sources can be differentiated. Much

become - as Dostoevsky's novels brilliantly dem­

modern social thought has

not

been high-powered

onstrate. Most of us are not 'unmanned', as was

CULTURE Hamlet, by too much thought because we possess values which give us a sense ofiDENTITY; differently

135

Weber is best known for his The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-5). That book did

put, it is impossible to specify interests which do

not say that capitalism emerged simply as the result

not contain cultural components. To say this, how­

of Protestantism; to the contrary and in line with his

ever, does not entail accepting idealism wholesale.

notion of 'elective affinities', Weber insisted that

Specifically, there is everything to be said against

new ideas made sense of the life of the orderly

the slide from saying that humans have values (per­

members of the uniquely autonomous cities of

fectly true) to accepting the view that societies are

north-west Europe. The fact that circumstance is

held togetherIconstrained by a set of values (very

so involved with culture means that the first way in

largely false): we may, in other words, learn through

which ideas have an impact is the least autonomous

culture, but this does not mean that culture is the

of the three. Nonetheless, there is everything to be

sole force accounting for change or cohesion in

said for specifying this as a distinctive social force.

society. A rather large amount of empirical evidence

What is really at issue here is

is now available to show that dangerous or lower

would be able to accept Weber's account, it remains

classes rarely share the values of official culture (see

the case that Marxism imagines, effectively in the

morale. If a Marxist

also CoUNTERCULTURE) . Such evidence should not

spirit of B. F. Skinner, that there is a virtual corres­

of course be taken to mean that 'real' and 'material'

pondence between circumstance and idea such that

interests are the sole concern of social actors. What

the stimulus of circumstance will

is really at issue is the nature of ideology. For no­

bring forth an ideological response. There is no

automatically

holds-barred idealism to make sense, it is necessary

reason why we should accept this. A class or

that ideologies be clear and consistent, that is,

group needs to believe in its moral destiny if it is

capable of directing social life. Most ideologies are

to be capable of great collective acts. By and large,

simply not like that: they are rag-bags, replete with

the working class has lacked precisely this sort of

different options usable by different groups at will.

force. And it was a Marxist, Lucien Goldmann,

Medieval villagers felt themselves opposed to

who showed how an elite grouping could be dam­

church hierarchy, but in the name of the poverty

aged by its lack of morale. In the late seventeenth

of Christ. If it is true that we have values, it remains

and early eighteenth century, the French

the case that we are more than mere concept fodder.

noblesse de robe's lack of confidence was much exacerbated

And if a thinker like Winch is absolutely right to

by the tortuous and tragic mental world created

stress the reality of magic to the Azande, it is

by Pascal and Racine, their ideological representa­

the merest intellectual conceit to pretend that

tives.

magic is on the same level as the cognitive practices

Idealists are mistaken, as noted, to imagine that

of modern science. Crucially, social science depends

most ideologies are so inflexible that we are trapped

on those cognitive practices: at the least we bracket

within the terms of their discourses. Christianity

local belief (ignoring, for instance, the claim that

was able, to take an obvious example, to accommo­

Islam spread because it was true, so as to investigate

date itself to empire, to its absence and to a system

the conditions to which it responded), while at most

of states, and equally it managed first to endorse and

we investigate matters- such as the ability of a belief

then to oppose slavery. Nonetheless, there are oc­

system such as magic to maintain itself in the face of

casions when

contradiction - precisely because we know local

the historical record. There may indeed be an elect­

practices to be mistaken.

discourse does autonomously affect

ive affinity between idea and circumstance, but the repertory of options within a particular ideology, in

The impact of ideas

terms of which circumstance can be understood and justified, may on occasion be limited. This view­

Freedom from the false antithesis between idealism

point probably helps us understand the rise of the

and materialism allows us to see three ways in

West, albeit not in traditional ways. The develop­

which ideas have on occasion had an autonomous

ment of modern science - as John Milton, very

impact on society. These three ways can best be

much in the spirit of Weber, has pointed out -

described by bearing in mind Max Weber's concern

does seem to depend on the particular terms of

with the 'rationalization' of the West. If some of his

discourse embedded in the Western legacy. The

insights remain valid, contemporary scholars have

fundamental concept of 'law of nature' rests on

usefully complemented his insights as well.

the combination of Greek investigation of nature

136

CULTURE

and a Judaic conception of a hidden, austere and

sometimes depends on their actual content, what

orderly deity which reveals neither its designs nor

can matter still more is the ability to link people

the order of things but forces humanity to interpret

together into a community.

the surface appearance of things as clues to its grand design. The poverty of Muslim science may well be explicable by the very different terms in which

The higher things

the deity was conceived: as all-powerful as the deity

Up to this point the emphasis has been on the most

of the West but differing from it in being prone to

important meaning of culture, that is, the anthro­

interfere on an occasionalistic basis with the work­

pological sense of culture as a way of life. But

ings of the world. More generally, what is notice­

culture can also refer to art - about which two

able about Islam is its intransigence, its difficulty in

points deserve to be made.

adapting to new circumstances given that 'the gates

Many modern thinkers believe that art either

of interpretation' were held to have finally closed

holds society together or pulls it apart: Daniel

soon after the death of Muhammad.

Bell

The third and final way in which ideas can have

manages

to

combine

these

positions

in

asserting that bourgeois art supported capitalism

an impact on society is the most important. What

while the demands of modernist art for instant

is at issue is something rather stronger than

gratification are a threat to the modern world

Weber's contention that ideas can determine the

(see also ART,

tracks along which interest sends action. This is of

scriptive accuracy of this picture: the disenchant­

)

SOCIOLOGY OF .

One doubts the de­

little help in some circumstances in so far as it

ment

suggests that the tracks have been laid, that a social

characteristic of the modern world probably says

and

alienation

seen

by

modernism

as

order is already in place. For the greatest moments

more about the position of artists, caught in the

of ideological power have been those in which in­

interstices of the market, than it does about the

tellectuals have served - to make use of Michael

feelings of whole sections of the population. But

Mann's improvement on Weber- as 'tracklayers',

what is most noticeable about this view of art is

that is, as the makers of society. Ideological power

its idealism: the functioning of society is naively

can lead to the creation of society. The same point

held once again to depend solely on the ideological

can be further illustrated if we think ofDurkheim.

factor.

If we accept the view that the presence of norms

If the relation of art to social order Idisorder has

defines a society, then the society of north-west

much concerned modern social thought, so too has

Europe between, say, 800 and 1100

was Latin

the relation between 'high' and 'low' culture. These

Christendom. Now to say this is in fact to improve

terms can be put to good use: the extent to which

on Durkheim. Quite as much as crude Marxism,

official culture is shared throughout society, in his­

Durkheim viewed belief as a reflection of other

tory and in contemporary circumstances, is a matter

AD

social processes. But in the early Middle Ages,

fit for empirical investigation- an approach which

Christianity was not the reflection of society. It

allows us to recognize that the consensual categories

was society. For it was the church that issued

of a Parsons are not without merit in the analysis of

rules about external warfare and internal peace.

the United States, the set of categories being, of

But if we inquire into the genesis of this ideological

course, a reflection of that extraordinarily Durk­

power, we are forced to recognize that in another

heimian social formation. A similar approach could

wayDurkheim still has much to tell us about belief.

usefully be adopted to a related debate - as to

Christian society was initially created in the Roman

whether artistic standards are 'diluted' by popular

Empire by the sending of messages, the epistles,

art. At times, popular art has enriched 'high' art, as

between communities of urban dwellers - crafts­

was certainly true for the Shakespearean moment;

men, women, freed slaves- who could have no part

but equally the organization of mass media- which

in official culture yet stood above the minimal world

differs so greatly from nation-state to nation-state­

of the peasantry. We can best understand the birth

may be such as to homogenize and limit. In the

of this world religion if we remember that religion,

field of culture, there is much to be said for getting

according to Durkheim, is 'society worshipping

away from presuppositions about higher things so

itself. Christianity made people, otherwise margin­

as to investigate instead the social workings of art

alized, into a community. If the power of ideas

worlds.

CULTURE, YOUTH Reading Abercrombie, N., Hill, S. and Turner, B. 1980: The

Dominant Ideology Thesis.

Weber, M. 1904-5 (1976): The Protestant Ethic and the

Spirit of Capitalism. Winch, P. 1958 (1976): The Idea of a Social Science.

JOHN A. HALL

Bell, D. 1976 (1979): The Cultural Contradictions of Capit-

alism. Crone, P. 1989: ?re-industrial societies.

culture, counter-

See COUNTERCULTURE

Elster,J. 1989: The Cement ofSociety. Gellner, E. 1973: Cause and Meaning in the Social Sciences.

culture, mass

See MASS CULTURE

Goldmann, L. 1956: The Hidden God. Mann, M. 1986: Sources ofSocialPower. Vol. 1: A History

culture, political

See POLITICAL CULTURE

ofPower from the Beginning to A. D. 1760. Milton, J. 1981: The origin and development of the con­ cept 'law of nature'. European Journal of Sociology 23.

137

culture, youth

See YOUTH CULTURE

D dance

only

The belief that dance is a trivial art, suited

for

amusement

and

entertainment,

was

A landmark in the history of twentieth-century dance was The Green Table (of 1932), by the

common at the end of the nineteenth century. At

German Kurt Jooss. Its call for peace began and

the beginning of the twentieth century, the pion­

ended with scenes of the diplomats arguing from

eers of modern dance started their revolt against

their respective sides of the negotiating table. Be­

what they considered the decadence of contempor­

tween these, Jooss set tragic portrayals of the rav­

ary ballet. What they urged was a return of dance to

ages of war on the lives of parents, lovers and

its original function in society, that of an instru­

friends.

ment to strengthen the sense of community. The

The characters of The Green Table are general­

instrument could work either to reiterate traditional

ized abstractions of types. Social thought in the

beliefs, urging their continuing relevance, or it

Soviet Union, however, has used narratives involv­

could stir thoughts of protest against existing

ing specific characters, often with incidents drawn

values. The former direction has generally charac­

from history. An early work, The Red Poppy (of

terized the genre of folk dance. Theatrical dance

1927), told of a brave Soviet captain who is

has tended toward the latter, though abstract ballets

threatened by a Chinese conspirator but saved by

rather than dances of social significance have pre­

the sacrifice of a Chinese dancer. More recently

dominated in the course of this century.

Yuri Grivorovich of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet con­

With few exceptions, writers on dance have also

demned the cruelty of Tsarist Russia in !van the

concentrated their efforts on analysing the formal

Terrible, in 1975, and praised the workers of Siberia

structures of dance, rather than seeking out its

in Angara, in 1976.

social content. The nature of dance itself has led

In the United States, explicit social thought has

this way. Movement can, indeed, be expressive, but

played an insistent, though usually minor, role.

what can be best expressed by movements of the

During the Depression years of the early 1930s,

body are feelings, emotions, not intellectual ideas.

the Workers' Dance League sponsored concerts

When a traditional society uses dance either to

promoting social protest. Their dances bore titles

enhance its beliefs or to demonstrate its rebellion

like

against them, it creates an image. A group moves

1955, Anna Sokolow bemoaned the emptiness of

together, affirming its solidarity. Or it chooses a

city life in Rooms, where people live physically

narrative format, conveying its message with an

together but emotionally isolated. In 1984, Liz

'Eviction',

'Hunger',

'Unemployment'.

In

example of the tragic misuse of power or the glor­

Lerman's NineShort Pieces about the Defense Budget

ified triumph of good.

and Other Military Matters took a more specifically

Though dances of social significance have not

political stand.

dominated the theatrical dance scene in this cen­

Celebration of the Black heritage began with the

tury, some outstanding exceptions can be noted.

work of Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus,

Among the early modern dancers, Ruth St Denis

followed by the great success of the company of Revelations,

and Ted Shawn turned to the mysticism of the

Alvin

Orient, to the timeless values of ancient myths

Negro spirituals, became a tremendous popular

and legends in works like Radha (of 1906) and

success. In that decade, too, young choreographers

Ailey

whose

1960

set

to

White Fade (of 1926). Isadora Duncan embraced

began to work with improvization and individual

the ideas of the newly established Soviet Union in

expression. Anna Halprin formed her San Franc­

MarcheS lav, which depicted the oppression of the

isco Dancers' Workshop, a multi-ethnic group,

masses and the final triumphant breaking of their

devoted to racial harmony and the wellbeing of

chains.

the earth.

139

DECADENCE In Germany, Pina Bausch exposed problems that

But at times a social crisis can provoke a revival

people face in contemporary society. The charac­

of interest in community dance. When Nelson was

Mandela

rituals as if by rote; their behaviour lacks feeling,

South

lacks motivation. In 1980, the dancers waver be­

to dance the Toyi-Toyi as an expression of their

tween aggressive exhibitionism and helpless loneli­

joy.

African

released

from

prison

in

1990,

ters in her dance-theatre works perform ingrained

youngsters took to the streets

The claim has often been made that dance is a

ness; between lethargy and hysteria. In China a rice-planting song 'yang-ko' became

universal language. As this century nears its close,

1949.

that claim is being substantiated. Teachers are

Dancers used work movements, along with pacing,

working in the schools of various countries to fa­

the victory theme of the communists in

hand-clapping and body swaying, to accompany the

miliarize young dancers with different techniques

melody. Political narratives followed. In The White­

and styles. More and more often, choreographers

Haired Girl (of

the heroine suffers under a

are setting their works on dance companies in other

cruel landlord until her black hair turns white, but

nations. Exchanges are underway. As these moves

she is eventually freed by the Eighth Red Army

contribute

when it liberates her village.

dance world hopes that nations will also continue

1964)

In Japan the treatment has been more abstract. Begun as a protest against the horrors of war, the genre known as Butoh has featured dancers with

to

international

understanding,

the

to respect and perform the dances that symbolize their own identity. See also A RT, SOCIOLOGY OF; THEATRE.

shaven heads and white-painted bodies inhabiting a landscape of despair. Slow paced, with movements

Reading

that barely move, Butoh shows its audience a

Boaz, F. ed. 1972: The Function of Dance in Human

troubled world, the consequence of global brutality. At present, non-theatrical dance faces critical problems. Dances that grew out of the shared ex­ perience and needs of a community are now van­ ishing, along with the way of life that generated them. With the move from rural into urban areas,

Society.

Brinson, P. 1983: Scholastic tasks of a sociology of dance. Dance ResearchJournall, 100-7; 2, 59-68.

Katz, R. 1973: The egalitarian waltz. Comparative Studies in Society and History 15.3.

Rust, F. 1969: Dance in Society. Spencer, P. ed. 1985: Society and the Dance.

young people spend much of their leisure time

SELMA JEANNE COHEN

watching television. When they do dance, they prefer forms that offer them opportunities for indi­

Darwinism

See EvoLUTION

vidual expression rather than those that reflect col­ lective values.

Remaining traditionalists find it

Darwinism, neo-

See NEO-DARWINISM

difficult to interest them in the dances of their forebears. Small groups are trying, however, and

Darwinism, social

See SociAL DARWINISM

some avid European educators are teaching folk dances to eager learners in the primary grades. In

decadence

some African villages efforts are made to maintain

been described as 'decadent' share the conviction

festivals with native dances that restate the values

that 'life begins again and again'. This cyclical

and customs of the community. Another kind of solution is presented by the

The periods in history which have

vision of things is the cornerstone of two vast com­ plexes of themes, the first of which relates to 'cor­

theatrical folk dance company, which takes the

respondences' with the external world, with our

basic spirit and leitmotifs of indigenous genres,

immediate environment, with nature and so on,

and choreographs them for skilled performers to

while the other embraces the varied elements of

present in theatrical settings. While many argue

EVERYDAY LIFE, hedonism, scepticism, in short,

that these dances no longer truly represent their

the valorization of lived experience. The basic

native sources, others argue that they still serve to

premise of both variants is the recognition of social

promote feelings of ethnic identity and pride. The

life as it actually is, rather than as it 'should be'. It

success of such groups as the Moisseyev Folk

involves coming to terms with the fact that,

Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Union and the Na­

whether we like it or not, there is an acceptance of

tional Dance Company of Senegal certainly serve

existence which expresses itself in countless forms

this purpose.

of repetitions. This is certainly the hallmark of

140

DECADENCE

decadence. Such repetition, which is almost ob­

Decadence not only manifests itself in this popu­

sessional, is a way of both affirming and denying

lar form of relativism, but also in more erudite

the passing of time. And in this sense cyclical re­

expressions. First of all, from a Weberian point of

petition is an efficient defence mechanism. The

view it is clear that the acknowledgement of anti­

appearance of the 'comic strip' can thus be con­

nomic value systems within different societies, as

sidered an extraordinary symptom of a form of

well as within each society - simplified in the ex­

narrative which cannot be encapsulated within

pression 'war of the gods' - leads us, if not to an

linear time. What one can observe in stereotyped conversa­

absolute'axiological neutrality', at least to a certain scepticism about

the

concept

of

Truth

itself

tion or in the gratuitous send-ups which are basic

(Weber, 1904). In a deliberately paradoxical fash­

features of the'comic strip' is that, perhaps without

ion, Max Weber tries to think rigorously and to

intending it or at the very least not explicitly, they

generalize, while at the same time recognizing the

assert through their intrinsic criticism of dogmatic

fickleness and ephemerality of human passions.

discourses a certain invariable quality of man and

One thing is for sure, namely that several of his

society, and a return of 'the same'. Whether in a

analyses take place against a background of deca­

playful or in a more sardonic manner, they provide

dence. The 'antinomy of values' will never be re­

a reservoir for a kind of agnostic anomie which

solved and, in the last analysis, it is because of this

implies that nothing new ever happens in human

antinomy that societies last. Putting it somewhat

history. Whether its target is the church or the

flippantly we might say that'so long as the gods are

state, repetition reminds us of the fact that only

at war with each other, men are at peace'.

the present, which is unfailingly identical with

A similar perspective is to be found in the soci­

itself, deserves our attention. In this sense 'deca­

ology of Vilfredo Pareto. Just as Claude Levi­

dence' denotes an 'ethics of the moment' which is

Strauss argued that 'man has always been able to

not concerned with a heavenly paradise or some

think equally well', Pareto was convinced that'man

future utopia, but obstinately intends all the same

is always the same'. Evidence of this conviction can

to live out this existence which, for all the many

be found in his Treatise on General Sociology (1915-

trials and tribulations it brings, is still captivating

19). Several of his analyses are informed by this

despite them or maybe because of them.

scepticism, which may stem from all the disap­

One element which throws into relief the import­

pointments which marked his career. The con­

ance of cyclical and decadent RELATiviSM in the

scientious

collective consciousness is the attitude to politics.

somewhat disenchanted professor of sociology,

economist,

who

later

became

a

Once again everyday conversations can teach us a

was aware of the 'vanity of action' which derives

lot; it would require specialized research in this area

from the sense that eternal return and repetition

to analyse all the nuances of suspicion about politics

dominate the history of human societies. In this

they imply. It would be more precise to say that

respect one could say that he is imbued by the tragic

they show that politics is the focus of intense inter­

sense of existence. A good observer of contempor­

est, but is generally regarded as an art, an art with

ary politics, he was well aware of the fact that it

its own rules. In Mediterranean countries for in­

is not based on rational arguments, whatever its

stance, political discourse is meant, in the manner

myth about itself, and he sets out to draw from

of'bel canto', to stir passions, to appeal to the heart

this realization all the necessary conclusions. It is

rather than the head. In the light of the concept of

in fact characteristic of decadence to show that

decadence we become aware of just how much

reason in the realm of politics, but a fortiori even

social thought owes to this cyclical worldview,

in human activities which do not claim to be a

according to which 'nothing is new under the

manifestation of it, is no more than what Pareto

sun'. In the last analysis the imposition of power is

calls'derivation', a legitimation which masks all the

an immutable constant of life, something that

inconsistencies, ravings and vested interests of

people know well, at least intuitively. 'Princes'

passion. Here one cannot help but think ofMachia­

may come and go, but their actions will always be

velli and his Florentine Histories, in which he throws

imposed from outside and thus remain 'abstract',

into such stark relief the ambiguity and the ambiva­

and even when they intend to speak and act on

lence of human action.

behalf of the least privileged, it is always to demand submission or conformity to the rule.

In other words, whenever the future predomin­ ates, the collective consciousness is wholly turned

141

DECISION THEORY towards it. When instead the present prevails, a

decision theory

cyclical and decadent vision of the world will re­

how rational agents choose to act given their aims,

emerge. But why? Perhaps because of the 'satur­

their options and their beliefs about the effects

ation' mechanism so well described by Pitirim

of their options on their aims. Even given all this,

Decision theory is the study of

Sorokin, which causes values, as well as things, to

deciding what to do may be deeply problematic,

become worn out and exhausted. This would also

either because of the sheer complexity of the calcu­

explain the saturation of a linear conception of time

lations that are needed (as in the decision problems

and the desire to recuperate the 'here and now'

studied in operations analysis) or because the

which permeates everyday life. And the present is

beliefs are uncertain. This besetting uncertainty

never grasped better than when one compares it to

may be about the state of 'nature', as in utility

some great moments in the past. This is well ex­

theory, or about the choices of other agents whose

pressed by Proust's metaphor of time being 'ein­

choice problems interlock with theirs, as in the

steinized'. Cyclical life takes us back to the time of

theory of games.

passion which overrules all rationalizing construc­

Decision theory has been developed in its clas­

tions. One certainly cannot talk about decadence

sical form as an axiomatic theory, the axioms laying

a priori principles of rational choice.

without referring, or at least alluding, to the spin­

down

off effect it has on the ways we understand reality.

the central core of everyday psychological explan­

Because

As soon as the 'pro-ject' stops being the driving

ation is that action is rationally related to the agent's

force of society, the sociologist has to resort to a

beliefs and aims, decision theory may be seen as

different mode of evaluating social life. The relativ­

providing, among other things, a formal model of that core (see Lewis,

1983).

all its contingency, is the recognition that all beings

situations,

decision

and all situations are marked by incompleteness.

deduce the agents' decisions from the

And this is something which the logic of the 'must

ciples alone. It is thus an idealizing theory, which

be' cannot tolerate.

depicts the agent as never violating the

istic acceptance of

what is, this affirmation of life in

In defiance of those intellectuals who confuse the

classical

For a series of defined theory

aspires

to

a priori prin­ a priori

principles, and always acting as they logically

erosion of certain VALUES with the tragic and mel­

dictate however demanding this may be to com­

ancholic death of all things, and of those who think

pute. But round this classical, idealizing core of

the world,

theory there has also been much work concerned

decadence reminds us that analysing the role of

with testing empirically human subjects' conform­

repetition in everyday life and recognizing the he­

ity with the axioms and, in recent years, with de­

that the end of

a world

means the end of

donistic pleasure to be derived from unleashing the

veloping theories which collect, explain, and study

senses opens up a wide field of enquiry. On the basis

the consequences of observed departures from

of this deeply rooted conviction we can dispute the

them.

pronouncements of the apologists of the future or of

The two major theoretical achievements of deci­

those nostalgic for things past, by arguing that

sion theory have been

decadence allows us to glimpse the serenity of the

games.

utility theory and the theory of

GAME THEORY is the decision theory of the

Greek 'Kairos', in other words the moments of

individual in social settings. It is so called because

opportunity offered within the flux of everyday life.

Von Neumann and Morgenstern took parlour games to be isomorphic with, and paradigms for,

See also PROGRESS.

the economic and other social interactions to which Reading

the theory was addressed. It concerns, and attempts

Durand, G. 1979: Figures mythiques et visages de l'oeuvre.

to deal in axiomatic style with, the decision prob­

Freund, J. 1984: La decadence. Maffesoli, M. 1979: La Conquite du Present: pour une sociologie de la vie quotidienne.

Pareto, V. 1915-19 (1963): The Mind and Society: a Trea­ tise on General Sociology.

Spengler, 0. 1918-22 (1926-8): The Decline ofthe West, 2 vols. Weber, M. 1904 (1949): The Methodology of the Social

lems which two or more persons face when the outcomes of the actions of each one - and so their desirability - depend on the actions of the others. Each is assumed to know the options and desires of all; and moreover that the others have this knowledge. Most of the literature concerns

cooperative

non­

games, in which the players cannot

learn the intentions of others by communicating

Sciences.

MICHEL MAFFESOLI

with them, but must infer them from knowledge

142

DECISION THEORY

only of their situation (their options, desires and

are assumed to derive these decisions by pure

knowledge) and their rationality.

reason from the data of their problems. This is

Utility theory concerns the problem of an indi­

not a chancy business, and it is hard to see what

vidual agent who must choose between two or more

basis the first player could have for ascribing prob­

actions which give rise to 'risky prospects'. A risky

abilities to them. (Decision theory has also con­

prospect for an agent is a set of alternative outcomes

cerned

together with a probability for each outcome, at­

probabilization for another reason - because the

itself

with

uncertainty

which

resists

tached to it by the agent; I, for example, face the

agent is in 'complete ignorance' about which possi­

risky prospect (£25 with probability one-tenth;

bility is or will be realized.)

minus £1 with probability nine-tenths) ifl bet £1

What sort of things are the agent's probabilities

on a horse at odds of 25 to 1 against to whose

in a decision under 'risk'? V on Neumann and Mor­

winning I attach probability of 1 in 10.

genstern supposed them to be objective chances,

Utility theory had its beginnings in Daniel Ber­

like those in games of chance, known to the agent.

noulli's 1738 paper reporting the 'St Petersburg'

But this is not the only possibility. Within decision

curiosum, the fact that no-one is willing to pay

theory there has developed the view of probabilities

more than a few pounds to play a certain game of

as subjective 'degrees of belief revealed in 'pre­

chance, though the expected value of a player's win­

paredness to bet'. It is clear that an agent who

nings is infinite. (The 'expected value' of a risky

prefers a lottery which gives a prize if state S

monetary prospect is the weighted average of the

transpires and a penalty if not-S does to one that

different possible gains, the weights being their

gives the prize if not-S and the penalty if S in some

probabilities.) In explanation Bernoulli conjectured

sense believes more strongly in S than in not-S.Just

that the rational gambler is a maximizer of the

as Von Neumann and Morgenstern 'construct'

expected value not of income but of its utility.

utilities out of the pattern of the agent's choices

V on Neumann and Morgenstern (1944) axiomatize

among lotteries, when these obey certain axioms,

this 'expected utility hypothesis'. They show that if

so Ramsey (1926), Savage (1954) and other subject­

a person ranks risky prospects in a manner that

ivists construct numerical degrees of belief out of

meets certain obvious canons of rationality, ex­

this pattern. They succeed in showing, for agents

pressed in the axioms of the theory, then there is a

obeying their axioms, both that these magnitudes

numerical magnitude associated with each out­

are (mathematically) probabilities, and that the

come, called its utility, such that he or she ranks a

agents choose as if maximizing expected utility

risky prospect above another just if it gives a greater

reckoned according to them. These results have

expected value of this magnitude. For example, I

led to the so-called Bayesian view that all uncertain­

will prefer to make the above bet if and only if

ties that agents face are probabilities and that the

( l . lO)u(£25)+(9/lO)u(£- 1) ::::> 0, where u(£x) de­

expected utility hypothesis provides a comprehen­

notes the utility of winning £x . Some of the axioms

sive theory of rational decision-making.

are uncontroversially true of rational preference:

The expected utility hypothesis has been rep­

for example the Monotonicity Axiom, which says,

eatedly disconfirmed in laboratory studies. The

roughly, that given two outcomes, one (A) pre­

most famous experimental violation is the so-called

ferred to another (B), raising the probability of A

Allais paradox. Another is the 'common ratio effect'

gives a preferable prospect. Others are more con­

demonstrated by Kahneman and Tversky (1979): if

troversial, notably the Independence Axiom, which

a person prefers a moderate prize M to a 50 per cent

says: if an outcome A is at least as well liked as an

chance at a large prize L, according to the theory he

outcome B, then a given chance at A is at least as

or she must also prefer a 10 per cent chance at M

well liked as the same chance at B.

to a 5 per cent chance at L; but subjects standardly

Both game theory and utility theory concern

display the first preference and the reverse of

rational decisions taken in conditions of uncer­

the second. Such findings have provoked diverse

tainty, but the uncertainty is of radically different

reactions: some, who regard utility theory as nor­

kinds in the two theories. In utility theory it is 'risk'

mative and find its axioms entirely compelling,

-uncertainty representable by probabilities. These

conclude that subjects are in error, and in need of

attach, in classical utility theory, to the 'state of

instruction! Others, however, feel that normative

nature'. In game theory, however, the uncertainty

theory should reflect the strength of the intuitive

is about the decisions of other rational agents, who

judgements that provoke such 'reversals', or else

DECONSTRUCTION

143

This has become the word most

regard utility theory as primarily explanatory or

deconstruction

predictive. These attitudes have led to the develop­

currently used to describe the work of the French

ment of 'non-expected utility' theories, somewhat

philosopher Jacques Derrida (born 1930) and those

more complex and/or weaker than utility theory,

who describe themselves as, or are perceived to be,

which are consistent with the recalcitrant observa­

his follows (despite Derrida's own reservations about the term), and 'deconstructionism' is used

tions. In spite of its empirical rough edges, utility

exclusively by critics of this work. In fact there is no

theory has been widely used in explanatory and

unified 'school' or institution ofDerridean thought,

predictive work in the social sciences, and with

although it has inspired a good deal of work, espe­

considerable success. In political science it has

cially in literary theory and philosophy. Decon­

spawned RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY; in economics

struction is still a violently disputed area of

it is ubiquitous, providing a simple and powerful

thought, and Derrida has been involved in a

way of extending to uncertain settings the disc­

number of polemical exchanges,

ipline's central assumption of the efficient pursuit

Michel Foucault, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ji.irgen

notably with

of self-interest. It has a key role in explaining such

Habermas, J acques Lacan and John Sear!e.

diverse phenomena as insurance, gambling, the

Much of the critical material written about Der­

holding of money, and the stickiness of wages

rida can be shown to rely on inadequate under­

in recessions. In many of these cases it is conjoined

standing, but his work is difficult enough to

with

inspire very basic disagreements of interpretation

the

empirical

hypothesis

that

economic

agents are risk averse, that is, prefer a sum £x

even among supposed experts. It is fashionable and

for sure to a risky prospect whose expected value

convenient to suggest that there are two opposed receptions of Derrida, whether these be favourable

is £x. Decision theory has completed a brilliant half­

or critical: one as essentially a philosopher who may

century in which it has contributed powerful and

incidentally have some things to say about literary

illuminating tools of thought to the social sciences.

studies Gonathan Culler, Rodolphe Gasche, Chris­

Yet it remains in a not wholly satisfying state. As a

topher Norris), the other as almost an antiphiloso­

theory of rational human choice it is, in its classical

pher attacking philosophy from the standpoint of

form, both too strong and too weak: too strong in

something

that its axioms - sometimes because they set im­

Hartman, Richard Rorty); this type of characterisa­

possible standards, sometimes because they fail to

tion can be shown to be fundamentally misguided

like literature

(Habermas, Geoffrey

capture the subtleties of human concerns - are

(Bennington), if only because it relies on a binarist

consistently violated by intelligent subjects. Too

presentation (see below) in a context where binar­

weak because it ignores constraints on what count

ism is perhaps the primary object of suspicion.

as rational beliefs, desires and actions in the specific

Derrida takes as his object no less than the total­

cultural settings to which it is to be applied. It

ity of what he refers to, in the wake of Heidegger, as

remains to be seen how far these shortcomings can

Western metaphysics or onto-theology. His claim,

be repaired without damage to the power and the

still following Heidegger, is that this tradition, at

luminousness of the classical theory.

least since Plato, has attempted to determine being as presence, but that such a determination is dog­

Reading

matic, relying on an 'ethicotheoretical decision'

Bacharach, M. 0. L. and Hurley, S. L. eds 1991: Founda­

rather than any theoretical demonstration, and can

tions ofDecision Theory: Issues and Advances. Gardenfiirs, P. and Sahlin, N.-E. eds 1988: Decision,

Probability and Utility. Jeffrey, R. C. 1965 (1983): The Logic ofDecision, 2nd edn. Luce, R. D. and Raiffa, H. 1957: Games and Decisions:

Introduction and Critical Survey. Nozick, R. 1969: Newcomb's problem and two principles of choice. In Essays in Honor of Curl Hempel, ed. N.

always be shown to fail in a variety of ways. In Derrida's view, Western thought has habitually proceeded in an appositional way, proposing binary pairs of concepts (of which some of the most perva­ sive and general are perhaps inside/outside; good/ bad; pure/impure; presence/absence). While pre­ senting these pairs as neutral and descriptive, it in fact determines one of these terms as primary or

Rescher. Reznik, M. 1987: Choices: An Introduction to Decision

Theory.

privileged, and the other as secondary or derived or inferior or parasitic with respect to it. Derrida's

MICHAEL BACHARACH

early work attempts to show this, improbably, by

144

DECONSTRUCTION alongside the most obviously proposed con­

following the guiding thread provided by the trad­ itional construal of the relationship between speech

tent or doctrine, more or less obvious res­

and writing (in Husserl, Plato, Rousseau, Saussure,

ources which work against that content or doctrine;

Hegel among others). Derrida shows, in a first, exegetical moment, how speech is traditionally val­

2

strated independently of any claim as to what

orized above writing by accruing to itself all the

the author intended;

values of presence, while writing is (dis)qualified as embodying exteriority, materiality, death and

The working of these resources can be demon­

3

The deconstruction is not essentially a critical

absence. In a second moment, Derrida argues

activity brought to bear by the reader from

that, even on their own terms, the authors in ques­

outside the text, but is in a certain sense already 'in' the text.

tion cannot fail to show, in spite of their most apparent arguments, that the predicates habitually

4

In so far as texts escape the control of any

used in the description of writing are in fact essen­

internally proposed reading (point 1 above),

tial predicates of language in general, and therefore

then they do not simply 'deconstruct them­

of speech as well. Philosophers seem to want to

selves' either (this again disqualifies a range of

show that speech is primary and writing derivative:

responses to Derrida, both laudatory and crit­

they end up showing, in spite of themselves, that

ical). Deconstruction happens somewhere 'be­

speech is itself really a sort of 'writing'.

tween', say, Derrida and Plato, but cannot be

The core of the argument is as follows: writing is traditionally described as involving the repeatable

located within the historical schemes of any history of philosophy or ideas.

functioning of a sign in the absence of my animating intention (for example after my death); but without the possibility (the

essential

possibility) of decon­

These consequences would perhaps be of only limited importance (affecting, for example, the his­

textualized repetition (if necessary after my death)

torian or reader of philosophy but not the 'doer' of

speak and fully intend to say,

philosophy) were it not for a further claim drawn

even of those things I

then language would not function at all. The possi­

from this description of how language in general

same, but repeated and to

can work. Deconstruction tends to show how any

identica[) is definitive of language as

attempt to define concepts or meanings as self­

bility of repetition (as the that extent not

a whole, and cannot be confined to writing. The

sufficient is incoherent, and how any attempt to

deconstruction of the classical opposition (here

determine the consequent relationships between

speech/writing) involves the polemical retention

concepts as appositional (or, by extension, dialect­

of the previously devalorized term (here writing)

ical) breaks down. One of deconstruction's most

to name a more general structure which includes

significant claims is that binary and dialectical ac­

the previously valorized term (here speech). This

counts still work towards an undifferentiated unity

term (writing) has undergone a displacement (or

(the 'presence' of metaphysics, precisely). On a

'reinscription') in the process, and has disrupted

deconstructive construal, this relationship must be

the binary opposition in which it was traditionally

thought of as

defined. This displacement immediately disqua­

involving a difference which (contra Hegel) need

differential

but not

appositional,

or as

lifies a whole range of 'textualist' responses to Der­

not become opposition (see DIALECTIC). Meanings,

rida (whether supportive or critical), which assume

or effects thereof (for Derrida believes in 'mean­

that the term retains its old sense. Further, the

ings' as little as do Quine or Wittgenstein) result

displaced concept of'writing' thus elaborated func­

from the multiply differential network in which

solely

tions at one and the same time as the condition of

terms are defined

possibility of LANGUAGE, and as the condition

This network is intrinsically

of impossibility of its ever achieving its traditional

terms are 'present' only through their repeatability

telos

as the same (but non-identical), and is thereby

of self-effacement in the interests of thought.

This 'example' of deconstruction immediately suggests a number of important 'methodological' consequences:

inherently

by their interrelationships.

traditionalistic.

historical

in so far as

The only means for

thought are inherited with this network, and it is naive to expect to be able to think without recourse to it. In the field of philosophical conceptuality, this

Texts

(even

philosophical

texts)

are

not

simple and unified, but habitually involve,

historicity of the network implies that

any use of a

philosophical concept (and in fact of any concept at

DEFINITION

145

all) involves an at least implicit 'reading' of the

to a radical multiplicity or 'dissemination' which

tradition, which thus cannot be ignored.

will always remain relatively disorganized or cha­

This inevitable ambivalent indebtedness to the

otic. This multiplicity implies that deconstruction

tradition is also why Derrida retains the name of

attempts to allow events a singularity they are

the old concept (here 'writing') rather than at­

denied in metaphysical philosophy. Because of

tempting simply to introduce a new one for what

this multiplicity, events in their singularity are

he is attempting to think. Elsewhere, the logic of

undecidable (never quite classifiable in the classical

habit

binary way), and therefore, according to Derrida,

of borrowing the operators of his arguments from

demand ungrounded decisions which are of the

the texts under discussion, thus denying the possi­

order of what is traditionally thought of as politics.

this argument

translates into Derrida's

bility of any clear demarcation of object-language

But if traditional political philosophy attempts to

and metalanguage. This refusal of the traditional

domesticate this undecidable dimension, decon­

philosophical fantasy of achieving a vantage point

struction affirms it, and to that extent cannot be

outside the field of investigation does not, however,

annexed to recognizable political theories or pro­

commit Derrida to a position of pure immanence:

grammes. Undecidability makes the taking of re­

certain terms

sponsible decisions possible (without it ethics and

(pharmakon, supplement, parergon,

and even the notorious neologism 'differance' (an

politics would be reduced to administration and

attempt to name the becoming-different of the

bureaucracy), but makes impossible their secure

differential network; see STRUCTURALISM) by a play­

theoretical or doctrinal gounding. To that extent

ful modification of the key notion of difference)

it is both the resource and the despair of politics in

gain an always limited purchase on the texts in

general.

which they remain nonetheless embedded: this 'quasi-transcendental' status (as formalized espe­

Reading

cially by Rodolphe Gasche) implies an intermediary

Bennington, G. 1994: Legislations. The Politics of Decon­

status between the immanent and the transcendent which perhaps best captures the deconstructive position. One of the consequences of this situation, which

struction. Bennington, G. and Derrida,J. 1991:Jacques Derrida. Culler, J. 1982: On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism

after Structuralism.

related differences, or, in what became a notorious

(1976): OfGrammatology. --1967 (1978): Writing and Difference. --1972 (1981): Positions. Gasche, R. 1986: The Tain of the Mirror: Deconstruction and the Philosophy of Reflection.

formulation, that 'there is nothing outside the text'.

GEOFFREY BENNINGTON

is no longer philosophical in the traditional sense of the term, is that there is nothing outside the thus radically historical network of multilayered inter­

Derrida,J. 1967

Dif.firance means that differences are never absolute Social

theorists

have

tended

to

(a common misreading of Derrida involves the as­

definition

similation of his

assume that the stipulative or verbal definition of

dif.firance to Hegel's absolute

difference, in an attempt to show how it must revert

terms ('By x I mean abc') is an unproblematic and

to absolute identity), and neither, therefore, are

desirable practice, requiring nothing more than

identities. This radically non-teleological situation

clarity and consistency of usage. This view, ex­

is one offensive to Rationalism (see RATIONALITY

pressed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth

AND REASON), but does not mean that deconstruc­

centuries by Emile Durkheim

tion is thereby irrationalist or nihilistic: reasons

nand Tiinnies

(1895) and Ferdi­ (1899-1900), is still accepted as a

must be given, and Derrida writes much that is

commonplace by most social scientists (see PosiTIV­

recognizable within the norms of philosophical ar­

ISM).

(pace Habermas), but their purchase is

A more complex view can be found in Max

never established. Deconstruction does not say that

Weber's assertion that, for example, a definition of

everything is of equal value, but that establishing

religion can come only at the

values as equal or unequal remains always a ques­

and not at the beginning. Here Weber seems to be

tion; it does not say that there is an infinite number

following Nietzsche's maxim that concepts which

of interpretations or meanings, but that there is not

express a whole historical process resist definition.

one interpretation or meaning (see HERMENEUTICS).

This view, vigorously upheld by Theodor Adorno

Unlike binary thinking, deconstruction thus opens

(see FRANKFURT SCHOOL), tends to go with a stress

gumentation

end of an investigation

146

DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION

on the hermeneutic complexity of social phenom­

meanmgs being carelessly superimposed on each

ena and their intimate relation to VALUES. This

other.

in turn was reinforced from the middle of the

On the one hand, de-industrialization is seen as a

century in the English-speaking world by Wittgen­

natural consequence in the move from early to late

stein's critique of positivism, giving rise in the

(or perhaps to post-) industrial society (see PosT­

work of Winch ( 19 58) and others to an alternative

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY). The tertiary sector must grow

model of social sciences (see VERSTEHEN). The nor­

if the advanced economies wish to retain their com­

mative relevance of definition was further brought

petitive edge by moving their industries up the

out by Gallie's notion of 'essentially contested con­

product cycle, that is, moving towards ever higher

cepts' in social and political thought (Gallie,

technology goods. There is nothing 'wrong' with such a move. The smaller share of Gross Domestic

1955-6). The decline of positivism into conventionalism,

Product

provided

by

manufacturing

industry

and consequent anxieties over RELATIVISM, have

represents a relative rather than an absolute decline;

prompted supporters of rationalism and REALISM

that is, de-industrialization does not mean a loss

to revive the notion of 'real definition', in which

of affluence. Similarly, there is no reason in

definitions are intended to express the essential

principle why diminished employment in the sec­

nature of an entity - as in the definition of chemical

ondary sector cannot be taken up in the tertiary

substances by their molecular structure. How far

sector.

this is possible for social objects remains controver­

On the other hand, de-industrialization refers to

sial, but it is clear that the more sophisticated con­

economies which are doing less well than they

ception of the nature of social-scientific theory

might for various structural reasons. The British

which has come to predominate in recent decades

economy suffered an absolute decline in manufac­

has brought with it a greater sensitivity to the

turing from 1979 to 1987, and there is ample evi­

problems of the formation of social-scientific con­

dence to show that its relative decline is due to

cepts.

factors other than successful industrialization else­

Reading

becomes whether it had to decline so far below the

Durkheim, E. 1895 (1982): The Rules of Sociological

level of France, Germany and Italy; similar ques­

where. If Britain had to decline, the question then

Method.

Gallie, D. 1955-6: Essentially contested concepts. Pro­ ceedings ofthe Aristotelian Society, NS, 56.

Outhwaite,

W.

1983:

Concept

Formation

in

Social

Science.

Tiinnies, F. 1899-1900: Philosophical terminology. Mind 8 and 9. Winch, P. 1958: The Idea ofa Social Science and its Rela­

tions are now being asked about the United States. A combination of factors is usually held to account for such poor performance: sometimes the creation of comparative advantage by action of the state elsewhere is blamed; more often attention is paid to internal social rigidities of various types. It is probably no accident that decline in Britain and America has been so steep: both have an Anglo­

tion to Philosophy.

WILL!AM OUTHWAITE

Saxon dislike of industrial policy, and both tend to favour finance above industry.

Referring to the contrac­

The political left has been particularly concerned

tion of output and/ or employment in the manufac­

with de-industrialization. This is scarcely surpris­

de-industrialization

turing sector of the economy, the phenomenon has

ing: either form identified here diminishes the im­

received particular attention in the United King­

portance of the manual working class on whose

dom since the late 1970s, although a more recent

activities progressive hopes tend to rest. Most

debate in the United States addresses the same

plans to reverse de-industrialization, however, are

issues. It is insufficiently appreciated that a rather

made defective by not distinguishing between the

different literature exists on the de-industrializing

two senses highlighted here - that is, plans are often

effects of incorporation inside the great European

made to restore manufacturing industry to its full

empires of the nineteeth and twentieth centuries.

former glory, in unawareness of the fact that some

Leaving that aside, the principal characteristic of

de-industrialization is inevitable, perhaps indeed

the recent discussion of de-industrialization has

desirable.

been generalized confusion. This results from two

See also TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE.

DEMOCRACY

147

tion between the ideas of democracy and equality

Reading Bell, D. 1974: The Coming ofPost-Industrial Society.

(see

EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY).

There is this con­

Blackaby, F. ed. 1979: De-industrialisation.

nection because, apart from anything else, the idea

Gershuny, J. 1978: After Industrial Society.

of the whole people making a decision involves the

Martin, R. and Rowthorn, R. eds 1986: The Geography of

notion of each individual having an equal say (and in particular each person should have one vote).

De-industrialisation.

Singh, A. 1977: UK industry and the world economy: a

Without this there would be a decision by some,

case of de-industrialisation? Cambridge Journal ofEco­

rather than all, of the people. But so close is the

nomics I. 2, 113-16.

connection that equality sometimes becomes cen­

JOHN A. HALL

tral to democracy's very meaning: this gives us the secondary sense where 'democracy' means, roughly

democracy

The meaning of the word 'democ­

racy' is rule by the people'. It was first used in the fifth century

BC

speaking, 'a society in which equality exists'. The meaning of 'democracy' is reasonably clear,

by the Greek historian Herodotus,

but this fact tends to be obscured due to the diver­

demos,

sity of systems that have been called democracies.

combining the Greek words

kratein,

meaning 'the

meaning 'to rule'. Abraham

Indeed, it might sometimes seem that the one

Lincoln's famous definition was 'government of the

common feature in such diversity is the expression

people, by the people, for the people'. By elaborat­

of approval. As approval for democracy is now

ing on the notion of government or rule, the mean­

almost universally expressed, that at least is clearly

people', and

what

ing can be given more precisely: a democracy is a

signified by the use of the term, even if exactly

political system in which the whole people make,

is being approved is not so clear. Indeed, for some it

and are entitled to make, the basic determining

appears that 'democracy' is merely a 'hurrah! word'

decisions on important matters of public policy.

emptied of all descriptive content, meaning no

The notion of being 'entitled to make' the basic

more than 'hurrah! for this political system'. How­

decisions

ever, confusion of this sort can be avoided by

distinguishes

democracy

from

other

systems in which such decisions are in effect deter­ mined by the people-for example, where a weak or ailing dictator gives way to the people's wishes because of the threat of riot or insurrection. In a

because

agreed meaning of 'democracy' -rule by the people-and differing judgements about what is necessary for such rule to exist, and hence which political systems

attending to the distinctions between the

of their entitlement to do so

actually exemplify it. Thus disagreement about

that the people can make the decisions; the entitle­

the application of the word 'democracy'-disagree­

ment derives from a system of basic rules such as a

ment about where there is rule by the people-does

democracy it is

not, in fact, imply that the word lacks an agreed

constitution. The idea of the people making decisions raises the difficulty of how many, different, individual

one collective

meaning and that it merely signifies approval (Hol­ den,

1974, 1993).

deci­

This near universality of approval is a salient

sion. A common response is to conceive of democ­

feature of democracy today. The other key feature

racy as majority rule. The idea here is that where

is that modern democracies are indirect or represen­ tative rather than direct. They are also now predom­ inantly liberal democracies. This, however, is a

decisions can be combined into

unanimity is lacking, that which is preferred by the greater number should be chosen. The greater number is nearer to being the whole: the majority's

recent development (see below), before which

counted as

there were important disagreements, of the sort

decision should be

the decision of the

whole people. There are, however, many difficul­ ties with such an idea. A decision by the

whole

just mentioned,

concerning

the application of

'democracy' to different types of political system.

people amounts to something more than a decision

Although so important today, historically dem­

by the majority and must involve compromise and

ocracy has been relatively unimportant. For many

consensus; and

centuries it did not exist. 'Both as an idea and as a

democracy cannot be properly

equated with majority rule (Holden,

1993).

The primary meaning of 'democracy' has just

practice, throughout recorded history hierarchy has

been

the

1989,

p.

rule,

democracy

52) -although

the

exception'

been indicated, but there is also a secondary mean­

(Dahl,

this state of affairs

ing which stems from the closeness of the connec-

is now being reversed. For a period in classical

148

DEMOCRACY in

it is maintained that key liberal freedoms are neces­

Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. After

sary for democracy to exist at all. Without freedom

that, though, it was not until the late eighteenth and

of speech, association and so on, the people could

the nineteenth century that the idea became im­

not be offered the choices at elections which enable

Greece

democracy

was

important,

notably

portant again; and it was not until the twentieth

them to make the basic political decisions. In short,

century that democracy became properly estab­

free elections are seen as a necessary condition for­

lished in practice. And it was only after World

and liberal democracy as the only possible form of­

War I that a general disapproval of democracy was

democracy.

replaced by widespread approval.

The notion of liberal democracy is usually asso­

The democracy of ancient Greece was direct

ciated with important ideas about the further kinds

democracy: the people ruled by actually assembling

of political structures and processes that are neces­

together and directly making the basic political

sary for limiting governmental power and provid­

decisions (Held, 1996; Sinclair, 1988). This, most

ing electoral choice. Prominent amongst these are

thoroughgoing, form of democracy has continued

the concept of a multiparty system and the associ­

to have a hold on democratic thought; indeed, until

ated idea of parties whose function is to oppose the

the late eighteenth century 'democracy' only re­

government. These can be seen as components in

ferred to this direct form. However, the Greek

the overall idea of PLURALISM. This centres on the

polis, or city-state, was much smaller than a modern

concept of a plurality of political groups (see INTER­

state where it is not possible to assemble the people.

EST GROUP), as well as parties, as being important

The increase in size and complexity of states has,

both for providing sources of power alternative to

then, meant that in the modern world democracy

and limiting that of the government, and for creat­

must be indirect. Here the people only make a few

ing choice for the electorate.

very basic decisions directly, at elections, the rest

Until the downfall of communism in 1989-90

being made by their elected representatives: indir­

liberal democracy was challenged by alternative

ect democracy is representative democracy. There

types of system that were said by their supporters

are differing ideas about the nature and role of

to have a superior claim to be forms of democracy.

representatives in a democracy (Holden, 1993).

These were the one-party systems of the commun­

However, the basic notion is that representatives

ist world and of many Third World countries.

make decisions for, or on behalf of, the people who

The former were referred to as 'people's democra­

elect them, but that in doing so they are, ultimately

cies', and to some extent acted as a model for

at least, subordinate to the people's own decisions

the latter. The claim to be democratic rested on

expressed at the elections. Voting at elections is

the idea that the single governing party could

thus the key democratic process, and it is necessary

best discern and implement what was in the true

for virtually all adults to have the vote for a system

interests of the people: hence it expressed their

to be a democracy. (See also POLITICAL PARTICIPA­

real will.

TION.)

After World War II one-party democracy pro­

The dominant form of democracy today is liberal

vided a powerful challenge to liberal democracy

democracy. It is now widely believed that this is the

until the dramatic events of 1989-90. Then, the

only kind of democracy possible; but, until recently

overthrow

it was held that there were rival forms (see below).

Europe involved the general rejection of the idea

The term 'liberal' applied to governmental systems

of one-party democracy in favour of liberal democ­

of

communist

systems

in

Eastern

usually implies a concern with protecting individ­

racy. And Third World one-party democracies

ual freedoms by limiting the power of the govern­

were discredited too: they were widely rejected in

ment (see LIBERALISM). The typical idea is that the

theory, and quite often in practice. It is true that

power of a government should be limited by sub­

some old-style one-party regimes still exist, most

jecting it to regulation by a constitution or bill of

notably in China. However, essentially the theory

rights. In a liberal democracy, then, the elected

of one-party democracy suffered a mortal blow and

government expresses the will of the people, but

liberal democracy has emerged as the only recog­

its power is nonetheless limited. Hence it is, to an

nized form of democracy. Indeed, liberal democ­

extent, a qualified form of democracy in which the

racy has now spread fairly widely across the world

power of the people - as expressed through their

and is today widely seen as the only legitimate form

government- is limited. At the same time, though,

of government.

DEMOGRAPHY Theories of liberal democracy were developed in the late eighteenth and in the nineteenth centuries,

collective decisions are generated Stokes,

1998

chapter

4).

149

(Carter and

In another, and striking,

though they were much influenced by the political

recent development there has been a growing con­

philosophy of John Locke

cern with the idea and possibility of global democ­

(1632-1704).

These the­

ories are often lumped together and referred to as

racy (Holden,

2000).

Whether there can be a rational grounding for

'traditional democratic theory', though there are in fact some important differences among them. In

the judgement - now so widely endorsed - that

'conventional democratic theory' the people have a

democracy is the best system of government is a

passive role and merely choose 'negatively' from

matter of controversy; nonetheless what many

what candidates have to offer. And the representa­

regard as cogent arguments have traditionally

tives once elected have a large amount of discretion;

been offered in its support (Holden,

though the requirements of subsequent elections

1989).

1993;

Dahl,

Today, however, under the influence of

mean that they are ultimately subordinate to the

relativism and postmodernism it is often main­

voters. The most important theorists here were

tained that there can be no compelling rational

James Madison

justification for democracy (Cater and Stokes,

Stuart Mill

1998,

(1751-1836) in America and John (1806-1873) in Britain. In 'radical

chapter

5;

Benhabib,

1996,

part four). None­

democratic theory' the people have a positive,

theless, there is no doubt that today democracy -

initiating role, and candidates respond to policy

and in particular liberal democracy - commands

initiatives from the people. Moreover, elected rep­

very widespread support and approval.

resentatives are not expected to use their discretion but merely to carry out the instructions of their electors; in a word, they are but delegates. Key theorists were Tom Paine (1737-1809) and Thomas Jefferson

(1743-1826)

and the English utilitarians

(see UTILITARIANISM)Jeremy Bentham and James Mill

(1773-1836).

(1748-1832)

Rousseau also has an

important place, though he was the theorist of'con­

Reading Benhabib, S. ed. 1996:

Democracy and Difference. Liberal Democracy and its

Carter, A. and Stokes, G. 1998:

Critics. Dahl, R. A. 1989: Democracy

and its Critics. Models ofDemocracy. Holden, B. 1993: Understanding Liberal Democracy. Weale, A. 1999: Democracy. Held, D. 1996:

tinental' democratic theory rather than mainstream liberal democratic theory (Holden,

BARRY HOLDEN

1993).

In the latter half of the twentieth century it was contended that traditional theory should be super­

democracy, industrial

See INDUSTRIAL DEMOC­

RACY

seded by more realistic, modern, theories of dem­ ocracy which recognize the complexity of modern

democracy, social

See SociAL DEMOCRACY

political systems and the limited political capacity of the mass of the people. 'Elitist democratic

demography

theory' is prominent here. However, elitist demo­

populations, the term embraces a vast array of

cratic theorists have, themselves, been subject to

work, but at its core are three central concerns:

Describing the study of human

criticism by participatory theorists, who maintain that the former are not really democratic theorists

The size and make-up of populations according

at all and that what is needed for democracy to exist

to diverse criteria (age, sex, marital status, edu­

is extensive PARTICIPATION by the whole people

cational attainment, and so on). In short, cross­

(Pateman,

sectional pictures of a population at a fixed

1970).

Such participation should also

involve INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY and extend beyond the political system, as usually conceived, into the

moment in time.

2

workplace and into the economy generally (Pate­ man,

1970;

Dahl,

1985).

ence the composition of populations (fertility,

Later developments in

modern democratic theory include feminist cri­

The different processes which directly influ­ mortality, nuptiality, MIGRATION, and so on).

3

The relationship between these static and dy­

tiques of the nature of representation in liberal

namic elements and the social, economic and

democracy (Carter and Stokes,

cultural environment within which they exist.

1998, chapters 9 and 10; Benhabib, 1996, chapters 7, 9 and 10) and theories of 'deliberative democracy' which focus on

Although there is no strict division, a contrast

rational deliberation as the process through which

is frequently made between formal or technical

150

DEMOGRAPHY

demography on the one hand, and social demog­

raphy one central notion has been the pursuit of

raphy or population studies on the other. The

analysis in terms of cohorts rather than periods.

former is concerned mainly with the collection

Cohort analysis, which considers the experience of

and analysis of data, while the latter implies a

individuals over time, has many theoretical advan­

wider frame of reference drawing in work from

tages over the analysis of events occurring in a given period. This is particularly so where the events in

related fields. From its origins in actuarial studies, demography

question are largely under individual control, as

has been pushed forward by a variety of motiv­

with fertility and nuptiality, and where past experi­

ations. Much of the research carried out in the

ence plays a role in determining current behaviour

early twentieth century had close links to EUGENICS

(Ryder, 1968).

as scholars sought to discover the quantitative di­

Undoubtedly the main contribution of demog­

differentiation.

raphy to quantitative social science has been the life

Following World War II and the abuse of eugenic

table, a detailed description of the mortality of a

mensions

of

social

and

racial

research by Nazism, the motivation waned. How­

population, giving the probability of dying and

ever, the rise of SociOBIOLOGY in the 1970s led to a

various other statistics at each age. The life table

resurgence of interest in demographic studies of

is a powerful tool for the analysis of mortality or any

human biology.

other phenomenon which cannot recur. It has

During the 1930s fertility in many developed

found widespread applications in many areas of

societies fell to unprecedented levels. This inspired

social science as well as in the natural sciences and

both technical analytic developments, such as the

statistics (Shryock and Siegel, 1976).

calculation of gross and net reproduction rates

The statistical techniques employed by demog­

aiming accurately to quantify the scale of the fertil­

raphers are relatively few in number and generally

ity decline, and attempts at a more complete under­

straightforward, though with the advent of com­

standing of the phenomenon, such as the British

puters more statistically sophisticated methods

Royal Commission on Population in the 1940s

have come into use. For most demographers the

(Glass, 1956). Fears of depopulation in Western

heart of the subject lies in the analysis of mortality,

countries became obsolete in the 1950s, however,

fertility and nuptiality, with migration regarded as a

when fertility rose substantially during the so­

separate subdiscipline. This is partly attributable to

called 'baby boom'.

differences in source material and partly to the

From the 1950s on the attention of demograph­ ers switched to population in the Third World,

much greater role of geographers in any form of spatial analysis.

where rapid mortality improvement and persistent

Mathematical demography has been an active

high fertility produced extremely high rates of

sub-branch of the discipline, developing several

population growth. Concern with rapid population

models which combine formal elegance with con­

growth and in particular a desire to promote re­

siderable practical utility. The most important of

duced fertility in developing countries has been a

these is the theory of stable populations. First for­

major undercurrent of demographic research in the

mulated in the eighteenth century by Leonard

second half of the century. Controversy has often

Euler, the theory of the stable population was re­

reigned between competing theorists of social and

invented and popularized by the American demog­

demographic change as they battled for the ear of

rapher Alfred Lotka (1939). The theory enables the

governments

population age-structure consonant with any given

and

funding

agencies

(Hodgson,

1988).

combination of mortality and fertility to be calcu­

The baby boom was shortlived and in the de­

lated, a feature invaluable for the understanding of

veloped world attention has again been focused on

population dynamics. For example, it has been

the issue of low fertility following rapid falls in

possible to demonstrate that demographic ageing

childbearing since the later 1960s. Concern has

is principally the result of low fertility rather than of

been particularly focused on the phenomenon of

longer individual survival (Coale, 1972).

population ageing as societies grapple with the growth of old-age populations.

The most influential concept in social demog­ raphy is the demographic transition. As Demeny

Both formal and social demography have de­

(1972) puts it, 'In traditional societies, mortality

veloped a number of key ideas or models in the

and fertility are high. In modern societies fertility

course of the twentieth century. In formal demog-

and mortality are low. In between there is the

DEPENDENCY demographic transition.' Demographic translt!on

151

some countries can expand through self-impulsion

theory was first developed by American demog­

while others ...can only expand as a reflection of

raphers in the years around World War II and was

the expansion of the dominant countries.' Though

a form of the more general modernization theories

the term can be found in Marxist writings before

then current (Notestein, 1945; Davis, 1945). The

Lenin (as in Otto Bauer), it was given prominence

theory can be broadly divided into three parts:

by Lenin, especially after his 1916 pamphlet on imperialism as 'the last stage of capitalism'. Indeed

2

3

A description of changes over time in fertility

dependency theory is basically a revival of Lenin's

and mortality;

concept of imperialism, shifting the focus to its

The construction of theoretical causal models

effects (to which Lenin paid scant attention) on

explaining these changes; and

underdeveloped economies. Kwame Nkrumah,

Predictions for future trends, especially in the

the Ghanaian leader, consciously echoed Lenin

Third World.

when he said 'neo-colonialism is the last stage of capitalism.'

Attention has been especially focused on the

The idea of dependency was born as a reaction

factors responsible for fertility decline with differ­

against dualist interpretations of Latin American

ent theorists advocating different causal mechan­

backwardness. Stemming from MoDERNIZATION

Isms. Early

theory, dualism used to distinguish between a

work

stressed

urbanization

and

industrialization as prime movers, but this has

modern, progressive sector of the economy and

been

society

questioned following the

discovery

that

changes in these factors were not closely correlated

and

stagnant,

traditional

branches

or

regions, which were labelled precapitalist.Depend­

with fertility change in historical European popula­

ency theorists, by contrast, saw DEVELOPMENT AND

tions. Moreover, many Asian and Latin American

UNDERDEVELOPMENT as functional positions within

countries have experienced significant fertility falls

the world economy rather than stages along an

with only limited concurrent socioeconomic devel­

evolutionary ladder. Previously, Latin American

opment (Freedman, 1982). As a result, recent work

economic thought had been dominated by an out­

has tended to stress cultural factors as playing a

look identified with ECLA (UN Economic Com­

crucial role (Cleland and Wilson, 1987). Many other areas of social thinking have been

mission

for Latin

America). Its

mentor,

the

Argentinian economist Raul Prebisch, believed

influenced by demographic ideas. Research on the

that Latin America's underdevelopment reflected

FAMILY has to take into account the demographic

its peripheral place in the world economy and

constraints within which all family and kinship

resulted from the adoption of free trade policies as

relations take place, while analysis of marriage and

the region's commodity exports suffered from a

divorce rely on demography for their quantitative

secular decline in their prices. Third World pri­

basis.Historical demography has been very influen­

mary producers, unlike grain producers in nine­

tial in the development of social and economic

teenth-century areas of white settlement, were not

history, and the use of demographic methods in

in the long run reaping big profits from free trade.

ANTHROPOLOGY has grown rapidly in recent years.

Dependency theory agreed with Prebisch's diagno­

Reading Pressat, R. 1985: The Dictionary of Demography, ed. C. Wi1son. Ross, J. A. ed. 1982: International Encyclopaedia ofPopu­

tionist,

sis but rejected his Keynesian prescription: protec­

lation.

Woods, R. 1979: Population Analysis in Geography. CHRISTOPHER WILSON

state-fostered

'import

substitution

industrialization' (ISI), which became the prevalent development ideology.The early work of an ECLA economist, the Brazilian Celso Furtado ( 1964), pro­ vided a conceptual transition from Prebisch by stressing that in underdeveloped countries the small size of the domestic market restricts capital formation, and by envisaging the state as a means of

dependency

Dependency theory is a body of

combating structural bottlenecks. A heavy blow to

neo-Marxist thought which arose in Latin Ameri­

dualist pieties and nationalist reformism was struck

can social science in the late 1960s. According to

when a Mexican sociologist, Rodolfo Stavenhagen,

T.dos Santos (1970), 'a relationship of interdepen­

denouncing several 'mistaken theses about Latin

dence ...becomes a dependent relationship when

America' (1968), attacked the 'trickle-down' idea

152

DEPENDENCY spreads overall progress,

sticking to the classical Marxist stress on class

claiming that on the contrary what progress there

structure and social relations. The same point was

was had taken place at the expense of backward

later made by Robert Brenner

areas, and denied (a) that national bourgeoisies

of Immanuel Wallerstein, a neo-Marxist historian

were inimical to landowners, (b) that workers

of capitalism who skilfully blended Frank's outlook

shared interests with peasants, and (c) that the

with Fernand Braudel's geographically minded ac­

that industrialization

middle classes were enterprising and progressive. Dependency theory also changed Latin Ameri­

(1977) in his critique

count of'world economics' shaped by early modern capital (see Wallerstein,

1974). Frank and Waller­

can views on imperialism. Up to the interwar

stein became the best-known sources of depend­

period (as in the thought of Haya de la Torre) the

ency theorizing. (See also

dominant anti-imperialist stance south of the USA

WoRLD-SYSTEM.

)

Dependency theory in political science (see

1973) tried to relate the rise of authori­

blamed underdevelopment on foreign exploitation

O'Donnell,

but not on capitalism as such. But dependency theory

tarianism to the exhaustion of ISI. While early ISI

chose to follow Lenin's momentous reversal of the

concentrated on light, labour-intensive industry,

Marxist conception of capitalism. While Marx had

with a low level of technology and investment

seen it as a fundamentally progressive (however

costs, and production aiming at low-income con­

doomed) historical trend, Lenin came to regard

sumers,

capitalism in its imperialist stage as a decadent,

sive

late ISI produces capital goods or expen­

durable

consumer

goods

requiring

high

obstacle to

technology and costly investment. Consequently

economic and social progress. This view was shared

consumption growth becomes geared to the upper

by 'hard' dependency theorists like A. G. Frank

middle classes and political repression is called on

(1969), Dos Santos, Rui M. Marini and Samir Amin (1970). A 'softer', Gramsci-like approach

to prevent the lower classes from imposing a more

was soon developed by the Sao Paulo sociologist

entered the picture by means of the multinational

F. H. Cardoso, with a milder reformist, structural­

companies, the main providers of capital and tech­

parasitic process which had become an

distributivist pattern via the ballot. Dependency

ist line led by Furtado and the Chilean economist

nology under later ISI. The work of Cardoso and

Osvaldo Sunkel.

Faletto

Gunder Frank initiated the dependency school

1967 by taking up Paul Baran's thesis in The Political Economy ofGrowth (1957) that exploit­

proper in

(1969) was chiefly a seminal typology of

bourgeoisies, classified according to their degree of automony

vis-a-vis the export economy and the

multinationals in several national contexts. Cardoso

ation of the Third World not only went on un­

strongly qualified Frank's original tenets, stressing

abated after the end of colonial rule but became

the dialectic between market forces, class structures

far more efficient, underdevelopment being the

and national political traditions. But the end result

result of the economic capture of backward areas

of his insightful revamping of dependency theory

Frank

has been to blur its outlines as a causal hypothesis;

provided a catchy prase for this process: 'The de­

what was gained in sense of context was lost in

velopment of underdevelopment.' For him, devel­

explanatory power. (cf. Jaguaribe,

by

advanced

metropolitan

capitalism.

1973).

opment and underdevelopment are not just relative

The big unanswered question of dependency

and quantitative but 'relational and qualitative' be­

theory is, how is it that some 'dependent' countries

cause 'structurally different'; the same capitalist

can be so affluent? The Canadian economy is as

mechanisms generate both development at the

dependent on trade with the USA, and far more

centre and underdevelopment of the periphery.

permeated by American capital, than Mexico, yet

'Feudal' areas, in the dualist jargon, are just those

Canada is a developed country and Mexico a plod­

which have suffered most in the process. Thus the

ding developing one. To be sure, the foreign debt

most'archaic' parts of Latin America, such as high­

quagmire has cast many developing nations into the

land Peru or the Brazilian north-east, were previ­

throes of acutefinancial dependency. Nevertheless,

ously the centre of the economic and commercial

while the proximate cause of the debt was the

dynamics of the region.

soaring interest rates of the era of the Reagan presi­

Frank's analysis was quickly challenged. E.

dency in the USA, its root cause was massive free

(1977) chastised him for defining modes of

borrowing dictated by the decision to keep develop­

production, like Paul Sweezy and the dualists, in

ing economies such as Brazil and Mexico as nearly

terms of their relation to the market instead of

autarkic as possible (since the alternative route of

Laclau

DEPRIVATION, RELATIVE

153

attracting more foreign investments could have

including those not seen by a psychiatrist and not

kept their foreign debts at a significantly lower

diagnosed by a general practitioner, psychosocial

level). To a certain extent, therefore, the current

factors probably play a major role in onset and

debt predicament, far from reflecting an original

course, and go far to explain the large social class

situation of dependence, may be deemed a nemesis

differences often present in urban settings. More­

of the will to autarky.

over, certain kinds of early adverse experience, par­

Reading

can also lead to a higher risk of depression in adult­

Amin, S. 1970 (1974): Accumulation on a World Scale.

hood. Fortunately there is nothing inevitable about

Cardoso, F. H. and Fa1etto, E. 1969 (1979): Dependency

such effects since subsequent 'positive' experience,

ticularly involving rejection and abuse by a parent,

and Development in Latin America. Dos Santos, T. 1970: The structure of dependence. American Economic Review 6 0, May. Frank, A. G. 1969 (1971): Capitalism and Underdevelop­ ment in Latin America: Historical Studies of Chile and Brazil.

particularly in terms of a supportive marriage or a new opportunity, can greatly lower risk. Psychiatrists see relatively few of those in the general population who experience a depressive episode, and the task of coming to terms intellec­ tually with what they do see is complicated in

Eurtado, C. 1964: Development and Underdevelopment. Hoogvelt, A. 200 1 : Globalization and the Postcolonial World.

several ways. A good deal of the undoubted bio­ logical dysfunction present once a person is de­

Larrain, J. 1989: Theories ofDevelopment.

pressed could be a consequence of external events,

J. G. MERQUIOR

although there can be little doubt that some depres­ sion is essentially biological in origin. Understand­

depression

A diagnosis of this condition in­

ably

they

quite

often

see

patients

who

are

volves more than a depressed mood, however per­

particularly profoundly depressed. In addition pa­

sistent

tients very often have more than a straightforward

and

severe:

a

certain

number

of

characteristic symptoms must be present, such as

depression. Those with 'acting out' behaviour such

loss of interest, feelings of guilt, sleep and appetite

as suicide gestures are more likely to be referred to

disturbance, suicidal plans, slowing in movement

psychiatrists, as well as those with alcoholism, sub­

and anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure). But

stance abuse and physical illness, as well as in­

depression is not a unitary phenomenon. Manic

stances where the patient has helped to bring

depression (or bipolar condition), for example, is

about the crisis immediately responsible for his or

distinguishable by genetic involvement, clinical re­

her depression. Indeed, with the increasing use of

currence (often involving manic episodes) and

anti-depressant drugs in general medicine, psych­

responses to specific treatments. However, further

iatrists may well see relatively few 'ordinary' de­

diagnostic divisions have proved more difficult to

pressions.

make, and terms such as 'reactive' and 'neurotic' in

depression seen by psychiatrists a certain scepti­

Given

the

selected

nature

of

the

contrast to 'endogenous' or 'psychotic' are confus­

cism on their part is understandable in response to

ing if taken literally. It is now clear, for example,

simple aetiological explanations. At the same time,

that 'endogenous' conditions (defined by what are

it behoves them to recognize the possibility that the

thought to be characteristic symptoms and thought

depressive phenomenon as a whole may not prove

by some to arise spontaneously within the individ­

to be as complex in its origins as it would appear

ual) can, in fact, be provoked by crises such as a

from the perspective of psychiatric practice.

miscarriage or marital separation.

See also PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL ILLNESS.

Biological explanations have recently been prom­ inent - especially variations on formulations con­

Reading

cerning deficits in neurotransmitter amines in the

Go1dberg, D. and Hux1ey, P. 1992: Common Mental Dis­

brain. It is also clear that psychosocial stressors, particularly concerning loss and disappointment, appear to be frequently involved in provoking all

orders: a Biosocial Model. Herbst, K. and Paykel, E. 1989: Depression: an Integrative Approach.

GEORGE W. BROWN

forms of depression (leaving aside the relatively rare bipolar condition) and factors such as social support offer some protection. On present evidence, if the

deprivation,

broad range of depressive conditions are taken,

ATION

relative

See

RELATIVE

DEPRIV­

154

DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

despotism, oriental

See ORIENTAL DESPOTISM

powers or the system in which s3 is formed is open or the process is stochastic. The development

determinism

This is normally understood as

of catastrophe and chaos theory has dealt another

the thesis that for everything that happens there

blow to regularity determinism, illustrating that

are conditions such that, given them, nothing else

non-linear dynamic systems can yield highly ir­

could have happened. In the influential philosoph­

regular (chaotic and unpredictable) results (see

ical form articulated by David Hume and]. S. Mill

also PREDICTION).

it appears as regularity determinism, viz. that for

The relative rarity of deterministic outcomes and

every event x there is a set of events YI ... Yn such

the complexity of agents has implications for the

that they are regularly conjoined under some set of

issue of free will. The dominant position in the first

descriptions. This has generally been assumed to

half of the century was the 'compatibilist' one that

hold true in nature this century, at least until very

free will presupposes determinism. Under the

recently, with the exception of quantum mechanics

influence of Gilbert Ryle, John Austin, the later

(where it appears impossible to determine simul­

Wittgenstein, F. Waismann, P. Strawson and S.

taneously the position and momentum of elemen­

Hampshire, the commonsense view that determin­

tary

ism places our normal concepts of agency (see

particles).

However,

reservations

were

expressed about it in the 1960s by P. T. Geach

AcTION AND AGENCY), choice and responsibility in

and G. E. M. Anscombe; and in the

1970s

jeopardy was most usually reconciled with a con­

more systematically by R. Bhaskar. He argued

tinued commitment to determinism at the physical

that reflection on the conditions under which de­

level in the doctrine that the former concepts oper­

terministic outcomes are actually possible (from

ated at or in a different logical level, language

which determinism as a metaphysical thesis derives

stratum or language game. But once actualism is

its plausibility) suggests that apart from a few

jettisoned, the possibility of a naturalistic revindi­

special - experimentally established or naturally

cation of human agency, of the CAUSALITY of

occurring- closed contexts, laws set limits, impose

reasons and the potential applicability of the predi­

constraints or operate as tendencies rather than

cate 'free' to agents, their actions and their situ­

prescribe uniquely fixed results. In particular they

ations is once more opened up.

have a normic and non-empirical character; and

There was much controversy in the twentieth

they are consistent with situations of dual and mul­

century about whether Marxism is a deterministic

tiple control, multiple and plural determination,

theory in the sense that it holds outcomes to be (a)

complexity, emergence and human agency (for in­

inevitable and/or (b) predictable and/or (c) fated.

stance, in experimental activity). From this per­

This cannot be discussed here (see entry on 'deter­

spective laws are not actual or contingent but

minism' in Bottomore et al., 1983)- save to remark

necessary and real - properties of mechanisms,

that there are good philosophical and historical

not conjunctions of events. And the only sense in

reasons for not treating the Marxist research pro­

which science presupposes determinism is the

gramme as deterministic in any of these senses.

(non-Humean, non-Laplacean) sense of ubiquity determinism, that is, the ubiquity of real (but per­

Reading

haps not necessarily intelligible) causes, including

Anscombe, G. E. M. 1971: Causality and Determination.

causes for differences, and hence the (however

Bhaskar, R. 1975 (1978): A Realist Theory ofScience, 2nd

remote) possibility of stratified explanations. 'De­

edn.

terminism', as normally understood, can then be

Honderich, T. 1993: How Free Are You?

seen to rest on a naive actualist ontology of laws,

Kamminga, H. 1990: Understanding chaos. New Left

and in particular on the error of supposing that because an event was caused to happen, it was bound to happen before it was caused (a confusion of

(ontological)

determination

and

(epistemo­

Review 181.

Melden, A. 1961: Free Action. Polanyi, M. 1967: The Tacit Dimension. ROY BHASKAR

logical) predetermination). Nor is it the case that relations of natural generation are (logically) transi­

development and underdevelopment

tive. Thus it is not the case that because S, pro­

denotes the achievement of economic and social

duced S2 and S2 produced S3 that S1 produced S3-

progress (development) by transforming conditions

if, for instance, either Sz possesses emergent

of underdevelopment (low productivity, stagna-

This

DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

155

tion, poverty) in countries variously designated as

productive of innovation and growth, while inte­

'poor', 'underdeveloped', 'less developed' or 'de­

gration and its normative system secure social sta­

veloping'. EcoNOMIC GROWTH is a necessary if not

bility.

sufficient condition of social progress, charted in

Underdeveloped countries are characterized by a

the satisfaction of such basic needs as adequate

dual structure of traditional and modern social

nutrition, health and shelter (overcoming absolute

sectors, beliefs and practices. The motor of trans­

poverty), to which can be added further conditions

formation is psychocultural- a 'revolution of rising

of a full human existence such as universal access to

expectations' promoting the diffusion of modernity

education, civil freedoms and political participation

from developed to underdeveloped countries, and

(overcoming relative poverty or deprivation).

within the latter from modern to traditional sectors.

After 1945 the international map was redrawn by

The underlying message is 'follow in the footsteps

anti-colonial movements and the end of colonial

of the West', and 'we will help you' through foreign

empire, by US hegemony in the capitalist world

aid and investment, transfer of technology, and so

and its rivalry with the USSR to win allies among

on. Problems arise when socioeconomic change

the independent states of Asia and Africa. In this

fails to satisfy rising expectations, giving way to

global context, development in the transform­

rising frustrations that require strong 'modernizing

ational and transitive sense outlined became a

elites' which can simultaneously induce accelerated

major goal of governments and of international

development and maintain order.

bodies like the United Nations and International

Modernization theories thus formulate develop­

Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the

ment as a process of diffusion, adoption and adap­

World Bank), and emerged as a field of specializa­

tation from a benign external environment, and

tion in the social sciences.

explain underdevelopment by the barriers of trad­

Intense controversy continues to surround the

ition internal to poor countries. The assumptions

causes of underdevelopment and ways of achieving

and prescriptions of modernization - ethnocentric,

development, reflecting radically different views of

sometimes implicitly racist, often explicitly anti­

the nature of Western and Japanese (industrial cap­

communist - have been vigorously challenged by

italist) development, of the international economy

positions that emphasize global factors in explain­

it created and how it conditions the prospects of

ing underdevelopment.

development in the THIRD WORLD, and of the com­

A historic slogan of this challenge was 'the de­

peting claims of capitalist, socialist and nationalist

velopment of underdevelopment' coined by Andre

solutions to

problems of development.

Social

Gunder Frank

(1969) to argue that underdevelop­

theory concerning development and underdevelop­

ment is not an original or residual condition (trad­

ment is thus 'world historical' in its scope and

ition), but was actively created by the incorporation

complexity, but several central themes run through

of the Third World in the world economy formed

the many debates it has generated.

by European expansion from the late fifteenth century. This capitalist world economy consists of a chain

Societal and globalfactors One pervasive set of issues

of'metropole-satellite' relationships between coun­ IS

the nature and

tries, and regions within them, through which

weighting of internal (societal) and external (global)

dominant metropoles appropriate the economic

factors in explaining stagnation and change. In the

surplus of subordinate satellites, enriching the

MoDERNIZATION theories of American social scien­

former and impoverishing the latter, thereby creat­

tists in particular, 'traditional' society or culture is,

ing and reproducing their underdevelopment. Ap­

in effect, synonymous with underdevelopment (see

parently traditional or precapitalist social forms in

also TRADITION AND TRADITIONALISM) . Abstractly,

satellite countries and regions are thus really capit­

tradition and modernity are delineated by the 'pat­

alist in consequence of their world market integra­

(1951), which

tion. The principal mechanisms of 'surplus drain'

depict modernization as the evolution of social

are unequal exchange in international trade, ex­

tern variables' of Talcott Parsons

systems with a high degree of functional and struc­

patriation of profits from foreign investment, and

tural differentiation and corresponding mechan­

of interest on foreign loans, within an international

isms of integration. Differentiation encompasses a

division of labour that systematically favours the

complex social division of labour and a rationality

metropoles.

156

DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

This picture of a global system generating devel­

owes much to Frank and even to Parsons, according

opment and underdevelopment as two sides of the

to critics of Wallerstein's functionalist account of

same coin has been enormously influential. It has

'system'.

also been challenged and modified in various ways,

counters Marxism with the argument that proletar­

Unlike

Frank,

Wallerstein

explicitly

as has Frank's principal prescription of autarchy for

ianization, central to its account of capitalist devel­

Third World countries, their 'disengagement' from

opment, has been exceptional rather than universal

the world economy, as a necessary condition of

in the modern world system which harnesses a

development.

variety of forms of labour, neither fully commodi­

Transcending Frank's stagnationist model, the

tized nor 'free', to the imperatives of capital accu­

possibilities and constraints of 'dependent develop­

mulation. Additionally, Wallerstein replaces the

ment' were formulated by Latin American intel­

static dualism of Frank's metropole-satellite struc­

lectuals (Cardoso and Faletto,

ture with a hierarchy of core, semiperipheral and

1969) and then

generalized to the whole of the Third World. As

peripheral locations in the world system, suggest­

with many terms associated with development, 'de­

ing that countries can shift their location in particu­

pendency' is an elastic notion, but it acknowledges

lar moments of change in the DIVISION OF LABOUR,

the possibility of rapid economic growth whose

INTERNATIONAL.

patterns and limits are still mainly determined by

Another response to rapid economic growth in

external dependence, notably on multinational cor­

parts of Latin American and the NICs ('newly

porations for technology, and on international

industrialized countries') of East Asia, was to turn

banks for finance, dramatized in the current Third

the arguments of radical global approaches upside

World debt crisis.

down in the name of reviving an 'orthodox' Marx­

Another approach to theorizing the relationship of internal and external factors is the 'articulation of

ism. In a major polemic, Bill Warren

(1980) main­

tained that capitalism does develop the post­

modes of production'. The key idea here is that

colonial Third World except where inhibited by

rather than destroying other modes of production,

socialist, nationalist or populist policies derived

capitalism often conserves (or even creates) them by

from misconceived notions of imperialism (stem­

articulating or combining them with its own func­

ming from Lenin,

tioning to obtain 'cheap' commodities to sustain

returned full circle to an internal explanation of economic

1916) and dependency. Warren

accumulation. These commodities comprise both

poor

goods from peasant and artisanal production and

world market integration is to be encouraged rather

performance,

suggesting

that

labour power, which are cheap because their ex­

than resisted, and that socialist construction is 'pre­

change value is 'subsidized' by unpaid subsistence

mature' until the stage of capitalist transformation

production. Contemporary pre- or non-capitalist

is complete.

social forms, therefore, neither represent a residual tradition nor are they rendered 'capitalist' simply by their world economy linkages (Frank).

States, plans, markets

This theoretical approach was developed most

Warren's position partly converges with current

systematically by French anthropologists working

neoliberalism, which highlights another pervasive

in Africa, notably Rey

set of issues: those concerning states, plans and

(1976) amd Meillassoux

(1981), although independent 'modes of produc­

markets in promoting development. Capitalist de­

tion' debates, with somewhat different agendas

velopment

focused on the agrarian question, also occurred in

clearly compatible; Gerschenkron

Latin America (Bartra et al.,

1976) and India (Pat­ 1990). Formulated within a Marxist analysis

that for relative 'latecomers' to development the

of capitalism, particularly as interpreted in Rosa

of capital accumulation, or undertaking it in stra­

Luxemburg's theory of imperialism

naik,

and

economically

active

states are

(1962) suggested

state has a central role in establishing the conditions

(1913), articu­

tegic sectors, recalling the 'infant industry' thesis of

lation explains underdevelopment through the ne­

the nineteenth-century German 'national econo­

cessary reproduction within global capitalism of

mist' Friedrich List

pre-capitalist forms supporting a reserve army of labour in impoverished areas and classes. This idea also features in the eclectic 'world system' project of Wallerstein

(1979), which also

(1841).

Certainly post-war economic development was viewed as the responsibility of states, influenced by the comprehensive

planning pioneered in the

USSR, and Western wartime economic manage-

DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

157

ment followed by European reconstruction under

and civil society which have critical effects for

the Marshall Plan and policies influenced by

how the standard macroeconomic variables of de­

KEYNESIANISM. J. M. Keynes himself participated

velopment policy work in practice, whether ex­

in establishing the Bretton Woods system of insti­

change rate and foreign trade regimes, savings

tutions to regulate the international economy, in­

rates, sectoral investment priorities or the role of

cluding the World Bank, which was centrally

the public sector.

involved in promoting planning (Waterston, 1965)

The initial reasons in the Third World for

until its conversion to an equally ambitious neo­

the primacy of the state in development were

liberal strategy of structural 'reform' in the 1980s.

the experience of colonialism and the fear of

The extent and nature of the state's role in in­

'neocolonial'

domination

after

independence.

vestment, economic management and social provi­

'State' and 'nation' were virtually coterminous

sion, and its relations with the activities of private

in the profoundly national(ist) moment of decolon­

capital, national and international, is a large and

ization.

complex subject in itself, manifested in the very

building' was seen to be as vital a task for the

Creating a cohesive nation or 'nation

mixed record of state-led development in both cap­

state as promoting development, or inseparable

italist and socialist Third World countries. The

from it.

complexities of these different experiences, and of

As the inherited contradictions of underdevelop­

the demands of analysing them, have been short­

ment persisted beyond the triumphal moment of

circuited by the ideological (if not practical) suc­

independence, and new contradictions of uneven

cesses of the neoliberal doctrine of 'rolling back the

development emerged, class analysis became more

state'. This combines a selective core of ideas from

central, often conceiving class structure in periph­

neoclassical economics with an aggressive politics,

eral capitalism by its deviations from 'classic' or

including a rejection of the discipline of 'develop­

core capitalism: dependent or bureaucratic rather

ment economics' on the grounds of its intrinsic

than 'national' bourgeoisies; semi-proletarianized

Keynesianism and statism (Lal, 1983). Moreover,

or marginal masses rather than working classes.

neoliberalism has partly appropriated the ground of

Other approaches aim to transcend this somewhat

widespread popular discontent with state economic

mechanistic conception, addressing the historical

inefficiency, inability to meet basic needs, corrup­

specificities and complexities of class formation,

tion and authoritarianism in many Third World

and how it is enmeshed with other divisions of

countries, and acquired further impetus with the

civil society, notably those of gender.

dramatic collapse of East European state socialism as a perceived alternative to capitalism. Current conditions and prospects as well as eco­

Feminism

has had a

substantial impact on

the analysis of development and underdevelop­ ment, investigating and demonstrating the ways

nomic history cast doubt on the simplistic account

in which their constituent processes - includ­

of virtuous markets and vicious states given by neo­

ing class formation and reproduction - are gen­

liberalism. Even if planning is diminished, state

dered (Agarwal, 1988). It has also contributed to a

enterprises and functions privatized and deregu­

general rethinking by some scholars of the agenda

lated, and external and internal trade liberalized,

of development theory and practice, provoked

the 'leaner' state prescribed has to be much more

inter alia by the convergent critique of the state

efficient as both technocracy and agency of social

from left and right. The emerging agenda focuses

control than hitherto in the Third World. This

on questions of social agency that transcend the

raises issues about the constitution and capacities

conventional dualism of (discredited) state direc­

of states in relation to the deep divisions of class,

tion and the neo-liberal alternative of market

gender, region and culture of the societies whose

individualism, to explore forms of empowerment

development they attempt to direct, as well as in

and

relation to the powerful 'external' forces of the

the capacities of oppressed classes and groups.

world system.

'public action' that express and develop

Thus there are indications of a quest for new solu­ tions to persistent problems of development and

Nation, class and civil society

underdevelopment rooted in the manifestly un­ equal structures of the capitalist world economy

A third set of pervasive issues, then, concerns the

and of the different kinds of societies it encom­

social and

passes.

political processes of nation, class

158

DIALECTIC enables the dialectical commentator to observe the

Reading Dreze, J. and Sen, A. 1989: Hunger and Public Ac tion. Edwards, C. 1985: The Fragmented World. E1son, D . ed.

1991: Male Bias in the Development

process by which categories, notions or forms of consciousness arise out of each other to form ever more inclusive totalities, until the system as a whole is completed. For Hegel truth is the whole and

Process. Hoogvelt, A. 2001: Globalization and the Postcolonial World.

error lies in one-sidedness, incompleteness and ab­ straction: its symptom is the contradictions it gen­

Kay, C. 1989: Latin American Theories ofDevelopment and Underdevelopment.

erates and its cure their incorporation into fuller, richer, more concrete and highly mediated concep­

Patn aik, P. ed. 1986: Lenin and Imperialism. Po st, K. andWright, P. 1989: Socialism and Underdevelop­ ment.

tual forms. In the course of this process the famous principle of sublation is observed: as the dialectic unfolds no partial insight is ever lost. In fact the

Sk1air, L. 1991: Sociology of the Global System. Toye, J. 1987: Dilemmas ofDevelopment: Reflec tions on the

Hegelian dialectic progresses in two basic modes:

Counter-revolution in Development Theory and Policy.

by bringing out what is implicit, but not explicitly

Wo1pe, H . ed. 1980: The Articulation ofModes ofProduc­

articulated, in some notion; or by repairing some want, lack or inadequacy in it. 'Dialectical', in

tion.

HENRY BERNSTEIN

contrast to 'reflective'

(or analytical), thought

grasps conceptual forms in their systematic inter­ deviance

See CRIME AND DEVIANCE

connections, not just their determinate differences, and conceives each development as the product of a

dialectic

In its most general sense, dialectic has

previous, less developed phase, whose necessary

come to signify any more or less intricate process of

truth or fulfilment it is; so that there is always

conceptual or social conflict, interconnection and

some tension, latent irony or incipient surprise

change, in which the generation, interpenetration

between any form and what it is in the process of

and clash of oppositions, leading to their transcend­

becoming.

ence in a fuller or more adequate mode of thought

At the beginning of the century the absolute

or form of life, plays a key role. But dialectic is one

idealisms of F. H. Bradley and]. McTaggart in

of the oldest, most complex and contested concepts

Britain and]. Royce in the USA were influential.

in philosophical and social thought. Controversy in

Benedetto Croce developed a form of Hegelianism

the twentieth

in Italy during the interwar years. The humanistic

century has, however,

revolved

around the nineteenth-century figures of Hegel

readings of A. Kojeve and Jean Hyppolite, espe­

and Marx.

cially of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, in the

There are two inflections of the dialectic in

1930s helped to form a whole generation of, in

Hegel: (a) as a logical process; (b) more narrowly,

particular French, intellectuals, including Jean­

as the dynamo of this process.

Paul Sartre.]. Findlay in the 1950s and Charles

(a) In Hegel the principle of idealism, the specu­

Taylor in the 1970s were important in preparing

lative understanding of reality as (absolute) spirit,

the ground for a re-reception ofHegel in the heyday

unites two ancient strands of dialectic, the Eleatic

and aftermath of the positivist philosophical he­

idea of dialectic as reason and the Ionian idea of

gemony in the Anglophone world.

dialectic as process, in the notion of dialectic as a

self-generating,

self-differentiating

and self­

Four main issues have dominated intellectual controversy about dialectic in the Marxist tradition:

particularizing process of reason. This actualizes

(a) the difference between the Marxian (materialist)

itself by alienating itself, and restores its self-unity

and Hegelian dialectics; (b) the role of the dialectic

by recognizing this alienation as nothing other than

within Marx's work, and more broadly in any

its own free expression or manifestation- a process

Marxist social science; (c) the compatibility of dia­

which is recapitulated and completed in theHegel­

lectics with formal LOGIC , materialism, scientific

ian System itself.

practice and rationality generally; and (d) the status

(b) The motor of this process is dialectic more

ofEngels's attempt to extend Marx's dialectic from

narrowly conceived, the second, essentially nega­

the social realm to encompass nature and the whole

tive, moment of 'actual thought', which Hegel calls

of being generally.

'the grasping of opposites in their unity or of the

The three most common emphases of the con­

positive in the negative'. This is the method which

cept in the Marxist tradition are as: (a) the method,

DIALECTIC

159

most usually scientific method, instancing epistemo­

dictions between the use-value and value of the

logical dialectics; (b) a set of laws or principles,

commodity, and between the concrete useful and

governing some sector or the whole of reality, onto­

abstract social aspects of the labour it embodies.

logical dialectics; and (c) the movement of history,

These contradictions, together with the other

relational dialectics. All these are to be found in

structural

Marx. But their paradigms are Marx's methodo­

ground, are both (a) real inclusive oppositions, in

and

historical

contradictions

they

logical comments in Capital, the philosophy of

that the terms or poles of the contradictions exist­

nature expounded by Engels in Anti-Duhring, and

entially presuppose each other, and (b) internally

the 'out-Hegeling Hegelianism' of the early Gyiirgy

related to a mystifying form of appearance. Such

- texts

dialectical contradictions do not violate the principle

which may be regarded as the founding documents

of non-contradiction, for they may be consistently

Lukacs in History and Class Consciousness

of Marxist social science, DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

described; nor are they scientifically absurd, for the

and Western Marxism respectively.

notion of a real inverted- or otherwise mystifying­

There is a remarkable consistency in Marx's criticisms of Hegel from

1843 to 1873. These

misrepresentation of a real object, generated by the object concerned, is readily accommodated within a

turn, formally, on Hegel's subject-predicate 'inver­

non-empiricist,

sions', his principle of identity (involving the re­

thought is included within reality, not hyposta­

stratified,

ontology,

in

which

duction of being to thought) and his logical

tized.

mysticism (involving the reduction of science to

The three most common positions on the dia­

PHILOSOPHY); and, substantively, on Hegel's failure

lectic are that it is unintelligible nonsense, that it is

to sustain the autonomy of nature and the histor­

universally applicable and that it is applicable to the

icity of social forms. But a definite positive re­

conceptual and/or social, but not the natural

evaluation of Hegelian dialectic occurs from the

domain. Engels stamped his authority on the

time of the Grundrisse

second, universalist position. There is no problem

(1857-8) on. Unfortunately

Marx never realized his wish 'to make accessible to

about this for Hegel for whom reality is thought,

the ordinary human intelligence, in two or three

and dialectical logic onto-logic. But it would seem

printers' sheets, what is rational in the method

that any such equation must be problematic for a

which Hegel discovered and at the same time mys­

realist committed to the notion of the existence of

tified'. The evidence, however, seems to indicate

nature independently of thought and for a materi­

that Marx thought it possible to extract part of the

alist committed to the notion of its causal primacy.

Hegelian dialectic without being compromised by

Yet

Hegel's idealism - against both the neo-Fichtean

nevertheless took dialectic in its essentially Hegel­

Engels,

underwriting

both

commitments,

view of the Young Hegelians and Engels that a

ian sense and sought to apply it to being as a whole.

complete extraction of method from system is

While Marx never repudiated Engels's cosmology,

viable, and the position of positivistically minded

his own critique of political economy neither pre­

critics from Eduard Bernstein to Lucio Colletti that

supposes nor entails a dialectics of nature, and his

the dialectic is inseparable from idealism.

critique of a priorism implies the a posteriori and

Marx understood his dialectic as scientific, be­

subject-specific character of claims about the exist­

cause it set out to explain the contradictions in

ence of dialectical, as other types of, processes in

thought and the crises of socioeconomic life in

reality.

terms of the particular contradictory essential rela­

The very supposition of a dialectics of nature has

tions generating them; as historical, because it was

appeared to a line of critics from Lukacs to Sartre as

both rooted in, and (conditionally) an agent of, the

categorically mistaken, inasmuch as it involves

changes in the very relations and circumstances it

anthropomorphically

described; as critical, because it demonstrated the

retrojecting on to nature categories, such as contra­

(and

hence

idealistically)

historical conditions of validity and limits of ad­

diction and negation, which only make sense in the

equacy of the categories, doctrines and practices it

human realm. Such critics do not deny that natural

explained; and as systematic, because it sought to

science, as part of the sociohistorical world, may be

trace the various historical tendencies and contra­

dialectical; what is at stake is whether there can be a

dictions of capitalism back to certain structurally

dialectic of nature per se. Obviously there are differ­

constitutive contradictions of its mode of produc­

ences between the natural and social spheres. But

tion. The most important of these are the contra-

are these specific differences more or less important

160

DIALECTIC

than their generic similarities? In effect the problem

Certainly there were good materialist credentials

of the dialectics of nature reduces to a variant of the

(as well as political motives) for these moves. The

general problem of NATURALISM, with the way it is

negation of the negation is the means whereby

resolved depending on whether dialectics is con­

Hegel dissolves determinate being into infinity.

ceived sufficiently broadly and the human world

On the other hand, as Maurice Godelier pointed

sufficiently broadly and the human world suffi­

out, dialectical materialists rarely appreciated the

ciently naturalistically to make its extension to

differences between the Marxian unity and the He­

nature plausible. Even then one should not neces­

gelian identity of opposites. Within this tradition

sarily expect a unitary answer - there may be

Mao is noteworthy for a potentially fruitful series

dialectical

oppositions

of distinctions - between antagonistic and non­

in nature, but not dialectical intelligibility or

antagonistic contradictions, principal and second­

reason.

ary contradictions, the principal and secondary

polarities

and

inclusive

In both Engels and Lukacs 'history' was effec­

aspects of a contradiction and so on - and stressing,

tively emptied of substance - in Engels, by being

like Lenin and Trotsky, the 'combined and uneven'

'objectivistically' interpreted in terms of the cat­

nature of their development.

egories of a universal process; in Lukacs, by being

Throughout its long and complex history, five

'subjectivistically' conceived as so many mediations

basic strands of meaning in dialectic stand out, all

or moments of a finalizing unconditioned act of

occupying the foreground at different times in the

self-realization, which was its logical ground. Des­

twentieth century:

pite these original flaws, both the dialectical materi­ alist and the Western Marxist traditions in the

Dialectical contradictions, involving inclusive

twentieth century have produced some notable

oppositions

dialectical

ongms;

figures.

Within

Western

Marxism,

besides Lukacs's own dialectic of historical self­

forces

of

non-independent

2

Dialectical argumentation, oriented to the pur­

3

Dialectical reason, which encompasses a spread

suit of groundable ideals;

consciousness or subject-object dialectics, there are Antonio Gramsci's theory/practice, Herbert

or

Marcuse's essence/existence and Colletti's appear­

of connotations ranging from that imaginative

ance/reality contradictions, all of more or less dir­

and conceptually flexible thinking which, under

ectly Hegelian provenance. In Waiter Benjamin

the discipline of empirical, logical and context­

dialectic represents the discontinuance and cata­

ual constraints, plays such a crucial role in

strophic aspect of history; in Marc Bloch it is con­

scientific development, through enlightenment

ceived as objective fantasy; in Sartre it is rooted in

and demystification to the depth rationality of

the intelligibility of the individual's own totalizing

emancipatory PRAXIS;

activity; in Henri Lefebvre it signifies the goal of

4

de-alienated humanity. Among the more anti­

Dialectical process, involving a scheme of ori­ ginal unity, historical diremption and eventual

Hegelian Western Marxists (including Colletti),

return, which is a recurrent and deeprooted

the Della Volpean dialectic consists essentially in

motif in Western thought; and

non-rigid, non-hypostatized thinking, while the

5

Dialectical intelligibility, comprehending both

Althusserian dialectic stands for the complexity,

the teleologically (in Hegel) or causally (in

preformation and overdetermination of whales.

Marx) generated presentation of social and cul­

Poised between the two camps, Theodor Adorno

tural forms (including beliefs) and their ex­

emphasizes, on the one hand, the immanence of all

planatory critique.

criticism and, on the other, non-identity thinking. Meanwhile, within the dialectical materialist tradition, Engels's third law (the negation of the negation) was unceremoniously dropped by Stalin from the official ideology of the USSR and the first law (the transformation of quantity into quality and vice versa) relegated by Mao Zedong in China to a

Reading Adorno, T. 1966 (1973): Negative Dialectics. Althusser, L. 1965 (1969): For Marx. Anderson, P. 1976: Considerations on Western Marxism. Bhaskar, R. 1993: Dialectic. Colletti, L. 1975: M arxism and the dialectic. New Left Review 93.

special case of the second (the interpenetration of

Luk:ics, G. 1923 (1971): History and Class Consciousness.

opposites), which from Lenin onwards increasingly

Rosen, M. 1982: Hegel's Dialectic and its Criticism.

discharged most of the burden of the dialectic.

Smith, T. 1993: Dialetical Social Theory and Its Critics.

DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

Stedman Jones, G. 1973: Engels and the end of classic German philosophy. New Left Review 79.

161

ition is seen to be obtainable outside the realm of thought. Human ability to use theory to produce

Taylor, C. 1975: Hegel. ROY BHASKAR

something predicted by that theory means that some aspects of that theory constitute knowledge of its objects.

dialectical materialism

First developed by G.

'Development' is often understood with the help

Plekhanov and Lenin in the context of the revolu­

of dialectical concepts (named 'categories of dia­

tionary struggle in Russia to denote Marxist phil­

lectics'): difference, opposition, conflict, contradic­

osophy as a whole, the term is also used to designate

tion, quality and quantity, essence and appearance,

Marxist metaphysics and theory of knowledge but

condition and cause, actual and possible, and so on.

excluding 'historical materialism' (social philoso­

The set of categories is an open one. Usually, con­

phy), aesthetics and ethics. There was a further

cepts discussed by Aristotle and Hegel were in­

ritualistic use of the term, as a seal affixed to any

cluded, but Marxist philosophers were constantly

philosophical writing approved by or claiming

trying to add new ones. The categories are seen as

approval from the authorities in the USSR, the

corresponding to some aspects of reality; thus one

Chinese People's Republic and East European 'so­

speaks of objective dialectics (development of the

cialist' countries (what was 'approved' or 'official'

real world), subjective dialectics (development of

varied from country to country and over time). The

ideas) and dialectics as a 'theory' (a mode of under­

basic tenets of dialectical materialism are philo­

standing development), see also DIALECTIC. The

sophical materialism, possibility of knowledge, ac­

word 'metaphysics' was ordinarily used as a name

ceptance of development (and, thus, the acceptance

for modes of thought that reduce development to

of emergent properties and the irreducibility of

change, or do not accept that the distinctions drawn

some differences).

by human thought between objects of thought are

'Materialism' assumes that matter or body has

at once relative and real; in other uses it was re­

'primacy' with respect to mind or spirit. 'Primacy'

placed by 'ontology'. The concept of development

means that minds are not able to exist without

is not necessarily applied to the world as a whole

bodies while bodies can exist without being con­

and there is no need to accept a unilinear story of

tinuously dependent on minds as a sufficient condi­

development.

tion of their existence. Marx assigned thinking to

Nobody has actually succeeded in producing a

the category of bodily activities (thinking being the

specific and systematic theory which nontrivially

activity of brain, while walking involves some other

marries dialectics and materialism. Gyiirgy Lukacs,

parts of the body). The terms 'matter' and 'object­

Della Volpe and many philosophers in the USSR

ive reality' are fully interchangeable. Feedback re­

produced Hegelian reasons for such a theory. M.

lationships between bodies and ideas are accepted.

Cornforth interpreted dialectical materialism as a

Materialism is taken to be a basic assumption of

research programme or a set of paradigmatic con­

modern science and the success of technological

straints and enabling conditions. Some British and

uses of natural sciences is considered to provide

Soviet Marxists opposed 'dialectics of nature' and

practical grounds for supporting materialism. Ac­

sometimes

ceptance of primacy of matter over mind is seen not

social philosophy. These positions imply that phil­

restricted

dialectical materialism

to

only as a result of proof but also as a result of

osophies can be dialectical and materialist, but that

personal choice that logically precedes philosoph­

there cannot be a dialectical materialism. Thus,

ical reasoning.

some analytical philosophers can be labelled as dia­

Marxists use the words 'agnosticism' and 'scep­ ticism' to denote philosophies that deny the possi­

lectical

and

materialist

while

other

analytical

writings can be dialectical and idealist (apart from

Marxists

borderline cases and eclecticism). Many Soviet

described their own position as a variety of realism,

treatises about dialectics confined themselves to

while Soviet philosophers did not apply any label to

giving examples of application for some dialectical

bility

of

knowledge.

Many

Western

describe their own position within the THEORY OF

concept, although this use was publicly condemned

KNOWLEDGE. The majority position was that every­

even by its practitioners. There were 'laws' of dia­

thing can be known in principle provided evidence

lectics. Georges Politzer listed four (dialectical

is available, but absolute knowledge is unattainable

change, reciprocal action, contradiction, transform­

by particular individuals. The proof of this propos-

ation of quantity into quality), Stalin named two

162

DICTATORSHIP

(unity and struggle of opposites, transformation of

Hegel provides the ideal paradigm of how one

quantiative changes into qualitative ones), but a list

should philosophize. In the USSR and Poland,

of three became generally accepted since 1960s

the theory of knowledge was often analytical,

(negation of negation was added to Stalin's two,

using logic as a major tool. There were numerous

with reference to Engels). The laws were never

critiques of non-Marxist philosophers. For phil­

clearly formulated as statements and the use of the

osophers in the 'socialist' countries, these critiques

word 'law' was ambiguous.

often provided a ritualistic way of substituting the

Karl Marx tried to substitute a materialist phil­

philosophy supposedly under criticism for dialect­

osophy for Hegelian idealism in 1843-4. From

ical materialism. Western analytical Marxists (since

about 1845 or 1846, he began to assign philosophy

the 1970s) discarded dialectical essentialism and

to 'IDEOLOGY', that is, a form of thought used to

reliance on the traditional concepts of dialectics.

discuss real issues as issues within that form of

Their writings were dialectical in a wide sense in

thought (the substitution is made unconsciously).

which all modern analytical philosophy is dialect­

Ideological forms were the only ones available to

ical; their major interests were concentrated upon

humanity before capitalism. Marx now claimed that

social philosophy. The demise of the Soviet Union

ideology had to be replaced by empirical science.

produced a collapse of dialectical materialism out­

Neither Marx nor his principal collaborator Engels

side China and North Korea.

were interested in building up a systematic theory of knowledge and they did not think that to be an important part of philosophy. It was Russian writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Plekhanov, A. M. De­ borin, Lenin) who developed dialectical material­ ism. After the Bolshevik revolution, paid positions for philosophers accepting dialectical materialism came into existence and their writings became more numerous. Between 1930 and 1955, philosophical discussions among Marxists were stifled, the publi­ cation of books and articles became virtually non­

Reading Callinicos, A. 1983: Marxism and Philosophy. Cornforth, M. 1980: Communism and Philosophy: Contem­ porary Dogmas and Revisions ofMarxism. Della Vo1pe, G. 1950 (1980): Logic as a Positive Science, trans. J. Rothschi1d. Graham, L. R. 1987: Science, Philosophy, and Human Behaviour in the Soviet Union. Scan1an, J. P. 1985: Marxism in the USSR: a Critical Study of Current Soviet Thought. Wartofsky, M. W. 1979: Models: Representation and the Scientific Understanding.

EERO LOONE

existent, and the teaching of philosophy in the USSR was greatly reduced. Soviet philosophy re­

This is today commonly under­

emerged from obscurity between 1955 and 1970.

dictatorship

The theory of knowledge became a major part of

stood to be a highly oppressive and arbitrary form

philosophy and developed into a kind of pragmatic

of rule, established by force or intimidation, which

realism, dealing with modern science. Other major

enables a person or group to monopolize political

subjects were the ontological status of the mind,

power to the detriment of society at large. However,

mind-body relationships, and the meaning and

this very general, almost colloquial definition, cap­

scope of dialectics. The most influential Soviet

tures only one of the term's key meanings. True,

writers were Kedrov, Kopnin, Lektorski and Ilien­

'dictatorship' resonates with ideas of illegality,

kov. Polish and East German philosophers played a

domination, the rule of the MILITARY and totalitar­

major part in those developments. Adam Schaff and

ianism. But it has also often been employed in

Georg Klaus have been the most notable among

'democratic' settings to characterize, for instance,

East European philosophers. Italian, French and

the ascendancy and might of the executive arm, and

English-language writings have developed since

the inability of parliament to control it. For this

1945 (with some exceptions, they were scarcely

twin meaning to be understood, it is necessary to

known in the USSR or Eastern Europe). British

examine the term's historical roots and context.

and US writers have tried to produce a dialectical

In the constitution of the Roman Republic

materialist and analytical theory of knowledge

(c.509-31

(M. W. Wartofsky, R. Bhaskar, A. Callinicos).

someone, but was conferred on him as an extraor­

BC), a dictatorship was not arrogated by

Hegelianism was strong in the USSR, while

dinary, albeit perfectly legal, office Uolowicz, 1967,

Bachelard and Michel Foucault were popular

pp. 53-5). The dictatorship was a magistracy whose

among those who had outgrown the view that

incumbent (usually an ex-Consul) was appointed

DICTATORSHIP by the Senate for purposes of crisis management particularly in times of foreign war or civil strife, when decisive action was required and when the rule of one person was felt to be better adapted to

163

that by

202 BC the dictatorship in its original form 1967, p. 55). Later figures -like Sulla (c. l 38-78 BC) and Caesar (10044 BC) -may have assumed the title of dictator for was effectively dead Uolowicz,

deal with the emergency than the more cumber­

reasons of legitimation or expediency, but they

some collegiate governmental system (cf. Machia­

ruled as

velli,

the Republic, the office of dictatorship was a consti­

1531 (1965), pp. 189-90). The dictator was

de facto autocrats. By the twilight years of

temporarily empowered with wide-ranging civil

tutional sham, employed to mask the bloated ambi­

and military prerogatives (Rossiter,

tion, and sanction the virtual omnipotence, of

1948, pp.

15-28). For instance, he was freed from the re­

military overlords. (It is sobering to note that,

straints of the tribunician veto; could raise on his

according to the Elder Pliny (cited by Gelzer,

own authority more than four legions - a right denied, in normal times, to a military commander

1969, p. 284), 1,192,000 people died in the wars Caesar prosecuted-and that this figure excludes the

without the express permission of the Senate; and

number of Roman citizens who fell.)

was generally possessed of formidable rights of

This historical background allows us to locate, and render comprehensible, the two main (and

arrest and execution. However, the powers vested in the dictatorship

somewhat entangled) strands of twentieth-century

were never absolute or unqualified. The dictator's

usage, one drawing on the usurpatory, coercive,

imperium - military and jurisdictional authority

militaristic dimension of dictatorship, as found,

with a

for instance, in Caesar's almost unbroken occu­

Moore,

broad

discretionary remit

(Brunt and

1967, pp. 83-5) - was normally limited to

a period of six months' duration; he had no author­

pancy of the office from

49 BC till his murder in 44

BC; the other referring to the older sense and sub­

ity to interfere in civil cases, declare war or tamper

stance of dictatorship implying legality or legitim­

with the constitution; while, by

300 BC, the dicta­ tor's powers had become subject to provocatio- the

acy, even if combined with the exercise of powers

right of a citizen 'to appeal against a capital sen­

range and intensity.

tence'

(Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1970, pp.

deemed in some manner extraordinary in their The first usage is evident in those currents of social thought which

892-3).

contrast dictatorship with

The constitutional legality of the Roman dicta­

democracy, and which strongly associate dictator­

torship, together with its circumscribed timespan

ship with militarism, the politicization of CIVIL

and jurisdiction, has prompted some writers to

SOCIETY, the extirpation of the rule of law and the

be wary about applying the concept to twentieth­

subordination of the individual to the leadership

century conditions. Roy Medvedev

(1981, p. 41)

has thus remarked that the

principle. From this perspective, dictatorship may be studied as one of the historical routes to mod­ ernity manifested in, say, German and Japanese

Franco, Somoza, Duvalier and Stroessner are re­

1967, esp. pp. 43352); or the concept may be applied to the post­

ferred to not by the name of tyranny, despotism or

World War II military regimes of the 'parliamen­

various regimes of Mussolini, Hitler, Salazar,

fascism but as 'dictatorships'. All of these, inci­ dentally, avoided any time limit. Some of them were transferable by heredity from father to son, and, although the dictatorships of Hitler, Musso­ lini, Salazar-Caetano and Somoza did not go on forever, they came to an end not because the dictator himself abdicated 'on the expiry of the

FASCISM (Barrington Moore,

tary semi-periphery', emergent in Argentina (in

1966), Greece (in 1967) and Chile (in 1973) (Mou­ zelis, 1986, esp. p. 97; see also Poulantzas, 1976). Soviet-type societies have also received the label of dictatorship

or,

in

conjunction

with

fascism/

Nazism, that of 'totalitarian dictatorship' (Neu­

specified period' but because he was overthrown

mann,

by war or revolution.

Shapiro,

1957, pp. 243-56; cf. Arendt, 1958, and 1972). However, both designations are

controversial (see ToTALITARIANISM), and were so However, as Medvedev also goes on to say, the

even

conflation of these terms (tyranny, despotism, fas­

gramme and the revolutions of

prior to

Gorbachev's liberalization pro­

cism, dictatorship) is unsurprising given the vio­

Central Europe. Thus a number of writers have

lence and exceptional powers that attended Roman

insisted that Soviet-type societies must be seen as

dictatorial rule. Equally, it is important to recall

a mode of domination unique in human history: for

1989 in Eastern

164

DISCOURSE

instance, as a 'dictatorship over needs' (Feher, Hel­

than in descriptions of British 'cabinet autocracy'

Ier and Markus, 1983), or as a 'post-totalitarian'

(Hobson, 1909, p. 12), with the Prime Minister's

system - conformist, atomized, mechanical, ma­

office at its apex. The premier's extensive powers of

nipulative and built on systematic self-deception

patronage, ability to reduce Parliament to a rubber

and bad faith - which the classical notion of dicta­

stamp of policy decided elsewhere, and plebiscitary

torship is far too weak to convey (Havel, 1987).

relation to the masses via the party 'machine', have

In the second main strand of thinking on our

often in our century been identified as 'dictatorial'.

subject, dictatorship is portrayed as compatible

Indeed, that epithet links the political thought of

with democracy

(defined in various contested

early twentieth-century writers such as Low (1904,

ways), even to be an integral part or necessary

pp. 156-8), Hintze (1975, p. 266) and Weber ('Pol­

condition of it. This variant has itself at least four

itics as a vocation', in Weber, ed. Gerth and Mills,

permutations. One is apparent in descriptions of

1970, pp. 106-7) to the more recent commentary on

Bonapartist and Caesarist regimes, which, while

'elective dictatorship' (Hailsham, 1976; cf. Ash,

repressive in certain respects, nonetheless claim to

1989, p. 288, and Hirst, 1989, p. 82).

derive their authority directly from the sovereign

Corresponding to the two main diverging analyt­

People, and seek the latter's acclamation through

ical treatments of dictatorship outlined above is also

mass plebiscites (see BONAPARTISM, CAESARISM,

a difference in the locutionary force carried by the

PoPULISM; also Weber on 'plebiscitary democracy',

term. In the former, 'dictatorship' is usually uttered

1978, p. 268). Another is the Leninist reading of

with loathing and horror. In the latter, the tone may

Marx's notion of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'

be condemnatory, yet is just as often resigned or

- with the twist that the concept of democracy,

approvmg.

important for Marx, tends to be collapsed into that of (class) dictatorship rendering the very dis­

Reading

tinction illusory (Marx, 1850, p. 123; Marx's letter

Baehr, P. 1989: Weber and Weimar: the 'Reich President'

to Weydemeyer in Marx and Engels, Selected Cor­ respondence, 1975, p. 64; Lenin, 1918, pp. 44-67; also Medvedev, 1981.) A third permutation on the democracy-dictator­ ship theme, closest to the classical Roman sense, arises from the analysis of 'constitutional dictator­ ships' (Rossiter, 1948). While the 'dictatorship of

proposals. Politics 9, 20-5. Birch, A. H. 1964: Representative and Responsible Govern­

ment: an Essay on the British Constitution. Bobbio, N. 1989: Democracy and Dictatorship: the Nature

and Limits ofState Power, trans. P. Kennealy. Bracher, K. D. 1971:

The German Dictatorship: the

Origins, Structure and Effects of National Socialism, trans. Jean Steinburg.

the proletariat' - whether Marxist or Leninist in

Cobban, A. 1939: Dictatorship: Its History and Theory.

conception - was always envisaged as the instru­

Conquest, R. 1971: The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge ofthe

ment of revolutionary transformation, this third sense of dictatorship focuses on the potentially restorative, reparatory attributes of particular crisis regimes. In this usage, 'constitutional dictatorships' emerge during periods of rebellion, war and eco­ nomic depression to pilot the legitimate social and political order through the emergency. The drastic powers assumed by these regimes to deal with the extremity are mostly relinquished once the crisis

Thirties. Crossman, R. H. S. 1963: Introduction. In W. Bagehot,

The English Constitution. Keane, J. 1988: Dictatorship and the decline of parlia­ ment. Car! Schmitt's theory of political sovereignty. In

Democracy and Civil Society. Medvedev, R. 1981: The dictatorship of the proletariat. In

Leninism and

Western Socialism,

trans.

A. D. P.

Briggs. N eumann, F. 19 57: Notes on the theory of dictatorship. In

has passed. (Cf. Schmitt's contrast between 'sover­

The Democratic and the Authoritarian State, ed. H.

eign'

Marcuse.

and

'commissionary'

dictatorships,

m

Schmitt, 1928, esp. pp. 2, 137-9.)

Schmitt, C. 1928: Die Diktatur.

PETER BAEHR

The three previous usages of dictatorship in a 'democratic' context share a notable feature: they

The concept is most usually equated

all depict societies which are confronting excep­

discourse

tional circumstances. In contrast, our fourth and

with language 'in use', taking account of actually

final sense of dictatorship refers to the more

occurring text/texts in a genuine communicative

normal, everyday workings of 'democratic' govern­

context. Discourse has thus played a role in a

ment. Nowhere has this usage been more evident

number of disciplines, and various subdisciplines

DISCOURSE

165

of LINGUISTICS: in textlinguistics, as a way of de­

ceptability, informativity, situationality and inter­

scribing the way propositions are linked together to

textuality. Together these seven standards are

form a cohesive linguistic

constitutive

unit

larger

sentence (see Beaugrande and Dressier,

than a

1981;

Hal­

of

textual

communication. 'User­

centred' standards have to account for the fact

in systemic linguistics

that the 'meaning' of discourse is not contained

(see SEMIOTICS) , as a way of linking the linguistic

within the linguistic forms as such, but that readers

liday and Hasan,

1976);

organization of discourse to particular systematic

or listeners have actively to construct meaning by

components of situation types; in psycholinguis­

inferences. Levinson

tics, to account for the cognitive strategies which

(1983,

eh. 6) limits discourse analysis

language users employ in CoMMUNICATION, includ­

to the formulation of rules for discourse structure,

ing the activation of world knowledge (see Van Dijk

as expressed in text grammars (see Van Dijk,

and Kintsch,

and speech-act based theories (Labov and Fanshel,

1983).

Since discourse is concerned

Coulthard and Montgomery,

1972)

and op­

with the meaning of the 'utterance' rather than

1977;

the 'sentence', it is related to pragmatics, though

poses this to conversation analysis practised by

1979),

linguistic pragmatics cannot account for all aspects

ethnomethodologists in a strictly empirical fashion

of discourse in its fullest sense. Concepts of dis­

(Sacks et al.,

course thus range from the most narrow textlin­

broadly based discourse concept would, however,

guistic description, where

subsume CONVERSATION ANALYSIS and other socio­

discourse is simply

1974;

Schenkein,

1978).

A more

'a continuous stretch of ... language larger than

logical approaches to communicative interaction as

the sentence' (Crystal,

one of the methods for approaching discourse (see

1985,

p.

which may

96),

be spoken or written, or both, single authored or

Gumperz,

theoretically ideological

clusters

or

'discursive

1982).

In literary theory the concept of discourse signals

dialogic, to macroconcepts which attempt to define

a way of breaking up the divisions between literary

formations' which systematically organize know­

and nonliterary texts. The special status of the

ledge and experience, and repress alternatives

poetic text is replaced by a continuum of linguistic

In

practices which are more or less context dependent.

this context questions arise as to how discourses

The difference between 'discourse in life and

can be challenged from within and alternative

discourse in poetry' (Volosinov,

discourses

comes a matter of degree, not an absolute. Acc­

through their dominance (see Foucault,

emerge. Such

debates

1969).

continue

in

1926)

thus be­

many fields, including feminism and poststructur­

ording to Volosinov, discourse is ideological in

alism.

that it arises between socially organized individuals,

Discourse has become one of the most widely

and cannot be understood outside its context. 'Dis­

and often confusingly used terms in recent theories

course, taken ... as a phenomenon of cultural inter­

in the arts and social sciences, without a clearly

course ... cannot be understood independently of

definable single unifying concept. Discourse and

the social situation which engendered it' (ibid.,

text are often used interchangeably. Where a dis­

p. 8). The ideological nature of discourse is most

tinction is made, it is sometimes one of methodo­

transparent in

logical

perspective

(text= material

product;

authoritative discourse [which] demands our un­

discourse= communicative process) or to account

conditional allegiance. Therefore authoritative discourse permits no play with the context

for the interlinking of texts in dialogue.Beaugrande and Dressier

(1981)

make text coterminous with

framing it ...It is indissolubly fused with its au­ thority - with political power, an institution, a

discourse for as long as it has a single producer, but refer equally to discourse as the sum of inter­

person - and it stands and falls together with

linking texts. To define text as communicative

that authority. (Bakhtin, 1934-5, p. 343)

occurrence, they propose seven standards of textu­ ality. Cohesion and coherence are so-called 'text­

The concept of discourse of Volosinov, Bakhtin,

centred' criteria. They refer both to grammatical

and other writers of the Bakhtin circle, and related

forms marking the connections between sentences

concepts in recent writing in social semiotics, thus

inside a text, and to the conceptual links through

provide a link to macroversions of discourse found

connected propositions, which do not necessarily

in

appear in specific grammatical forms. In addition

(1977), and especially to Foucault's 'discursive for­ mations' (1969).

there are 'user-centred' criteria: intentionality, ac-

Bourdieu's

definition of

'linguistic capital'

166

DIVISION OF LABOUR Except in the religious or legal context, the term

Reading Beaugrande, R. de and Dressier, W. 1981: Introduction to Textlinguistics.

is used infrequently in the social sciences; but near synonyms make a frequent appearance. Robert K.

Foucault, M. 1969 (1974): The Archaeology of Knowledge.

Merton, for example, distinguishes between devi­

Gumperz, J. J. 1982: Discourse Strategies.

ant behaviour engaged in for personal gain, which

Halliday, M. and Hasan, R. 1976: Cohesion in English.

he terms 'aberrant behaviour', and 'nonconforming

Howarth, D. et al. eds 2000: Discourse Theory and Political

behaviour', which is engaged in by individuals or

Analysis. Mills, S. 1997 The New Critical Idiom: Discourse. Schenkein,J. ed. 1978: Studies in the Organisation of Con­ versational Interaction. Van Dijk, T. and Kintsch, W. 1983: Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. Volosinov, V. N. 1926 (1983): Discourse in life and dis­

groups that reject prevailing norms and values in the name of alternative guides to conduct for en­ hancing the quality of life and the common good. He argues that the frequent lack of differentiation among those categories of activities, all of them simply classed as 'deviant', leads to the incapacity

course in poetry. In Bakhtin School Papers: Russian

to distinguish analytically between a common high­

Poetics in Translation, vol. 10, ed. Ann Shukman.

way robber and Jesus Christ (Merton and Nisbet,

ULRIKE MEINHOF

1961,

eh.

1).

While conservative analysts tend to consider dis­ dissent

The verb 'to dissent' refers to activities

sent a sickness of the hod y social, liberals and rad­

that differ from or disagree with the majority in

icals are more likely to conceive of it as a prime

belief and opinion. The noun dissenter refers to a

engine of social change. They argue that social

person who engages in such behaviour and holds

structures that depend on precedent and habit are

dissenting views.

bound to ossify and to be unable to respond to the

The verb and the noun were used originally to

challenge of novelty. Without the virtues of dissent,

refer to religious organizations and their adherents

they argue, modern bureaucratic societies are likely

who differed from the doctrine and the teachings of

to go the way of ancient Egypt and imperial China.

the

Church of England.

Baptists, Methodists,

Quakers and similar Protestant sects and denomin­ ations outside the Church of England were histor­ ically discriminated against after the Restoration of

1660 and refused access to

key positions in Britain.

Most of these restrictions were abolished in the nineteenth century, but the long history of discrim­ ination has led members of dissenting sects to take unpopular positions in non-religious fields as well as in the specifically religious domain. It is

Reading Coser, L. A. 1988: The functions of dissent. In A Handful of Thistles: Collected Papers in Moral Convic­ tion. Erikson, K. T. 1966: Wayward Puritans: a Study in the Sociology of Deviance. Merton, R. K. and Nisbet, R. eds 1961 (1976): Contem­ porary Social Problems, 4th edn. Morison, S. E. et al. 1970: Dissent in Three American Wars.

LEWIS

in this vein that Edmund Burke referred to the

A.

COSER

American colonists on the eve of the revolution as Basically the term refers to

the Protestants of Protestantism, the dissenters of

division of labour

dissent.

the differentiation of tasks involved in the produc­

The other major context in which the term dis­

tion of goods and services and the allocation of

sent appears frequently is the law, especially the

individuals and groups to them. A commonly

common law. Here it refers to those members of a

employed distinction is between the technical and

jury or those judges in a law case who dissent from

the social division of labour, the former referring to

the view of their colleagues. Since dissenting opin­

specialized tasks in the production process, the

ions are frequently formulated with great care and

latter to differentiation in society as a whole.

exhibit a high degree of legal sophistication, they

Throughout the twentieth century there has

are often consulted by lawyers or judges in later

been particular concern in social thought with ana­

cases and their influence on subsequent judicial

lysing the impact of increasing specialization on:

decisions may be as great as or greater than the majority decision against which they were initially

The

directed. Yesterday's dissents may well become

manual workers confined to repetitive tasks

working experience

and

responses

of

today's established verities. (See also CoNSENSUS. )

lacking the need for skill and denuded of the

DIVISION OF LABOUR

2

3

4

5

167

opportunity for knowledge and control related

overlain by disagreements about the extent to

to the labour process, a theme usually referred

which the subdivision of tasks and the differentia­

to as the ALIENATION of the worker;

tion of related control structures is primarily

The forms in which divided labour and espe­

an outcome of 'neutral' processes of technological

cially the development of professionalization

development (or biological characteristics, in the

relate to the social distribution of knowledge

case of the sexual division of labour) and the extent

and so contribute to relations of power and

to which they result from the design of work pro­

domination (see PROFESSIONS);

cesses to perpetuate relations of social and politi­

The class structure, especially by way of the

cal domination that are amenable to transformation,

growing significance of the separation between

especially under conditions of socialist produc­

'mental' and 'manual' labour (Sohn-Rethel,

tion.

1978) and the growth of a 'new middle class'

The major twentieth-century contributions to

of white collar, professional and managerial

the understanding of the division of labour are

workers (see CLAss);

related in complex ways to the writings of the

The growing bureaucratization of economic

ancient Greeks, the writers of the eighteenth­

and political administration, a process emerging

century Scottish Enlightenment, especially Adam

partly from the need to coordinate and manage

Smith and Adam Ferguson, and the nineteenth­

societies and organizations characterized by in­

century figures Karl Marx and Auguste Comte

creased complexity and interdependence (see

(Rattansi,

BUREAUCRACY);

tions have come from (a) Marxism; (b) Emile Durk­

The

possibilities

of

self-management

and

1982). In this century the main contribu­

heim; (c) functionalist sociology; (d) feminism.

workers' control over the production process (see WORKERS' COUNCIL); and

6

The sexual division of labour and relations of domination and subordination between men and women (see GENDER).

Marxism The concept of division of labour is central in Marxism because of the importance given to labour as a category, underlining the significance of

In Britain in the period since World War II there

nature-transforming productive activity as the

has been an increasing focus on the processes

foundation on which rests the creation of wealth,

whereby racist exclusionary practices against mi­

the existence of social classes and the state, the

grant

operation of ideologies and the future promise of

and

second

generation

ethnic

minority

workers have led to a racialization of the division

the abolition of scarcity. Divided labour increases

of labour (see RAciSM) and the formation of a dis­

productivity, which is said to give rise to surpluses

tinct 'underclass' and racialized 'fractions' of other

which are appropriated by a dominant class which

1982); the issue of the specific

owns and controls the means of production. How­

impact of racialization on ethic minority women

ever, stemming in part from differences between

classes (Miles, workers

has also

been addressed (Phizacklea,

Marx's own earlier and later writings on the subject

1982) and also from the structural devel­

1983) and debates continue on how these processes

(Rattansi,

relate to the articulation between 'race', class and

opment of capitalist and state socialist societies,

1983). Latterly,

Marxist social thought has been characterized by

important debates have focused on the recomposi­

significant divisions of view on the effects of the

tion of the working class in a 'postindustrial' phase

development of the division of labour. Some see it

of capitalism, the possibilities for a new division of

primarily in terms of a tendency to polarize the class

gender (Anthias and Yuval-Davis,

labour based on minimizing time spent on work in a

structure of capitalism between a mass of largely

1982; Hyman,

unskilled manual workers and a small class of

'postindustrial' socialism (Gorz,

1983), and new forms of the

INTERNATIONAL DIV­

ISION OF LABOUR.

However, there is confusion in usage because the

owners and the way in which the capitalist trans­ formation of the division of labour gives rise to a more or less permanent new middle class (Carter,

term variously conflates divided tasks, specialized

1985); others see it primarily as the outcome of

workers, hierarchies of authority in the workplace,

technological development rather than processes

differentiated sectors of the economy and general

of class domination, the more technologically de­

structural complexity in industrial societies. This is

terministic view surfacing for example in Lenin's

168

DIVISION OF LABOUR

attempt in Russia in the 1920s to import what he

of what he called'abnormal' forms of the division of

regarded as class-neutral techniques of 'scientific

labour, connected with lack of solidarity and moral

management' to boost productivity, while a con­

regulation to govern behaviour. Especially, he

trary view is contained in Braverman's influential

wrote of the 'anomic' and 'forced' divisions of

analysis (1974), building on insights in Marx's Cap­

labour, transitional states consequent on rapid in­

ital, that scientific management epitomizes the ten­

dustrialization in which, because of the absence of

dency of the capitalist class to structure work

appropriate economic, political, and moral regula­

processes in a manner which denies most workers

tion for the division of labour and exchange rela­

any capacity for exercising control or intellectual

tions, the economy became subject to fluctuations,

skills (see

Marxists also disagree

class conflict intensified, specialization and inequal­

about the extent to which it is possible to abolish

ities were unrelated to natural talents and workers

the division of labour, confusion about the various

engaged in specialized tasks were unable to under­

meanings of the term becoming particularly evident

stand how their work was essential to the mainten­

here (Rattansi, 1982). Nevertheless, Western Mar­

ance of society as a whole. Durkheim prescribed

xism in particular has been unified by a concern to

state intervention in the economy and the abolition

challenge the loss of workers' control that is en­

of inherited privileges in access to positions in the

demic in the design and operation of fragmented

division of labour, or what would now be referred to

work processes dominated by small groups of tech­

as equality of opportunity. Increasingly, he empha­

nical and managerial workers, whether in capitalist

sized the role of'corporations' or professional asso­

or state socialist societies. In common with most

ciations in mediating between the individual and

non-feminist modes of social thought Marxist the­

the state and in creating the types of economic and

orizing has been especially weak in grasping the

moral regulation required by a complex technical

significance of male domination in the division of

and social division of labour. However, there is

LABOUR PROCESS ) .

labour, although various attempts have been made

disagreement about the extent to which Durkheim

to provide Marxist-feminist accounts of the sexual

envisaged the possibility of a fundamental trans­

division of labour (Barrett, 1988).

formation of the division of labour in some form of socialist society. Gane (1984) and Pearce (1989)

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

have emphasized the potential radicalism of his political vision while others (Gouldner, 1962)

Durkheim's first book, De la division du travail

have interpreted his views as only allowing for

social, translated as The Division ofLabour in Society

limited possibilities.

(1893), which drew on themes in the work of Comte, remained central to his thinking and has been an influential source for the sociological analy­ sis of the division of labour, especially functionalist

Functionalist sociology Following Comte, Durkheim and others, the em­

analyses of structural differentiation (see DURK­

phasis in this sociological tradition is on division of

HEIM SCHOOL) .

labour as

He deployed the term to include all

forms of specialization of social function, thus

SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION

linked to the

evolutionary specialization of function, especially

extending its meaning well beyond the economic

as a consequence of industrialization. A limited

sphere. Durkheim saw forms of division of labour

number of functions required for the reproduction

as intrinsically connected with types of social order

of society-such as socialization and the production

or 'solidarity'. He contrasted 'mechanical solidar­

of goods and services -are said to be performed by

ity', based on the simple division of labour of more

an increasing range of specialized institutions,

elementary societies, with the'organic solidarity' of

while formerly multifunctional institutions such

industrial societies, based on individualism and ties

as the family, which in preindustrial societies per­

of dependence and exchange created by complex

formed both socialization and economic production

functional differentiation in which a great many

functions, become confined to the socialization of

specialized economic, political and cultural insti­

children. A major weakness of functionalist ac­

tutions were involved. Population growth and

counts of the division of labour has been their

intersocial contact were identified as the main

technological determinism, allied to a neglect of

motors of change towards more complex forms.

the relations between the division of labour, class

Durkheim continually wrestled with the problem

domination and women's subordination.

DIVISION OF LABOUR, INTERNATIONAL

169

Wilson, W. 1980:

Feminism

A key contention here is that much social thought,

The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions, 2nd edn. ALl RATTANS!

by concentrating on the public domain and by defining 'work' as paid employment, has taken sexual inequalities in the division of labour for granted (Stacey, 1981), failing to analyse women's DOMESTIC LABOUR in the home and its relation

to women's subordination in the economic and political order. Some feminist analyses see male domination as rooted primarily in family relations, while others argue that male exclusionary practices in the workplace provide the key to understanding the sexual division of labour (Walby, 1986). Other debates have focused on the benefits accruing to private capital accumulation, to the state and to individual men of women's childcaring and labour-reproducing work in the home and their segregation into part-time, low-paid employment, and the extent to which the sexual division of labour is an effect of relations of class domination and therefore requires the abolition of social classes before enabling a major transformation of sexual inequalities. Biological reductionisms, feminist and non-feminist, which portray the sexual division of labour as a 'natural' outgrowth of male-female differences have been an important target within the majority of feminisms which have maintained that male domination within the sexual division of labour is primarily the outcome of social relations of male control over women's fertility and labour power.

division oflabour, international

At this scale,

the principles of the DIVISION OF LABOUR are extended from the national to the global level. The development of international communications cuts the cost of exchange and allows many activities to be controlled from a single centre. This means growing interdependence, first between local com­ munities to create nation-states, subsequently be­ tween nation-states to create international systems. In societies based on the division of labour, goods and services are produced and distributed through specialization and exchange. In societies based on self-sufficiency, however, they are produced within the family, so that specialization is very limited. The differences between such societies are of fun­ damental importance in explaining basic aspects of social structure and economic and political capabil­ ity. Thus many theorists have associated the emer­ gence of economic and social systems based on the division of labour with the process of moderniza­ tion itself. 'Traditional' societies were seen as highly self-sufficient, so that each individual or family produced their own food, clothing and hous­ ing, educated their own children and took part directly in the political, cultural and other processes involved in community life. In such societies com­ plex economic activities are impossible, while the degree of interaction and cooperation between in­

Reading Abercrombie,N. and Urry,J. 1983:

dividuals can only be very limited.

Capital, Labour and

the Middle Classes. B eechey,V. 1987: Unequal Work. Giddens,A. and Mackenzie,G. eds 1982: Social

Modern societies are then said to be based on a complex and extended division of labour in which

Class and

the Division ofLabour. 1973 (1976): The Division of Labour: the Labour Process and Class Struggle in Modern Capit­ alism.

Gorz, A. ed.

Horton,J. 1964: The dehumanization of alienation and anomie: a problem in the ideology of sociology.

individuals perform increasingly specialized roles, and differentiated institutions emerge to perform the functions required to sustain social cooperation. Thus in the economic sphere individuals specialize in the production of particular commodities and exchange them for all of the other necessities of

British

life; many individuals can then be brought together

Journal ofSociology 15,283-300. The Rise ofProfessionalism. Littler, C. and Salaman, G. 1984: Class at Work: the Design, Allocation and Control ofJobs. Lukes, S. 1967: Alienation and anomie. In Philosophy, Politics and Society, ed. P. Laslett and W. G. Runciman. 1973: Emile Durkheim. Rueschemeyer,D. 1986: Power and the Division ofLabour. Westwood, S. and Bhachu, P. eds 1988: Enterprising Women: Ethnicity, Economy and Gender Relations.

to produce each commodity, with each being re­

Larson,M. S. 1977:

--

sponsible for only a single aspect of the produc­ tion process.

Thus differentiation of function

and specialization of task go hand in hand with the necessity for higher and higher levels of ex­ change and more and more complex forms of organization. In such communities the principle is applied not only to economic processes, but also to all others.

170

DIVISION OF LABOUR, INTERNATIONAL

Political, cultural, religious and other sorts of or­

dense and interdependent system of global ex­

ganizations are created and run by specialists who

change to be managed.

devote their working lives to performing the neces­

The existence of a division of labour can be

sary tasks on behalf of the rest of the community,

identified in the earliest accounts of humankind's

who then come to depend on them for the satisfac­

social interaction, but it is especially associated with

tion of their social needs. Thus societies based on

the rapid expansion in production and trade in­

the division of labour require higher levels of skill,

duced by the capitalist revolution from the six­

autonomy and cooperation than those based on

teenth century. This has led to great inequality at

subsistence and self-sufficiency.

the global level (the richest dozen countries control

At the international level, the term is most often

more than 80 per cent of the world's trade) and

applied to the economic sphere, to describe the

intense competition between companies, countries

process through which producers in particular

and regions. This has produced strong local resist­

countries choose, or may be constrained, to special­

ance to external economic and political penetration

ize in the production of particular commodities for

and attempts by nation-states to limit freedom of

which their environment or resources are particu­

trade and assert sovereign rights as against those of

larly suited - those in which they have a 'compara­

other countries or international agencies.

tive advantage'. Thus some countries are mainly

It also produced a political revolt against the

involved in the export of manufactured goods,

dominant capitalist form assumed by the inter­

others of primary products, while the most de­

national division of labour manifested in the devel­

veloped countries are now coming to specialize in

opment of the socialist bloc beginning with the Russian revolution in 1917 and covering Eastern

the exchange of services of various kinds. This process involves the exchange of goods and

Europe, China and several less developed coun­

services across national boundaries by independent

tries. But international exchange continued be­

producers, but it has also involved an increasing

tween both blocs so this limited and altered the

tendency for actual producers to be organized as

tendency, but did not block it altogether. These

global companies and to operate on an international

countries have been unable to produce goods of

scale. The largest all operate across national bound­

comparable quality to those produced in the West,

aries with subsidiaries in many countries. They

or to generate equivalent levels of output and con­

have a powerful impact on levels of economic activ­

sumption. This failure played a major part in the

ity in host countries, and are often able to dominate

recent collapse of these statist systems, and of the

foreign markets and suppress domestic competi­

current attempt to integrate these economies fully

tors. Associated with this is a GLOBALIZATION of

into the international division of labour.

technological processes and possibilities. In an in­

Thus, despite these countervailing tendencies,

creasingly unified world market, all producers must

the post-war period has witnessed an immense

adopt the most efficient new technology in order to

growth in global interdependence, an extension of

survive,

the influence of international organizations like the

while

the

largest

producers

are

able

to promote their products internationally, leading

International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and

to homogenization of patterns of consumption as

the European Community, and a corresponding

well as of production processes.

weakening of the capacity of particular countries

The economic side of the division of labour is

or communities to insulate themselves from the

dominant at the international level because of the

powerful impact of the international division of

ease with which goods and money can be moved

labour.

across borders, but it is also associated with the development of specialized cultural and political

See also INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; DEVELOP­

MENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT.

agencies at that level. The beginnings of capitalism were associated with a global extension of political control by the leading countries which produced

Reading Brett, E. A. 1985: The World Economy since the War.

the imperial system. More recently political author­

Grubel, H. G. 1981: International Economics.

ity has been returned to former dependencies, but

Mill,]. S. 1900: Principles ofPolitical Economy, book 3, eh.

there has been a proliferation of specialized inter­ national agencies designed to allow the increasingly

17. E. A. BRETT

DIVORCE

171

As one of a number of different ways in

Many argue that these new 'no-fault' rationales

which MARRIAGE can end, divorce differs from its

not only made divorce easier but produced greater

alternatives-abandonment and death-in that it is

difficulties for the women left behind. Those hus­

divorce

the legal dissolution of marital bonds: as in annul­

bands who left them now had their innocence de­

ment, neither party has obligations, other than per­

clared by the state, in whose eyes the absence of

haps financial, to the adult left behind. Although

moral wrongdoing was associated with the absence

divorce has been permitted at various times and

of financial obligation. Divorcing husbands could

places, it is only in the twentieth century that it

now seek a new wife with no financial obligations to

has become the common way to dissolve a marriage

their old one. This left many women poor, contrib­

in most of the West (Ireland is an exception; it still

uting to what some have called a new 'feminization

does not permit divorce). In contrast, Murdock

of poverty'. By creating so much immiseration of

(1950) found in his classic study of non-Western

women

societies - most of them preliterate and small -

remaining economic basis of marriage that many

divorce rates have historically exceeded those in

believed had lost its force.

and

children,

divorce highlighted

the

the West. In the majority of preindustrial settings,

This state of affairs has led a number of commen­

divorce is equally available to women and men

tators to argue that, in effect, marriage has finally

(Whyte, 1978). In many tribal communities in

become a voluntary contract to be abandoned at the

India, divorce is common and accomplished simply

will of either spouse. In turn, they argue, divorce is

by an individual publicly walking up to a man or

no longer stigmatized, but rather a commonplace

woman other than her or his spouse. Today, in

experience that shares much with the act of mar­

Muslim societies, where divorce rates have been

riage itself. However, divorce is still stigmatized if

extremely high, a man can divorce one of his

by 'stigmatization' we mean that its participants

wives simply by repeating 'I divorce you' three

may be excluded from community activities and

times before credible witnesses (Islamic law does

made to feel blamed for living apart. Moreover,

not give women the same right to divorce). But

like death, divorce still often brings psychological

even in many settings outside the USA or Western

trauma. This trauma is all the more intense for

Europe, whether Bangladesh or Indonesia, Colom­

those who divorce because it is so often unexpected

bia or Mexico, the former USSR or China, divorce

and private rather than anticipated and social.

is on the rise.

Unlike death, divorce has no ritual, no community

For the first time in the history of the West,

event to confirm it. It takes places in the courts and

during the mid-1970s in the USA and England,

participants' minds rather than in the wider arena

the

divorce

of social life. Both ex-husband and ex-wife seek an

number

of

marriages

ending

in

widowhood. While

account - a story - to explain to themselves and

spouses have always lived apart, only recently

others what happened and why. In doing so, they

have they legitimated that separation through the

tend to discover that what is often thought of as a

legal apparatus of divorce. Divorce, unlike separ­

private set of troubles turns out to be a public issue.

exceeded those ending

in

ation, means that those who obtain it can legally

The experience of divorce, like that of marriage

take another spouse. Today, that has become easy

itself, is shaped by gender as well as race. Just as

in most parts of the world. Andrew Cherlin ( 1982),

there is a 'his' and a 'hers' in marriage, so, too, there

a demographer of the family in the USA, estimates

is a his and hers in divorce. White women tend to

that if recent trends persist, about half the people

suffer economically when they lose a spouse; black

getting married today will see those marriages end

women less so if only because they can depend on

in divorce. Lawrence Stone (1977), a historian of

husbands less for a family wage. But white and

the family, estimates that in England over a third of

black men alike suffer socially and emotionally.

current marriages will 'end in the divorce courts

While women who lose a husband often lose a

rather than in the funeral parlor'. (England and the

breadwinner who made their material way of life

United States have the highest divorce rates in the

possible, men who lose a wife lose not only a partner

Western world, apart from Scandinavia.) Begin­

in a division of labour but a companion and con­

ning in the 1970s, in the United States spouses

fidante who ties them to other kin and friends.

could attribute 'no-fault' in the court and in doing so end their spousal (though not family) ties.

With the upswing in divorce, some now argue that marriage is coming to an end, that individuals

172

DOMESTIC LABOUR

no longer seek the support of the church to validate

categories used for the analysis of wage labour also

their personal ties, that we are finally seeing the

applied to domestic labour. Thus, for example,

demise of the FAMILY- at least as we have known

some protagonists argued that domestic labour

it. To be sure, the family and marriage are different

was another form of commodity production be­

from what they were during the previous century.

cause its output was the commodity labour power.

In fact, these institutions are changing more rapidly

Others argued however that it did not produce any

than any had predicted. The question remains: are

commodity; its products were use values that never

they disappearing? At least for now, few would

reached the market and entered directly into the

answer in the affirmative. Instead, demographers,

household's consumption, only indirectly aiding

sociologists, psychologists and economists - albeit

the reproduction of labour power.

for very different reasons-suggest that individuals

All sides agreed that domestic labour was not

no longer necessarily seek the support of the church

subject to the same relations of production as com­

to validate their personal commitments, obligations

modity production. In particular, the forms of con­

or ties. But they do, and must, seek the support of

trol of domestic labour were different; instead of the

the state. No state support, no marriage; no mar­

law of value, which applies to capitalist commodity

riage, no divorce. And divorce, like marriage, is still

production, whereby similar commodities have to

very much with us. It is, in the words of one critic:

be made in comparable times for the firms produ­

'For better or worse, here to stay.'

cing them to remain profitable, standards and amount of time spent in domestic labour could vary widely. The form of control is more indirect,

Reading Cherlin, A. 1982: Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage.

housewives are in day-to-day control of their own

Murdock, G. 1950: Family stability in non-European

labour process but have to arrange their work to fit

cultures. Annals of the American Academy of Political

in with the needs of other members of their house­

and Social Science 5.227, 195-201.

hold and the demands of other social institutions,

Stone, L. 1977: The Family, Sex and Marriage.

to standards which are disseminated in a variety

Whyte, M. K. 1978: The Status of Women in Preindustrial

of indirect ways, through familial ideology, for

Societies.

NAOMI R. GERSTEL

example. Similarly, the contractual situation is different; rather than by a specified wage-labour contract that is relatively easily terminated, the

It was modern feminism and

allocation of labour within the home is regulated

the development of gender studies which made the

by customary gender roles and although the mar­

human activity of housework visible within social

riage contract is no longer seen as binding for life it

domestic labour

thought. It was initially brought into prominence

is relatively difficult to change. This applies to the

by Marxists influenced by feminism who wished to

form of remuneration too: for wage-earners a pre­

uncover the material base of women's oppression

viously specified wage is paid, whereas for domestic

under capitalism. Previous Marxist analysis of

labour no wage is given and housewives have to find

gender divisions, or the Woman Question as it

their own subsistence out of the monetary income

had been known, had tended to locate the oppres­

provided for the household as a whole, by their own

sion of women purely in their disadvantaged place

or other members' wage labour. This also has

in the labour market, which could be explained by

effects on the timing of work: while a wage-worker

women's primary responsibilities in the home.

works for clearly specified periods of time and

However, such domestic relations tended to be

usually in a place distinct from his or her place of

seen as superstructural with mainly ideological

leisure, a housewife's work is quite literally 'never

effects and not therefore as fundamental as class

done' and she has no physical or temporal separ­

relations which derived from the mode of produc­

ation between work and leisure time. Further,

tion and thus formed part of the economic base (see

unlike capitalist commodity production, house­

MODE OF PRODUCTION; MATERIALISM).

work tends to be done in isolation, with little or

By analysing domestic labour as a set of produc­

no specialization or cooperation.

tion relations located within the economic base, it

Another area of debate concerned the role do­

was hoped to give the oppression of women a com­

mestic labour played in the reproduction of capital­

parable status within Marxism to class exploitation.

ist production relations. Did it produce its own

Much of the debate turned on which of Marx's

surplus value to be appropriated either by a house-

DURKHEIM SCHOOL have

subsequently

been

173

wife's husband or by his employer? Or did it con­

extensions

tribute to the production of surplus value indirectly

which incorporate notions of patriarchy, this is

suggested

by lowering the wage that members of the house­

just to add on another structure which in itself

hold needed to be paid to maintain a customary

needs explanation. Without recognizing that do­

standard of living? Or was its role in the reproduc­

mestic labour is more than just another form of

tion of capitalist relations more indirect still, pro­

work, but has a specific connection to human re­

viding the home comforts which made work under

production, where, of course, the differences be­

capitalist conditions bearable, and absorbing those

tween the sexes are crucial, the study of domestic

areas of use-value production, such as childcare,

labour can never provide a complete analysis of

that could for some reason not be taken into capit­

sexual oppression.

alist production? Did domestic labour form a sep­ arate mode of production articulated with the capitalist mode or should the definition of the cap­ italist mode of production be expanded to include the relations of domestic production? (Himmelweit and Mohun, 1977, surveys these debates.) Side by side with these debates within Marxism,

Reading Fox, B. ed. 1980: Hidden in the Household: Women's Do­ mestic Labour under Capitalism. Himmelweit, S. and Mohun, S. 1977: Domestic labour and capital. Cambridge Journal of Economics, I. Molyneux, M. 1979: Beyond the domestic labour debate. New Left Review 116, 3-38.

a number of empirical studies of housewives and

Oakley, A. 1974: The Sociology ofHousework.

housework were carried out (see, for instance,

Seccombe, W. 1974: The housewife and her labour under

Oakley, 1974). Historical studies were done of the

capitalism, New Left Review 83, 3-24.

SUSAN

development of domestic labour and domestic tech­

F.

HIMMELWEIT

nology, which compared time budgets to show that although the content of domestic labour had

domination

See AUTHORITY

changed significantly over the last century, the advent of labour-saving devices had barely reduced

drama

See THEATRE

the amount of time spent on it, suggesting that the less economistic Marxist explanations of its persist­

Durkheim school

ence might have more in them than those which saw

collaborators and disciples of Emile Durkheim,

This is the name given to the

its role purely in terms of its contribution to the

who flourished in France between the late 1890s

production of surplus value (see Base, 1979).

and World War II. They began as a remarkably

As part of the Marxist theoretical project of

effective research team, applying, refining, de­

explaining the material base of women's oppres­

veloping and sometimes modifying Durkheim's

sion, the domestic labour debate must be con­

ideas across a wide variety of disciplines. They

sidered a failure. The specific production relations

were organized around the remarkable journal, the

of domestic labour were analysed through the

Annee sociologique, 12 volumes of which appeared

debate and this together with subsequent empirical

between 1898 and 1913. It published reviews,

work made domestic and other informal work not

monographs and editorial notes across a very wide

only more visible within social science, but more

range, written for the most part by the Durk­

recognized within society too; for example, insur­

heimians, but not exclusively: the Annee also pub­

ance companies now quantify the value of a house­

lished Georg Simmel. As Marcel Mauss recalled,

wife's work in assessing the value of her productive life. However, the debate failed to explain why it was largely women who work under these particular production relations. In other words it recognized that capitalist society depends on a division of labour between waged commodity production and unwaged domestic labour, but failed to explain why

A good laboratory depends not only on the person in charge but also on the existence of reliable participants, i.e. new and old friends with a lot of ideas, extensive knowledge and working hypoth­ eses, and who, most importantly, are ready to share these with one another, to join in the work of the longer standing members and to launch the

that division coincided with a sexual division of

works of the newcomers. We were such a team. (In

labour. This was not surprising given the failure

Besnard, 1983, p. 140)

to incorporate into the analysis concepts other than those developed by Marx for the analysis of wage

The Annee sociologique established what came to be

labour, which were inherently sex-blind. Although

called 'the French school of sociology'. After World

174

DURKHEIM SCHOOL

War I, which decimated the Durkheimians, and

second volume of the Annee states in its preface the

Durkheim's own death in 1917, the survivors con­

general principle that religious, juridical, moral and

tinued to produce many significant individual

economic phenomena must always be related to a

works, though no longer as a working group

particular social milieu, and that their causes must

(though the Annee appeared twice in the 1920s

always be sought in the constitutive features of the

and the Annates sociologiques briefly in the 1930s).

type of society to which that milieu belongs (Dur­

They came to occupy important positions in

kheim, 1858-1917, p. 348).

French higher education - at the Sorbonne (Celes­

The Durkheimians pursued this imperialistic

tin Bougie, Paul Fauconnet, Maurice Halbwachs,

programme, across the disciplines of the social sci­

Georges Davy), at the College de France (Mauss,

ences, including history, 'incorporating', as Marcel

Fran<;ois Simiand, Halbwachs), at the Ecole nor­

Mauss put it, 'facts within a sociological frame­

male superieure (Bougie) and at the Academie de

work, and simultaneously organising them and dis­

Paris (Paul Lapie). They influenced a whole gener­

secting the raw data provided by the descriptive

ation of specialists in several disciplines, and for a

branches of our sciences' (in Besnard, 1983, p.

time they achieved some influence over the training

143), but always through an intense engagement

of secondary school teachers throughout France. In

with current scholarship and often in combat with

1920, Paul La pie, an editor of and contributor to the

prevailing academic traditions. Their goal was to

Annee and the director of primary education in

dissolve arbitrary barriers between academic fields

France, introduced as part of a new programme

and establish a new perspective on their subject

for the Ecoles normales primaires, a course entitled

matter. Who, Durkheim asked, would until quite

'sociology applied to morality and education'. Its

recently have supposed 'that there are relationships

goal was to introduce teachers to 'the objective

between economic and religious phenomena, be­

study of social facts' which, Lapie argued, 'suggests

tween demographic adaptations and moral ideas,

an appreciation of their value, and consequently, far

between geographic forms and collective manifest­

from leading to a form of indifference, it ends by

ations, and so on?' (Durkheim, 1858-1917, p 348).

solidly justifying our moral practices' (quoted in

They were rationalists and positivists: they believed

Besnard, 1983, p. 121). But the course was much

in the explanatory power of clear and distinct ideas

attacked and its content was diluted. By 1930 the

methodically applied through the division of aca­

ideology of the Durkheimians was already out­

demic labour. They stood for an Enlightenment­

moded. Moreover, as a 'school' they did not sur­

inspired vision of the reorganization of all the vari­

vive. Other, incompatible, intellectual influences

ous specialized branches of scientifically established

such as Marxism, phenomenology and existential­

knowledge which would then furnish a solid basis

ism prevailed after World War II in France (though

for social progress, which they interpreted to mean

there was a marked continuity within social anthro­

movement towards a planned industrial social order

pology), while Durkheimian ideas were taken up

anchored in common beliefs and sentiments en­

elsewhere, notably in Anglo-Saxon social anthro­

lightened by social science.

pology and SociOLOGY.

Most were socialists (sympathetic toJeanJaures,

Durkheim's driving preoccupation was to study

not revolutionaries and certainly not Marxists) but

social life as an objective reality, in all its aspects,

they drew a sharp line between their scientific and

currently divided up into academic disciplines, yet

their political work. Like the Comteans and the

all amenable, he thought, to the sociological mode

Saint-Simonians before them, the Durkheimians

of enquiry. This required a comparative method,

thought of religions as offering a mystifying ac­

involving the classification of societies into types,

count of the social world, which social science

and an insistence on seeking social (as opposed to

would render clearly, but they saw themselves nei­

individual or psychological or material) causes,

ther as the priests of a new secular religion nor as

even, indeed perhaps especially, for what might

the practical entrepreneurs of a new industrialism.

seem least amenable to such explanation: hence

Rather they were, above all, practising social scien­

his famous study of suicide, and his interest in the

tists who sought, through their research and tea­

sociology of religion, knowledge and morals. It also

ching, to strengthen the secular and reformist

involved a focus on what he called representations

ideology of the French Third Republic. Like Durk­

collectives - collective beliefs and sentiments that

heim himself, they were, for the most part, evolu­

prevail in a given social milieu. Accordingly, the

tionary optimists, relatively blind to those elements

DURKHEIM SCHOOL

175

in social life that Weberians and Marxists stressed­

ing definitions of 'needs' in relation to social class,

above all mechanisms of domination and conflicts

and of budgets and consumption patterns.

of interests. Nor were they alive to the demonic,

Ce!estin Bougli� was in charge of the section of

irrational forces a modern society could harbour

'general sociology' and was particularly interested

and which erupted in Nazi Germany.

in the place of psychology in the study of social

Three central figures contributed most to the

phenomena. He also studied the social precondi­

Annee sociologique, as both editors and contributors:

tions of the growth of egalitarian ideas, the evolu­

Durkheim, Marcel Mauss and Henri Hubert.

tion of values and the Indian caste system (Bougie,

Mauss was Durkheim's nephew and the closest to

1908).

him, and contributed importantly to the latter's

the sections on 'criminal sociology and moral stat­

Suicide (1887) and The Elementary Forms of the Religious Lift (1912). A specialist in ethnology and

examined forms of responsibility as socially deter­

the history of religions, he edited, with Hubert, the

mined, analysing its conditions, nature and func­

section on 'religious sociology' and wrote major

tions. The brothers Hubert and Georges Bourgin

studies of primitive classificatory systems (with Durkheim:

Durkheim

and

Mauss,

1903),

of

sacrifice and of magic (with Hubert: Hubert and Mauss,

1899;

Mauss and Hubert,

1904),

a remark­

Paul Fauconnet (who with Durkheim edited

istics' and 'the study of moral and legal rules')

edited the section on 'economic sociology'. Fran­ <;ois Simiand, the group's economist, investigated the determinants of wages and prices, of economic fluctuations and of the value of money, and the

able study of prayer, of reciprocity and gift-giving

origin, evolution and role of money, as well as

1925) and of the very notion of the person (in 1938: see Carrithers et al., 1985). Of all

writing extensively about the methodology of the social sciences. Henri Beuchat, who worked in

the Durkheimians, Mauss was undoubtably the

American archaeology and philology, also collabor­

most important and influential figure. His work

ated with Mauss in their important study of the

has stood the test of time and remains fundamental

impact of 'social morphology' or structure on the

(Mauss, or 'self

The Gift.

Moreover, he was an inspir­

seasonally varying legal, moral, domestic and reli­

ational teacher of whom it was said that out of his

gious life of the Eskimos (Mauss and Beuchat,

- above all,

ideas others wrote theses and books. He devoted

1906), Georges Davy studied the rise and evolution

much of his volatile energy to collaboration and to

of contract and, with the Egyptologist Alexandre

the publication of work by colleagues lost in World

Moret, published a study of the origins of Egyptian

War I. Tragically, after World War II, he lost his

civilization 'from clans to empires'. There were also

reason.

Gaston Richard, whose early work was on the social

Hubert, apart from his collaboration with Mauss,

origins of the idea of law but who eventually became

published an important study of the representation

a sharp critic of Durkheimian sociology, and Paul

of time in religon and magic, and also wrote on the

Lapie, whose work in educational sociology, and in

theory of folk religion and on historical archaeology.

particular on the determinants of educational suc­

Hubert's Polish pupil Stefan Czarnowski also made

cess, on schooling and delinquency and on educa­

important contributions to the sociology of folk

tion and social mobility, was path-breaking and far

religions, notably his study of Saint Patrick and

ahead of his time (see Besnard,

the cult of heroes in Celtic legends. Robert Hertz

1983).

Ater the group's effective dissolution, individuals

wrote brilliant studies of the collective conception of

within and close to the Durkheimian circle carried

(1907) and of the sym­ left ( 1909) that have had

its influence into their respective fields. Among them were the great comparative linguist Antoine

considerable subsequent influence, but he also in­

Meillet, the eminent sinologist Marcel Granet

death in primitive societies bolic dualism of right and

1922),

vestigated the Alpine cult of Saint-Besse (in a work

(Granet,

that is of all these Durkheimian studies the closest to

Paul Huvelin, and the pioneering scholar of Ancient

the jurists Emmanuel Levy and

ethnographic field work) and folklore gathered from

Greek

infantrymen in World War I (which claimed his

Doutte, the historians Georges Bourgin, Georges

life). Maurice Halbwachs not only extended Durk­

Lefebvre, Albert Mathiez, Marc Bloch and Lucien

heim's theory of suicide in very interesting ways, he

Febvre (through Bloch and Febvre the Durk­

also investigated the social framework of memory (Halbwachs,

1980)

and explored the social deter­

minants of differential standards of living and vary-

law Louis Gernet,

the arabist Eduard

heimians powerfully influenced the Annates school of historians- see ANN ALES

SCHOOL),

the psycholo­

gists Charles Blonde!, Georges Dumas and Henri

176

DURKHEIM SCHOOL

Wallon, the economic and social geographer Albert Demangeon, the philosopher-sociologist Lucien Levy-Bruhl, and a whole generation of French eth­ nologists trained or influenced by Marcel Mauss, notably Claude Levi-Strauss and Louis Dumont. Reading Besnard, P. ed. 1983: The Sociological Domain: the Durk­

heimians and the Founding ofFrench Sociology. Durkheim, E. 1858-1917 (1960): Emile Durkheim 18S8-

1917: a Collection of Essays, with Translations and a Bibliography, ed. K. Wolf.

Durkheim, E. and Mauss, M. 1903 (1963): Primitive

Classification, trans. and ed. R. Needham. Hertz, R. 1907 (1960) Contribution a une etude sur la representation collective de la mort. In Death and

The Right Hand, trans. R. Needham and C. Needham. Hubert, H. and Mauss, M. 1899 (1964): Sacrifice: Its

Nature and Function, trans. W. D. Hall. Mauss, M. 1925: (1954) The Gift, trans. I. Cunnison. Mauss, M. and Hubert, H. 1904 (1972): A General Theory

ofMagic, trans. R. Brain. STEVEN LUKES

E ecology

Etymologically derived, like the word

insight of ecology, of more or less stable patterns of

'economic', from the Greek oikos or 'household',

association between populations of different species

the modern use of the term 'ecology' is generally

of animals and plants, together with geological,

credited to the nineteenth-century German evolu­

topographical and climatic conditions, necessitated

tionist, Ernst Haeckel. However, the concept was

a holistic approach to both field studies and theor­

already present in the eighteenth-century idea of an

etical explanation. F. E. Clements's controversial

'economy of nature'. According to this view, each

concept of an ecosystem as a 'superorganism' is not

living species was assigned its own proper place in

now defended within scientific ecology, but various

nature; its own specific type of food, geographical

forms of holistic 'systems' approaches are retained.

range, and population, within a harmonious pattern

Modern ecology is centrally concerned with the

of interdependence between the different species.

cycling of nutrients through ecosystems, and with

Recognition of the widespread phenomenon of ex­

patterns of energy flow and interchange. The eco­

tinction led to a weakening of the idea of providen­

nomic metaphor by which the 'functions' of differ­

tial design and rational harmony in the nineteenth

ent groups of organisms within an ecosystem are

century, while Darwin's concept of natural selec­

classified- 'producers' (mainly green plants), con­

tion relied on the assumption of a competitive

sumers (herbivores and their predators) and de­

struggle for existence both among organisms and

composers (mainly micro-organisms) - carries a

between them and their physical conditions of life.

clear resonance of the earlier notion of an 'economy

Nevertheless, the idea of a harmonious economy of

of nature'. Increasingly there has developed a rec­

nature is not entirely lost in Darwin, since the

ognition that the different ecosystems are them­

mechanism of natural selection has as its outcome

selves interrelated. Of fundamental importance

an ever closer fit, or adaptation, between organisms

for contemporary social thought about human ecol­

and their conditions of life. Although Darwin and

ogy has been the synthesis (Cole, 1958) of the

other evolutionary biologists of the nineteenth cen­

concept of the biosphere (the totality of all living

tury did carry out detailed studies of associations

things on the earth) with that of an ecosystem to

between interdependent species (Darwin's own

yield the concept of the 'ecosphere': the planet

studies of the pollination of orchids by insects are

considered as an immensely complex global system

a famous example), there were few attempts to

of ecosystems. This concept provides the basis for a

integrate such studies systematically into a discip­

study of human social and economic activity from

linary specialism until the 1890s.

the standpoint of its global ecological conditions

The pioneering work of E. Warming, A. Schim­

and impacts.

per and others in synthesizing plant geography with

Recognizably ecological influences on European

physiology led to a focus on the ecology of plant

social and political thought were licensed by the

communities and their succession through time.

emphasis in the eighteenth and nineteenth centur­

Notable early work on plant ecology included the

ies on human malleability and 'perfectibility'. Mon­

studies of prairie ecology by groups at Nebraska

tesquieu attributed a significant role to geographical

and Chicago in the USA and the botanical ecology

and climatic factors in the shaping of social and

of A. G. Tansley in Britain. Despite the early (1881)

cultural diversity and the variety of forms of gov­

establishment of physiological animal ecology by

ernment, while Malthus used the idea of a shortage

the German K. C. Semper, and the still earlier

of means of subsistence relative to the 'power' of

focus on insect pollination, the general develop­

population growth as a weapon against proposals

ment of animal ecology proceeded more slowly

for radical social change. Western industrialism of

than plant ecology. The recognition, as a central

the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries gave

178

ECONOMETRICS

rise to successive waves of romantic nostalgia for a

Malthusianism', soon gave way to a multiplicity of

lost harmony with nature, and many socialist

attempts to incorporate an ecological perspective

writers saw a transformed relationship with nature

into social and political theory. B. Commoner,

as central to the post-capitalist future.

A. Gorz and others attempted to reconstruct the

The

dominant traditions of Western social

Marxian critique of capitalism in terms of its eco­

been

logically destructive consequences, while feminists,

founded on a dualistic opposition between nature

such as C. Merchant, linked together modern sci­

thought

in

the

twentieth

century

have

and society or culture. But in seeking to resist

ence, patriarchy and ecological destruction in a

SociAL DARWINISM and other forms of biological

distinctive tradition of 'ecofeminism'. In environ­

determinism, these traditions of thought also cut

mental social philosophy, a distinction is drawn

themselves off from a potentially productive en­

between

counter with newer developments in the life sci­

1989). In the former case, concern for the environ­

'shallow' and

'deep'

ecology

(Naess,

early

ment is based on an enlightened recognition of its

exception to this was the sociology of the Chicago

importance for human wellbeing, whereas in the

ences,

especially

ecology.

An

important

school in the 1920s and 1930s. The work of R. E.

latter intrinsic value is attributed to the environ­

Park and E. W. Burgess, especially, was premised

ment, quite independently of specifically human

on an opposition between those forces which oper­

interests. Allegedly reactionary and misanthropic

ate in and on social life independently of the con­

social movements may be associated with deep

sciousness and agency of social actors, and the

ecology.

significance assigned to these forces and processes

See also ENVIRONMENTALISM; GREEN MOVEMENT.

by the actors involved. Explicity drawing on the work of Warming and Clements in plant ecology

Reading

and the pioneering animal ecologist C. Elton, Park

Bahro, R. 1982:

and Burgess referred to the former class of social

Bramwell, A. 1989:

forces as an 'ecological' order. This analogy be­ tween plant and animal ecology and the unwilled dimension of human social life was most fully de­ veloped and applied in the field of urban sociology, where Park and Burgess analysed the effects of competition for scarce resources between individ­ uals and groups, and the resulting 'selective' pres­ sures, adaptive responses and diversions of labour. In these terms could be understood the shifting distributions and patterns of temporal 'succession' of ethnic groups, subcultures, specialized activities and so on as between geographically defined natural

Socialism and Survival. Ecology in the Twentieth Century: a

History. Enzenberger, H. M. 1988: A critique of political ecology. In

Dreamers of the Absolute. Ecology as Politics.

Gorz, A. 1980:

Lowe, P. D. and Rudig, W. 1986: Political ecology and the

British Journal of Political Science 16, 513-50. Matthew, F. H. 1977: Q}test for an American Sociology: Robert E. Park and the Chicago School. Meadows, D. H. et al. 1972: The Limits to Growth. Merchant, C. 1980: The Death ofNature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution. Ryle, M. 1988: Ecology and Socialism. social sciences: the state of the art.

TED BENTON

areas or 'zones' in the city. The shift from metaphorical to direct, literal application of ecological concepts to human social

econometrics

life was established only in the 1960s, following the

cation of statistical techniques to economic data in

Normally regarded as the appli­

globalization of the ecological perspective in the

order to investigate economic problems, economet­

form of the concept of the 'ecosphere'. The dra­

rics more inclusively defined would encompass

warnings of Paul Ehrlich,

the entire array of measurement problems in eco­

Edward Goldsmith, the authors of Limits to Growth

nomics. Such a definition could include problems

and others writing at the end of the 1960s and early

of operationalizing a concept, testing a theory,

matic 'doomwatch'

1970s resulted from attempts to extrapolate current

gathering data and building specific models (see

global trends in population, pollution and resource

MoDEL). Though the term was first used in the

depletion into the future, setting them against the

twentieth century by early practitioners like Ragner

ecological recognition of a finite global 'carrying

Frisch, the tradition of a statistical-mathematical

capacity'.

approach to social phenomena goes back to seven­

The first wave of 'ecological politics', often designated,

somewhat

misleadingly,

as

'neo-

teenth-century political arithmetic. The origin of econometrics in this century is tied up with efforts

ECONOMETRICS

179

to resolve the theoretical disputes between the mar­

1968 in order to create a system of models. LINK

ginalists and their critics by resorting to empirical

models consist of national, regional and world trade

testing of the marginal productivity theory of dis­

models.

tribution by economists such as H. L. Moore.

Recently R. E. Lucas has pointed out that the

Moore tried to demonstrate the validity of]. B.

parameters of such models will change as a result of

Clark's theory of wages by using the methods of

policy announcements. Theoretically, the point is quite valid though its relevance for a macroecono­

correlation. From such crude beginnings econometrics de­

metric model in practice remains an empirical issue.

veloped into a rigorous discipline through the

Many recent models embody the assumption of

efforts of pioneers such as R. Frisch and]. Tinber­

rational expectations introduced by ]. F. Muth

gen in Europe and researchers in the USA at the

and R. E. Lucas. A different approach advocated

Cowles Foundation. After World War II the field

by C. A. Sims is to use empiricist techniques such

expanded rapidly with the invention of the high­

as vector autoregression methods.

speed computer. Today it is more appropriate to

In a different way English econometricians such

speak of the various branches of econometrics than

as D. F. Hendry recognize the problems of exo­

of econometrics as a single field.

geneity assumptions in solving the identification traditionally

problems of macroeconometric models. However,

focused on building statistical models germane to

Hendry still recognizes the value of econometrics

the testing of economic theories. The classical

for testing economic theories. His work in this area

Theoretical

econometrics

has

linear regression model has been extended by in­

falls within the rubric of model selection proced­

vestigating the violation of various assumptions

ures.

regarding the error term. A distinct contribution

In the area of model selection and in the ap­

by econometricians has been the development of

proach to econometrics in general the Bayesian

simultaneous equation models. More recently work

approach has been a contender with the classical

on qualitative dependent variables, distributed

approaches described above. In contrast with the

lags, dynamic models and a number of other topics

classical frequentist approach, the Bayesian ap­

has enlarged the repertoire of theoretical economet­

proach is concerned with how new information

ncs.

modifies a researcher's beliefs about parameter tools,

values. It also eschews the need for justifying the

many theoretical propositions in all areas of Eco­

estimating procedure by appealing to the awkward

have been subjected to empirical tests.

classical concept of the performance of the estima­

These range from consumer demand theory and

tor in hypothetical repeated samples. However,

Using NOMICS

these

continuously

developing

efficient market hypothesis in microeconomics to

philosophically the acceptance of the Bayesian ap­

the testing of exchange rate determination theories

proach commits one to a subjectivist view of prob­

in international economics.

ability that clashes with the objectivist view of

Another important area in the development of

probability as emerging from features of the world

econometrics has been the formulation and valid­

independent of the observer. Therefore, classical

ation of macroeconometric models. Starting with

and Bayesian approaches have distinct and opposed

early work by Elmer Working on identification of

ontological commitments.

the demand and supply curves from economic data,

Given the diversity of contributions and view­

the work of Frisch and Tinbergen in Europe ad­

points in modern econometrics, any summary view

vanced the frontier of econometrics considerably.

is apt to be misleading. At the moment several new

Later work at the Cowles Foundation led by ].

developments have begun to recognize the need for

Marschak and T. C. Koopmans produced a solid

more data generation, diagnostic tests, inclusion of

analytical foundation for estimating simultaneous

degrees of belief and the use of models which rec­

equation models. The actual estimation of such

ognize data limitations. At the same time more

models for a real economy was pioneered by Klein

emphasis is being placed on nonlinear and dynamic

and Goldberger (1955) and continues in ever more

model building.

sophisticated forms with large numbers of equa­ tions in many countries. Internationally, this ap­

Reading

proach

Aigner, D. and Zellner, A. eds 1988: Causality. Journal of

resulted

in

the

LINK

project,

an

international, cooperative study group started in

Econometrics 39. 1-2.

180

ECONOMIC GROWTH

Hendry, D. F. 1987: Econometrics methodology: a per­

wealth to strengthen the nation-state and underpin

sonal perspective. In Advances in Econometrics, Fifth

'great power' ambitions; Bismarckian Germany ex­

World Congress, vol. 2, ed. T. F. Bewley.

hibited both characteristics most clearly, but not

Klein, L. and Goldberger, A. 1955: An Econometric Model

ofthe United States: 1929-1952. Learner, E. E. 1987: Econometric metaphors. In Advances

in Econometrics, Fifth World Congress, vol. 2, ed. T. F. Bewley.

uniquely. The political ideas germinating then have, a cen­ tury later, become a universal feature of official politics in capitalist and socialist states. In the dis­

Pesaran, M. H. 1987: The Limits to Rational Expectations.

course of Western democracies, the principal meas­

Sims, C. A. 1987: Making economics credible. In Ad­

ure of national strength is the country's relative rate

vances in Econometrics, Fifth World Congress, vol. 2, ed.

of growth. The absolute level of its wealth is treated

T. F. Bewley.

as having little significance compared to the dyna­

Tinbergen, J. 1939: Statistical Testing of Business Cycle

Theories, 2 vols. Zellner, A. 1983: Statistical theory and econometrics. In

Handbook of Econometrics, Z. Griliches and M. D. lntriligator. HAIDER ALl KHAN

economic growth

The experience and the pro­

spect of economic growth have profoundly shaped twentieth-century discourse; their effect on culture and reasoning has been quite different from the effects in other epochs although periods of extraor­ dinary growth have been experienced previously. From 1820 to 1980 the total product of today's 16 leading capitalist economies grew 60-fold; their output per capita grew 13-fold. One outstanding period, from 1950 to 1973, is regarded as a Golden Age, since the rate of growth of their output then was more than twice as high as in previous decades. In the twentieth century, the state-directed socialist system of the Soviet Union also experienced

mism of output growth (or lack of dynamism). Although the United States is the world's richest major country, its political identity and direction has been shaped in recent years by doubts over its rate of growth (compared to Japan's in particular), and party political contests in European democra­ cies have been informed by comparisons of eco­ nomic growth under different governments. The Soviet Union's political ambitions were defined partly in relation to economic growth since Lenin's day. In modern times, the role of economic growth in superpower rivalry was repre­ sented most sharply by Khrushchev's claim that Soviet growth would enable his country to win the Cold War by overtaking US income levels in two decades (Halliday, 1983); while, on the other hand, the political crisis that actually overtook the Soviet system in the 1980s is widely conceived as the result of a slowdown in the rate of growth (rather than absolute poverty).

high rates of output growth, as did some Third World countries, especially after 1960. In the course of that experience, ideas concerning eco­ nomic growth and ideas shaped by it have had a key role in modern conceptual structures. They may be summarized in five, non-exhaustive cat­ egories - growth conceptualized in relation to: na­ tional politics; social transformation; expansion of output; Third World development; and its envir­ onmental or other costs.

National politics

Growth as social transformation Associated with the political salience of economic growth is a conception of it as more than a quanti­ tative category, or growth of output. In the twenti­ eth century, social scientists and social historians established economic growth as a leading object of enquiry;

and from

that perspective economic

growth is conceived as a process of fundamental social transformation. Modern views of growth as a continual process of social transformation were, effectively, initiated by Karl Marx's analyses of the

The European system of national politics con­

genesis and progress of capitalism, and the ideas

structed in the nineteenth century developed an

derived from his work have shaped debates over

expansionist dynamic at an early stage. This polit­

both capitalist growth and socialist growth.

ical expansionism derived in part from the adoption of economic growth as a characteristic of nation­

Capitalist growth

hood. It was marked by external expansion in the

standing of capitalist growth, or accumulation,

form of imperialism with its national rivalries, and

from this perspective revolved around three central

by ideals of expanding domestic production and

problems: the nature of the transformation from

The twentieth century under­

ECONOMIC GROWTH

181

feudalism to capitalist growth; the role of crises in

nomic growth under capitalism is marked by trans­

capitalist growth; and the historical transform­

formations of capitalism - distinct phases, in each

ations of the capitalist system itself. Marxist analy­

of which a different social-economic structure

sis of the historical transformation from feudalism

dominates (for example, a laissez-faire stage, a

to capitalism in England has been the basis for

monopoly capital stage, and a stage of state monop­

important analyses of modern economic growth in

oly capitalism) (Fine and Harris, 1979; Mandel,

the specific circumstances of two capitalist soci­

1975; Uno, 1980). Kondratiev originated the idea,

eties: Japan and Britain. In Japan, debates since

taken up by Schumpeter, that economic growth

the 1920s focused on whether growth since the

under capitalism proceeds in a succession of LONG

1868 Meiji restoration was capitalist or whether

WAVES each of which can be seen as a distinct 'age';

the full transition from feudalism occurred later,

in its subsequent development the theory empha­

even as late as the land reform imposed in the

sizes the role of technological innovations in growth

1940s. At issue was an understanding of the specific

and the role of crises in promoting them, and it

character of capitalist growth in Japan, and, in

achieved renewed prominence during the instabil­

that respect, the debate is similar to that initiated

ity and slow down of growth in the West after 1973.

by Anderson (1964) who sought to explain the

As a theory it reflects the widespread general view

specific character of Britain's growth over recent

that growth is a reflection of scientific and technical

centuries by the character of the transition from

development, although in most versions it locates those within definite social conditions (Kondratiev,

feudalism. Economic growth under capitalism has been

1926; Kondratiev, 1935; van Duijn, 1983).

Marx

The instability of the last quarter of the twenti­

claimed to explain. The economic crisis identified

eth century also stimulated the development of a

characterized

by

regular

crises,

which

with the 1930s has entered consciousness as the

new Marxist perspective on the stages of capitalist

exemplar, one which stimulated divergent analyses

growth. Within the general framework of this

of the character of capitalist growth. A widespread

'regulation school', writers have concentrated on

view was that it was an indication that capitalism

the analysis of the transformation of capitalism in

had exhausted its potential for economic growth

the late twentieth century from a 'Fordist' to a

and was doomed to stagnation or a social upheaval

'post-Fordist' regime of accumulation. The in­

that would install socialism (Strachey, 1935);

stability marks a crisis of Fordist accumulation,

another, which became dominant, was the Keynes­

and the bases for post-Fordist renewed capitalist

ian view that the crises hitherto endemic to capital­

growth are to be located in changes in the inter­

ism could be eliminated by changed social and

national division of labour and the capitalist labour

political structures (see KEYNESIANISM). A third

process itself (Aglietta, 1979; Lipietz, 1987).

interpretation, promulgated by Joseph Schum­ peter, was that crises are a 'process of creative

Socialist growth

destruction', a process of transformation which,

of social transformation received its greatest prom­

The idea that growth is a process

instead of heralding stagnation, was the precondi­

inence in the seminal debate over planning growth

tion for renewed economic growth under capitalism

in the socialist society of the Soviet Union, the great

(Schumpeter, 1942). This line of reasoning had

INDUSTRIALIZATION debate of the 1920s. The social

parallels with Marx's theory of the relation between

transformation considered necessary was to be in­

growth and crises, for the devaluation of capital it

dustrialization, the building of a dynamic industrial

entailed can lay the conditions for renewed accu­

sector under state ownership and regulated by cen­

mulation notwithstanding Marx's view that capit­

tral planning. However, different routes to indus­

alist accumulation had its eventual limits. There is

trialization were promoted, with corresponding

no doubt that the Marxist and Schumpeterian view,

differences in the character of social change; espe­

that global crises are adjustments which are gener­

cially at issue was the pace and character of rural

ally functional for capitalist economic growth, is

transformation, relations between the state and

supported by experience; it is now embedded in

other sectors, and, indirectly, the political measures

the prevalent view that, however deep a recession,

appropriate to industrialization.

it will be followed by a boom.

The leading arguments of N. Bukharin and E.

The idea that crises are a period of adjustment in

Preobrazhensky differed on the pace of industrial­

the growth process is linked to the idea that eco-

ization and on the degree of imbalances in the

182

ECONOMIC GROWTH

development of agriculture, light industry, and

Neoclassical models, simplified

following Solow's

presentations

(Solow,

and

heavy industry. In terms of the balance of output,

Swan's

1956;

the arguments concerned the allocation of resources

Swan, 1956), have shown that by changing the

to the production of consumption goods and capital

assumption of a fixed capital-output ratio - by

goods respectively. They also differed on the mech­

postulating that, with a given level of technology,

anisms through which the state sector should relate

the economy can smoothly move towards more

to the others, and the extent to which resources

capital intensive or more labour intensive tech­

should be forcibly transferred from other sectors

niques of production - and assuming that saving

to finance state industrialization (Bukharin, Selected

is equal to investment, the capitalist economy will

Writings, 1982; Preobrazhensky, 1926). This debate

be on a stable equilibrium growth path. Unless

twentieth-century

technological change occurs, output will grow at

thought, partly because of its importance for under­

the same rate as the labour force. This basic neo­

standing the genesis of Stalinism, but also because

classical model has been expanded in a number of

had

enormous

influence

on

it influenced the conception of economic growth

directions to deal with the puzzles its simplifica­

implemented in China and other centrally planned

tions leave unanswered. One is the problem of how

economies in the 1950s. (See also

technical innovation can be introduced into the

NOMIC PLANNING.

NATIONAL ECO­

)

Growth as expansion of output

model:

which types of technical progress are

consistent with an equilibrium growth path and how

does

technical

change

(learning)

occur?

Writers on economic growth as a process of social

Another simplification in the Solow-Swan model,

transformation have not been in the mainstream of

that it is a one-sector model which does not distin­

Western economic theory. Since the seminal essays

guish between the sector producing consumer

of Roy Harrod (1939) and Evsey Domar (1946) a

goods and the capital goods-producing sector, has

profusion of articles on the pure economic theory of

been addressed by the development of two-sector

growth have been concerned with a number of

growth

questions related to the problem of whether stable

(1961) contribution. (See also

models,

especially

economic growth is possible. The models used

NOMICS.

following

Uzawa's

NEOCLAS SICAL ECO­

)

abstract from social structures, conceiving eco­

Writers of the Cambridge school replace the

nomic agents as undifferentiated individuals and

Harrod-Domar assumption of a fixed savings ratio

treating growth simply as the expansion of output

with the assumption that changes in the distribu­

of commodities. The Harrod-Domar model is best

tion of total income between wages and profits

known for its concern with whether capitalist econ­

cause changes in society's saving ratio since capital­

omies can achieve a rate of growth at which the

ist and workers have different saving ratios (Kaldor,

growth of demand for output matches the expan­

1955-6; Pasinetti, 1961-2). Consequently, the rate

sion of productive capacity. The question turns on

of economic growth is directly connected to the

the balance between aggregate saving and aggregate

balance between wages and profits and the model

investment in a growing economy, and on the

thereby addresses one of the key problems of

difference between the rate of growth warranted

growth in actual economies. This model's analysis

by that balance and the rate of growth of productive

of income distribution is in sharp contrast to that of

capacity. The model engendered pessimism on

the neoclassical model, and the debate over this

the possibility of stable full employment growth

difference involved a substantial critique of the

being achieved automatically, and acted as a stimu­

logical basis of the concept of the aggregate capital

lus to the adoption of Keynesian ideas about the

stock used in one-sector models such as Solow's

necessity for state intervention to promote invest­

(Robinson, 1956).

ment. The Harrod-Domar model was based on special simplifying assumptions: that saving is a constant proportion of income and that the ratio of capital to

Third World Development The problem of achieving high rates of economic

output is also constant. Substituting those two

growth in Third World countries, in order to over­

axioms with alternative assumptions led to two

come absolute poverty and close the gap between

directly opposed schools: neoclassical and Cam­

them and industrialized countries, is firmly rooted

bridge.

in late twentieth-century discourse. The concepts

ECONOMIC HISTORY

183

designed to analyse growth in capitalist or centrally

(or policies to make market signals work better)

planned economies do not directly address the

can ensure a growth path which optimally takes

problem of achieving high rates of growth in

those costs into account (Pearce and Turner,

1990).

Third World economies which have a 'mixed econ­

A more intractable and unacceptable cost of eco­

omy' approach to policy and an economic base with

nomic growth may be human rights. In its sharpest

different technological and social conditions in

form a debate over whether economic growth 're­

different sectors. The exception is the Harrod­

quires' acute suppression of human rights at certain

Domar model which provided the basis for (largely

stages has focused on the question 'Was Stalin

unrealized) national development plans of the

necessary?' (Nave,

newly independent nations in the wake of the mid­

pression of human rights under both capitalist­

century wave of decolonization, and on the basis of

oriented and socialist-oriented growth regimes has

1964). More generally, the sup­

which techniques for estimating foreign aid re­

underpinned social movements that reject eco­

quirements were developed. A number of'develop­

nomic growth.

ment economics' models have been formulated to address the problem of growth in the special cir­

Reading

cumstances of the Third World. The most influen­

Maddison, A. 1982:

tial theoretical innovation has been the surplus

Schumpeter, J. A. 1942

labour model of W. Arthur Lewis

(1954). Lewis

described a simple dual economy characterized by a

Phases of Capitalist Development. (1987): Capitalism, Socialism and

Democracy. Sen, A. 1970:

Growth Economics. LAURENCE HARRIS

traditional and modern sector, and, in a classical tradition derived from Ricardo, demonstrated the centrality for development of the disposition of the economic surplus. (See also

DEVELOPMENT AND

UNDERDEVELOPMENT.)

economic history

Described by one of its earli­

est practitiOners as 'not so much the study of a special class of facts as the study of all the facts of a nation's history from a special point of view' (W.]. Cunningham), economic history does not have

Costs ofgrowth

rigidly defined frontiers but spills over into social

The modern dominant concept of economic growth is benign, but an undercurrent of thought has ar­ ticulated the negative side of growth and stimulated an anti-growth sentiment (or at least a sentiment for more modest and less capital intensive growth) with considerable popular appeal. One strand is the ar­

and political history as well as into economics. Its principal concerns, though, are the analysis of eco­ nomic growth and decline, and the relating of economic change to social welfare.

Origins

gument that the growth of material output involves

The subject has its roots in the period in which the

major social costs not fully borne by the individual

importance of the economic factor for the political

producer or consumer. In an essentially conserva­

strength of nations was first fully realized - that of

(1967)

'mercantilism'. The new preoccupation engen­

tive argument against high growth Mishan

demonstrated the power that external diseconomies

dered its own literature, by the so-called 'political

such as congestion have to undermine the claim

arithmeticians', of which the best-known English

that output growth is welfare enhancing. A second

Natural and Political Observations on the State and Condition ofEngland of 1688.

strand is the view that economic growth involves unsustainable depletion of the earth's resources

example was Gregory King's

which, apart from producing external costs (such

The Enlightenment, with its belief in systems

as the effects deforestation has on rainfall and soil

and in human affairs following rules of nature,

erosion), will quickly produce an insuperable limit

gave rise to a more theoretical approach. In this

to growth as those resources become exhausted

development the writings of the 'physiocrats' (lit­

(Meadows,

1972).

erally 'rule of nature') in France and of participants

However, proponents of the view that markets

in the 'Scottish Enlightenment' stand out in par­

can provide the wellspring of growth, which has

ticular. The former gave priority to agriculture in

become hegemonic in the last quarter of the twen­

their theory, arguing that it was the only source of

tieth century, have countered those antigrowth

'net product', and categorizing industry as a 'sterile

views with the argument that price adjustments

art'. Their leading figures were Fran<;ois Quesnay

184

ECONOMIC HISTORY

(1694-1774) and A. R.]. Turgot (1727-1781). Tableau economique, published in 1758,

Quesnay's

of David Ricardo (1772-1823) (Burrow, 1966, pp. 59-64). The historical approach had a reverse ex­

was instrumental in diffusing the physiocratic idea

perience in France. The extent of social and polit­

that the economy functioned according to natural

ical disruption generated reflection on history and a

rules. Turgot combined the role of economic the­

concern to establish a new basis for social consen­

On Universal

sus. This was the task which positivism set itself,

orist and politician, writing a work

History in 1750-1 which introduced a new basis for

aiming to reconcile the scientific approach with the

the periodization of history in terms of economic

requirements of social order.Economic history had

stages, and attaining the position of Controller

a part in this- Saint-Simon

General in

1774, from which he attempted unsuc­

(1760-1825) developed (1743-1794)

the insights of Turgot and Condorcet

cessfully to remodel the French economy on

into a materialist theory of history, incorporating a

physiocratic principles.

revolutionary element and anticipating Marx- but

(1735-1801) and Adam Smith

its role was a subordinate one. Saint-Simon's pur­

(1723-90) were the two participants in the Scottish

pose, unlike Smith's, was not primarily to provide a

Enlightenment whose work had most significance

model for economic growth, but rather political, to

for the development of the subject. Smith, in his

induce acceptance of a new type of society domin­

Wealth ofN ations (1776), reacted against the exces­

ated by industrialists and scientists.

John

Millar

sive deductivism and the agricultural bias of the

The turning point was less marked inGermany,

physiocrats. Like them he believed that there was

where Herder's (1744-1803) emphasis on 'national

a natural and ideal pattern according to which an

character' already contrasted with the ahistorical

economy developed and in which agriculture had

universalism of Enlightenment writers, but it

primacy, but his knowledge of history, and his

clearly reinforced the existing tendency; Ranke's

observations in Scotland itself and on his travels,

(1795-1886) emphasis on seeing the past from the

had shown him that it was rarely conformed to.

inside, in its own terms, is judged to have provided a

Although distinct national traditions have been

basis for a 'Berlin revolution in historical studies'

1970, pp. 34-40). The combination of

detected in the Enlightenment, its overriding char­

(Marwick,

acteristic was an exceptional international unity in

this historical tradition with the fact of Germany's

the priority which it attributed to reason and in its

relative backwardness and political division, which

optimism concerning the future. The substantial

caused it to have difficulties achieving an early in­

divisions in national intellectual traditions are best

dustrialization from a free-trading situation, gave

seen, therefore, as having their sources in the two

rise to the emergence of a school of 'historical eco­

revolutions of the 1780-1815 period.These were to

nomics', with an emphasis on relating the study of

mark economic history as they did other academic

economics to the development of economic systems.

disciplines. First, the Industrial Revolution des­

National contexts were not totally impervious but

troyed some of the basic assumptions of Smith's

they did become the predominating influences on

theory of economic growth, and in particular his

the development of economic history until after

belief that there was a natural ceiling to the process

1945. Various trajectories for the subject need there­

set by a society's natural resources. It also gave rise

fore to be traced before the impact of the recent,

in the short term to an increase in economic in­

more intense intellectual exchange is described.

equality - with Britain achieving an extraordinary lead over the rest of the world by

1850 - which

made the attainment of international consensus on economic theory and history much more difficult to

The German tradition The precursor of German 'historical economics'

history was most interesting that the subject re­

(1789-1846), a campaigner for The National System of Political Economy of 1841, which put

ceived its most severe setback.England's very eco­

forward an infant-industry argument against free­

achieve. Curiously it was in the country whose economic

was Friedrich List

German national unity and author of

nomic success, combined with the fact that history

trading theory.Its earliest practitioners were Bruno

had become (in the face of the challenge of the

Hildebrand

rationalism of the French revolution) the arm of

(1812-1878), Wilhelm Roscher (18171894) and Karl Knies (1821-1898); it can be said to

conservatism, contributed to the development and

have emerged as a distinct 'school' under the influ­

acceptance of the deductive, ahistorical economics

ence ofGustav von Schmoller

(1838-1917) and his

ECONOMIC HISTORY

185

disciples, who included Werner Sombart (1863-

In 1900 the Revue de Synthese Historique was

1941) and Max Weber (1864-1920). It was distin­

founded and it was in its pages that Lucien Febvre

guished by the political commitment of its members

(1878-1956) and MarcBloch (1886-1944), the prin­

to social reform and it rejected both the French

cipal promoters of the new history, found an early

Comtean tradition and the English commitment to

outlet for their ideas. Lucien Febvre's thesis Phil­

laissez-faire. Its political position was one of social

ippe If et le Franche-Comte of1912 provided an early

conservatism. Its methods were eclectic - drawing

example of one aspect of the approach- it is a move

on the whole range of social sciences - and it pro­

towards a'total history' in which the social, cultural

moted extensive historical research, particularly in

and economic as well as political life of a region

political archives. In so far as it developed an eco­

is revealed. Marc Bloch's Les Caracteres originaux

nomic theory, it was one of a predominantly prag­

de l'histoire rurale franyaise of 1931 is even more

matic kind based on the analysis of historical

clearly Durkheimian, using the most concrete

examples. Although Schmoller was to publish a

of evidence, field patterns drawn from old cadastral

theoretical work of synthesis, it was the relative

surveys, as well as aerial photography, as its princi­

weakness of this theoretical side of the school's

pal source. In 1929 the journal Annates d'Histoire

work which was the ground for the METHODEN­

economique et sociale was founded, which was to

STREIT during the 1880 s. The dispute, though, did

provide a name for the new approach- the ANNALES

little to shake its hegemony - Schmoller had de­

SCHOOL. The journal was renamed Annates: Econ­

veloped an unchallengeable institutional position,

omies, Sociites, Civilisations in 1946 , and the school,

directing Germany's principal publication series in

whose origins had been in provincial universities,

the social sciences, and intervening in most profes­

acquired a power base in 1947 with the establish­

soral appointments in economics. This held back

ment of the Sixth Section of the Ecole Pratique

the development of economic theory in Germany,

des Hautes Etudes, an interdisciplinary centre for

but also, in the long run, it tainted economic history;

teaching and research in the social sciences. Leader­

following World War I there was a backlash and the

ship of this section, and thus of the 'school', was

subject was neglected for many years, history

assumed on Febvre's death in 1956 by Fernand

limiting itself to the study of the political 0- A.

Braudel (1902-85).Braudel's thesis, The Mediterra­

Schumpeter, 1954 , pp.501-10).

nean and the Mediterranean World in the Age ofPhilip If (1949) was influential in promoting a form of

The French tradition

geographical determinism, in the way it distin­ guished between different concepts of time and in

The French tradition developed later than the

its dismissive attitude to events. The best practition­

German, lasted longer and was to exercise great

ers of the Annales approach have been Emmanuel

influence. Its origin lay in a reaction against the

Le Roy Ladurie and Pierre Goubert, both of whose

conservatism of history, in terms of its concentra­

backgrounds as historians, like so many Annalistes,

tion purely on political events and its penetration

lie in regional history, that of the Languedoc and

by German historicist attitudes, as it was studied in

that of theBeauvaisis. More recently it has attracted

France during the Third Republic. The main intel­

criticism, particularly from Fran<;ois Furet, for its

lectual influence on it was positivism - the thought

lack of theory and neglect of politics ( Iggers, 1975 ,

of Auguste Comte, with its emphasis on the simi­

pp. 43-79).

larity of the human to the natural sciences, and hence on the possibility of generalization and ex­ planation; and above all that of Emile Durkheim,

The British tradition

with its rejection of psychological explanations for

The strength of the reaction against the historical

social change in favour of the study of'social facts',

approach had been such that its reintroduction

and his belief that objectivity was achievable by the

from the Continent was necessary. The main agents

treatment of these as 'things'. It was not so much

for this were John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and

economic history which was being established but a

H. S. Maine (1822-1888), who were influenced

new definition of history as a subject, in which the

respectively by Comte's progressive view of the

economic in conjunction with the social and cul­

historical process, and German philology ( Collini

tural was given particular importance and the pol­

et al., 1983 , pp. 210-11). It was the establishment of

itical event demoted.

history as a university subject which provided the

186

ECONOMIC HISTORY

first openings for economic history. It was taught

The Economic History Review in 1926 (Harte, 1971,

and examined as part of the new History tripos at

pp. xxiv-xxx; Coleman, 1987, p. 94).

Oxford, initially in conjunction with political econ­ omy and later on its own. It received an additional boost as historians themselves broadened their ap­

Character ofthe subject

proach to include economic, legal and social ques­

A fourth and major tradition in the subject is the

tions (Harte, 1971, pp. xviii-xix; Kadish, 1989, pp.

Marxist one. Marx's belief that inherited economic

3-13). Once established, its progress was rapid. It

structures were the determining influence on all

could benefit from a tradition of industrial histories

levels of human existence, and that competition

and the compiling of statistical data which had

between social classes was the motor of history,

never been interrupted, and soon was to experience

clearly gave priority to the study of the economic.

a growing popular demand for its wares from a

Marx's theory, though, was the only approach in

public in need of professional qualifications for

which economic history was given the status of a

which the study of economic history proved par­

matrix subject. In the others, as emphasized above,

ticularly apt. It was clearly a practical activity and a

its status was effectively a subordinate one, its de­

relevant one, too, in a country whose history had

velopment being a by-product of larger intellectual

been so heavily marked by the economic. This

or political forces, and its character was marked by

popular identification with the subject was to

this. Thus in Germany the subject's subordination

remain a principal mainstay (Harte, 1971, pp.

to the desire for a historical economics, and the

xxiii-xxiv).

connection of this with nationalism, caused an em­

The subject emerged to prominence as a conse­

phasis in particular on different forms of economic

quence of a British 'Methodenstreit', one in which

system. In France its development within a positiv­

situations were the reverse of those in Germany,

ist current - opposing the role of individuals and

with theoretical economics the established ap­

political events - while giving it the status of pos­

proach, and historical economics the challenger.

sibly the most important causal layer in a 'total'

principal advocates were Arnold Toynbee

historical process, made it neglect the problem of

(1852-1883), W.]. Ashley (1860-1927) and W.].

economic development in favour of an emphasis on

Cunningham (1849-1919). All were influenced by

continuities - not surprisingly the best Annates

the German school, using its technique of carrying

studies have been on the preindustrial economy.

Its

out historical studies of different epochs in order to

Finally, the focus of the English approach initially

undermine the pretensions of classical economics to

tended to be predominantly partisan, addressed to

universality. The attack was ultimately unsuccess­

highlighting what it regarded as the particular

ful, principally because Alfred Marshall (1842-

abuses of laissez-faire capitalism. In the USA, too,

1924) had brilliantly reformulated economic theory

where the subject had emerged towards the end of

in his Principles ofEconomics (1890), broadening its

the nineteenth century, it was deployed in connec­

definition to include much of what concerned his­

tion with issues of particular national relevance -

torical economists (Collini et al., 1983, pp. 267-71).

Frederick Jackson Turner (1861-1932) developed

Failure with respect to its major ambition, however,

the frontier thesis as an explanation of specific

effectively favoured the development of economic

characteristics of American society, and Charles

history as a discipline, since its study had been

A. Beard (1874-1948) argued for the decisiveness

given sufficient momentum to

ensure that it

of economic interests for the character of the

obtained a foothold as an independent university

American constitution and nineteenth-century pol­

subject. The teaching of economic history was

itics.

prominent in the London School of Economics

From the 1930s, economic history in the USA

(founded 1895). Its first director, W. A. S. Hewins

and Britain has made greater use of economic

(1865-1931), was an economic historian and the

theory. In the British case,]. H. Clapham (1873-

first lectureship specific to economic history was

1946) and T. S. Ashton (1889-1968) were the prin­

created there in 1904. The first chair in the subject

cipal architects of the change. From the mid-1950s

was at Manchester in 1910. Others followed at

the links have become yet closer with the develop­

London in 1921, Cambridge in 1928 and Oxford

ment of 'new economic history' or 'cliometrics' in

in 1931. Further landmarks were the establishment

the United States, where economic history tended

of the Economic History Society and the journal

to be taught in economics departments, and they

ECONOMICS

187

campaigned for a more explicit use of economic

history to Marx's which, though judged erroneous,

theory and of quantitative methods in the subject.

gave rise to the general diffusion of terms such as

This approach spread to England in the 1960s

'take-off' and 'age of high mass consumption' as

and more widely afterwards (McCloskey, 1987,

well as to imitative studies; A. Gerschenkron's Eco­

pp. 77-84).

nomic Backwardness in Historical Perspective (1962)

With increased concern with economic growth

which launched comparative economic history by

since 1945, as well as a general expansion in higher

developing a model accounting systematically for

education and the study of the social sciences, the

the contrasting character of industrialization in

subject has grown rapidly in recent years. By the

different countries, and Sidney Pollard's Peaceful

1970s there were some 24 professors of economic

Conquest: The Industrialization of Europe, 1760-

history and nearly as many economic history depart­

1960 (1981) which undermined the very founda­

ments in British universities, and membership of

tions of the national approach by arguing that Euro­

the Economic History Society had risen to over

pean industrialization was an international process

5,000. The American Economic History Associ­

in which the dynamic of growth took place at the

ation experienced a similar rate of growth after

regional level. It is the extension of this cornparative

1945, attaining 3,600 subscribers in the mid-1970s

approach which will ensure that the achievements

(Harte, 1971, pp. xxiv-xxx; Coleman, 1987, p. 94).

of economic history within national frameworks are

In addition, the subject has spread internationally

consolidated and built on, and that the subject will

with a Scandinavian Economic History Review being

be of service in a world more than ever in need of a

founded in 1953, an Australian in 1967, and particu­

historical viewpoint.

larly rapid development in Japan. Japan's unique industrialization pattern and its concern with catch­

Reading

ing up caused an early interest in the subject - there

Blaug, M. 1986: Economic History and the History ofEco­

were nearly 1,000 scholars specializing in it by the mid-1980s (Sin-Ichi Yonekawa, 1985, p. 107). The foundation of the International Economic History Association in 1960 created an organization specifically committed to the spread of the subject.

nomtcs.

Burke, P. 1990: The French Historical Revolution: the Annales School1929-89.

Cannadine, D. 1984: The past and the present in the English industrial revolution, 1880-1980. Past and Pre­ sent 103, 131-72.

It has organized international conferences at four­

Coleman, D. C. 1987: History and the Economic Past: an

yearly intervals, and these, as well as the general

Account of the Rise and Decline of Economic History in

intensification in international, intellectual con­ tacts, and the common stimulus of a greater resort to economics, have resulted in a growing inter­ action between the different national approaches to the subject. Examples of this are Fernand Brau­ del's collaboration with Immanuel Wallerstein, a development economist who switched to working on the economic history of the early modern period. This influenced Braudel's approach in his Civiliza­ tion and Capitalism 15th-18th Centuries (3 vols, 1967, 1979, 1981- 4) and gave rise to the foundation

Britain.

Harte N. ed. 1971: The Study of Economic History: Col­ lected Inaugural Lectures, 1893-1970.

lggers, G. 1975: New Directions in European Historiog­ raphy.

Koot, G. H. 1987: English Historical Economics, 18701926: the Rise ofEconomic History and Neomercantilism.

Schumpeter, J. A. 1954: History ofEconomic Analysis. Tribe, K. 1988: Governing Economy: the Reformation of German Economic Discourse 1750-1840.

Tuma, E. H. 1971: Economic History and the Social Sci­ ences: Problems ofMethodology.

of the Fernand Braudel Centre for the Study of

J.

K.

J. THOMSON

Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations at

Binghamton

University

in

1977.

It

also

influenced the introduction into England of French

economic planning

See NATIONAL ECONOMIC

PLANNING

techniques of demographic research, with the foun­ Described as a social science con­

dation of the Cambridge Group for the Study of

economics

Population and Social Structure in the 1960s. In

cerned with the production and allocation of

addition various path-breaking publications in the

goods and services and with their consequent

subject have contributed to

impact on the material wellbeing of human beings,

eroding frontiers.

Among these are W. W. Rostow's Stages of Eco­

economics is, as ought to be expected with a one­

nomic Growth (1960), a provocative rival theory of

line definition, that and more. Further, its contours

188

ECONOMICS

are continuously expanding in response to new

'political economy'. The founding work on margin­

research and our changing concerns.

alism was done by, among others, Lean Walras

nomics was phenomenal. It stepped out of the

(1834-1910), StanleyJevons (1835-1882) and Carl Menger (1840-1921). If one had to choose a

groves of academe into the world of law, national

founding date for this new approach, which, as

policy making and international organization.

the cornerstone of 'neoclassical economics', would

In the twentieth century the progress of eco­

John Maynard Keynes, one of the most influen­

be immensely influential, one would probably have

19 February 1860 on the basis of a 1953).

tial economists of the last century, once suggested

to settle for

that economics would become redundant in the

euphoric entry inJevons's diary (La Nauze,

long run because it would solve the major problems

The central idea that struck Jevons was that

confronting the economy. That has not happened;

the value of a good is not the amount of resource

its success has not been so spectacular. There were

that goes into its production. The value is the

others who felt that economics, the dismal science,

price that people are willing to pay for it. Of course,

would wither away because its failures would be too

this would

marked. That did not happen either. Fortunately

duce the good but it would also depend on demand

for economics, and more so, I suppose, for econo­

and utility. Thus for the same good, say silk shirts,

mists, the performance of the subject was some­

the value would rise if, for some reason, its supply

depend on the resources needed to pro­

where in between the two predictions; and with the

fell, or fashion went in its favour, because that

increasing complexity of the world - international

would ensure that the utility to consumers from

debt crises, currency unions and more- economics

each silk shirt would be greater. This would be

is here to stay. There are still reasons for introspec­

true even if the resource content of each silk shirt

tion and criticism, but advances in this century have

remained unchanged. With

established economics as an indispensable discip­ line with an immense intellectual lure.

this

discovery, Jevons's research

got

(somewhat disproportionately) focused on con­

The next few pages briefly traverse the chron­

sumer theory. The heart of it was the law of dimin­

ology of the subject through the last century, de­

ishing marginal utility, which asserts that as a

scribe the major achievements, and argue that the

consumer gets more and more of a good the utility

marginalist mode of analysis is in the process of

from the last unit becomes less and less. The law of

being replaced by what may be described as 'stra­

diminishing marginal utility and its counterpart in

tegic analysis'. This is a difficult terrain because for

production analysis, the law of diminishing mar­

marginalist analysis we could borrow techniques

ginal

from the natural sciences, whereas for strategic

happens to utility or output as, respectively, con­

analysis there are no precursors; the route of intel­

sumption or input increases by a tiny amount, made

lectual pilferage is unfortunately not open.

economics extremely amenable to the use of calcu­

Looking back over the years, it appears that an

productivity,

with

their

focus on what

lus and, in particular, differentiation. Physicists

important achievement of economics has been its

were already using a great deal of calculus. This

internal intellectual coherence. Abstract logical

seemed a boon and a lot of early economic theory

exercises in economic theory (and I am distinguish­

grew by imitating the methods of the physical

ing this from mathematical economics, which has

sciences.

often shown a tendency to get mired down in tech­ nicalities) are today conducted at a level of ex­ cellence comparable to any other discipline. Its most major failures have been on the practical side.

Early concerns Attention having shifted to prices, it was natural to ask: how is price determined? Whereas for each good considered in isolation, the answer may be easy, it turned out that if we wanted to know how

Antecedents

prices of all goods get determined in a system where

Economists at the turn of the last century had

the outcome in the market for one good influences

inherited a new technique: marginalist analysis

that for another, the problem is much harder and

(see AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS; MARGINALIST ECONOM­

requires very different methods. This was the heart

ICS) . This would soon become their

leitmotif, the

mark distinguishing 'economics' from its ancestor,

of

general equilibrium analysis, begun by Walras.

Walras's work raised questions that were suffi-

ECONOMICS

189

ciently hard and important to be a major theme of

essential? The answer turned out to be no. John

research in the twentieth century.

Hicks (1905-1989) drawing on the earlier work of

In a nutshell the problem was as follows. It had

Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) set out to show that

been known for a long time that the price of a good

the theorems of economics were based on fewer

depends on its demand and supply. Thus if the

assumptions (and, therefore, were more robust)

demand for gas were to exceed its supply, we

than

would expect the price in equilibrium to be higher.

Blaug, 1962).

appeared

under

Marshall's

scheme

(see

But this may cause a problem elsewhere. If the price

In fact, an agenda got set for basing economics -

of gas rises, it is natural to expect the demand for

not just consumer theory - on fewer and fewer

kerosene (or any other gas substitute, for that

assumptions. The laws of the margin were getting

matter) to rise. Hence, it is possible that as the

replaced by requirements of convexity; cardinal

price of gas moves towards its equilibrium level,

utility was being deposed by ordinality; and finally

the petrol market will get thrown into disequilib­

Paul Samuelson's influential work led to utility

rium. A price configuration such that in all markets

itself being replaced by preference relations and

demand equals supply is known as a general equilib­

axions of consistency.

rium. But under what circumstances will a general

Around the same time that all this was happening

equilibrium exist? What are its properties? These

a more dramatic revolution was occurring which

questions were investigated by Walras but defini­

would wrench economics out of its quietude into

tive answers would not be possible till well into the

the world of public affairs and policy. I am referring

twentieth century because of the want of a math­

to the work of John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946).

ematical instrument - the fixed point theorem. The fixed point theorems of Brouwer and Kakutani, which would subsequently become ubiquitous in

The Keynesian revolution

several areas of economics, were used by Kenneth

Keynes's work has been analysed, diagnosed and

Arrow and Gerard Debreu to demonstrate the con­

developed more than that of any other economist in

ditions under which general equilibrium would

this century; but no-one could do a better job of

exist (see Debreu, 1959).

advertising it than Keynes himself. Using literary

But as the refinement of abstract theory grew, so

panache,

his

immense

intellectual

reputation,

did the economist's ambition to solve the problems

which was established well before the appearance

of the world. The scope of marginalist analysis for

of the General Theory, and even a certain amount of

addressing practical questions of taxation, indus­

obfuscation, Keynes thrust his economics beyond

trial policy and land tenure was highlighted in the

the ivory tower. He was helped by the times. By the

works of several economists, such as Alfred Mar­

late 1920s the Great Depression had set in. With

shall (1842-1924) and Francis Edgeworth (1845-

industrial production stagnating, unemployment

1926). In particular, Marshall's Principles, which

soared. In 1931 in Germany 5 million out of a

first appeared in 1890 and went into several editions

labour force of 21 million were unemployed; in

(see Marshall, 1890), bolstered the confidence of

the USA unemployment was 25 per cent; and

economists in facing the world. Indeed, Marshall,

these countries were no exceptions. In 1932 the

who was openly dismissive of abstraction like that

volume of industrial output in the US was just a

of the Walrasian system, was consciously trying to

little above 50 per cent of the level in 1929 (Routh,

harness economics to the needs of the world. But,

1975, pp. 263-4).

unwittingly, having exhibited the full strength of

The initial governmental reaction to this was the

economic analysis, Marshall was opening up a new

natural one, encouraging people to save as one

theoretical agenda. One grouse which many obser­

should in bad times and to practise thrift. But,

vers had against neoclassical economics, and which

according to Keynes, that was exactly the opposite

was the cause of some discomfiture even among

of the right prescription. If all individuals practise

some mainstream economists, was that many of its

thrift, then everybody can become worse off be­

theorems hinged on the ability to measure numer­

cause effective demand in the economy would fall

ically phenomena that were not amenable to such

and this would cause a shrinkage in total produc­

quantification. Utility and welfare were obvious

tion, and that would cause an even smaller demand

candidates. But was the quantification of utility

and so on. This was the 'paradox of thrift'. It meant

190

ECONOMICS

that a cure to the problem lay in boosting effective

indeed be Pareto optimal. The second theorem

demand.

asserted that given certain conditions, every Pareto

The

government

could

achieve

this

through a larger fiscal deficit. This, reversing the

optimal state can be attained as a competitive

above argument, would have several rounds of ex­

market equilibrium if a suitable redistribution of

pansionary impacts

- the so-called 'multiplier

the initial endowments of agents could be effected.

It is true that the 'right policies' had been

economics. Unabashed believers in the free market

effect'.

These must be the most misused theorems in had

ignored the proviso 'given certain conditions', and

been ingested. But unlike the ad hoc policies de­

effected

even

before

Keynes's

economics

treated the theorem as a verdict for zero interven­

vised hurriedly by bureaucrats and politicians,

tion.

Keynes had provided a whole framework, a frame­

but the conditions. In reality the theorems showed

Hardened interventionists saw little else

work of planned intervention by the government to

that the goodness of the market can neither be

keep the free market well oiled. Keynes's econom­

ignored nor presupposed.

ics ensured that we would not have such a deep depression again - at least not of the same kind.

The macroeconomic concerns of Keynes and some subsequent writers and the microeconomic

Keynes was not a theorist; and, I believe, his

theorems of general equilibrium were on a conver­

work would not have had as large an effect on theory

gent route. It was all but inevitable that these two

if it were not for some of the subsequent elucidators

researches would meet and we would begin to lay

of Keynes. The most influential work was a classic

the foundations of macroeconomics on rigorous

article of John Hicks (Hicks,

microtheory. This happened most clearly in the

1937).

This gave birth

to the famous IS-LM curves and via these to

fix-price models of the 'French school' that tried

modern macroeconomics, and macroeconometric

to categorize Keynesian and classical descriptions

modelling. The latter is a staple instrument now­

of the economy as different kinds of fix-price (and,

adays for most governments to plan their policies

in that sense, non-Walrasian) equilibria.

and forecast the future.

Concurrent themes Reassessing the Invisible Hand The old discovery, attributed to Adam Smith

If it is true that in all subjects theoretical advances move ahead of empirical work, in economics this

that individual selfish behaviour,

was surely being practised as high art. While the use

acting through the 'invisible hand' of the market

of anecdotal evidence and piecemeal data was

( 1723-1790),

mechanism, can result in the social good acquired

common, econometrics, that is, the systematic stat­

some special significance in the light of Keynes's

istical analysis of data, was lagging behind. This

work. The latter was an analysis of market failure,

was not surprising because some of the leading

something which individual rationality had failed to

lights of the day, including Keynes, were pessimis­

prevent. What brought the law of the invisible hand

tic about the value of econometrics. But if econom­

under closer scrutiny was, also, the newly emerging

ics was to take its place in the pantheon of scientific

models of imperfect competition, on the one hand,

disciplines, it needed formally to test its laws.

and research on the welfare properties of general

Given the great importance of econometrics today

equilibrium, on the other. Under what conditions

the subject must have grown faster than the rest of

would individual rationality result in social optim­

economics.

ality? To answer this, economists used Pareto's

Econometrics took the message of economics to

definition of optimality (see WELFARE ECONOMICS)

the outside world. Along with input-output analy­

and gave us the precise relation between a free­

sis, it became the major vehicle for large corpor­

market equilibrium and optimality. This was eco­

ations

nomic theory at its best. It had summed up in two

changes in variables and plan their activities.

neat theorems - known as the fundamental the­

Econometrics had to face major intellectual chal­

orems of welfare economics - a relation which had

lenges because this was the first time that highly

been the source of debate and speculation since

sophisticated statistical methods were being used

The first theorem stated that, given

in the study of society. Among other things this

Smith

(1776).

and

national

governments

to

forecast

certain conditions (such as continuity and no exter­

meant that if we wanted to know how x had

nality), a competitive market equilibrium would

influenced y we did not generate the relevant data

ECONOMICS through experiments designed to find this out. In­ stead we had to use whatever data arose naturally through time and sift out the relation between x and Y from a morass of available evidence (see EcoNo­

METRICS). Another very different kind of'practical concern' also reared its head in the late 1940s and 1950s. As nations in the Third World emerged from the shadows of colonialism, economists became aware t��t a �ajority of human beings were chronically hvmg m conditions which, if the industrialized nations had to suffer them for a few months would be considered a crisis. Chronic condition

�

do not make news and are therefore likely to be overlooked. Moreover, for scientists to get inter­ ested in a problem it is not enough for the problem to be serious. It is essential that the problem poses an intellectual challenge. But the plight of nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and even parts of Europe did pose a

�

�u�zle. T ese nations were tucked away deep ms1de their production possibility frontiers, that is, within what would be feasible through a full utilization of resources. If the Walrasian market system broke down in the developed countries in the 1930s, it had never taken off in more than half the world. Why? This question was at the heart of enquiries by, among several others, Ragnar Nurkse (1907-1959),

Maurice

Dobb

(1900-1976)

and

Arthur Lewis (1915-1991). The enquiry linked up with experiments being actually conducted and written about in the Third

�orld. India had begun experimenting with plan­ mng, and Prasanta Mahalanobis (1893-1972) and others were writing about it. From Latin America was emerging a literature on inflation and the terms of trade, with Raul Prebisch (1901-1986) being its main courier to the industrialized world. In recent decades, development economics, which had got left by the wayside during the heyday of the neo­ classical revolution, has been drawn into main­ stream theoretical and econometric research. Another concurrent research which occurred in the 1950s resulted in what is, in my view, the most momentous single paper (it was published as a booklet) that has emerged from economics. It had tremendous consequences for political scientists, welfare economists and decision theorists. This was Arrow's impossibility theorem published in 1951; and it provoked a large literature and the new subdiscipline of welfare economics (see also SociAL

CHOICE.

191

Current developments It is arguable that we are living in the midst of a paradigm shift as dramatic as the one which oc­ curred in the late nineteenth century. Ever since its inception, marginalist analysis has been the subject of attack from many sides. Some of the more compelling critiques came from Marxist or neo-Keynesian economists like Piero Sraffa (1898-

?

1 83) andJoan Robinson (1903-1983). The analy­ sis of how output is distributed, for instance, among entrepreneurs, landlords and workers, was always a weak point of mainstream economics, and the 'Cambridge' critique was directed mainly against this. The measurability of capital as a factor of production was challenged, and critical questions were raised about the foundations of marginal productivity theory. What Sraffa's work tried to show was, in Joan Robinson's somewhat unre­ strained words (1961, p. 13), 'that the marginal productivity theory of distribution is all bosh'. In response, marginalist theory had to abandon some of its claims to realism; but by refining its theorems and creating a more sparse framework it held its ground in terms of abstract consistency. In more recent times, however, marginalism has been beginning to give way, but as a consequence of what is best described as inhouse research. It is being replaced by strategic analysis, based on the

�

met ods of

GAME THEORY. Though game theory (Von Neumann and

had Its beginning in the 1940s

Morgenstern, 1944), its impact on economics was for many years marginal. This has changed sharply over the last two decades. Even though pure game theory may yet fall into the chasm between the abstract elegance of mathematics and the practical concerns of the social sciences, the game-theoretic

mode of analysis will be with us for some time to come. One of the reasons for the long gap between the birth of game theory and its applications is that the theory of

extensive-form games (that is, games

played over time) was lagging behind. In industrial organization theory, where the application of game theory has been the largest, strategic interactions do not occur in the twinkling of an eye. These are 'games' played out over long stretches of time and it may be worthwhile for 'players' to sacrifice im­ mediate profit for reputation. For this we need extensive-form games. Though the origin of exten­ sive-form games goes back to the work of Harold Kuhn in the early 1950s, it was only in the 1960s

192

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL THEORY

and 1970s that the analysis of extensive-form games

economy, socialization of the

emerged as a full-blown subject.

TION OF THE ECONOMY

See SociALIZA­

There is a risk that research will get caught up in the labyrinth of minor mathematical and technical

education

discoveries, while the larger conceptual problems

SociALIZATION to refer to the sum of practices by

and social

theory

that confront us are left to languish. But such

which new individuals are made into members of

tendencies have appeared in the past and invariably,

existing societies, then 'education' is that subset

If one

takes

in the long run, the works dealing with larger social

of practices which have as their intended outcome

concerns, blending logic with economic realism,

particular kinds of more or less reflected-upon

have survived and dominated. With the rise of

shaping. More narrowly still, 'education' is used

strategic analysis, economics is armed to resurrect

as a synonym for schooling, specific institut­

some of the larger issues of political economy which

ional provision for the transmission of knowledge

have been raised throughout its long history but

and skills, the development of competences and

have had to be abandoned for want of more appro­

beliefs.

priate tools of analysis. Social and political norms,

There is a pervasive background assumption in

for instance, play critical roles in the functioning of

modern social thought that socialization is the right

economies. But where do norms come from and

way to characterize what transpires between new

how exactly do they interact with our economic

individuals and their societies, and that individuals

functioning? We are at a stage where we can ser­

are plastic to an indefinite number of kinds of

iously attempt to answer such questions. And this,

shaping.

in turn, could enrich our understanding of the role

appear to have the straightforward descriptive task

Against this

background,

sociologists

of the state, the raison d'etre of firms and the nature

of characterizing how different societies socialize

of international economic relations.

individuals, and what they socialize them into. But if there are failures of socialization, as there are, it

Reading

becomes hard( er) to sustain the idea of plasticity (cf.

Arrow, K. J. 1951: Social Choice and Individual Values.

Hollis, 1977; Wrong 1977). For example, if individ­

Hicks, J. R. 1939: Value and Cap ital.

uals do differ biologically in intelligence this will

Keynes, J. M. 1936: The General Theory of Employment,

limit the possible success of any schooling system

Interest and Money.

Samuelson, P. A. 1947: Fo undations of Economic Analy­ sts.

Schumpeter, J. A. 1954: A History ofEconomic Analysis. Sraffa, P. 1960: Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities.

KAUSHIK BASU

which provides equality of treatment in the expect­ ation that this will produce equality of achievement. Political commitments to achieving equality of opportunity, treatment and/or outcomes in­ spired (and funded) innumerable research pro­ grammes

and

projects

m

twentieth-century

sociology (see also EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY). economics, Austrian economics, Chicago

See AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS See CHICAGO ECONOMICS

For example, in the context of a commitment to the view that schooling ought to enable social mo­ bility by identifying talent and/or effort independ­ ently of social origins - thus making talent and effort available (as 'merit') as identifiable discrimin­

economics, Keynesian

See KEYNESIANISM

ators for occupational selection- there have been a large number of studies of why origins and destin­

economics,

marginalist

See

MARGINALIST

ECONOMICS

ations remain obstinately linked, despite at least formal meritocratic commitments. Three kinds of resultant explanation may be distinguished, which

economics,

neoclassical

See

NEOCLASSICAL

ECONOMICS

can be labelled determinist, demystifying and voluntarist. The explanations are not mutually exclu­ sive, though often presented as such.

economics, socialist

See SociALIST ECONOMICS Determinist explanations

economy, evolutionary processes in the EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN THE ECONOMY

See

There are two kinds of

determinists. First, those who argue that individ­ uals differ biologically in intelligence and/or that

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL THEORY

193

groups (blacks, females, as against whites, males)

the formal requirements of national and local gov­

differ on average in biologically determined intelli­

ernments, and informally shaped by the pressures

gence and this explains outcome differences. The

exerted by parents, governors and local commerce

literature on this kind of determinism is both vast

or industry. The conjunction of formal require­

and vastly overrated, since very few if any policy

ments and informal pressures actually conspires to

conclusions are clearly derivable from it, whatever

ensure that the recognition and reward of individ­

the truth of the matter is. For example, suppose

ual merit is only one of several conflicting goals

some children just are cleverer than others. What

which schools pursue. Schools also have a 'hidden

1971)

follows about their education and the education of

curriculum' (Snyder,

those who are less clever? Absolutely nothing, since

rewards conformity to its norms of good behaviour

which recognizes and

1990).

the most obvious consequent question is this:

and acceptable self-presentation (see Ball,

should those who are cleverer get more/better edu­

These norms are not neutral as between groups,

cation (to benefit the rest indirectly) or less (since

but instead systematically discriminate by class and

they don't need it)? And nothing in the mere fact of

gender. So, to take a less than obvious example, at

differences helps settle this question. Most educa­

secondary school level the norm of neat handwrit­

tional systems tacitly acknowledge difference and

ing would seem systematically to favour girls,

and on

though the 'reward' is actually acceptability for

those who are notably handicapped and identified

work which has low rewards, and moderate status,

spend more

both

on those who are cleverer

such as clerical and secretarial employment. No girl

as having special educational needs. The second kind of determinist argues from society, rather than biology, showing how children

in her right mind should allow herself to have neat hand writing.

come to school advantaged or burdened by their

In general, says the demystifying sociologist,

social (class, educational, status) background. Con­

schools are not 'neutral' social locations, helpless

sequently, relative success and failure in school is

in the face of'external' social determinations. Their

determined by the assets or burdens children bring

own institutionally embedded practices shape out­

with them, and schooling itself cannot compensate

comes differentiated by class, gender and other

for society - the school is a causally less powerful

irrelevant discriminators, such as ethnicity.

agent than home or community (see Halsey et al.,

1980).

Voluntarist explanations

The actual mechanisms of social determination

Both the determinist and

the demystifier are, in effect, assuming not only the

are many and various. If at home there are no books,

plasticity but also the passivity of the school pupil.

nowhere to study, no wordprocessor facility to pro­

But it may be that children are themselves active in

duce elegant coursework, mum and dad are always

shaping their own destinies, and from an early age.

arguing, the baby doesn't sleep, and your mates are

They have their own perceptions of their origins

always knocking on the door for a game of football­

and aspirations towards social distinction: they

well, what chance a good exam result in history?

want to be doctors, nurses and pop stars. They do

(See also

RELATIVE DEPRIVATION).

or do not want to follow dad down the pit. In this context, teachers may or may not represent a status

Demystifying explanations

Schools are themselves

or set of values with which pupils can identify or to

social institutions, staffed by teachers whose pre­

which they can aspire. And this is important be­

cise social class or status has been the subject of

cause it can shape an orientation to the whole busi­

1981).

ness of learning. In an influential study, Paul Willis

considerable debate (see Ozga and Lawn,

The reality of schools may, and in fact does, diverge

(1977)

from their rhetoric. So, for example, a formal com­

the fact that working-class kids get working-class

has argued that part of the explanation for

want

mitment to equality of opportunity does not guar­

jobs is simply that they

antee that a teacher treats girls and boys in such

tively reject the more 'white-collar'

such jobs; they posi­

ways that both have equal chances of succeeding in

school, which is not that of their families of origin.

that teacher's classroom. Indeed, the evidence is,

The way teachers behave and live (a subject of some

overwhelmingly, that teachers- male and female ­

fascination to most pupils) does not strike them as

discriminate in their treatment of boys and girls in

something to be copied or sought after.

CULTURE of the

1983).

Whatever mix of explanations is the right one,

In addition, schools are shaped as institutions by

working-class kids get working-class jobs and girls

educationally significant ways (Stanworth,

194

ELITE THEORY

end up doing women's work. Social and sexual

succeed in the most unlikely circumstances. There

mobility is always much less than anyone commit­

are very few schooling systems which cannot boast

ted to equality of opportunity can be satisfied with.

their poor boys made good, and a biographical

Detailed sociological work on the reproduction of a

approach to the study of their success may highlight

stratified labour force is offered within the British

factors overlooked in macrosociological approaches

tradition by Halsey et al. (1980) and from an Ameri­

to the study of education. (For rather different uses

can Marxist perspective in Bowles and Gintis

of a biographical approach, see Hoggart,

(1976).

Lacey,

1957, and

1970.)

Some have sought to ensure that schooling be­ comes a more powerful influence than origin, for example by lengthening the period of compulsory schooling, by ensuring that each school takes in some pupils at every level of ability, and by down­ grading the culture of 'useless' knowledge (Latin

Reading Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. 1976: Schooling in Capitalist America. Halsey, A. H., Heath, A. and Ridge, J. M. 1980: Origins and Destinations: Family, Class and Education in Modern Britain.

and Greek, for example), the main motive for the

Illich, I. 1971: Deschooling Society.

acquisition of which is, or would be, the desire to

Willis, P. 1977: Learning to Labour.

mark social distinction (see Bourdieu,

1979).

TREVOR PATEMAN

Others have become critical of the institution of schooling itself. From the NEW

LEFT,

Ivan

elite theory

The word elite was used in France in

Illich argued in the very influential Deschooling

the seventeenth century to describe goods of par­

Society

(1971) that schools privilege certification

ticular excellence, and somewhat later was applied

over actual competence, unreasonably restrict the

to superior social groups of various kinds, but it was

domain of what counts as worth learning, and pre­

not widely employed in social and political thought

scribe restrictive and unhelpful modes of learning­

until the end of the nineteenth century, when it

as I write that last phrase, it occurs to me that

began to be diffused through the sociological theor­

tomorrow my daughter will put on a new collar

ies of elites propounded by Vilfredo Pareto (191619) and, in a somewhat different form, by Gaetano Mosca (1896). Pareto began with a very general

and tie without which she will not be allowed to learn anything. It is her first day at an ordinary English comprehensive school. The N EW

RIGHT

definition of the elite as those people who have the

has adapted to its own purposes

highest indices of ability in their branch of activity,

some of the themes of the New Left critique of

whatever its nature, but then concentrated his at­

schooling, expressed as the idea of producer­

tention on what he called the 'governing elite',

capture: teachers have set their own agendas for

contrasted with the nongoverning masses. This

schools when it should be parents who set agendas

conception owed something to Mosca - the first to

for teachers.The New Right then argues for break­

attempt the construction of a new science of politics

ing up schooling monopolies and for enfranchizing

based on the distinction between elite and masses -

the consumer.

who summarized his general conception by saying

Both New Left and New Right thinking is

that in all societies one obvious fact stands out;

at odds with those central, social democratic and

namely, that 'two classes of people appear - a class

liberal democratic conceptions - such as John

that rules and a class that is ruled.'

(1966) - which see schooling as a leading

The elite theories were directed against socialism

institution in the creation of a just, democratic and

(especially Marxist socialism) and to some extent,

unified society. And within the Marxist tradition,

notably in the case of Pareto, against democratic

Antonio Gramsci expresses positive approval of the

ideas. They contested the Marxist concept of a

Dewey's

kind of traditional schooling system of which he

'ruling class' whose political power was based on

1979).

the ownership of the means of production, by argu­

Gramsci's case should also serve to make us aware

ing that ruling groups were characterized by super­

was an individual beneficiary (Entwistle,

that while sociologists have generally occupied

ior abilities and by being 'organized minorities'

themselves with explaining why children fail at

whose 'dominion ...over the unorganized majority

school, there is also another interesting research

is inevitable' (Mosca,

question which asks why certain children who

was pursued further by denying that a 'classless

ought by all sociological accounts to fail actually

society' as envisaged by most socialists, or democ-

1896, p. 50). The argument

ELITE THEORY

195

racy in the sense of 'government by the people',

rules politically, but unlike Aron he conceived this

could ever be attained. Mosca, however, eventually

elite as unifying three separate groups in American

developed a more complex theory in which he rec­

society (the heads of business corporations, political

ognized the importance of property ownership in

leaders and military chiefs) and his analysis seemed

constituting the organized minority (or 'political

to lead to a reassertion, in a qualified form, of the

class'); the influence on government of diverse

ultimate determining force of property ownership.

'social forces', representing different interests in

Much of the extensive research on elites since

society; the importance for political stability of a

World War II has been concerned with the recruit­

subelite comprising, in effect, the 'new middle

ment and the social role of particular elite groups -

class'; and the possibility in a parliamentary democ­

political leaders, company executives (especially in

racy for the unorganized majority, through its rep­

large corporations), high-ranking officials, military

resentatives, to have some control over government

chiefs, and intellectuals - in different societies, and

policy.

it has been an important element in studies of social

The works of Pareto and Mosca had a pervasive

mobility (Heath, 1981). More generally, elite the­

influence. Max Weber, in a similar way, rejected the

ories have been at the centre of controversies about

idea of government by the people and redefined

the relation between elites and democracy. Karl

democracy as 'competition for political leadership',

Mannheim, who had originally connected the elite

in which he was later followed by]. A. Schumpeter

theories with fascism and with anti-intellectualist

(1942); and in his arguments against socialism he

doctrines of 'direct action', later argued that dem­

emphasized the relative independence of political

ocracy and elites were not necessarily incompatible:

power, asserting that a socialist revolution was more

in a democratic society there would be 'a new mode

likely to establish the dictatorship of officials than

of elite selection and a new self-interpretation of the

the dictatorship of the proletariat (Weber, 1918).

elite', together with a reduction of the distance

From another aspect, Weber's close associate

between the elite and the rank-and-file (Mannheim,

Roberto Michels, in his study of political parties,

1956, p. 200). In the 1960s, however, the left-wing

argued that all of them (including socialist parties)

radical movements renewed the attack on elitism in

an oligarchical structure,

their advocacy of 'participatory democracy', and

resulting in domination by the leading officials.

although some of these movements have declined

inevitably

developed

Both Weber and Michels attributed primary im­

during the past decade their criticisms of elite rule

portance in political leadership to elites as well as

are still influential in the green parties and among

'charismatic' individuals (Beetham, 1981; Momm­

the advocates of self-management.

sen, 1981 ), and their ideas had a considerable influ­

In post-war social thought the theory of elites has

ence on later social thought. Raymond Aron (1950)

become less an alternative to the theory of classes

attempted a synthesis of 'class' theory and 'elite'

than a complement to it, especially in analysing the

theory through an analysis of the relation between

nature of political domination in socialist countries

SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION and political hierarchy in

(themselves involved since the end of the 1980s in a

modern societies, and followed Weber in arguing

process of radical change in which both classes and

that 'inequality in political power is in no way elim­

elites play a part). What now seems most important

inated or diminished by the abolition of classes, for

is the relation of elites to democracy, and the new

it is quite impossible for the government of a society

issues posed by more recent versions of elite theory

to be in the hands of any but a few'. In this text and

for conceptions of the further evolution of democ­

elsewhere (Aron, 1964) he also used the elite con­

racy in the advanced industrial societies (Albertoni,

cept to make a distinction between the 'plurality of

1987, part 2).

elites' in democratic capitalist societies and the 'uni­ fied elite' in 'classless' societies (and more specifi­ cally in the USSR); and these writings were a major contribution to the controversies about the emer­ gence of a new ruling class or dominant elite in the

Reading Albertoni, E. 1987: Mosca and the Theory ofElitism. Aron, R. 1950 (1993): Social structure and the ruling class. In Aron, Power, Modernity and Sociology, 2nd edn.

socialist countries. C. Wright Mills (1956), much

Bottomore, T. 1964 (1993): Elites and Society.

influenced by Weber, also used the term 'power

Mannheim, K. 1956: Essays on the Sociology of Culture.

elite' in preference to 'ruling class', which he

Michels, R. 1911 (1962): Political Parties.

thought assumed too easily that an economic class

Mills, C. W.: 1956 The Power Elite.

196

EMBOURGEOISEMENT

Mosca, G. 1896

(1939): Elementi di scienza politica (2nd

revised and enlarged edn 1923). The English version edited by Arthur Livingston under the title

The Ruling

Class conflates these two editions. (1963): A Treatise on General Soci­ ology, 2 vols. Schumpeter, J. A. 1942 (1987): Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 6th edn. Pareto, V. 1916-19

TOM BOTTOMORE emancipation

Used in the nineteenth century

to refer to the freeing from legal restrictions of European Jews, Russian serfs and American slaves, the terms 'emancipation' and 'liberation' have retained links with the imagery of slavery. Along with motifs from the French revolution and the workers' movements, these formed the rhetoric of

Reading Bhaskar, R. 1986:

Scientific Realism and Human Emanci­

pation. Easlea, B. 1973

(1981): Liberation and the Aims ofScience. An Essay on Liberation.

Marcuse, H. 1969:

WILL! AM OUTHWAITE

embourgeoisement

This term refers to the al­

leged process by which sections of the working class are incorporated into the middle classes (or bour­ geoisie). Embourgeoisement really represents a col­ lection of ideas and may be assessed by comparing the situations of the working class with that of the lower middle class along the following three dimen­ siOns:

anti-colonial 'national liberation movements' (see

Market situation. How do rates of pay, hours of

Fanon, 1961).

work, promotion prospects and pension and

Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) had pointed to the similarities between the condition of women and

holiday entitlements compare? 2

that of slaves, and women's movements have

'emancipated' woman was associated with an un­

conventional lifestyle.) (See also WoMEN's MOVE­

situation. For

example,

do

manual

workers have a similar degree of autonomy to

traditionally used the terms emancipation and liberation. (Outside these movements, too, the

Work

that enjoyed by, say, clerical workers? 3

Aspirations, status, politics and mores. Are members

of

the

working

class

adopting

middle-class values, for instance?

MENT. )

In other areas of radical thought, these terms are

Historically, the last of these dimensions has

often used as alternative or complementary to a

commanded most interest. Engels, for example,

vocabulary of social revolution, notably in critical

referred to the way that English workers craved

theory (see FRANKFURT SCHOOL) . Herbert Marcu­

respectability and thought politically in the same

Essay on Liberation (1969) extended traditional

way as the bourgeoisie. Later on in the 1930s, Max

socialist conceptions of liberation to incorporate

Adler bemoaned the presence of petit bourgeois

se's

ideas from the student and hippy movements, and

ideals which made workers abandon the prospect

from women's and gay liberation.

of revolutionary transformation in favour of grad­

Ji.irgen Habermas's more austere concept of a

ual social improvement. Theodor Geiger similarly

'knowledge-guiding interest' in emancipation char­

argued that the class structure of the twentieth

acterizing 'critical' sciences such as psychoanalysis

century was changing as workers became more

and the Marxist critique of ideology was also ex­

petit bourgeois in their habits.

tremely influential as an alternative to the ideal of

More recently the notion of embourgeoisement

value freedom (see VALUES) . In Habermas's model,

was extensively discussed in British sociology in the

emancipatory sciences combine the study of causal

period after World War II, chiefly under the influ­

processes to be found in empirical science with the

ence of the important study,

transformation of our understanding of ourselves to

(Goldthorpe, Lockwood, Bechhofer and Platt,

The Aifluent Worker

be obtained from HERMENEUTics; they involve the

1969). Goldthorpe and his colleagues set out to

identification and removal of causal obstacles to

test the claim that as the living standards of many

understanding such as psychological blocks and

manual workers were rising, so they adopted

dominant social ideologies. The existing links be­

many middle-class habits and lifestyles. Broadly,

tween science and domination and the possible

the authors did not find this but discovered instead

contribution of science (including social science)

important areas of common social experience which

to human emancipation have been an important

were distinctively working class. However, the

theme in critical theories of science (Easlea, 1973). See also FREEDOM.

study also pointed towards a process of normative convergence between certain manual and non-

EMPIRICISM manual groups, which meant for the former a shift

197

is, necessary connections in nature- and thence to a

away from a community-oriented form of social life

problem about the status of laws). Characteristic of

towards the importance of the conjugal family, a

PosiTIVISM generally, empiricism has been the

definition of work in terms of material reward, and a

dominant epistemology and theory of science for

certain lessening in class consciousness. Although the concept of embourgeoisement

most of this century; but it has also extended its influence into ethics (as emotivism), linguistics and

refers specifically to the erosion of the boundary

psychology (as behaviourism) and social science

between the upper reaches of the working class and

generally. In its perhaps most influential phase it

lower elements of the middle class, it is also clearly

assumed the shape of the logical empiricism of the

part of a wider debate about the significance of class

Vienna circle of the 1920s and 1930s, which initially

boundaries and class struggle in advanced societies.

married Ernst Mach's sensationalist epistemology

So the debate about embourgeoisement is related to

with Russell and Wittgenstein's logical atomism,

the parallel argument concerning the alleged prole­

and whose leading members were M. Schlick, R.

tarianization of certain middle-class occupations,

Carnap and Otto Neurath.

such as clerical and retail work. Ironically some Marxist sociologists, in arguing that the position

The structure of empiricist epistemology over the last century is squarely based on:

of clerical workers is becoming more like that of the working class, are effectively saying that class

P�, the principle of empirical-invariance, viz. that

boundaries are becoming less well defined.

laws are or depend upon empirical regularities; and Pz, the principle of instance-confirmation (or falsifi­

See also CLASS.

cation), viz. that laws are confirmed (or falsified) by their instances.

Reading Goldthorpe, J. H., Lockwood, D., Bechhofer, F. and Platt, J. 1969: The A.f!luent Worker in the Class Structure.

The definition of the instances may be ostensive or

Marshall, G., Newby, H., Rose, D. and Vogler, C. 1988:

operational (P. W. Bridgman); and if ostensive,

Social Class in Modern Britain. Wright, E. 0. 1985: Classes. --

either physicalist (Neurath) or phenomenalist the dominant response to problem (a), on which

2000: Class Counts. NICHOLAS ABERCROMBIE

objects were analysed as actual or possible sense­ data, but which came under damaging criticism from Wittgensteinians and the Oxford school of

empiricism

An ensemble of theories of explan­

LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY led by John Austin and

ation, definition and justification of our concepts

Gilbert Ryle after mid-century. PI is susceptible

and/ or knowledge is denoted here, to the effect that

of descriptivist and instrumentalist (Ryle) inter­

they are derived from and/ or to be explicated (and/

pretations; and of transcendental idealist as well

or justified) in terms of sense-experience (or intro­

as strictly empiricist ones. Pz is susceptible of

spection).

inductivist

Typically empiricists have assumed

(Carnap)

and

falsificationist

(Karl

knowledge to be established by induction from (or

Popper) interpretations; and of conventionalist as

tested by adversion to) incorrigible, or at least unin­

well as positivist ones. Flowing from PI and Pz are

ferred, observation statements. This has always

theories of the explanation of events, laws, theories

raised problems about the status of mathematical

and sciences - deductivism - of the symmetry of

propositions (argued by]. S. Mill and, in the late

explanation and prediction, and of the develop­

twentieth century, David Bloor, to be empirical),

ment of science as monistic, and of confirmation

apparently synthetic a priori principles, such as the

or corroboration and falsification, and of scientific

uniformity of nature (conceded by Bertrand Russell

rationality (see Bhaskar, 1975, appdx to eh. 2).

to be a limit to empiricism) and of empiricism itself

Philosophy of science during the third quarter of

(is it analytic, and therefore in John Locke's phrase

the century called into question the sufficiency of

'trifling', as Wittgenstein was prepared to concede;

PI and Pz; while in the final quarter of the century

or merely empirical, and therefore subject to in­

the work of Bhaskar questioned the necessity of PI

ductive doubt?). Moreover in its canonical Humean

and Pz as well, replacing the underlying ontology of

form, empiricism readily leads to scepticism about

empirical realism with the stratified and differen­

the existence of (a) objects independently of our

tiated ontology of transcendental realism and pro­

perception of them and (b) natural necessity (that

viding a realist counter to empiricist problem (b) in

198

EMPIRICISM

a defence of the idea of the necessity and universal­

cist model had led hermeneuticists and dualists

ity (analysed as non-empirical transfactuality) of

(such as Habermas) to exaggerate the differences

laws. Transcendental realism made possible a

between the social and natural sciences. Particular

non-Kantian sublation of empiricism and rational­

attention was paid to the limits to measurement

ism, in which it was shown how, in the develop­

and quantitative investigations in the social sciences

ment of science, we could come to have knowledge

and to the effects of empiricism (for instance, in

of natural necessity a posteriori.

generating interactionist and reductionist regresses

It is worth going into the demise of twentieth­

in the search for closure) in the social sciences.

century empiricism in some detail. To some extent

Behaviourist psychology came under a fusillade

logical empiricism collapsed under the weight of its

from a variety of quarters, including Erving Golf­

own internal aporiai (see KNOWLEDGE, THEORY OF) .

man, Harold Garfinkel's ethnomethodology, and

N. R. Campbell in the 1920s had already argued

social psychology formed in a Wittgensteinian and

against the sufficiency of the deductivist theory of

Vygotskian mould. The empiricist model of lan­

explanation, maintaining that models were indis­

guage learning, associated particularly with B. F.

pensable to intelligibility in science. His legacy was

Skinner, and language generally, came under heavy

taken up by philosophers such as Scriven, who

attack from Noam Chomsky's rationalist and deep

launched a major assault on the idea of the sym­

structuralist linguistics. The international recep­

metry of explanation and prediction, S. E. Toul­

tion in the 1970s of the ideas of V olosinov and

min, M. B. Hesse and especially Rom Harre, who

Bakhtin (first formulated in the 1920s) and the

argued that models could denote generative mech­

development of structuralism from Ferdinand de

anisms and causal structures which could come to

Saussure through Claude Levi-Strauss led to the

be empirically established - either by a direct per­

emergence of semiotics - or a structural science of

ceptual or an indirect causal criterion - as real, a

signs - in the hands of practitioners as varied as

surmise readily supported by the history of sciences

Roland Barthes and M. Pecheux. All this was per­

such as physics and chemistry. At the same time the

ceived as involving a critique of the subject-object

work of Popper, Thomas Kuhn, I. Lakatos and P.

identity, isomorphism or correspondence assumed

F eyerabend undermined the credibility of the asso­

by empiricism.

ciated monistic theory of scientific development,

In the 1980s there was a partial resurgence

registering the magnitude of the scientific changes

of empiricism in the work of writers such as B.

which had occurred in the twentieth century. The

van Fraassen and N. Cartwright. More usually,

reductionism and atomism implicit in the entailed

empiricism tended to mutate (Outhwaite, 1987a,

theory of scientific language came under fire from

eh. 2) into some form of conventionalism, pragma­

W. V. 0. Quine, W. Sellars, N. R. Hanson and

tism such as represented by Richard Rorty, or

others. They argued that observational predicates

even super-idealism as in the varieties of poststruc­

were attached to the object world in a much

turalism and postmodernism generally, on which

more complicated, nonisomorphic and theory­

criteria of objectivity, truth and human need tended

dependent way than empiricists had typically as­

to get altogether lost. Meanwhile a spin-off of

sumed.

the critical realist critique of empiricism was a

Meanwhile the champions of hermeneutics -

reassessment of Marx's work as antiempiricist

most notably perhaps H.-G. Gadamer and P.

but not (contrary to the characteristic Western

Winch - had questioned the applicability of the

Marxist interpretation) antiempirical and of dia­

empiricist model to the social domain. Both the

lectical materialism as itself involving a form of

theory and practice of empiricist social science

objectivistic empiricism. As the century draws to a

have been criticized by antinaturalist and anti­

close, among the topics under investigation are the

empiricist naturalist writers concerned to stress

conditions of the possibility and effects of empiri­

the specificity of the human sciences. Particularly

cism itself (with its reification of facts and tacit

influential here was Ji.irgen Habermas's argument

personification

that positivism, in its preoccupation with the ob­

breakdown of the fact-value and theory-practice

(humanization)

of

things);

the

servable and manipulable, reflected a form of tech­

distinctions (at least in the social domain) with

nical-instrumental practice embodying only one

which empiricism has characteristically been asso­

limited human interest. At the same time critical

ciated; and the renewed possibility of realism

naturalists such as Bhaskar argued that the empiri-

in ethics.

ENLIGHTENMENT

199

served scientifically could only be the subject of

Reading Bhaskar, R. 1975 (1978): A Realist Theory ofScience, 2nd edn.

speculation and conjecture. A final assumption of the Enlightenment was that the universe had been created by a beneficent Providence, that scientific

Bloor, D. 1976: Knowledge and Social Imagery. Chomsky, N. 1959: Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal

laws had been designed with a view to human happiness. Rational action therefore meant con­

Behaviour. Language 35, 26-58. Habermas, J. 1968 (1971): Knowledge and Human Interests.

formity to a system that was morally self-validating.

Harre, R. and Madden, E. 1975: Causal Powers: a Theory

The 'invisible hand' of Providence ensured that

ofNatural Necessity. Lovibond, S. 1983: Realism and Imagination in Ethics. Scriven, M. 1962: Explanation, prediction and laws. In Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy ofScience vol. 3, ed. H. Feigl and G. Maxwell. Volosinov, V. N. 1929 (1973): Marxism and the Philosophy ofLanguage.

ROY BHASKAR

the individual's pursuit of enlightened self-interest would always be conducive to the welfare of society as a whole (see also UTILITARIANISM). The science that underpinned these beliefs was mainly physics; in other words, the study of forces acting in a timeless present. Biology, with its emphasis on growth and change, did not begin to make substan­ tial progress until the second half of the eighteenth

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was more

century. The thought of the Enlightenment conse­

a way of thinking than a movement. Broadly speak­

quently tended to be somewhat static, in its pre­

ing, it was a consequence of the 'scientific revolu­

occupation with how things worked, rather than

tion' of the late seventeenth century that had

with how they had become what they were. Alex­

transformed most educated people's conception

ander Pope's Essay on Man, of 1733, offers a con­

of the world they inhabited. In the first place,

venient summary of the collection of attitudes to

Nature was thought to be regulated by an interlock­

which most of the men of the Enlightenment sub­

ing system of universal laws, of which gravitation

scribed.

was a prime

example.

Hitherto

it had

been

These

common

assumptions

took

different

regarded as a collection of unrelated phenomena,

forms when Enlightened thinkers addressed them­

often the product of divine intervention, and hence

selves to the problems of the specific societies in

as a source of moral lessons to 'Man'. Secondly,

which they lived and in which they were welcomed

Man, despite possession of an immortal soul, in

or proscribed. This is particularly evident in the

which most of the writers of the Enlightenment

matter of religion. Whatever else it might imply,

continued to believe, was in all other respects

the Enlightenment stood for religious toleration

a part of Nature. Human society was therefore

and the assumption that whatever was conducive

regulated by general laws - such as those of eco­

to human happiness was also in accordance with the

nomics or sociology - which corresponded to the

will of God. On the whole, the Protestant churches

scientific laws that controlled the material universe.

assimilated themselves to what then tended to

Man's understanding of himself and of society

become a new orthodoxy. In the process the con­

could only be achieved by the scientific methods

ception of God and of Man's place in the world held

of observation and deduction that enabled him

by the clergy evolved in ways that tended to reduce

to grasp the principles that governed the behaviour

the distance between the secular and the spiritual.

of matter. He was admittedly exceptional in his

This was broadly true of Lutheran Germany and of

possession of a highly developed intelligence that

Anglican England. In Scotland the Enlightened

enabled him to engage in abstract thought and

attitudes of the educated - and Anglicized - laity

even to think about thinking, but, as John Locke

had a harder fight against Calvinist doctrine. In

claimed to have demonstrated, ideas were not

Catholic Europe on the other hand, the Enlighten­

the product of a special sense or of divine inspir­

ment fell foul of a more dogmatic church and of

ation. They were induced by Man's capacity to

political regimes that were more inclined to equate

process the information that he received through

political stability with intellectual and religious uni­

his senses.

formity.

The Enlightenment was therefore both liberat­

Although Enlightened attitudes pointed towards

ing and restricting. It offered the prospect of the

some general conclusions, for example, to eco­

indefinite expansion of knowledge while at the same

nomic liberalism and the belief that the type of

time denying metaphysics. What could not be ob-

government best suited to a particular state was

200

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

determined by its size, economic structure and

tuted the truths of emotion for those of reason, and

geographical situation, the proponents of the En­

to a revival of traditional religion.

lightenment were sometimes welcomed by their

See also RATIONALITY AND REASON.

governments and sometimes seen as threatening them. This in turn affected the political conclusions

Reading

that they drew from their theories. Montesquieu

Becker, C. L. 1932:

and Burke had a great deal in common but the former was one of the oracles of the French Revo­ lution and the latter one of its leading intellectual opponents. Belief that economic matters were best left to the beneficent operation of Providential laws in­ spired an almost universal conviction that economic liberalism was a scientific law. Where politics was concerned there was no such consensus. To some extent this was due to divergent views of human

The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth­ century Philosophers. Cassirer, E. 1951: The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Gay, P. 1967-9: The Enlightenment, An Interpretation, 2 vols.

Hampson, N. 1968: Hazard, P. 1935

The Enlightenment. (1953): The European Mind,

trans.

J. Lewis May. --

1946 (1954): European Thought in the Eighteenth

Century,

trans. J. Lewis May.

Yolton, John W. et al. eds 1991:

Blackwell Companion to

the Enlightenment.

nature that emphasized either the rationality of

NORMAN HAMPSON

people or the extent to which they were conditioned by the society in which they grew up. The Enlight­ enment could opt for either autocratic rule by a government dedicated to the pursuit of scienti­ fic policies, which was assumed to be the case in the Prussia of Frederick II, or for making political power reflect the opinions and beliefs of the population as a whole, or at least of its property­ owners, as allegedly happened in Great Britain. During the second half of the eighteenth century the Enlightenment was challenged by a revulsion against what was seen as a mechanistic conception of the universe, a denial of the truths of insight

entrepreneurship

Alertness

to

opportunities

for pure profit is the essence of the entrepreneurial function. In speaking about entrepreneurship we are not talking about specific individuals, that is, entrepreneurs, but rather the function of entrepre­ neurship and its analytical importance in under­ standing the nature of the competitive market process.

Economic man and homo agens Human action consists of the continuous attempt to

and emotion and an evasion of the conflict between

substitute an imagined better future state of affairs

inclination and duty. Jean-Jacques Rousseau in

for the current unsatisfactory state. Human beings

particular, although he shared some of the assump­

must arrange and rearrange their means to obtain

tions of the Enlightenment,

based his theory

the ends sought in a more effective manner. The

of popular sovereignty on a concept of the moral

notion of economizing, that is, the allocation of

regeneration of the individual by society that de­

scarce means among competing ends, captures

rived its dynamism from conscience and an intui­

only a small aspect of human action. There is an

tive morality. Although the Enlightenment was

element of human action which cannot be analysed

nowhere identified with a programme of political

within the economizing and maximizing mode

revolution, it contributed to the belief that all polit­

and eludes our understanding if we try. That elem­

ical problems admitted of rational solutions. The

ent is the entrepreneurial aspect of all human action.

men who found themselves in control of France

Within the standard model of economic behav­

(homo oeconomicus)

in 1789, in their overwhelming majority, shared

iour, rational economic man

its assumptions. The subsequent history of the

maximizes his utility in a framework of given ends

French Revolution,

and means. Such mechanical instrumental ration­

culminating in

the Reign

of Terror, was widely, if not altogether logically,

ality, however, limits the analysis to the allocation

assumed by its opponents to be the punishment

problem that follows from the juxtaposition of

for human presumption. As a prevailing orthodoxy

scarce means and competing ends. Within this per­

the Enlightenment expired during the Revolution­

spective, the choice-making process is simply a

ary and N apoleonic period, giving way to more

problem of applied mathematics. Human action,

collectivist conceptions of society, whether socialist

though, encompasses much more than the compu­

or idealist, to a Romantic movement that substi-

tation of a solution to a maximizing problem. It also

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

201

encompasses the perception of the ends and means

competition should not assume what it sets out to

framework within which economizing activity is to

explain- namely the tendency toward equilibrium.

transpire. Homo agens (the 'human actor') not only

Standard economic analysis of competitive equilib­

possesses the propensity to pursue goals effectively,

rium, however, does just that by postulating an

once ends and means are clearly identified, but also

equilibrium state that an adequate explanation of

possesses the alertness to identify which ends are to

the competitive process ought to explain as a con­

be sought and what means are available.

sequence of this process. If, on the other hand, we

Only within an open-ended framework of means

study the dynamic market as a competitive process

and ends can we begin to understand the nature of

of learning and discovery, then the crucial role of

the entrepreneurial element evident in all human

entrepreneurship in economic coordination can be

action and the entrepreneurial market process that

understood. The entrepreneur responds to the cur­

follows. On the other hand, if we simply view

rent disequilibrium situation,

human choices within a given framework of means

missed opportunities, in a manner which prods

characterized by

and ends, as much of neoclassical economics in the

the system towards the mutual adjustment and

twentieth century tended to do, then the entrepre­

coordination of previously discordant elements. In

neurial role is not so much misunderstood as simply

this manner, the entrepreneur exercises alertness to

ignored and the vision of the market is one of a

opportunities for pure profit and in so doing moves

static equilibrium state and not the dynamic market

the system towards the hypothetical state of equi­

process we sought to understand and explain in the

librium. Of course, before the system attains this

first place. In competitive general equilibrium there

equilibrium state, changes in the underlying eco­

is no role for entrepreneurship by definition.

nomic reality reveal new inefficiencies. But, only by

As long as economists focus their attention on the

recognizing the human propensity to learn from

mechanical allocation of scarce means among com­

experience in the market and to adjust expectations

peting ends within a given framework, the dynamic

and alter plans accordingly, can we begin to answer

nature of market activity will elude their under­

the crucial questions concerning the forces that

standing. The entrepreneurial role only becomes

bring about changes in the buying, selling, produ­

important to our understanding of economic life

cing and consuming decisions that compel the

in a world of uncertainty and continuous change,

multitude of individuals within economic society

a world outside of equilibrium.

to act in concert with one another. The very existence of current inefficiencies mo­

Two views of entrepreneurship

tivates the entrepreneurial market process. By being alert to possible opportunities to arrange

There are basically two views of the function of

better or rearrange resources for the satisfaction of

entrepreneurship in economic activity. One view,

ends, the entrepreneur coordinates economic activ­

associated withJoseph Schumpeter, maintains that

ity. The entrepreneur is an endogenous force

entrepreneurship is the catalyst for innovation

within the market which eliminates inefficiency.

in economic life. The innovative entrepreneur dis­

The discrepancy between the existing array of

turbs the existing equilibrium, initiates change and

inefficient prices and the imagined future array

creates new opportunities. Although the system

motivates alert economic actors, in search of pure

settles into a new equilibrium after each burst

profit, to discover better and more effective ways

of entrepreneurial innovation, the Schumpeterian

to satisfy consumers (or achieve ends). The com­

entrepreneur is fundamentally a disequilibrating

petitive market process is a process of learning

force in economic activity. Thus, in Schumpeter's

and discovery and its logic depends crucially on

analysis, the entrepreneur is introduced as an ex­

understanding the coordinating role of entrepre­

ogenous force of change to prod the economy from

neurship.

one equilibrium to another. The other view, associated with Ludwig von

See also SOCIALIST CALCULATION; COMPETITION; AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS.

Mises and his student Israel Kirzner, emphasizes the equilibrating role of the entrepreneur in eco­

Reading

nomic life. The real world of pervasive ignorance,

Baumol, W. J. 1968: Entrepreneurship in economic

uncertainty and change is incapable of settling into an equilibrium position. Any analysis of market

theory. American Economic Review 58. Buchanan, J. M. 1979: What Should Economists Do?

202

ENVIRONMENTALISM

Kirzner, I. 1973: Competition and Entrepreneurship.

Dewey. Dewey's philosophy was continuous, in

--

1979: Perception, Opportunity and Profit.

its emphasis on human malleability, with the

--

1985: Discovery and the Capitalist Process.

Schumpeter, J. 1911 (1961): The Theory ofEconomic De­ velopment. --

1942: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.

von Mises, L. 1966: Human Action: a Treatise on Econom­ ics, 3rd rev. edn. PETER

environmentalism

J.

BOETTKE

In its broadest sense this

may be defined as any perspective which empha­ sizes or values the role of external conditions and forces, as against inner structures and processes, in

broad Western tradition stemming from the En­ lightenment. Watson and the behaviourists con­ centrated their fire against the concept of the 'instincts', vigorously asserting the role of learning and the environment in individual development, while the cultural anthropologists selected specifi­ cally sociocultural process as the pertinent environ­ mental focus in the shaping of beliefs, values and personality. Though

these

controversies

have

persisted

throughout our century, the term 'environmental­

shaping the growth and development, capacities

ism' has acquired more specific connotations since

and activities of beings -especially human beings.

World War II. In this sense, 'environmentalism'

Biological theories of evolution, for example, can be

covers a range of social and political movements

divided into those which represent the historical

and value perspectives which share a concern to

emergence of new species as an unfolding of poten­

protect or improve the quality of the rural, urban,

tials already present in the earliest forms of life, as

domestic or working contexts of modern social life.

against those (such as Darwin's) which explain the

Modern anxiety about environmental deterioration

formation of new species as an effect of external

can be linked to the historical processes of industri­

conditions of life on populations of organisms. The

alization and urbanization, and in particular to suc­

history of embryology has been marked by a related

cessive waves of romantic cultural repugnance at

opposition between preformationist and epigenetic

their effects. It is commonly argued that the ebb and

theories. The post-Darwinian concern with the

flow of popular support for environmental move­

mechanism of biological inheritance led, in the

ments is linked closely to patterns of economic

decades around the turn of the present century, to

expansion. With relatively high levels of material

an intense dispute between advocates of 'nature'

affluence, attention is turned to issues -such as the

as against 'nurture' in the formation of individual

preservation of wilderness, the aesthetic appeal of

human attributes. Hereditarian views, advocated

the countryside and the physical squalor of the

by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson in Britain

urban environment - which reflect our interest in

and by C. B. Davenport in the USA were strength­

the quality of life. This hierarchy of policy prior­

ened by the emergence of the modern genetic

ities, according to which material affluence, na­

theory of inheritance and were quickly transformed

tional security and so on must be assured before

into popular movements for eugenic programmes

relatively low-priority questions of environmental

of'race improvement'. Controversial economic and

policy can enter the public agenda, is itself closely

social inequalities were explained and implicitly

connected with a widespread view of human needs

justified in terms of the biological inferiority of the

as also hierarchically ordered. Only when physical

lower classes, women, and non-European races,

and then emotional or relational needs are met is

while the talents and genius of prevailing elites

self-actualization through aesthetic and spiritual

were likewise attributed to hereditary superiority.

experience sought.

Measures to increase the reproductive rates of the

An aesthetic and spiritual valuation of nature and

better human stock and diminish the inferior, to­

a preference for an arcadian rural life in harmony

gether with outright support for genocide, were

with the countryside informed much of the envir­

advocated by many of these early twentieth-century

onmentalism of the twentieth century. Until the

hereditarians. More or less simultaneous environmentalist

1960s at least, this established a deep gulf between environmental conservationists, on the one hand,

manifestos appeared in anthropology, psychology

and a wide spectrum of'progressive' opinion which

and philosophy, in the shape of the cultural anthro­

favoured technological advance, economic growth

pology of Franz Boas, G. H. Mead, R. H. Lowie

and development and a scientific-rational approach

and A. L. Kroeber, the behaviourism of W. B.

to policy, on the other. Environmentalism was seen

Watson and the pragmatist philosophy of John

by many as an attempt to protect both a privileged

ENVIRONMENTALISM

203

style of life and an elite set of cultural values. But

agriculture, food, health, energy, transport and in­

against that one-sided view has to be set the contri­

dustrial development, and some having a 'single­

bution of a 'progressive' environmentalism which

issue' focus on such questions as countryside access,

had, since the nineteenth century, denounced the

wildlife preservation or environmental health.

environmental degradation of working-class resi­

This continued presence of environmentalism

dential districts, pointed out the links between en­

on the political agenda has been sustained by three

vironmental pollution, poverty and ill health, and

main conditions. First, a series of very high-profile

argued for environmentally informed approaches to

specific environmental disasters - at the Bhopal and Seveso plants and the 3-Mile Island and Cher­

architecture and urban planning. Since the 1960s the terms of debate concerning

nobyl nuclear reactors, and the Exxon Valdez oil

the environment have been radically transformed

tanker spillage -together with an increasingly en­

by two principal developments: the integration of

vironmentalist understanding of 'natural' disasters

scientific EcoLOGY into social and political thought,

such as famine and flooding linked to desertification

and the recognition of survival-threatening global

and deforestation. Second, the effect on the quality

impacts of human social and economic activity.

of life experienced by influential, educated and

Several highly influential texts of the early 1970s

articulate sectors of the population in the Western

put both of these issues high on the agenda of public

societies from the impact of rapid and unregulated

debate. Currently prevailing rates of resource de­

industrial and agricultural development (industri­

pletion, pollution impacts and population growth

alization and urbanization of the 'rural idyll';

were shown to be unsustainable in the long run,

adulteration, infection and chemical poisoning of

given a finite global 'carrying capacity'; worldwide

food; noise, pollution and congestion from general­

economic and population 'overshoot', and conse­

ized use of the private car; and so on). The spatial

quent catastrophe, was, sooner or later, inevitable

and social distribution of these costs is such that

unless radical changes were urgently implemented.

they cannot easily be evaded by the affluent or

'Environmentalism' had come to mean, not just

influential as could the by-products of earlier

concern at the loss of hedgerows or of rural tran­

phases of economic development. Third, increas­

quillity, but widespread panic at the prospect of

ingly well-publicized evidence of global environ­ mental impacts of actual or forseeable human

global annihilation. Despite methodological criticism of this wave of

activity - the 'nuclear winter', ozone depletion,

environmental tracts, and a certain reassertion of an

global warming and acid rain. These are, generally,

optimistic faith in technological 'fixes' for the en­

not directly experienced, but are increasingly intel­

vironmental side-effects of continued global eco­

ligible to educated publics.

nomic growth, environmental issues have not been

A link may be made between all these forms of

far from the headlines since the early 1970s, and

environmentalism in their common recognition

environmental protest and pressure groups have

of the dependence of humans for their personal

continued to grow in size, influence and diversity

fulfilment, physical, moral, intellectual and aes­

throughout the world.

thetic development, as well as mere survival, upon

As an organized social force, environmentalism

a complex web of interconnected social, economic

has taken three main forms: as 'ginger groups' or

and biophysical conditions and processes. Environ­

tendencies

reform

mentalists in the more specific, recent sense of the

within one or other of the dominant political

term have concentrated on the need consciously to

pressing

for

environmental

parties; as political parties in their own right, giving

regulate human activity with a view to the sustain­

a central place to environmental regulation and

ability of the conditions for it, especially the bio­

sustainability across the whole range of policy

physical conditions. Depending on the other moral

issues;

pressure

and political perspectives with which environmen­

groups. These latter are very diverse, some concen­

talism is combined, the perception of this need may

and

as

politically

nonaligned

trating on high-profile actions to raise awareness

be related to an analysis of the conditions for mere

and mobilize opposition to environmental abuses,

survival, to the aim of living a fulfilled, emancipated

authoritative

and convivial communal life, or to a 'deep eco­

'expert' advisers in official planning processes,

logical' commitment to the wellbeing of the bio­

some attempting to bring an environmental per­

sphere as a value in its own right.

spective to the whole range of policy fields such as

See also GREEN MOVEMENT.

some

seeking

'insider'

status

as

204

EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY efforts, abilities and free choice. This immediately

Reading

rules out formal discrimination such as the barring

Carson, R. 1972: Silent Spring. Cotgrove, S. 1982: Catastrophe or Cornucopia: the Environ-

of people of a particular sex, race or religion from careers or public offices. But many have thought

ment, Politics and the Future. Meadows, D. H. et al. 1972: The Limits to Growth.

that equal formal access is not enough to secure

O'Riordan, T. 1981: Environmentalism, 2nd edn.

genuine equality of opportunity. People must be

Passmore, J. 1974: Man's Responsibility for Nature.

given an equal start, especially through a common

Pepper, D. 1986: The Roots ofModern Environmentalism.

education system which gives each child an equal

Rose, S., Kumin, L. J. and Lewontin R. C. 1984: Not in Our Genes. Stocking, G. W. 1968: Race, Culture and Evolution.

TED BENTON

chance to develop his or her talents. Furthermore barriers can take the form of unspoken prejudices and psychological expectations which deter people who belong to a particular category from, for in­ stance, applying for university places or entering

The belief that soci­

careers. A fiercely debated issue is whether affirma­

eties should aspire to treat their members more

tive action policies that seek to encourage women

equally, in both a formal and a material sense, has

and racial minorities to take such opportunities

equality and inequality

a central place in modern thought. The idea that

(and in some cases weight the entry requirements

human beings are fundamentally equal to one an­

in their favour) are inconsistent with equality of

other is, in contrast, a very old one. But for centur­

opportunity, or are the best means of achieving it.

ies this idea found expression primarily in religious

Equality of opportunity says nothing directly about

belief, in the notion that everyone is equal in the

how wide or narrow the range of outcomes that

eyes of God. It was only when the relatively rigid

people may achieve should be, although radicals

social hierarchies of the ancien regime broke down,

like R. H. Tawney have argued that it cannot be

and mobile and fluid societies centred on the

properly realized without greater equality of condi­

market economy emerged in their place, that equal­

tion (Tawney, 1931).

ity became a social ideal with practical force. In the

Turning now to equality of outcome, there are

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the ideal mani­

three aspects that need to be considered. The first is

fested itself in demands for equal rights before the

'equality of what?' - if people are to be made ma­

law, and equal rights to participate in politics. In the

terially equal, in what respects should their condi­

twentieth century, equality of these kinds was taken

tion be equalized? The second is the issue of

for granted (in theory if not always in practice) in all

measurement: how should we judge how egalitarian

advanced societies, and attention was focused on a

or inegalitarian a particular distribution of benefits

new demand: for social equality.

is? The third is the ethical issue: should we value

By social equality is meant the idea that people

equality of outcome, and if so why? Most empirical

should be treated as equals in all the institutional

research on equality has focused on equality of

spheres that affect their life-chances: in their edu­

income and wealth and equality of access to social

cation, in their work, in their consumption oppor­

services (see, for instance, Atkinson, 1983; Le

tunities, in their access to social services, in their

Grand, 1982). The aim has been to compare differ­

domestic relations, and so forth. But what does it

ent societies in these respects, and in particular to

mean to be treated equally? Broadly speaking there

see how far government policies have succeeded in

have been two answers to this highly controversial

bringing about greater material equality (see SociAL

question, which we may label equality ofopportunity

WELFARE). From a more theoretical perspective,

and equality ofoutcome respectively.

however, this focus is open to criticism: two people

Equality of opportunity holds that everyone

may enjoy the same income, but if one has special

should have an equal chance to achieve the various

needs or responsibilities that the other lacks, are

benefits and rewards that a society makes available,

they really equal in the sense that counts? This

that there should be no artificial barriers holding

suggests that we should look behind external re­

some people back, and no special privileges giving

sources to see whether people enjoy equal welfare

others an unfair advantage. The place that a person

or wellbeing. But, apart from the serious practical

gets to in a society - the job he or she holds, the

problems involved in making interpersonal com­

income he or she earns, the partner he or she

parisons of welfare, this also seems open to objec­

marries - should depend only on that person's

tion: equality of welfare would require us to give

EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY

205

those who have cultivated expensive tastes extra

tious. Many socialists have argued for greater equal­

resources to satisfy those tastes (for a discussion

ity of material condition, rather few for complete

see Dworkin, 198la, 198lb; Miller, 1990). A third

equality. Indeed the latter idea is part and parcel

suggestion is that people should enjoy equal basic

of COMMUNISM.

capabilities: resources should be distributed in such

In their full-blown form, communist ideas have

a way that each person is able to exercise the same

been practised in the twentieth century only within

set of capacities (for instance, is physically mobile,

small communities, and never at the level of the

can feed and clothe himself or herself) (Sen, 1982).

nation-state. The best-known examples are the

This proposal has the advantage that it is sensitive

kibbutz settlements in Israel, whose internal ar­

to differences in individuals' needs but not to their

rangements are strongly egalitarian: income is dis­

tastes; but it fails to offer a comprehensive concep­

tributed equally, and members are provided with a

tion of equality in the sense that it sets a minimum

range of goods and services in common. In contrast,

standard that everyone should achieve rather than

even those societies formally committed to com­

identifying an overall distribution.

munism as a long-term goal, including the former

It appears that there is no agreed answer to the

Soviet Union and its satellites, never sought either

question 'In what respect should people be judged

in practice or in theory to eliminate all material

more or less equal?' The same applies to the ques­

inequality. Although their income distributions

tion of measurement. Suppose we have to decide

did not mirror exactly those found in Western

which of two income distributions is the more

capitalist societies - different types of work at­

egalitarian: what criterion should we use? Should

tracted the highest pay - the overall extent of

we consider the range, the dispersion from the

income inequality was roughly the same. The jus­

mean, etc? (For a discussion, see Sen, 1973.) In

tification that was offered for this was that a socialist

particular, how far, if at all, should our measure

society should reward people according to the value

reflect our concern about the welfare implications

of their labour; Stalin, for example, famously dis­

of inequality: should we give greater weight to

missed equality as a 'petty-bourgeois' idea.

inequalities at the bottom end of the distribution

Socialists in the Western democracies have also

than to those at the top, on the grounds that the

been somewhat guarded in their advocacy of equal­

former matter more than the latter? This shows that

ity: their aim has been to narrow the distribution of

the measurement issue is not merely a technical

income and wealth rather than to flatten it com­

one, but reflects disagreement about the precise

pletely. It may be most fruitful to see this modest

idea of equality that any proposed measure ought

egalitarianism as stemming from two sources. On

to capture.

the one hand, it arises from a concern with JusTICE

Whereas equality of opportunity is a widely

and the avoidance of

ExPLOITATION:

socialists

shared ideal in modern thought - differences oc­

would claim that unreformed capitalism throws

curring less over the ideal itself than over the pol­

up a set of inequalities that cannot be justified

icies that are required to achieve it - equality of

in terms of people's differing efforts and abilities.

outcome, in any of its versions, is inherently con­

On the other hand, it arises from a concern with

troversial. Conservative critics allege that the pur­

community or fraternity: a society marked by large

suit of equality is incompatible with FREEDOM, that

disparities in standards of living is inevitably also a

it destroys the incentives on which the market

society in which people are divided from one an­

economy relies, and that it is ultimately futile

other by barriers of class and prevented from

since new forms of inequality will inevitably emerge

understanding and sympathizing with each other's

to replace those that have been suppressed (see

predicament. On this reading, strict equality of

Flew, 1981; Letwin, 1983). Liberals give greatest

outcome is not a fundamental value even for those

weight to equality of opportunity, and generally

who are most egalitarian in outlook. They may

endorse equality of outcome only in the form of a

instead be committed to an ideal of social equality

minimal level of provision to which each person is

which has the following elements: the differential

entitled (though there may be different views of

rewards people receive should correspond to real

ways of setting this minimum, see PoVERTY and

differences in effort and ability; no-one's standard

RELATIVE DEPRIVATION). It is only within the social­

of living should fall below a prescribed minimum;

ist tradition that equality of outcome has become a

and the range of inequality should not be so great as

fundamental value. But even here we must be eau-

to give rise to class divisions.

206

ETHICS

There remains the question whether even a mod­

and duties that govern individual action. However,

erate idea of equality of this kind is feasible for an

there are grounds for holding that morality in this

advanced industrial society. Assuming that the

sense is a peculiarly modern institution, and that

market continues to play a central role in the pro­

the term'ethics' should be understood more widely

1985).

duction and distribution of goods and services, it

(Williams,

seems inevitable that substantial inequalities will

at three different levels: (a) different systems of

Ethics can appear in social theory

continue to arise from people's relative success and

ethical belief and conduct can form the object of

failure in market competition, and such inequalities

study of social theory; (b) social theories can make

are very difficult to control directly. The most viable

metaethical claims about the logic and epistemo­

strategy may be that suggested by Michael Walzer's

logical status of ethical utterances; and (c) social

(1983) argues

theories can commit themselves to substantive eth­

notion of'complex equality'. Walzer

that a modern society incorporates a number of

ical standpoints. (See VALUES.)

spheres of distribution in which different goods are

Metaethical debates in social theory have focused

allocated each by its own independent criterion.

on the relationship between ethical and descriptive

Provided the boundaries between spheres are re­

claims. Defenders of value freedom argue that de­

spected, one person's pre-eminence in, say, the

scriptive and ethical claims are logically independ­

sphere of money may be offset by another's higher

ent, and commit themselves to the value position

social prestige and a third's success in holding polit­

that while doing social science the social theorist

1904).

ical office. In this way social pluralism may lead to a

ought to make no ethical claims (Weber,

kind of equality in which no-one decisively outranks

Critics of value freedom either reject this value

1964) or deny the logical inde­ 1953).

anyone else. The practical problem here is one of

position (Gouldner,

containing the influence of economic position,

pendence of fact and value (Strauss,

which in present-day societies has a marked influ­ ence on a person's ability to obtain the other goods in

Substantive

ethical

argument

within

social

theory has been dominated by two broad ethical

1990; Sen 1973);

Walzer's catalogue, such as reputation, political

perspectives: utilitarian ethics (Glover,

power, education, and health care (see SociAL

and Williams,

STRATIFICATION). But if we follow Walzer's sugges­

and RIGHTS-based ethics with Kantian or contrac­

tion, the cause of social equality may now be best

tarian foundations.

1972;

Smart and Williams,

promoted not by attacking market-based economic

Classical utilitarianism has two components:

inequalities directly but by strengthening those in­

consequentialism - the rightness of an action is to

stitutions, public and private, which allocate goods

be judged by its consequences; and hedonism - the only thing good in itself is happiness conceived of as

on a different basis.

pleasure and the absence of pain. The best action is Reading

that the consequences of which maximize happi­

Baker, J. 1987: Arguing for Equality.

ness. Some later varieties of utilitarianism have

Berlin, I. 1978: Equality. In Concepts and Categories.

rejected the hedonistic component of the classical

Gutmann, A. 1980: Liberal Equality.

doctrine. The most influential variety is preference

Le Grand, J. 1982: The Strategy ofEquality: Redistribution

utilitarianism according to which the best action is

and the Social Services.

that which maximizes preference satisfaction of

Letwin, W. ed. 1983: Against Equality. Lukes, S. 1974: Socialism and equality. In The Socialist

Idea, ed. L. Kolakowski and S. Hampshire. Miller, D. 1990: Equality. In Philosophy and Politics, ed. G. M. K. Hunt. Phelps Brown, H. 1988: Egalitarianism and the Generation

affected parties. This ethical principle appears in the guise of an efficiency principle in modern WEL­ FARE ECONOMICS. In both neoclassical economics and Austrian economics values are treated as ex­ pressions of subjective preferences (see VALUE). In cost-benefit analysis the weights of such prefer­

ofInequality. Weale, A. 1979: Equality and Social Policy.

DA VID MILLER

ences are taken to be measurable by a person's willingness to pay for their satisfaction. The stand­ ard efficiency criterion it employs is the potential

ethics

In its broadest sense, ethics refers to the

Pareto improvement criterion: a proposal is efficient

normative appraisal of the actions and character of

if preference satisfaction is greater than preference

individuals and social groups. It is often used inter­

dissatisfaction, so that gainers would be in a pos­

changeably with MoRALITY to refer to obligations

ition to compensate losers and still be better off

ETHICS (Kaldor,

1939;

Hicks,

1939).

This 'efficiency' cri­

(1974)

is Nozick

207

who simply starts from the as­

terion embodies a substantive ethical position, pref­

sumption that individuals have certain rights, and

erence utilitarianism: the most 'efficient' of a group

proceeds to defend a minimalist state within a free­

of proposals is that which maximizes preference

market economy. (See also Gauthier,

1986).

An account of ethics which makes no use of the

satisfaction over dissatisfaction. However, it is claimed that it is compatible with a central doctrine

idea of a contract, but shares with Rawls a Kantian

of much of recent liberal political theory - that the

heritage and a commitment to principles of justice

state should be neutral between different concep­

neutral between different conceptions of the good,

tions of the good. Since it takes values to be expres­

is that of Ji.irgen Habermas

sions of preferences and takes these as given, it

mas attempts to found ethics in 'communicative

remains neutral between different values.

reason'. In performing a

(1986,

p.

speech act

170).

Haber­

a speaker com­

While utilitarianism remains central to liberal

mits herself to the meaningfulness of her utterance,

economic theory, within political theory liberalism

and to the claims that it is true, that she is sincere

has tended to be of a deontological variety. To hold a

and that she has rights to speak as she does. While

deontological ethic is to deny consequentialism and

particular speech acts often fail to meet the claims

to claim that moral reasons are grounded in certain

they implicitly make, these claims must be in

duties, such as a duty not to torture. Where the

principle justifiable or 'redeemable'. They invoke,

utilitarian allows the welfare of an individual to be

Habermas argues, an 'ideal speech situation', char­

overridden if this leads to the maximization of hap­

acterized as one in which individuals arrive at con­

piness or preference satisfaction, the deontological

sensus without force or deception, and where each

liberal argues that individuals have rights which

has the means and opportunity to participate in the

embody moral claims that cannot be thus overrid­

dialogue through which the consensus is achieved.

den. Individual rights are trumps in ethical and political argument (Dworkin,

1977,

p. xi). Rights

The normative principles presupposed by commu­ nicative acts provide for Habermas the basis of a

based ethics give primacy to principles of JusTICE

reconstituted Kantian ethic. (See Habermas,

which utilitarianism, as an aggregative principle,

and

1983;

Benhabib and Dallmayr,

1981

1990.)

treats as derivative. The conflict between utilitarian

Both utilitarians and Kantians share a common

and rights-based ethical perspectives dominates

assumption that ethical appraisal is founded on

both theoretical and policy debates. (For a good example of the latter see Glover et al.,

1989.)

principles that are universal, that is, they apply to all, and impartial, that is, they are based on the

Rights-based ethics appeal for their foundation

prescription that individuals or their interests are

either to a Kantian conception of respect for per­

to be given equal respect. This assumption has been

sons, according to which persons should be treated

questioned by particularist conceptions of ethics

'always as ends in themselves and never merely as a

which argue that such principles are unable to

means', or to a contractarian account of ethical

account for ethical appraisal that takes place in the

principles according to which defensible ethical

context of particular relations to others. This point

principles are those to which self-interested indi­

lies at the heart of the

viduals would agree in ideal conditions, or, as is the

liberalism that liberalism presupposes a view of the

(1971),

self as unencumbered by particular commitments

case with John Rawls, to both. For Rawls

other

individuals,

communitarian

traditions,

criticism of

defensible principles of justice are those to which

to

self-interested individuals would agree in condi­

conceptions of the good. Against this view the

practices

and

tions of ignorance concerning their particular social

communitarian asserts that an agent's identity is

position, characteristics, capabilities and concep­

constituted by such specific commitments which

tions of the good. Agents under a veil of ignorance

form the starting point for ethical appraisal and

would arrive at two basic principles; the Equality

debate (Maclntyre,

principle, according to which each has equal rights

1975,

part

4).

1981;

Sandel,

1982;

Taylor,

A similar criticism has emerged

to basic liberties, and the Difference principle,

from a different direction in Gilligan's work on a

according to which social and economic inequalities

female ethic (Gilligan, 1982; Kitay 1987). Gilligan's work stems from

are justified only if the worst off are better off than

and Meyers, a critique of

they would be in conditions of equality. The first

Lawrence Kohlberg's Piagetian account of moral

principle has priority over the second. Another

development which conceives of the child as

influential proponent of rights-based liberalism

moving towards a 'post-conventional' stage of

208

ETHNIC CLEANSING

moral maturity characterized in Kantian terms.

contractarian views of ethics. Each of these per­

Moral maturity is understood in terms of a 'justice

spectives presupposes a particular account of the

perspective' in which morality consists in the ap­

boundary to the class of being to which direct

plication of universal, impartial and abstract prin­

ethical consideration is due. Kantians and contrac­

ciples.

work

tarians extend ethical considerability to persons.

describes a specifically 'male' path of ethical devel­

Classical utilitarianism extends it further to all

Gilligan

argues

that Kohlberg's

opment, and she suggests that there is a distinctive

capable of feeling pain and pleasure and hence

'female' pattern of development in which moral

includes in its ethical constituency nonhuman sen­

maturity is understood in terms of 'a care perspec­

tient animals (Singer, 1977). Proponents of an en­

tive' in which ethics consists of care for specific

vironmental ethic maintain that nonhuman beings

individuals to whom the agent stands in particular

have intrinsic value, and have extended the bound­

relations, for instance as friend, child, parent.

aries

Some defenders of a particularist conception of

of ethical considerability

to include for

example nonsentient living things and ecosystems

ethics, most notably Maclntyre, have also rejected a

(Goodpaster, 1978; Naess, 1973; Routley and Rout­

second assumption shared by both utilitarians and

ley, 1979). Such an extension of the constituency of

Kantians, that ethics is primarily concerned with

ethical concern would require a radical revision of

the actions of agents and answers the question 'how

existing ethical theory.

ought I to act?' Against this assumption proponents of a virtues ethic have revived the classical Aristotel­ ian view of ethics according to which ethical ap­ praisal is primarily concerned with the character of agents and answers the question 'what sort of person should I be?' Virtues, understood as dispos­ itions of character which are necessary conditions of the good life for individuals, replace duties as the central evaluative concepts of ethical vocabulary. The issue of what it is to lead a good or flourishing life, which in much liberal discourse is treated as a matter of personal preference, regains centre-stage in ethical debate. Similar points are to be found in recent work in Marxist ethics. This addresses a central paradox in Marx's writings on morality - that on the one hand he condemns morality as ideological and illusory and states that communists preach no morality, while on the other his work abounds with ethical criticism of capitalism. The most promising reso­ lution to this paradox is the argument that when Marx criticizes morality he is not rejecting all eth­ ical claims about human life, but, rather, a distinct­ ive form of ethical argument and appraisal which appeals to the quasi-legal moral concepts of rights

Reading Gilligan, C. 1982:

In a Different Voice.

Goodpaster, K. 1978: On being morally considerable.

Journal ofPhilosophy 75. Gouldner, A. 1964: Anti-Minotaur: the myth of value­ free sociology.In

The New Sociology, ed.I.Horowitz. 1989): The TheoryofCommuni­

Habermas,J.l981 (1984,

cative Action, vol. I. Hicks,].R.1939: The foundations of welfare economics.

Economic Journal 49. Kaldor, N.1939: Welfare comparisons of economics and interpersonal comparisons of utility.Economic

Journal

49. Lukes, S.1985:

Marxism and Morality. (1985): After Virtue, 2nd edn.

Maclntyre, A.1981

Naess, A. 1973: The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement: a summary.Inquiry 16. Nielsen, K.and Patten, S.eds 1981:

Marx and Morality. of Philosophy 7. Rawls,J.1971: A TheoryofJustice. Smart, J.and Williams, B. 1973: Utilitarianism: For and Against. Taylor, C. 1975: Hegel. Weber, M. 1904 (1949): The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Williams, B. 1985: Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Suppl.to Canadian Journal

' JOHN O NEILL

and duties. his own ethical arguments against cap­ italism, notably of the alienation and exploitation it involves, appeal to a set of nonmoral goods which

ethnic cleansing

are necessary for individuals to lead a flourishing

originating in the war in Bosnia in 1992, a transla­

'Ethnic cleansing' is a term

human life. (Different versions of this claim are

tion of a Serbian term describing their systematic

defended by Lukes, 1985; Miller, 1984; Skillen,

practice of terrorizing, degrading and expelling

1977; see also Nielsen and Patten, 1981; Geras,

Muslim inhabitants of the areas they occupied in

1985.)

Bosnia-Herzegovina. 'The United Nations Com­

Recent work on environmental ethics has pro­

mission of Experts, in a January 1993 report to the

vided another challenge to utilitarian, Kantian and

Security Council, defined "ethnic cleansing" as

ETHNIC CLEANSING "rendering

an

area

ethnically

homogeneous

by using force or intimidation to remove persons

209

An example of (a) is the pressure to force Jews to leave Germany and Austria between

1938

and 1941,

1999,

when the 'Final Solution' was officially emigration,

representatives

which helped save the lives of German Jews who

of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) ex­

emigrated to the West; an example of (b) is the

of given groups from the area"' (Cohen, p.

136).

In the spring of

pelled over

850,000

during the

1999,

ethnic Albanians from Kosovo

intervention

against the

FRY

by

deportations within Poland to concentrate the Jewish population in ghettoes between

1939

and

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);

1941,

the success of NATO enabled the latter to return

mination camps and their mass murder; and an

later.

example of (c) is the deportation of Armenians in

Ethnic cleansing has often been related by

1915

which facilitated their later transfer to exter­

to the desert, where most died of starvation,

scholars and observers to the German practice

dehydration, and fatigue, after being subjected to

that preceded the Holocaust of expelling Jews

terror and rape.

from the Reich to make such territory 'judenrein'.

The cases of the largest and legally authorized

(2000) has shown how German plans for GENOCIDE emerged in 1941 from a complex of

expulsion in the twentieth century (apart from the above) appear to be instigated by other motives

policies involving ethnic cleansing of Poles and

than fulfilling a racial ideology or creating ethnic

Browning

relocation of ethnic Germans in the newly acquired

homogeneity, although the latter appears to have

territories in Poland, plans for 'demographic engin­

been a reinforcing element in some instances.

eering' based on 'racial imperialism' that are often overlooked in discussing the origin of the Final

Between

1937

and

1948 (principally during 1941-4) Stalin ordered

World War II in the period

the deportation of Soviet citizens from fifteen

Solution. In subsequent use, ethnic cleansing has been

groups, mostly from Crimea and the Caucasus, to

used to describe an array of modern and historical

Siberia and to other Soviet Western Asian republics.

cases of expulsion, forced removal and deportation

The victims included Armenians, Balkars, Bulgars,

and population transfers since antiquity. These

Chechens,

cases include religious expulsions motivated by

Finns, Germans, Ingush, Kalmyks, Karachays,

Crimean

Greeks,

Crimean

Tatars,

the desire for religious homogeneity (such as that

Koreans, Meshketian Kurds, Khemzils and Turks.

of Jews and Moors from Spain and Protestants

The deportation of about

from France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centur­

tween 1941 and 1948 resulted in the deaths of at least

million persons be­

ies), the removal of indigenous peoples to the west

378,000

in the US (nineteenth century) instigated by com­

because of the killings preceding deportation, the

petition for land, and the population transfers, ex­

lack of food during transit, abysmal conditions of

pulsions and deportations of the twentieth century,

transportation, lack of preparation and facilities in

often justified by ethnonationalist ideologies and

the regions in Siberia and the east to which they were

(1999)

people

(11.5

3.3

per cent of those deported)

emphasizes that the

sent. Such conditions were typical of the disregard

grounds for population cleansing (as he puts it) -

for human life exemplified in deportations of polit­

conflict. Bell-Fialkoff

another euphemism including mass killing as well

ical prisoners without provision of food and shelter

as expulsion- reflect the prevalent basis of collect­

in the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1951 (Werth,

ive self-definition or social organization: citizens of

1999).

the empire versus noncitizens (conquered peoples),

cleansing (as he put it) was part of Stalin's 'security

Pohl

(1999)

concluded that such ethnic

religious communities, class and ethnic groups in

policy', designed to pre-emptively remove groups

different eras and places.

who might cooperate with aggressors and groups

Expulsion and deportation (forced removals) has

which had previously rebelled against Soviet rule

been viewed by several theorists as a way less vio­

and replace them with 'more reliable national

lent than annihilation of nullifying intergroup

groups'- Russians, Georgians and others. In some

differences within society on a continuum going

cases in the Crimea and Caucasus, militias recruited

from assimilation or emigration under pressure

from

toward genocide. In practice, such forced removals

Germans. After Stalin's death, the injustice to

these

groups

had

fought

alongside

the

may be (a) an alternative to genocide; (b) a prelude

these groups was denounced by Nikita Khrushchev

or functional step towards genocide; or (c) a means

(1956) and most groups were released and officially

of genocide.

rehabilitated (charges withdrawn).

210

ETHNIC CLEANSING

14.6 million ( Volksdeutsche)

The other great expulsion was of citizens of German ethnic origin

In both these cases, expulsions were punish­ ments or pre-emptive moves based on attribution

and

of collective responsibility to the victimized group.

Hungary in the years following World War II,

There is disagreement between de Zayas and Pohl

from

Czechoslovakia,

Poland,

Yugoslavia

93 per cent of whom were resettled in West (the

(on the one hand) and Bell-Fialkoff on the other as

majority) and East Germany. The expulsions from

to whether either case should be considered geno­

Czechoslovakia and Poland were approved by the

cide under the

Allies at the Teheran Conference in Potsdam in

1943 and at

1945 as a concomitant of the redrawing

1951 United Nations Genocide

Convention (UNGC), the former affirming this possibility. Pohl

(1999) notes that the UNGC

of borderlines of the USSR, Poland and Germany

defines genocide in Article II as 'any of the

which included a large German minority in Poland

following acts committed with intent to destroy,

who had never been Poles. Expulsions were ap­

in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or

proved in order to make population coincide with

religious group ... [and these includeJ ...Delibe­

nationality and avoid minority problems of the

rately inflicting on the group conditions of life

interwar years. German ethnic nationalism was be­

calculated to bring about its physical destruction

lieved to have caused the dissolution of Czechoslo­

in whole or in part,' (p. 3). This issue remains to be

vakia. Both the governments and citizens of these

legally argued and tested.

countries viewed the expulsion of their ethnic German citizens as a just collective punishment for

1945, transfer of populations was con­

privileges

group conflicts. Transfers between Turkey and

Volksdeutsche, under German occu­

Bulgaria and Greece (voluntary and involuntary)

prewar and

enjoyed by the

Before

sidered a legitimate tool to deter and regulate inter­

wartime disloyalty,

pation, and the massacres, persecution and depriv­

took place between

ation inflicted on the Slavic peoples during German

Kingdom's

occupation. They began expelling the

Volksdeutsche

in Czechoslovakia and Poland at gunpoint before

1913 and 1923. The United in 1937 recom­

Peel Commission

mended transfer of both Arabs and Jews in order to partition Palestine.

the Potsdam conference. Because of a lack of pro­

However, post-war international humanitarian

tection from the local law enforcement agencies

and human rights laws (e.g. Fourth Geneva Con­ of

1949) generally invalidate transfer

(who generally did not deter and sometimes partici­

vention

pated in the killing, looting and raping of the volks­

during war and occupation. Provisions affirming

deutsche), the terrible conditions in many labour

the right of people to retain their homes and na­

and transport camps, the often inhuman conditions

tional identity are found in the Universal Declar­

of transit, and the homelessness while awaiting

ation of Human Rights, the International Covenant

transit, led to deaths from cold, hunger and disease;

on Civil and Political Rights but only the European

and there were some mass suicides by people an­

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights

ticipating these conditions. According to German

explicitly bans mass expulsions.

records (in

1967) an estimated 2.1 million or 14.4

per cent of deportees died or were killed during

Yet expulsions have

recurred

in the post­

World War II era (sometimes mutual expulsions

their flight and resettlement, but more recent stud­

or expulsions preceded by pogroms against the

ies cite lower estimates.There was also a population

expeller)

exchange

groups

between

Poland

and

the USSR of

Ukrainians to the USSR and Poles to Poland and

by in

governments

conflict

with

representing

ethnic

contending

group

a

over the same land: in Rwanda and Burundi,

a subsequent military campaign or ethnic cleansing

Azerbaian and Armenia, the states of what was

in

1947 to remove the remaining 140,000 Ukrain­ ians to the USSR, during which 5,500 people (3.9

Yugoslavia and within Serbia (including Kosovo),

per cent) were killed.

Postcolonial

The western Allies in ate the

conditions

of

1946 attempted to regul­ expulsion

but

did

not

and Israel (of the Palestinians in its 1948 territory). expulsions

took

place

in

Algeria

(against French settlers) and in Zaire (against Bel­ gian

colonizers).

The

reciprocal

massacres

always succeed. Russian and other sources tell

and forced flight of religious minorities in India

how

and Pakistan at the time of partition

brutalities

and

rape by Russian

soldiers

phenomenon

but

one

not

(1948) are a

against German women in Germany and Eastern

related

Europe were not only sanctioned but officially

directed by governments. This is far from a com­

apparently

instigated.

prehensive list.

ETHNICITY Three repeated and interrelated contexts sur­

211

STRATIFICATION) and estate, but also how it interacts

round such acts: war (and wartime fears of disloy­

with them in the formation of groups and social

alty), division of land and transfer of power, and

systems.

post-war retribution for disloyalty. Expulsions usu­

It is important to distinguish ethnicity from

ally involve violence or the threat of violence for

racial differentiation. Whereas the latter is in terms of physical differences thought to be biologic­

noncompliance in reprisal. Expulsions with separation or transfer of popu­

ally inherited, ethnic differentiation is in terms of

lations in conflict are still advocated by some (see

cultural differences which have to be learned. The

1999) to save lives in irreconcilable

distinction is confused in nonscientific racist theory

Bell-Fialkoff,

conflicts but opponents argue that such would be

which assumes that cultural behaviour as well as

impossible to execute peacefully due to the frequent

physical characteristics are biologically inherited.

checkered demographic

of groups in

One of the characteristics of ethnicity and the

regions in conflict. Some right-wing parties in sev­

ethnic groups to whose formation it contributes is,

eral states (including democratic states) advocate

however, that ethnic characteristics are shared by

mixture

unilateral transfer of minorities or foreign workers,

those who are biological kin. The learning process

but the expulsion of citizens is likely to be seen by

through which culture is acquired takes place be­

the international community today as a violation of

tween biological parents and children, and not sur­

international law.

prisingly,

therefore,

races

and

ethnic

groups

Opinions vary on the utility of ethnic cleansing as

sometimes overlap. A race may also be an ethnic

a concept. Mine is that 'ethnic cleansing', and the

group and an ethnic group may consist exclusively

concept of 'cleansing' itself, is often a euphemism

of individuals of the same race. Nonetheless races

for murder, deportation and gross violation of

are much wider groups, and ethnic groups involve

human rights. The term adds little and may indeed

subtle differentiations of behaviour so that within

blur the issue of what happened (pogroms, inter­

any of the major races or subraces of the world there

communal massacres, state terror or decree), why it

may be a great deal of internal ethnic differentia­

happened, and to what level of crime we should

tion. It is also possible for individuals of different

assign such deeds: war crimes, crimes against hu­

race to become members of the same ethnic group

manity or

GENOCIDE.

in so far as the cultural behaviour of an ethnic group may in principle be learned and is not de­

Reading

pendent on biological inheritance. The Jews in

Bell-Fialkoff, A. 1999: Ethnic Cleansing. Browning, C. R. 2000: From 'Ethnic Cleansing' to Geno­ cide to the 'Final Solution': the Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, 1939-1941. In C. Nazi Policy, Jewish

Workers, German Killers.

Germany

were

wrongly

represented

by

Nazi

ideologists as being a race, whereas in fact they were an ethnic group with a distinctive religiously based culture.

Cohen, R. 1999 Ethnic Cleansing. In Crimes of War:

Social classes are collectivities the individual

What the Public should Know, eds R. Gutman and D.

members of which are united in the first place

Rieff.

by shared interests. In this respect they are distinct

De Zayas, A.-M. 1994: A Terrible Revenge: the Ethnic

Cleansing ofthe East European Germans, 1944-1950. Naimark, N. M. 2000: Fires ofHatred: Ethnic Cleansing in

Twentieth-Century Europe. Pohl, J.

0. 1999: Ethnic

Cleansing

in

the

USSR,

1937-1949. Werth, Nicholas 1999: A State Against its People: Vio­ lence, Repression, and Terror in the Soviet Union. In

from ethnic groups for whom shared interest is not a basic defining characteristic. For classes to become collective actors, however, it is necessary that they should become united by bonds of a shared organization, shared culture and shared conscious­ ness. It may be the case, that a 'class' which can rely on ethnic bonding will be stronger and more

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repres­

capable of collective action than one which develops

sion, eds Stephane Courtois et al.

a new organization and consciousness around

HELEN FEIN

shared interest. On the other hand ethnic groups

This is one of the principal socially

a system of interests. Very often the bonds of eth­

relevant characteristics of human beings. To un­

nicity lie latent and may not even lead to group

derstand it we must show how it is to be distin­

formation unless the individuals become activated

might be transformed by their interaction with ethnicity

guished from

RACE, class, status (see SociAL

by the sharing of common interests.

212

ETHNICITY

Status groups, like ethnic groups, are based on the

shared

cultural

characteristics

of

their

define ethnicity reference has been made not to the characteristics of ethnicity in itself but to the

members. Unlike ethnic groups, however, it is in

structural

the nature of status groups that the cultural charac­

which ethnicity is expressed.

differentiation

and

grouping

within

teristics which define the group are based on invidi­

Classical attempts by anthropologists to define

ous distinction between one group and another. As

ethnicity have divided into 'primordial' theories

Weber says in Economy and Society, status group­

associated with the name of Clifford Geertz

ings are based on the 'differential apportionment of

and 'situational' theories associated with the name

(1963)

honour'. A single status group cannot exist on its

of Frederick Earth

own; it must form part of a hierarchical system of

ethnicity and ethnic grouping are 'primordial'

groups. While ethnic groups may become status

factors in the sense that they are given in the very

groups when individuals compare and evaluate

conditions of human existence. These givens in­

(1969).

According to Geertz,

their own cultural characteristics as against those

clude what he calls 'contiguity' and 'live connec­

of other groups and while ethnicity may be one of

tion' (that is, connections deriving from territorial

the evaluated characteristics in a status system, this

proximity or kinship) but beyond these 'the given­

type of status ordering is not of the essence of

ness that stems from being born into a particular

ethnicity. In practice what we often find, however,

religious community, speaking a particular lan­

is the combined operation of an ethnic and status

guage or even a dialect of a language and following

order. It should also be noted that both ethnicity

particular social practices'. Geertz continues:

and status may be transmitted in kin groups from parents to children. Neither, however, are as strongly determined by inheritance as are racial groups. It is possible for individuals of diverse parentage to be united by ethnicity and, in a status system, mobility is possible from one status group to another. An estate system is a more complex from of social

These continuities of blood, speech, custom and so on have an ineffable and sometimes overpower­ ing consequence in and of themselves. One is bound to one's kinsman, one's neighbour, one's fellow-believer ipso facto as a result not merely of personal attraction, tactical necessity, common interest of incurred moral obligation, but at least in great part by virtue of some unaccountable

organization, and one with which ethnicity may

absolute import attributed to the very tie itself.

become involved. Like a status system it involves

(1963,

p.

109)

a differential apportionment of honour, but has the additional features of functional specialization by

Here Geertz develops an ideal type of ethnicity

the different estates and legal and political inequal­

in itself. He distinguishes it very clearly from class

ity between the estates, as in the classical estate

and class-like groupings which are based on 'tac­

system of medieval Europe and in colonial societies.

tical necessity' and 'common interest'; from the

In the colonial case, the groups which are differen­

liking and disliking and perhaps honouring and

tially incorporated may well be ethnic groups. So­

dishonouring characteristic of status systems; and

cieties of this kind, characterized by the differential

from the intergroup obligations which perhaps

incorporation of different ethnic groups, are what

characterize estate systems. He does, however, in­

and

clude biological relatedness in his list of primordial

1974). According to the terminology adopted here a

factors and would seem at first to be confusing race

plural society is a society in which diverse ethnic

and ethnicity. It might be argued, however, that

groups are organized into an estate system.

physical features come to be evaluated along with

sociologists call plural societies (Smith,

1963

Ethnicity and ethnic grouping, it would seem,

purely cultural ones and so become a part of cul­

rest on the cultural differentiation of individuals

ture. What is most interesting about Geertz's defi­

and on the creation of social bonds between those

nition, however, and what adds something to what

who share a common CULTURE. In an ideal typical

has been said above, is that certain evaluated fea­

sense it is possible to posit a society which consists

tures of human appearance and behaviour are

of such groups and of such groups only. In practice,

evaluated not as a matter of arbitrary choice but as

however, ethnicity becomes involved in and is ap­

part of the very conditions of existence.

parent through the interaction of races, of classes,

Situational theories of ethnicity relate it closely

of status groups and estates. Not surprisingly,

to the pursuit of interests. The primordial factors

therefore,

which Geertz refers to are seen as remaining latent

when

attempts have been made to

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY unless the situation makes them relevant to the

213

without such an analysis it would be impossible to

attainment of ends. In this case they may be re­

show how members of the social world engage in

sources which are important for the cooperation

realistic, concerted courses of action. His central

necessary to attain ends. On the other hand, the

innovation was to establish an account of the prop­

various factors involved in ethnicity might consti­

erties of commonsense knowledge, shared under­

tute a stigma and a liability in relation to the attain­

standings and ordinary social action that could be

ment of ends. Here it would seem the situational

developed into a coherent programme of empirical

theorists are drawing attention to the tactical neces­

research.

sities and shared interests which Geertz excludes. I

Ethnomethodology developed in the 1960s from

have also excluded them from the ideal type of

the phenomenological writings of Alfred Schutz

ethnicity, although noting that in the real world

(1962-6) who argued that commonsense knowledge

ethnic groups become deeply intertwined with

is patchy and incomplete, is held in a form that is

social class formations. At the same time, the notion

typified, approximate and revisable and that shared

of stigma draws attention to the development of

understandings between persons are contingent

invidious distinctions as a system of ethnic groups

achievements based on this knowledge. Using a

becomes intertwined with the status order.

series of quasi-experimental procedures (known as

All in all, we can see that ethnicity, understood as

'breaching experiments') to create basic departures

primordial in Geertz's sense, is one factor among

from taken-for-granted social expectations, Garfin­

several involved in the basic ordering and structure

kel (1967) was able to demonstrate the significance

of human society. Stated in another way we may say

of these ideas. The experimental departures engen­

that pure ethnicity is an ideal type, an analytic

dered deep confusion and moral indignation in

abstraction of the social scientists. Such ideal

their subjects. They indicated that shared under­

types, however, are essential to social science and

standings, social actions and, ultimately, social

there is no way in which a complete account of

institutions are underpinned by a complex body

social structure can be given which ignores the

of presuppositions, tacit assumptions and meth­

element of ethnicity.

ods of inference - in short, a body of methods or methodology - that informs the production of

Reading Earth, F. 1969:

Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Geertz, C. 1963: Old Societies and New States: the Q}test for Modernity in Asia and Africa. Smith, M. G. 1963: The Plural Society in the British West lndies. --1974: Corporations and Society. Warner, W. L. 1936: American class and caste. American Journal ofSociology, 42, 234. Weber, M. 1921-2 (1967): Economy and Society, vol. 2, eh. 9.

JOHN

culturally meaningful objects and actions and that also informs understandings of them. It is these methods of commonsense reasoning and their properties that are the subject matter of ethno­ methodology. Methods of commonsense reasoning are funda­ mentally adapted to the recognition and under­ standing

of

events-in-context.

In

Garfinkel's

analysis, ordinary understandings are the product of a circular process in which an event and its

REX

background are dynamically adjusted to one an­

sociology

scribed this process, following Karl Mannheim, as

other to form a coherent 'gestalt'. Garfinkel de­ ethnomethodology

investigates knowledge

the and

This

field

functioning practical

of

of

commonsense

reasoning

in

social

'the documentary method of interpretation' and argued that it is a ubiquitous features of the recog­

contexts. In contrast to perspectives that view

nition of all objects and events from the most mun­

human behaviour in terms of external causal factors

dane features of everyday existence to the most

or

ethnomethodology

recondite of scientific or artistic achievements. In

stresses the active, reasoned and knowledgeable

internalized

motivations,

this process, linkages are assembled between an

character of human conduct. Its founder and

event and its physical and social background using

leading theorist, Harold Garfinkel, argued that a

a variegated array of presuppositions and inferen­

theory of social action and organization would

tial procedures. The documentary method em­

be incomplete without an analysis of how social

bodies the property of reflexivity: changes in an

actors use shared commonsense knowledge and

understanding of an event's context will evoke

reasoning in the conduct of their joint affairs. For

some shift or elaboration of a person's grasp of the

214

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY

focal event and vice versa. When it is employed in a

Garfinkel's fundamental theorizing has been

temporally dynamic context, which is a character­

employed in a diverse body of empirical sociological

istic of all situations of social action and interaction,

studies. Important among these have been a range

it forms the basis for temporally updated shared

of investigations into the symbolic and practical

understandings of actions and events among the

construction of particular, circumscribed social

participants.

worlds (Wieder, 1974) and into the underlying

The inherent contextuality of the documentary

reasoning through which persons' joint sense of a

method is associated with other properties of prac­

shared reality is managed and sustained (Pollner,

tical reasoning and practical action. A central prop­

1987). Other studies have taken up the theme of the

osition of ethnomethodology is that all objects and

approximate fi t between descriptions and real

products of practical reasoning- concepts, descrip­

world events. Most notable in this context have

tions, actions and so on- have indexical properties.

been investigations of the organizational creation

This means that the sense of these objects is elab­

of the statistical data that many sociological studies

orated and particularized by the contexts in which

rely on. Here, it has been argued - particularly in

they appear. Although this property is a recognized

relation to statistics of crime, deviance, suicide and

obstacle to the formal analysis of language and

so on, that the practical reasoning of organizational

action (and is so treated in the literature of logic

personnel has built theoretical assumptions about

from which the term 'indexical' derives), it is not an

the causes of these phenomena so deeply into stat­

obstacle to the conduct of practical action. In fact,

istical data that the results are unusable for socio­

social actors regularly design their conduct so as to

logical research (Cicourel, 1968; Atkinson, 1978).

use local contexts to elaborate and particularize the

Other significant products of the ethnomethodo­

sense of their talk and actions. They thus exploit the

logical programme have embraced studies of social

indexical

practical

interaction (most prominently CoNVERSATION AN­

reasoning. Conversely, however, these particular­

ALYSIS) and major initiatives in the sociology of

ities cannot be sustained out of context. There is an

science (Lynch, 1985).

properties

of

action

and

particular

During the course of its development, ethno­

events and their more general representations in

methodology has alternated between 'constructive'

descriptions and mathematical formulations and

and 'deconstructive' tendencies. In the process,

this fi t can only be achieved through a range of

new fields of research in sociology and related dis­

approximating interpretive activities which Garfin­

ciplines have been created and new perspectives on

kel terms 'ad hoc practices'. These practices are

traditional problem areas have emerged. Over and

inherently

approximate

fit

between

thus crucial to the processes through which social

above the specific areas in which ethnomethodology

actors sustain the coherence, normality and reason­

has been an important source of innovation, how­

ableness of their everyday circumstances and activ­

ever, it is clear that it has also had a major and

ities.

continuing impact both on basic sociological theory

The ethnomethodological programme of re­

and on the ways in which many types of empirical

search is based on these basic observations. Its

research problems are addressed. This influence

central dynamic arises from the view that shared

has extended into the adjacent fields of SociAL

understandings of all aspects of the social world rest

PSYCHOLOGY, LINGUISTICS and ARTIFICIAL INTELLI­

on a highly complex body of tacit methods of

GENCE. In all of these ways, it is a dynamic force in

reasoning which are socially shared and procedural

contemporary social thought.

in character. Just as these methods of reasoning are used to recognize objects, events, persons and to

Reading

understand descriptions of all of these, so they are

Atkinson, J. M. 1978: Discovering Suicide: Studies in the

equally relied upon to produce features of the social world that are recognizable and describable or, to use Garfinkel's term- accountable. The fact that the same set of reasoning procedures is employed both to recognize social events and produce them is the underlying basis on which the members of a culture can come to inhabit a fundamentally shared social world.

Social Organization ofSudden Death. Cicourel, A. V. 1968: The Social Organization ofJuvenile

Justice. Garfinkel, H. 1967: Studies in Ethnomethodology. Heritage, J. 1984: Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Lynch, M. 1985: Art and Artifact in Laboratory Sci-

ence. Pollner, M. 1987: Mundane Reason: Reality in Everyday

and Sociological Discourse.

ETHOLOGY

215

Schutz, A. 1962-6: Collected Papers, 3 vols.

the most striking ethological discoveries, such as

Wieder, D. L. 1974: Language and Social Reality.

imprinting in birds, have been made in artificial

JOHN HERITAGE

conditions and have markedly influenced how be­ haviour has been interpreted.

ethology Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen are commonly regarded as the founders of modern

When observed in handreared birds, the elabor­ ate sequence involved in building a nest is not easily

ethology, the biological approach to the study of

explained in terms of a series of! earned actions each

behaviour. For their pioneering achievements, they

triggered by a particular stimulus from the environ­

shared the Nobel prize with Karl von Frisch in

ment. None the less, the readiness to consider what

1973. Lorenz and Tinbergen treated behaviour in

a particular behaviour pattern might be for in the

the same way as any other aspect of an animal in the

natural environment has been distinctive of the

sense that behaviour patterns often have a regular­

subject. When this approach was coupled with

ity and consistency that relates to obvious needs of

comparisons between animals, the easy assumption

the animal. Moreover, the behaviour of one species

that all animals solve the same problem in the same

often differs markedly from that of another. This

way was quickly shown to be false. The compara­

insight was a crucial step in bringing the study of

tive approach continues to be an important charac­

behaviour into the Darwinian synthesis that was

teristic of broad ethology.

being forged in the 1930s. Impregnated as their

Tinbergen pointed to four broad but separate

thinking has been with the Darwinian theory of

problems raised by the biological study of behav­

evolution, ethologists repeatedly speculated on the

iour. The issue of how a behaviour pattern is con­

adaptive significance of the differences between

trolled deals with the internal and external factors

species. The interest in biological function has led to

that regulate its occurrence and the way in which the underlying processes work. Study of the devel­

many excellent studies of animals in natural condi­

opment of behaviour is concerned with the genetic

tions. A captive animal is usually too constrained by

and environmental influences on the assembly of a

its artificial environment to provide a complete

behaviour pattern in the lifetime of the individual

understanding of the functions of the great variety

and with how the developmental processes work.

of activities which most animals are capable of

The problem of behavioural function is about the

performing. Studies in unconstrained conditions

way a behaviour pattern helps to keep the animal

of animals, and increasingly of humans, have been

alive and propagate its genes into the next gener­

an important feature of ethology and played a major

ation. Finally, evolutionary studies of behaviour are

role in developing the distinctive and powerful

concerned with the ancestral history and with the

methods for observing and measuring behaviour.

ways in which a behaviour pattern evolved. These

Even so, it would be a mistake to represent etholo­

four areas of research are distinct. However, the

gists as nonexperimental and merely concerned

ethological stance is that they should not be too

with description. Tinbergen was a master of elegant field experi­

strongly divorced from each other. By placing a particular question in a broader conceptual context,

ments and the fine tradition he established has

greater understanding is achieved, whatever the

continued to the present day. Tape recordings of

central question may have been. The functional

predators or conspecifics (such as offspring or po­

approach has certainly helped those who are inter­

tential mates) are played to free-living animals in

ested in the study of mechanism and the study of

order to discover how they respond. Dummies of

the development and integration of behaviour has

different designs have similarly been used to gauge

provided important insights into the pressures and

responsiveness to a particular shape or colour, such

constraints which have operated in the course of

as the pecking of gull chicks at different objects

evolution.

more or less resembling the bills of their parents.

Certain key concepts and theories were associ­

These and many other examples make the point

ated with ethology at one time. They no longer

that even mainstream ethology involves a great

form such a central part of ethological thought,

deal more than passive observation. Moreover, a

although they were important in its development.

great many ethologists have devoted much of their

Two basic concepts were the 'sign stimulus' and the

professional lives to laboratory studies of the con­

'fixed action pattern'. The notion of the sign stimu­

trol and development of behaviour. Indeed, some of

lus, such as the red breast of a robin releasing an

216

ETHOLOGY

attack from an opponent, was productive in leading

ship, caring for young and so forth. Consequently,

to the analysis of stimulus characters that select­

more and more emphasis is being placed on shared

ively elicit particular bits of behaviour. Fixed action

mechanisms of perception, storage of information

patterns (or modal action patterns as they are

and control of output. As this happens, the interests

perhaps better called) provided useful units for

of many ethologists are coinciding to a greater and

description and comparison between species. Be­

greater extent with the traditional concerns of

havioural characters were used in taxonomy and the

PSYCHOLOGY.

zoological concern with evolution led to attempts to

OLOGY.)

formulate principles for the derivation and ritual­ ization of signal movements.

(See

also EVOLUTIONARY PSYCH­

Modern work has also eroded another belief of the classical ethologists that all members of the

Both the concept of sign stimulus or releaser

same species of the same age and sex will behave in

and that of the fixed action pattern played import­

the same way. The days are over when a field

ant roles in the early ethological attempts to develop

worker could confidently suppose that good de­

systems models of behaviour. Lorenz's lavatory

scription of a species obtained from one habitat

cistern model was a flow diagram in more than

could be generalized to the same species in another

one sense and provided a generation of ethologists

set of environmental conditions. The variations

with a way of integrating their thinking about

in behaviour within a species may, of course, reflect

the multiple causation of behaviour, both from

the pervasiveness of learning processes. However,

within and without. However, the model was

some alternative modes of behaviour are probably

seriously misleading and in some systems of behav­

triggered rather than instructed by prevailing en­

iour, notably aggression, performance of behaviour

vironmental conditions. In the gelada baboon,

makes repetition

likely, not less as the

for instance, many adult males are much bigger

more

model predicts. Another systems model has stood

than females and once they have taken over a

the test of time rather better. It was developed

group of females, defend them from the attentions

by Tinbergen and was concerned with the hierarch­

of other males. Other males are the same size as

ical organization of behaviour. Here again, though,

a female and sneak copulations when a big male

its major role lay not so much in its predictive

is not looking. The offsetting benefit for the small

power but in helping ethologists to bring together

males is that they have much longer reproductive

evidence that would otherwise have seemed unre­

lives than the big ones. It seems likely that any

lated.

male can go either way and the particular way in

A classic ethological concern was with the inborn

which it develops depends on conditions. Examples

character of much behaviour and the subject was

such as this are leading to a growing interest in

strongly associated with the development of a

alternative tactics,

theory of instinct. However, even the founders of

and the nature of the developmental principles

their functional significance

the subject did not deny the importance of learning.

involved.

On the contrary, they gave great prominence to

Modern ethology abuts so many different discip­

developmental processes like imprinting, which

lines that it defies simple definition in terms of a

specifies what an animal treats as its mother or its

common problem or a shared literature. It overlaps

mate, and song learning that specifies the way a male

extensively with the fields known as behavioural

bird sings a different dialect from another male of

ecology and SociOBIOLOGY. Moreover, those who

its own species. Even so, Lorenz saw adult behav­

call themselves ethologists are now to be found

iour as involving the intercalation of separate and

working alongside neurobiologists, social and de­

recognizable 'learned' and 'instinctive' elements.

velopmental psychologists, anthropologists and

Few people share this view any longer and the

psychiatrists, among many others. Ethologists are

work by the developmentally minded ethologists

accustomed to think in ways that reflect their ex­

has been important in illustrating how the processes

perience with free-running systems that both influ­

of development involve an interplay between in­

ence and are affected by many things about them.

ternal and external factors. After the early abortive

These skills have enabled them to understand the

attempts to classify behaviour in terms of instincts,

dynamics of behavioural processes and are prized

attention has increasingly focused on faculties or

by those people with whom they collaborate. At one

properties of behaviour that bridge the conven­

time ethology looked as though it might succumb to

tional functional categories such as feeding, court-

its sister disciplines. However, it has re-emerged as

EUGENICS an important subject that will continue to play an

217

the science of genetics was barely in its infancy at

important integrative role in the drive to under­

the time, and because racialist theories seemed self­

stand what behaviour patterns are for, how they

evidently true to many advocates of eugenics, racial

evolved, how they developed and how they are

and

controlled.

targeted for sterilization.

Reading

crimes committed under the influence of Nazi

Alcock, J. 1989: Animal Behaviour, 4th edn.

ideology, racialist theories were repudiated by

Hinde, R. A. 1982: Ethology.

most Western intellectuals, and the eugenics move­

ethnic

minorities

were

disproportionately

Following revelations of the enormity of the

lmmelmann, K. and Beer, C. 1989: A Dictionary of Eth­

ology. Jaynes, J. 1969: The historical origins of 'ethology' and 'comparative psychology'. Animal Behaviour 17, 601-{). McFarland, D. 1985: Animal Behaviour. Manning, A. and Dawkins, M. 1992: An Introduction to

ment, because of its association with those theories, went into eclipse. Compulsory sterilization laws were repealed and efforts to improve the human race by application of the principle of selective breeding all but abandoned. Such laws are opera­ tive today only in a few isolated areas, as, for

Animal Behaviour. Martin, P. and Bateson, P. 1986: Measuring Behaviour. Slater, P. J. B. 1985: An Introduction to Ethology. Slater, P. J. B. ed. 1986: The Collins Encyclopedia of Animal

Behaviour.

example, in parts of China. Despite the demise of the eugenics movement in its original form, efforts to improve the genetic heritage of the human race have begun anew in a

PATRICK BATESON

radically different form. During the second half of the twentieth century, the science of genetics has

science that

made extraordinary advances, and one consequence

seeks to improve the genetic heritage of the

of this is that many serious human diseases have

human race, the term also refers to a social move­

been shown to be genetically transmitted (for in­

eugenics

Describing an applied

ment that seeks to popularize the principles and

stance, diabetes and sickle cell anaemia). Couples at

practices of the science. The word was adapted

risk

from the Greek in the late nineteenth century by

screening

the English scientist, Francis Galton (1883, p. 17).

remaining childless or to abort a foetus diagnosed

Prior to its advocacy by the Nazis in the 1930s,

are

now

encouraged

and

to

to

consider

undergo genetic

the

possibility

of

as having a serious genetic defect.

the idea of eugenics enjoyed widespread support in

Comparing the older and newer phases of the

liberal as well as conservative circles in many coun­

eugenics movement, one sees a shift from involun­

tries. This reflected a complex mix of influences

tary to voluntary actions by the individuals affected,

and concerns. In part, it reflected the growth of

and from a concern with poorly understood mental

rationalist thought and the growing interest in

disabilities to a limited set of clearly understood

social engineering. It also reflected an awareness

physical disabilities. Because of these changes,

that certain forms of social disability had a heredi­

public support for the new eugenics movement

tary basis. And, finally, it reflected the influence of

has increased in recent years, but many remain

racialist theories (see RACISM).

cautious, and some are actively hostile to all efforts

In the early decades of the century, proponents of eugenics focused their concern on the costs to

to alter the genetic heritage of our species. See also SociAL DARWINISM.

society of mental retardation and illness and moral degeneracy. This led to the advocacy of sterilization

Reading

as a means of preventing the carriers of such traits

Haller, M. 1963: Eugenics: Hereditarian Attitudes in Ameri­

from transmitting them to future generations. In the United States, more than 60,000 individuals were sterilized under state laws providing for compul­ sory sterilization of the mentally ill and retarded. In

can Thought. Kevles, D. J. 1985: In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and

the Use of Human Heredity. Ludmerer, K. M. 1972: Genetics and American Society: a

Historical Appraisal.

Nazi Germany, a system of special eugenics health

Osborn, F. 1951: Preface to Eugenics.

courts ordered the sterilization of more than half

Pickens, D. K. 1968: Eugenics and the Progressives.

a million individuals who were judged to be suffer­

Searle, G. R.

ing from physical deformities, mental retardation, schizophrenia, epilepsy and other illnesses. Because

1976: Eugenics and Politics in Britain

1900-1914. GERHARD LENSKI

218

EVOLUTION

everyday life

In the attempt, which we in­

herited from the nineteenth century, to subordinate

of living in the present, a 'presentism' whose full potential has yet to be explored.

everything to reason and to find a reason for every­

Social existence is never one-dimensional; it is in

thing, we seem to have forgotten, in Silesius' beau­

many respects monstrous, fragmented, and never

tiful expression, that 'the rose does not have a

where one thinks it has been pinned down. It is

reason'. Epistemologically speaking, by insisting

animated by a pluralism which it must be the task of

so much on what is 'said' in social relations, we

the sociology of everyday life to uncover and exam­

have forgotten that they also depend on what is

ine. Beyond the rationalizations and legitimations

'not said' -a vacant space overflowing with possi­

to which we have become accustomed, social exist­

bilities. Exploring daily life in this way can bring us

ence is shaped by ill-defined feelings and emotions,

to the very formulation of a concrete form of soci­

by those 'unclear moments' which we cannot ignore

ality which has a consistency of its own and must

and whose impact on our lives is palpably growing.

not be seen simply as the reflection of our ideas.

One must bear in mind that it is above all what

This is a piece of basic common sense (one which

we take for granted (as A. Schi.itz has pointed out),

the discursive intellect finds hard to acknowledge,

what is self-evident, which underpins all intellec­

partly because it feels relativized by it) which regu­

tual constructions. As an example one only has to

larly returns both in everyday life and in intellectual

think of popular sayings and proverbs, which Emile

debate. One could even say that if there is a general

Durkheim saw as 'the condensed expression of a

disaffection with overarching and abstruse ideolo­

collective idea or feeling' (Durkheim,

gies, it is because we are witnessing the emergence

everyday conversation, which sometimes contains

of a multiplicity of new ideologies lived out day by

a more elaborate philosophy of life and a greater

day and based on familiar values. This feeling for

sense of the problems which the future holds in

1893),

or

the concreteness of existence can therefore be in­

store than many academic discussions. They are

terpreted as the expression of a healthy, robust

quintessential cultural phenomena in that they

vitality. This vitalism engenders an organic way of

are what society is built upon. It follows that every­

thinking, with all the characteristics of this type of

day life is an epistemological issue which lies at the

thought, namely an insistence on intuitive insight

forefront of sociological debate.

as a way of perceiving things from within, on understanding as an all-embracing, holistic grasp of the different elements of situations, and on ex­ perience as something which, lived through in common with others, is felt to constitute empirical

Helier, A.

1970 (1984): Everyday Life. 1968 (2000): Everyday Life in the Modern

Lefebvre, H.

World.

1979: La Conquite du Present: pour une sociologie de la vie quotidienne. --1985 (1996): Ordinary Knowledge. --1989: The sociology of everyday life. Current Sociology 37.1. Moore, G. E. 1925 (1959): A defence of common-sense. In Contemporary British Philosophical Papers, ed. J. H.

Maffesoli, M.

knowledge. Some authors, albeit very few, have insisted on the primacy of this organic way of thinking: W. Dilthey, of course, but also the thinkers inspired by Nietzsche who prioritize everyday life and its tactile, emotional, collective, unifying aspects.

G. E. Moore's 'Defence of common-sense'

Reading

(1925)

also stresses the truths concealed in everyday

Muirhead. MICHEL MAFFESOLI

life; Moore elegantly noted that 'most philoso­

In the most general sense evolution is

phers ... go against the very common-sense which

evolution

they also share in their everyday life'. Other authors

an extended process of change or transformation of

similarly concentrate on topics which are close to

populations or systems in which later states of an

hand, for instance sociological phenomenologists

entity develop by degrees out of earlier states.

such as Alfred Schi.itz, Peter Berger and Thomas

Social and cultural evolution, therefore, are special

Luckmann, who discussed a range of major epi­

cases of a much more general phenomenon.In all its

stemological issues from this perspective (see PHE­

various manifestations, evolution is usually con­

NOMENOLOGY). In fact what we may call vitalism

ceived of as an irreversible process, though rare

and this 'common-sensology' are closely related,

exceptions may occur.

and combining them allows us to emphasize the

The concept of evolution today is the basis of

intrinsic quality of the 'here and now', the value

important paradigms in sciences ranging from

EVOLUTION astrophysics to zoology and is applied to entitles

on

ranging from the cosmos itself to populations of

scientists.

microscopic organisms. The astrophysicist I. D.

theological grounds,

but also

many

219 social

Social scientists have advanced at least four

p. xiii), for example, defines cos­

reasons to justify their rejection of evolutionism.

mology as 'the study of the structure and evolution

First, many assume that the concept implies a belief

of the Universe'.

in moral progress and an inevitable betterment of

Novikov

(1983,

In pre-Darwinian usage, evolution meant an

the human condition. Second, many reject the idea

unfolding or developmental process whereby the

of evolution on the grounds that it implies some

successive states of an entity were predetermined

form of biological reductionism. Third, social sci­

by inherent attributes or potentialities, as when a

entists with a humanistic bent reject all generalizing

flower unfolds or an organism develops from foetus

explanations of human history and insist on the

to adulthood. Biologists today, however, refer to

importance of contingent factors in shaping the

such processes as development, reserving the term

outcome of every event. Finally, many reject evolu­

evolution for processes involving populations of

tionism because of its sometime association with

organisms in which the outcome is the product of

SociAL DARWINISM.

interaction between a population and its environ­

Although there has been substantial justifica­

ment, as in intergenerational transformations of

tion for these objections in the past, newer evolu­

plant and animal populations. In the social sciences,

tionary

however, the terms evolution and development are

the problems raised. Thus, the newer evolutionism

thought

has

generally

responded

to

often used interchangeably. The former tends to be

explicitly denies both the inevitability or universal­

used when referring to changes over centuries or

ity

millennia that involve the entire human population,

human condition (Lenski and Lenski,

of moral progress and betterment

in

the

1987,

pp.

Progress (or directionality) is seen in

the latter to changes over shorter periods that in­

399-406).

volve individual societies.

human history only in morally neutral matters,

Although the concept of evolution refers primar­

such as growth in the store of useful cultural infor­

ily to a process of change, it incorporates a recogni­

mation, in the scale of organization, in inter- and

tion of the fact of continuity. This is because it is

intraorganizational

predicated on the assumption that the entities that

power of humans to manipulate the biophysical

differentiation,

and

in

the

change are populations or systems made up of mul­

environment. Even in

tiple components. Thus, although such entities

is evident only in the human population considered

these matters, progress

may be drastically altered in the long run (thus

as a whole, not in each and every individual

mammals are descendants of single-celled organ­

society.

isms), many components persist unchanged for

Second, the newer evolutionism explicitly rejects

extended periods (for instance, the genetic codes

biological determinism, identifying culture as the

of all species have apparently employed pairs of the

dynamic mechanism in social change. Although

same four nucleotides for billions of years). In the

the new evolutionism asserts that all cultures reflect

shorter run, moreover, continuity is usually far

the genetic heritage of our species, it sees this

more evident than change. This ability to synthe­

heritage as explaining only the most basic charac­

size two such fundamental but seemingly contra­

teristics of the evolutionary process (such as the

dictory features of the empirical world is obviously

universal use of symbol systems), not its specifics.

one of the great attractions of the evolutionary

This is very different from the simplistic reduction­

concept in the various sciences.

ism of some of the older evolutionism and of much

The evolutionary concept is also attractive be­

contemporary sociobiology.

cause it directs attention to the important linkages

Third, newer evolutionary theories are formu­

between past, present and future. Rene Dubos

lated in probabilistic terms, not in the deterministic

a noted biologist, expressed this

mode to which humanistic critics object. Their

well when he wrote, 'The past is not dead history;

aim is to define and describe the nature of the

(1968, p.

270),

it is living material out of which man makes himself

field of forces that influence the actions of individ­

and builds the future.'

uals and

societies

under

specified

conditions,

Despite its attractions, the concept of evolution

and thereby provide a basis for estimates of the

has not been without critics. These have included

probability of various outcomes - not predictions

not only creationists, who reject evolutionism

or explanations of outcomes in individual cases.

220

EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN SOCIETY

Finally, despite the association of evolutionary

open ambition of becoming a new form of secular

thought with social Darwinism, the link seems

religion. Even today the term 'evolution' is still,

largely fortuitous. One need only recall Marx's

although less often, used in its pre-Darwinian

great appreciation of Darwin's work, or Engels's

sense as a synonym for development and progress

graveside eulogy for his friend, to appreciate the

and almost all critics think of such approaches as

diverse nature of the political implications of evo­

their target (Nisbet, 1986). To avoid such criticism

lutionism (Berlin, 1939, pp. 247-8; Harris, 1968, p.

the more recent post-Darwinian attempts conceive

68). One would suppose that its critics will eventu­

of an evolutionary process in a more limited and

ally come to see that social evolutionism does not

operationally specified way (Toulmin, 1972, pp.

provide firm undergirding for any single political

319-56). To observe an evolutionary process one

agenda.

has to distinguish between a mechanism of blind

See also EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN THE ECON­

variation and a mechanism of selective retention.

OMY; EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN SOCIETY; NAT­

Only this distinction allows us to recognize a social

URAL SELECTION; NEO-DARWINISM.

process as being evolutionary and not merely some kind of self-unfolding development. Most sociologists today restrict themselves to

Reading Calvin, M. 1969:

Chemical Evolution: Molecular Evolu­ tion Towards the Origin of Living Systems on the Earth. Dobzhansky, T. 1962: Mankind Evolving: the Evolution of the Human Species. Harris, M . 1968: The Rise ofAnthropological Theory. Holland, H. 1984: The Chemical Evolution of the Atmos­ phere and Oceans. Laszlo, E. 1987: Evolution: The Grand Synthesis. Lenski, G. and Lenski, J. 1987: Human Societies: an Introduction to Macrosociology, 5th edn. Lewontin, R. C. 1968: The concept of evolution. In Inter­ national Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, ed. D. L. Sills, vol. 5.

Mayr, E. 1982: The Growth ofBiological Thought. Novikov, I. D. 1983:

Evolution ofthe Universe, trans. from

Russian by M. M. Basko. Simpson, G. G. 1949:

The Meaning ofEvolution: a Study ofthe History ofLife and ofits Significance for Man. Tax, S., ed. 1960: Evolution After Darwin: the University of Chicago Centennial, vol. I: The Evolution ofLife; vol. 2: The Evolution ofMan. Tax, S. and Callender C. eds 1960: Evolution After Darwin: the University of Chicago Centennial, vol. 3: Issues in Evolution. GERHARD LENSKI

meaning-systems and their communicative realiza­ tion. They are most cautious about the possible wider interplay between biological and social evo­ lution and regard those matters as irrelevant for the analysis of society. However, this was certainly different during the earliest stages of human evolu­ tion and a number of biologists and anthropologists have started to focus more closely on the coevolu­ tion and structural coupling between genetic and cultural inheritance systems or levels of selection (Boyd and Richerson, 1985). Evolutionary processes, to a certain- but often underestimated - degree, cannot be calculated in advance. Any sociological theory trying to observe them can at best estimate their range of future possibilities and types of potential breakthroughs, while the definite outcome will necessarily be a matter of chance. By perpetuating random vari­ ations evolutionary processes give chance a chance. They may create a new temporarily stable order based on the selection of such random variations, while this new order again changes and perhaps enhances the probability for the selection of events, which before that order came into being had to be considered altogether impossible. Every selec­

These are

tion of a new variation conditions the range of

changes within the social structure which are

admissible future possibilities. An evolutionary

evolutionary processes in society

brought about by a selective retention of deviant

process is not necessarily directional and is never

random variations. The explanation of evolutionary

unidirectional. Evolution does not imply the inevit­

processes has become an all-encompassing interdis­

able selection of the more complex (Axelrod, 1984)

ciplinary endeavour of modern science. In the social

nor does it tend towards environmental adaptation.

sciences is has only lately freed itself from a provi­

There is no control of standards against which it

dentialist, unilinear notion of human history which

would be evaluated in advance although such stand­

dominated

ards may exist in the eye of the beholder or be

nineteenth-century

social

thought

(Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer).

superimposed on the data after the fact (Weick,

This kind of evolutionism had the sometimes

1979; Luhmann, 1982).

221

EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN THE ECONOMY The accelerating evolution of modern world so­

forcing their recursive reproduction. These subsys­

ciety can be estimated by considering the increasing

tems gain new degrees of freedom which were not

differentiation among the basic mechanisms of evo­

open to them before this process of evolutionary

lution itself, that is the separation of variation,

decoupling had taken place. The differentiation of

This

society into several more or less autonomous sub­

evolution of evolution within society, that is within

systems stabilizes the selective procedures of their

selection and retention (Luhmann,

1982).

a system of communication, cannot be adequately

different media and thereby provides them with a

understood by looking for people (see SociAL DAR­

mechanism of retention.

WINISM) or ideas as the elements of selection. A

Since their evolutionary take-off the several sub­

variation within the process of communication

sytems of modern world society have become more

must be a difference that makes a difference in the

and more autonomous and unpredictable, not only

context of further communications. It can be iden­

for one another but even for themselves. The evo­

tified as a deviant communication, that is, one that

lutionary processes in society differentiate and ac­

does not conform to the prevailing pattern of ex­

celerate and with this evolution of evolution modern

pectations. These acts can be characterized as blind

society becomes centreless and less and less conser­

or random because their justification always comes

vative. What a theory of social evolution has to offer

only after they have been generated and tested

is a better understanding of those evolutionary pro­

(Weick,

Usually such acts will be

cesses which make up the modern world society. It

punished, but the experience of deviant acts of

can demonstrate the improbability of its evolution­

communication might also cause a change within

ary drift, and reflect the several risks of different

1979,

p.

123).

the structure of expectations and eventually be

distinctions which might operate as guidelines for

incorporated into it.

the self-description of society. However, evolution

Every communication can be negated, and a

will continue as an undirectable process.

deviant communication especially runs the risk of being rejected. The acceptability of deviant com­

See also EVOLUTION; HISTORICISM; OPEN SOCI­ ETY; SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION.

munications, that is their selection into the general pattern of expectations, is highly improbable within a social structure that is bound by the constraints of face-to-face interaction.

These limitations

dis­

solved historically with the expansion of communi­ cative possibilities beyond

the

range

Reading Luhmann, N. 1982: The differentiation of society. In

The

Differentiation ofSociety. Schmid, M. and Wuketits, F. eds. 1987:

Evolutionary

Theory in Social Science.

of such

KAY JUNGE

interaction, as a result of the invention of writing, of phonetic writing systems or their equivalents, the printing press, and to a not yet observable

evolutionary processes in the economy

degree the invention of electronic media. These

emergence and destruction of economic relations

facilities made possible a decoupling of the evolu­

can be described as evolutionary if they are due to

tionary mechanism of variation and stimulated the

the selective retention of innovations. Evolutionary

The

evolution of symbolically generalized media of

models taken from biology started to attract the

communication as new mechanisms for selection.

attention of economists as a viable alternative to

These media, for example, money, symbolic power,

the unrealistic abstractions of equilibrium models.

scientific truth, or romantic love, make deviant

The latter claim that at a certain price supply and

communication acceptable as long as it sticks to

demand will balance, but they cannot explain how

the specific standards of behaviour defined by one

equilibrium prices actually come about. The pos­

of the different codes of these media. If so, then it

sibility of equilibrium prices depends on several

can be expected that for example the monetary code

and often only implicitly made assumptions: all

will succeed in spite of local customs and moral

participants in the economy must have perfect

warnings, political power will set up its own ethical

knowledge and complete foresight, they have to

standards apart from religious concerns, scientific

maximize profits and utility, and there has to

truth will free itself from immediate political influ­

be

ence, love will be successful in spite of status obli­

models were set on a rigorous mathematical foun­

unlimited

competition.

When

equilibrium

gations and so on. Such media codes facilitate the

dation and these implicit assumptions became ex­

autonomy of specific subsystems of society by en-

plicit, the application of such models to actual

222

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

economic systems turned out to be less enlighten­

1981, p. 526). Any innovation within such a context

ing than most economists had expected (Hahn,

will at least partly destroy the existing ecology of

1981). The rather unlikely preconditions for the

niches and give it a new shape. Innovations become

existence of an economic equilibrium impose severe

successful through an evolutionary process of 'cre­

constraints on a meaningful application of equilib­

ative destruction' (Schumpeter, 1942). Evolution­

rium models.

ary processes in the economy are processes of

By reversing the whole theoretical framework

drifting that gather a history of their own by

evolutionary models tackle the basic problem of

selecting random variations. There can be no ad­

economic order anew. They incorporate incom­

vance assurance that some of them will not end up

plete information and uncertain foresight as axioms

in disaster. However, although they are built up on

and dispense with the classical idea of economic

the unreliable grounds of randomness these pro­

man as the profit and utility maximizing agent. In

cesses nevertheless supply temporarily stable and

a pioneering article (1950) A. A. Alchian outlined

reliable structures which can orientate economic

the basic principles of an evolutionary model. He

behaviour.

identifies the economic counterparts of the bio­

To observe the economy as a system structured

logical mechanisms of evolution - mutation, nat­

by evolutionary processes has the advantage of

ural selection and genetic heredity -as innovation,

grasping more of the crucial aspects of economic

the making of positive profits and imitation.

life than most of the other equilibrium models

Alchian focuses on the selective mechanism of the

could handle. Until recently this advantage could

economy as a social system where individual motiv­

only be had at the price of verbal vagueness, but this

ations are no longer essential. Whatever individual

is now compensated to an increasing degree by the

motivation might be like and even if economic

building and testing of computer models aiming to

decisions were completely random, only those par­

simulate the stochastic processes of economic evo­

ticipants realizing positive profits would continue

lution.

in the economic process. As long as such economic behaviour is taken as random or as trial and error it

See

also

DIVISION

OF

LABOUR;

ECONOMIC

GROWTH; EVOLUTION; RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY.

cannot account for more than blind variation. Which variation finally turns out to be an innov­ ation, be it consciously pursued or not, can be discovered only when it has actually been success­ ful. Innovations can only be identified a posteriori, after they have been selected. Into this model,

Reading Foster, J. and Metcalfe, J. S. eds 2001: Frontiers ofEvolu­

tionary Economics. Nelson, R. R. and Winter, S. G. 1981: An Evolutionary

Theory ofEconomic Change. KAY JUNGE

working with variation and selection, Alchian in­ corporated a further mechanism to account for the

In 1872 Charles Dar­

observed uniformity among the selected and suc­

evolutionary psychology

cessful variations in the actual economy. This

win published The Expression of the Emotions in

mechanism can be taken as a mechanism for reten­

Man and Animals. His central argument was that

tion. It works on the basis of imitation. The imita­

facial expressions are universal. Expressions of

tion of those patterns of action associated with past

people feeling fear, anger, disgust, sadness and

successes seems to serve as a good strategy for

enjoyment were, he showed, almost exactly the

actors facing an uncertain and too complex environ­

same in different cultures. Furthermore, these ex­

ment.

pressions had close similarities with those observed

In a similar vein H. C. White (1981) has sug­

in other animals. Human sneering, he argued, is a

gested that the differentiation of markets can be

version of a dog or other beast snarling. The impli­

understood in terms of the observation and imita­

cation was clear. Such similarities in humans and

tion of successful behaviour. This kind of orienta­

between humans and nonhumans have derived

tion generates self-reproducing cliques of firms. A

from common evolutionary descent. But Darwin

market then is no longer understood as being

was cautious. He recognized, for example, that

defined by a set of buyers, but can be seen as a

facial expressions of terror or surprise in humans

historically shaped structure of roles among a stable

could be similar and could be confused with one

set of producer firms, or as an 'ecology of niches

another. Darwin's book was a bestseller in its day

among a crowd of competing organisms' (White,

but it has only recently been fully recognized in

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

223

our own era. It can be seen as one of the first

ized modules, these having evolved to achievement

examples of what is now called Evolutionary Psych­

of distinct goals. These organs thus preprogramme a range of capacities, such as the ability to learn a

ology (EP). Human behaviour, EP suggests, can be largely

language and interpret the world in certain ways.

explained by reference to our evolutionary past.

EP's central claim is very considerable. It is

The human mind is described by one leading con­

to have found an underlying, evolved, human

temporary protagonist

nature. Thus underneath the vast variety of cultural

as a

'neural

computer'

It is a machine fitted by natural

differences there remain key underlying unities.

selection to reason about plants, animals, objects

Evolutionary design therefore underlies recurring

and people. It is driven by goals and motives that

patterns of courtship, friendship, morality, gender­

(Pinker,

1997).

served biological fitness in ancestral environments,

differences, politics and even aesthetic preferences

specifically the environments encountered in the

(see Pinker,

Pleistocene world of hunter-gatherers. Most im­

tempts

portantly, these evolved drives continue to deeply

females' reproductive capacities are 'evolved solu­

affect human behaviour and may well be unsyn­

tions to the adaptive problems of male reproductive

chronized with or inappropriate for contemporary

competition and potential misdirection of paternal

norms and values (Ashworth et al.,

investments in species with mistakable paternity'

1996). The slow

by

1997

for details). For example, at­

modern

male

humans

p.

to

regulate

process of human evolution means we are still

(Wilson and Daly,

hunter-gatherer people. But we are living in a

lence, the tendency of stepfathers to abuse and even

modern environment.

kill their genetically unrelated children to a greater

1992,

289).

As regards vio­

Attempts have for some time been made by ex­

extent than genetically related parents is again seen

plain the behaviour of humans and other animals

as part of our evolutionary inheritance (Daly and

via the mechanism of evolutionary change (see

Wilson,

SociOBIOLOGY) . These, like EP, have often focused

are genetically related.

1994).

We are less likely to kill those who

on genes and their reproduction into future gener­

EP, despite its attempts to avoid the weaknesses

ations. Thus cooperation between genetically re­

of early sociobiology, raises a number of hackles

lated

by

amongst the social scientific community. Some of

sociobiology as cooperation which will facilitate

these objections are of a factual or statistical nature.

organisms

has

been

explained

the reproduction of 'selfish genes'. Similarly, co­

(Most stepparents, for example, do not abuse or kill

operation between unrelated individuals is con­

their stepchildren; Rose,

ducted on the 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch

tists also resist the level of explanation adopted,

yours' principle. What looks like altruism is again

specifically the genetic determinism associated

2000.)

Many social scien­

a means towards ensuring evolutionary success;

both with sociobiology and evolutionary psych­

that is, getting your genes replicated.

ology. Similarly, EP's attempts to understand the

EP comes from the same intellectual stable as

complexities of social life through the lens of a

sociobiology. Genes, their reproduction and repli­

single discipline strikes many social theorists as

cation, remain the key explanation of social life in

intellectually imperialist and wilfully neglectful

humans. Some practitioners of EP admit, however,

of the contributions of neighbouring disciplines.

that evolutionary change is not the only mechanism

This, despite the fact that many practitioners of

underlying natural selection and that not all genetic

EP claim to be unifying the biological and social

change and behavioural traits are adaptive (see, for

sciences (see, for example, Cosmides et al.,

example, Barkow et al.,

Furthermore, the attempt to understand complex

1992).

Such modifications

1992).

to sociobiology have in part been developed to avoid

whales, their behaviour and their relations to the

critiques of that discipline, which suggested that it

environment through disassembly into small com­

is composed of a series of 'just-so' stories -almost

ponents is for many social scientists mechanistic

any form of behaviour being explained as develop­

and methodologically unsound. EP seems largely

ing because it was, or is, 'adaptive' (Gould and

innocent of many of the key categories of analysis

Lewontin,

used by social scientists. Understandings of class,

1979). EP also tends to differ from socio­

biology insofar as it shifts emphasis away from

gender, race, power, exploitation, state, ideology

behaviour per se and towards psychological mech­

and so on cannot, it is argued, be simply derived

anisms, the 'mind' and 'mental organs'. The mind

from underlying biological propensities. EP is

is seen as composed of a complex series of special-

further

criticized as

an

attempted

'theory

of

224

EXISTENTIALISM

everything', one with semireligious overtones and one which has come to replace such 'old' explana­ tory metadiscourses as Marxism (Nelkin, 2000). EP appears to be ideology-free but it can also accused of legitimating the status quo; of explaining prob­ lematic social relations (such as those between men

Barkow, ]., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J. 1992:

The Adapted

Mind. Benton, T. 1999: Evolutionary psychology and social sci­ ence. In

Advances in Human Ecology 8, 65-98.

Alas, Poor Darwin. Arguments Against Evolutionary Psych­ ology, eds H. and S. Rose.

--2000: Social causes and natural relations. In

and women or adults and children) in terms of our

Cosmides, L., Tooby, J. Barkow, J. 1992: Introduction:

biology rather than power and property relations.

Evolutionary psychology and conceptual integration.

Nevertheless, as Singer

In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, J. Tooby, The Adapted Mind. Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture.

(1999) argues, there is no

reason why evolutionary thought should be re­ cruited by conservative forms of politics. Darwin­ ism, he suggests, shows that human beings are 'born co-operators' and this insight could be used by a 'Darwinian Left'. Despite such criticisms, EP raises important issues for the social scientist and, in particular, for the relations between the social and natural sci­ ences. Many social scientists still operate with a 'blank sheet' view of humans insofar as human biology and the human mind are concerned. If EP

Daly, M., Wilson, M. 1994: Homicidal tendencies. In

Matters ofLife and Death, eds J. Ashworth et al., 1996. (1965): The Expression ofthe Emotions in Man and Animals. Dickens, P. 2000: Social Darwinism. Linking Evolutionary Thought to Social Theory. Darwin, C. 1872

--2001: Linking the social and the natural sciences. Is capital modifying human biology in its own image?

Sociology 35, I. Gould, S., Lewontin, R. 1979: The spandrels of San

tends towards disciplinary imperialism, so do many

Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the

branches of social thought. Critiques of the social

adaptationist programme. Proceedings ofthe Royal Soci­

sciences by EP have important corrective value, even if often relying on caricatures or sociological 'straw men' (Benton,

2000).

EP is a young and emergent discipline and its links to neighbouring disciplines have still to be

ety B205, 581-98. Nelkin, D. 2000: Less selfish than sacred? Genes and the religious impulse in evolutionary psychology. In

Alas,

Poor Darwin, eds H. and S. Rose. Pinker, S. 1997: How the Mind Works.

logical explanations have done much to retain, is

Alas, Poor Darwin, eds H. and S. Rose. Singer, P. 1999: A Darwinian Left. Politics, Evolution and Cooperation.

still not adequately resolved by this discipline. Re­

Wilson, M., Daly, M. 1992: The man who mistook his

satisfactorily

forged.

The

dichotomy

between

'nature' and 'culture' which evolutionary and socio­

ducing social relations or culture to genes or biology remains a highly problematic way of addressing the

Rose, H. 2000: Colonising the social sciences. In

wife for a chattel. In

The Adapted Mind, eds J. Barkow

et al.

PETER DICKENS

culture/nature divide. One important way ahead might be to recognize different levels of analysis (Benton,

1999). Genes and, more importantly,

exchange theory

See SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

complexes of genes can certainly be envisaged as An influential twentieth-century

important causal mechanisms. Contemporary biol­

existentialism

ogy and epidemiology shows that these may have

European philosophy, deriving from PHENOMEN­

major implications not only for longterm evolution

OLOGY, existentialism's distinctive doctrine is one

but for the lifetime development of all humans and

of radical human freedom. The term was coined

other species. Ways need to be found of combining

during World War II as a name for the emerging

the insights of EP with longer-established areas of

ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beau voir.

social thought, including psychology (Dickens,

The label was extended first to such friends of

2000, 2001). EP reminds us that the social sciences

theirs as Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and it was then

need to make themselves more open and sensitive to

applied to the work of other philosophers, notably

the biological and evolutionary bases of social life.

Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, who had influenced Sartre. Few of those labelled 'existen­

Reading Ashworth, J., Cronin, H., Curry, 0. eds 1996: Matters of life and death: the worldview from evolutionary psych­ ology.

Demos {htarterly I0.

tialist'

appreciated

this,

being

understandably

concerned at too close an association with Sartre's particular views. Existentialism as a philosophy should be distinguished from the cult among

EXISTENTIALISM Parisian youth in the 1940s and 1950s which

225

situation cannot compel my choices, since they are

borrowed the title. This 'cafe existentialism' may

partly constituted by choices and interpretations.

well have been an expression of post-war 'spiritual

My fatigue, for example, is a motive for stopping

dishevelment' (in the phrase of the Oxford Com­ panion to French Literature, 1959, p. 261), whereas

rather than for pressing on with extra effort only in

the philosophical claims are of perennial rele­

Since the values I use to justify my actions are also

vance.

the light of ambitions I have or have not adopted. 'projected' through my aspirations, and are fur­

Existentialism is a fusion of two themes: the idea,

nished neither by Nature nor by God, then my

traceable to Kierkegaard, that human existence is of

freedom is a moral one too. My decisions allow for

a unique kind; and the central insights of phenom­

no final, objective 'foundations'; hence the sense of

enology. Human existence is distinguished, first, by

'absurdity' to which Sartre refers (1943, p. 479).

the unique capacity of people for self-awareness

Freedom, in these aspects, means that a person is

and self-concern. Human being is an 'issue' for

totally responsible for his actions. He cannot excuse

itself (Heidegger, 1927, p. 67); it is being 'For­

them by pleading compulsion, or palm off the

itself, as against the being 'In-itself of mere things

values which inform his choices as anything but

(Sartre, 1943, p. lxiii). Second, and relatedly, what

his own commitments. There remains, however, a

authenticity: the full, lived rec­

a person becomes cannot be explained by any given

moral imperative of

constitution or essential characteristics, but only by

ognition of one's responsibility, whose antithesis is

the choices he or she makes in resolving the 'issue'

the 'bad faith' indulged in by most of us for most of

of his or her life. Thus a person's 'existence pre­

the time, as when, for example, we put our failings

cedes [his or her] essence' (Sartre, 1946, p. 28); or,

down to some inexorable force called 'character'.

as Ortega puts it, 'existence is the process of realiz­ ing the aspirations we are' (1941, p. 113). A main insight inherited from phenomenology was into the priority of what Edmund Husserl

Existentialism impinges on social thought at sev­ eral places. For one thing, it provides an important version of the view that,

pace

FUNCTIONALISM,

social behaviour is intelligible only in terms of

Lebenswelt, 'the world for all of us', over

people's own perception and understanding of

the specialized 'worlds' abstracted by scientists. We

their situations. Second, it engages with issues

relate to the world, fundamentally, not as natural

of ALIENATION. People's sense of an alien, 'disen­

called the

objects causally interacting with others, but 'inten­

chanted' world is primarily due to a failaure to

tionally'- that is, by encountering it as a network of

appreciate the phenomenological insight that ours

meaning and significance, through which alone

is a 'human world', from which the neutral universe

things can stand out for us. Existentialists crucially

of the scientist is an artificial abstraction. Existen­

depart from Husserl, however, in insisting that we

tialists are acutely aware, however, that the em­

are not pure, disembodied egos, but active 'beings­

phasis on the freedom to 'choose and refuse'

in-the-world' who experience that world as 'equip­

threatens to alienate the individual from his fellows:

ment' (Heidegger, 1927, p. 97), as a 'world of tasks'

for, as Jaspers says, I can and should put up 'inner

and 'projects' (Sartre, 1943, p. 199).

resistance' to the 'social I imposed upon me' (1932,

The two themes are intimately connected. It is

vol. 2, p. 30). This leads, third, into discussions of

because we are always 'on the way' to realizing

relations with 'the Other', which are regarded by

aspirations that the world is revealed as a field of

most existentialists as potentially inimical to the

meanings- as obstacles and opportunities, say. And

attainment of authenticity. For Heidegger, the an­

it is because we relate to things 'intentionally', and

onymous 'They'

are not 'in' the world in the natural manner of

lizes' the individual into passive acceptance of

stones or fish, that we must recognize ourselves as

'Their' 'average' ways and opinions (1927, p. 222),

(Das Man) seduces or 'tranquil­

creatures to whom things matter, ones whose exist­

while for Sartre the danger comes from 'the Look'

ence can become an 'issue'.

(le regard) of the Other, his power to categorize and

These themes converge to produce Sartre's rad­

reify me (1943, p. 263; cf. de Beauvoir's account in

ical account of FREEDOM, which is at once a meta­

The Second Sex, 1949, ofhow the Other, in the shape

physical and a moral concept. It denotes, first, the

of men, manages to constitute women's understand­

absolute independence of choice from causal con­

ing of themselves). 'Hell is other people,' writes

straint; a freedom directly experienced, allegedly,

Sartre- not because they are evil, but because they

Angst. My character, motives and

can dispossess me of a sense of my freedom (1947, p.

in the mood of

226

EXPLANATION

182). Personal relations inherently tend, therefore,

ments, for example that the explanans includes an

towards the agonistic, with each person attempting

axiom or a self-evident truth or a natural law or an

to reduce the freedom of the other by way of a pre­

empirically true description of an invariable se­

emptive strike against the threat which this poses. In

quence of events. Here, the emphasis is on the

his more optimistic moments, however, Sartre en­

formal conditions for explanatory success and con­

visages a community in which people appreciate

sequently recipients can be considered to have an

that 'the oppressor oppresses himself, and that the

explanation even if they cannot see it.

only route to authentic self-understanding is via a

Views about the relation linking the explanans

firm recognition of the reciprocal character of free­

and explanandum also include some that stress

dom among human beings

(1983, p. 443). His Crit­ ique ofDialectical Reason (1960, 1986) also engages

formal requirements, for example, that the relation

fundamentally with Marxism in developing a theory

contradictory to accept the truth of the explanans

be one of entailment, where it would be self­ but reject the truth of the explanandum. Others

of political action.

insist that the relation be causal; this introduces further diversity into the notion of explanation

Reading Cooper, D. E. 1990

(2000): Existentialism: a Reconstruc­

tion. Heidegger, M. 1927 (1962, 1970): Being and

Time, trans.J.

Macquarrie and E. Robinson. Jaspers, K. 1932

(1969, 1970, 1971): Philosophy,

trans. E.

B. Ashton, 3 vols. MacDonald, P. ed. 2000: Merleau-Ponty, M. 1945

tion,

The Existentialist Reader. (1962): Phenomenology ofPercep­

connection (see

CAUSALITY).

Modern attempts to analyse explanation have largely attended to the formal conditions to be attached to the explanans and linking relation, es­ pecially when considering explanations in the nat­ ural sciences, which command attention because they seem especially authoritative. Hempel and

trans. C. Smith.

Sartre,J.-P. 1943

(1957): Being and Nothingness: an Essay on Phenomenological Ontology, trans. H. Barnes. --1946 (1966): Existentialism and Humanism, trans. P. Mairet.

(1948) deductive-nomological or

covering law model was particularly influential in the mid-twentieth century. According to this, a deduced from an explanans which contains the

Sprigge, T. L. S. 1984:

Theories ofExistence. Existentialism.

DAVID E.

Oppenheim's

phenomenon is explained when its description is

--1983 (1992): Notebooksfor an Ethics. Warnock, M. 1970:

because of the variety of characterizations of causal

statement of a set of initial conditions together COOPER

with a law or laws

(nomos being Greek for law). (1965) examples, why the

To use one of Hempel's

underwater part of a straight oar appears bent up­ explanation

This involves relating what is to be

explanandum) to something other (the explanans)- but it is unlikely that even such a

explained (the

wards is explained by reference to the laws of re­ fraction and the initial condition that water

IS

optically denser than air.

general definition as this can embrace the wide

The deductive-nomological schema has come

variety of explanations we find acceptable in our

under sustained criticism, of three types. First,

everyday and scientific pursuits. In part, the variety

internal difficulties; for example, the laws in the

arises from alternative views about the nature of the

explanans must be universal if they are to guarantee

explanans and about the nature of the relation

the explanation, yet there are practical difficulties in

linking the explanans and explanandum.

establishing universal empirical truths and logical

Views about the explanans fall broadly into two

difficulties in characterizing them - either as laws of

types. First, some articulate pragmatic or psycho­

nature or as scientific laws representing nature.

logical requirements, for example that the expla­

Second, arguments that the schema cannot account

nans be known or familiar or previously assented to

for all types of explanation in the natural sciences;

by the recipient of the explanation. What is

for example, statistical explanations, where there is

common here is that the explanans is selected so

only a probability and not certainty that the event

as to remove perplexity in the explanation's audi­

described in the explanandum will occur, such as

ence: explanatory success is relative to its recipi­

the likelihood that a very heavy smoker will get lung

ents, who must see the explanation before they can

cancer, and realist explanations where occurrences

be considered to have it. Second, there are views

are explained by identifying the underlying work­

about the explanans that stress analytic require-

ings that are causally responsible for them, such as

EXPLOITATION

227

the movement of the hands around the face of a

them to take advantage of others. Exploitation

clock being explained by revealing the spring and

always has some connotation of unfairness; how­

cogs that drive them (see REALISM). Third, criti­

ever schools of thought vary as to what constitutes

cisms that the schema cannot be extended to the

such an unfair advantage and under what structural

social sciences and humanities. Important in these

conditions it occurs.

disciplines are intentional explanations which ex­

For Marxism, exploitation is a relation between

plain actions by appeal to the reasons and motives of

classes. In any society where not all available labour

the actors involved, narrative explanations which

time is needed to provide for the direct consump­

explain actions and institutions by tracing the his­

tion needs of the population,

torical sequences of events that produce them, and

around the production and control of surplus

classes develop

functional explanations which explain actions and

labour time. One class is 'exploited' because it

institutions by identifying the part they play in

produces more than it consumes, whereas another

maintaining the whole society. Whether inten­

'exploiting' or ruling class maintains its power

tional, narrative and functionalist explanations are

through its control of that surplus product. Differ­

distinct from causal explanations, and whether real­

ent modes of production and the classes within

ist explanations can be extended from the natural to

them are defined by the specific way in which

the social sciences, continue to be matters of dis­

exploitation takes place. Thus for Marxism exploit­

SCIENCE.

ation is the basic relation of any historical epoch

Whether the deductive-nomological schema or

around which classes themselves are defined (see

variations on it can embrace probabilistic and realist

MODE OF PRODUCTION).

pute

in

the PHILOSOPHY

OF

SOCIAL

causal explanations continue to be matters of debate

Under capitalism, exploitation is hidden by the

in the PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. Postmodernists turn

apparent freedom and equality of the exchange

away from these debates, portraying them all as part

process in which workers freely sell their ability to

of the same mistaken modernist project concerned

labour, their labour power, for a wage of equivalent

to progressively subjugate the natural and social

value (Marx,

worlds to universal rational enlightenment, and

ploited because the working day is longer than that

question whether any generally applicable notion

necessary to produce their wages and the remainder

1867).

Nevertheless, workers are ex­

of explanation is achievable or desirable, preferring

of their day is spent producing a surplus as profit for

to celebrate the diversity of local practices - in the

their capitalist employer.

sciences and in everyday life - each with its own

the freedom of exchange is double-edged; since

cultural logic. This returns attention to the prag­

workers have no other access to the means of pro­

This occurs because

matics of explanation, the local circumstances

duction they have only the choice between the

which enable people within them to 'see' particular

freedom to sell their labour power to some em­

explanations.

ployer or the freedom to starve. However, it is not the exchange relation which is exploitative under capitalism, for workers are paid the value of their

Reading

Halfpenny, P. 1982: Positivism and Sociology: Explaining Social Life. Harre, R. 1970: The Principles ofScientific Thinking. Salmon, W. C. 1998: Causality and Explanation. Taylor, C. 1964: The Explanation ofBehaviour. Van Parijs, P. 1981: Evolutionary Explanation in the Social Sciences. Wright, G. H. von 1971: Explanation and Understanding. PETER HALFPENNY

labour power, but the fact that having purchased it employers can then use that labour power to pro­ duce more than they had to pay for it. Indeed that is the motive for their employment, for without ex­ ploitation employers would make no profi t s. Thus for Marx exploitation occurs in production and is the common condition of all workers employed by capitalist firms. By contrast, in N EOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS ex­ ploitation occurs only if workers are paid less by

Although it can also refer to the

their employer than their marginal revenue prod­

way people make use of natural resources, political

uct, the marginal addition in profits their employ­

situations or moral arguments, 'exploitation' is a

ment makes possible. A profit-maximizing firm

exploitation

term most frequently applied to relations between

will employ workers up to the point at which the

people or groups of people in which one group or

marginal cost of their employment equals their

individual is structurally in a position enabling

marginal revenue product. A firm facing a competi-

228

EXPLOITATION

tive labour market will not be able to influence

strate how his methods fail to capture the essential

wage levels, so its marginal cost of employing an

differences between Marxist and neoclassical ap­

extra worker will just equal the wage, and profit

proaches: that for the former exploitation depends

maximization

that

on production relations and is intimately bound up

product

with the existence of the two main classes of capit­

equal to their wage. Exploitation in the neoclassical

alism, while for the latter it is a contingent relation

workers

simply

produce

a

involves

marginal

ensuring

revenue

sense is therefore an impossibility for a fully com­

between individuals dependent on specific market

petitive firm (see, for instance, Gravelle and Rees,

conditions.

1981,

p.

Exploitation has also been used in various radical

382).

However a firm with monopsony buying powers

social critiques to refer to the relations between

in the labour market will be able to influence wage

other groups in society. For example, some femi­

levels; its profit maximizing level of employment

nists describe relations between men and women as

will therefore be one at which workers are hired at

exploitative. This can be either, by direct analogy

wages lower than their marginal revenue product,

with the Marxist concept, that husbands, their em­

resulting in their exploitation. So for neoclassical

ployers or even the capitalist system as a whole

economics, exploitation is not the common condi­

benefit from women doing more work than is

tion of the whole working class, but a specific char­

required to provide for their own consumption or,

acteristic of some individual workers, those that

in a more nebulous sense, it may be sexual or

work for firms with monopsony buying powers in

reproductive practices which are seen as exploit­

the labour market. Further, instead of being a char­

ative.

acteristic of capitalist production relations it is an attribute of particular market conditions.

Reading

More recently, the school of analytical Marxism has used some of the methods of neoclassical eco­ nomics to explore further the conditions under which

exploitation

can

occur.

Roemer

(1988)

shows that 'Marxist' exploitation is a result of un­ equal distribution of productive resources rather than the specific relations of production. For him

Braverman, H. 1974: Labor and Monopoly Capital: the Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. Lebowitz, M. 1988: Analytical Marxism. Science and So­ ciety 52.2. Marglin, S. A. 1974-5: What do bosses do? The origins and function of hierarchy in capitalist production. Review of Radical Political Economics 6.2, 60-112; 7.1, 20-37.

this means that Marxism should see inequality

Marx, K. 1867 (1976): Capital, vol. I.

rather than exploitation as its basic critique of cap­

Roemer, J. 1988: Free to Lose; An Introduction to Marxist

italism. His critics (see, for instance, Lebowitz,

1988),

however, use this result instead to demon-

Economic Philosophy. SUSAN F. HIMMELWElT

F Fabianism

This term identifies an argument not

Fabianism saw democracy as the exercise of the

so much for the moral desirability of socialism, as

political function of the people as a whole. Within

for its likelihood as the logical continuation of the

this structure, individuals would participate in their

principles visible in the existing direction of gov­

various roles as citizens, workers, parents etc., con­

ernment and politics. Socialism was to be an exten­

tributing by their efforts to the common good from

sion of democracy from the political into the social

which they would benefit. But their principal con­

and economic sphere, and was thus summed up in

tribution would be the provision, and checking, of

the term SociAL DEMOCRACY. This view of socialism

information, rather than the exercise of dispersed

was developed by the Fabian Society, and in par­

power. Forms of direct popular power such as

ticular by its three leading members, Beatrice and

referendums or legislative intiatives were con­

Sidney Webb, and George Bernard Shaw between

demned as promoting discontinuity and irration­

1884 and the outbreak of World War II. Society was to be collectively organized for the

ality. What were considered as the sectional and potentially selfish self-government of groups or­

general good by the state, nationally and locally,

ganized on the basis of production in various

acting on behalf of an electorally enfranchised

forms of workers' control were opposed as incon­

people. The characteristic Fabian method and ex­

sistent with democracy. Fabianism's stress on the

pectation were summed up in the phrase 'the inev­

collective and the public led it to ignore problems

itability of gradualness'. Critics of Fabianism have

such as the nature of work or the divisions of

picked up the second part of the phrase, but the first

gender.

part was equally important. Hard work, persuasion,

RODNEY BARKER

and research rather than class war would slowly but inevitably continue the movement of society in a

Reading

socialist direction. In the ideal Fabian state, trained

Beilharz, P. and Nyland, C. eds 1999. The Webbs, Fabian­

intelligence would play a central part, and its rec­ ognition and use in a meritocratic public service would be one of the features that would mark off socialism from capitalism. Far from the hierarchies of capitalism being replaced by equality of power, they would be refined by a system of democratically accountable elites, staffed by the most capable,

ism and Feminism.

McBriar, A. M. 1996: Fabian Socialism and English Politics 1884-1914.

Pugh, P. 1984: Educate, Agitate, Organize: 100 years of Fabian Socialism.

Shaw, G. B. 1889 ed. (1962): Fabian Essays. Webb, S. and B. 1920: A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain.

whereas capitalism's elites had been staffed only by the most fortunate. There was often a high

family

moral tone here, praising the ascetic dedication of

pologists have for some time pointed to enormous

Although many historians and anthro­

the professional, and being dismissively patroniz­

variation among families, others have nonetheless

ing about what Beatrice Webb referred to as the

sought to identify it as a universal institution with

'average sensual man'. The high responsibility

universal characteristics. Malinowski, the anthro­

given to trained intelligence in national politics

pologist, first convinced social scientists that the

was exported in Fabianism to become an advocacy

family was a universal human institution (Mali­

of the right and duty of the advanced industrial

nowski, 1913; Collier et al. 1992). In the middle of

nations of Western Europe to administer to the

the twentieth century, the anthropologist George

less-developed parts of the world and bring them

Murdock (based on his analysis of 500 societies)

up to the same socialist heights which were to be

ventured a universal definition and argued that

attained at home.

'the family' was a 'social group characterized by

230

FAMILY Economic ties among black families do not

common residence, economic cooperation and re­

2000).

production. It includes adults of both sexes, at least

disappear altogether. Rather they are reconstituted

two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual

along different lines, emphasizing extended and

relationship, and one or more children, own or

fictive kin rather than conjugal ties.

adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults' (Mur­ dock,

1949, p. 1).

A large body of research in the US and Britain

For many years, Murdock's defi­

shows that even the middle class rarely lives in a

was the standard definition - cited in

nuclear household isolated from kin. Today, most

numerous textbooks and scholarly essays - ap­

keep in touch with kin, even those who live at a

plauded for its applicability to developing countries

distance from them. Modern technology provides

as well as the developed West. That definition can

them with the ability to stay in touch routinely,

nition

no longer be applied accurately even to the West. Though widely cited, Murdock is now equally

wherever they are. At the same time, growing numbers of affluent dual-career couples (Gerstel

often challenged on each criterion that he advanced:

and Gross,

for his conflation of household and family (this

often working-class, dual-earner families (Hondag­

1984)

have joined those immigrant,

criterion excludes both spouses who live apart and

neu-Sotel and A vial,

that wide range of nonhousehold kin and fictive kin

as parents and children spend much of their time in

that are likely to be counted as family, especially but

separate residences instead of sharing a single

not only among peoples of colour); for the assump­

home. They forfeit claims to a residentially intact

tion not only of economic dependence but of eco­

family, yet they too avail themselves of the new

nomic cooperation among family members (this

technologies that make possible new definition

overlooks the finding of much recent research that

and

many families do not pool income but keep separate

proximate spouses (or parents) are no longer the

budgets and accounts); for the presumption that

sina qua non of family life.

understandings

2001) in which spouses as well

of

family.

Geographically

only units containing two adults of both sexes

Certainly for many women, men and children

'counted' as family (which overlooks not only single

alike, the family has remained an institution based

parents residing with or apart from their children

on economic dependence. Despite women's world­

but also the heated political debates in much of the

wide and unprecedented entry into the labour

West over the rights of gays and lesbians to claim

force, many women continue to depend financially

marriage and family); for the conception that 'own'

on their husbands. Despite men's apparent finan­

children not only make a family but distinguish that

cial independence, most depend on wives not only

family from those who adopt (an assumption that

for unpaid household and care work but also for the

makes family 'ownership', if not relationship, rest

income provided by the wives' paycheques. Despite

on biological ties). All of these are now contested

children's growing assertion of independence, most

criteria.

offspring still depend on their parents for current

His conflation of household and family is, at best,

and future class position just as they increasingly

researchers

take jobs in the expanding service economy and

show how poor US

share their income at home. At the same time,

blacks, for example, rely on extensive kin; these

such economic cooperation seems to have become

class and (Stack,

race specific.

1974;

Newman

Numerous

1999)

families also turn friends into 'fictive kin'. Family

voluntary; the domestic division of labour trivial­

becomes kin because they can be counted on to

ized. Even the economic glue, then, of which Mur­

exchange money, goods and services, not simply

dock wrote may be in the process of dissolving.

love. Family becomes local network - not house­

This transforms the historical gender bargain on

hold or neighbourhood. Overall, then, the eco­

which earlier forms of the family (and work) were

nomic bonds of black families, at least among the

premised and makes visible many family forms.

poor, differ from those of white families, at least the

To be sure, a politically powerful right wing, in

nonpoor. Simultaneously, the character of such

many parts of the world, seeks to restore the he­

family connections is highly gendered. Thus, re­

gemony of the heterosexual couple, permanently

search suggests that disadvantaged black men are

wed, in which the husband is the primary (better

unable to provide women with economic security

yet, sole) breadwinner and household head, the wife

(Edin and Lein,

It is disadvan­

a homemaker and mother, and the children (there

taged black women who turn to kin and fictive kin

are always some) nurtured (especially by mothers)

for support (Collins,

and subject to the control of parents (especially

1997; Wilson, 1996). 1990;

Sarkisian and Gerstel,

FASCISM

(1982) argue

231

fathers). But in many ways this political pro­

ies.' Mittrauer and Sieder

gramme, while clearly powerful, does not represent

as the end of the Middle Ages the German language

that as late

the majority view nor does it address the predomin­

had no word for the private groups of parents and

ant structural trends in family life.

children that many currently call family. Some

Changing empirical and political realities, how­

well-respected scholars even suggest that it is only

ever, have not been the only challenge to the mono­

from around the fifteenth century that Europe sees

lithic concept of the family. Equally importantly,

the rise of a new concept: 'The concept of the

feminist scholars have challenged the belief that

family'. The arrangement was present, Aries con­

'any specific family arrangement is natural, bio­

tended in his groundbreaking work, but 'the family

logical, or "functional" in a timeless way' (Thorne

existed in silence; it did not awaken feelings strong

More importantly, recent

enough to inspire poet or artist. We must recognize

scholarship suggests that the search for a universal

the importance of this silence: not much value was

'family' hides historical change as it sets in place or

placed on the family' (Aries,

and Yalom,

1992,

p.

2).

reproduces an ideology of'the family' that obscures

1962,

p.

364).

Nowadays, given these new meanings and forms,

the diversity and reality of family experience in any

some reject 'the family' while others lay claim to it.

place and time. For example, colonial Americans

Simultaneously, political rhetoric in many soci­

defined family membership in terms of productive

eties, on the left and the right, puts centre-stage

contributions and household membership. Thus,

some broad call for 'family'. But many of these

servants who lived and worked in one household,

claims and political slogans obscure the actual con­

but were often not related by blood, were typically

ditions of modern families. The very concept -

viewed and treated as family members by those

'The Family'- cannot capture the range of ideolo­

with whom they shared that home. That is, they

gies and practices associated with it. The family is a

provided labour as they were taught productive

cultural tool, an ideological and social construct.

skills, religious doctrine and moral values. They

Any attempt to define it as a bounded institution

were family members because they shared the

with characteristics universal across place or time

work of a household and were subject to the author­

necessarily fails.

ity of its head, not because they were treated with nurturance, love or affection. Numerous scholars have argued that the defining characteristic of the 'modern' family (with its roots in the privileged classes of the nineteenth century) are altogether different: at least in ideology, this family is formed on the basis of affection and love; it operates on the behalf of the personality to pro­ vide psychic security; and its spouses are compan­

Reading Aries, P. 1960 (1962): Centuries of Childhood. Gubrium, J.

F.

and Holstein, J.

A.

1990:

What is

Family? Litwak, E. 1965: Extended family relations in an indus­ trial society. In Social Structure and the Family: Gener­

ational Relations, ed. E. Shanas and G. Strieb. Mitterauer,

M. and Sieder, R.

1982:

The European

Family.

ions and its parents (or at least mothers) are

Murdock, G. 1967: Ethnographic Atlas.

emotional and nurturing to their innocent children.

Parsons, T. and Bales, R. 1955: Family Socialization and

Moreover, whereas the agrarian family was all but indistinguishable from the community, some scholars suggest that relations within the contem­ porary family have become more greedy and valued; both as consequence and cause, relations outside of it have become more remote, specialized, rational and tenuous. As Gubrium and Holstein (1990, p.

17) write: 'Indeed,

it has become increas­

ingly clear that "family" and related "domestic" concepts as we know them are relatively recent developments. Many of the distinguishing features

Interaction Patterns. Pine, F. 1982: Family structure and the division of labour: female roles in urban Ghana. In Introduction to the

Sociology of Developing Societies, ed. H. Alavi and T. Shanin. Rapp, R. 1978: Family and class in contemporary Amer­ ica: notes toward an understanding of ideology. Science

and Society 5 .42, 278-300. Stack, C. 1974: All Our Kin. Thorne, B. and Yalom, M. eds 1982: Rethinking the

Family. Wilson, W. 1988: The Truly Disadvantaged.

of contemporary family discourse - in particular

NAOMI R. GERSTEL

the notions of privacy and sentiment- were either Used generically, fascism is a term for a

absent from or unimportant to the discourse of

fascism

primary social relations prior to the last few centur-

singularly protean genus of modern politics inspired

232

FASCISM

by the conviction that a process of total political,

from view because of the extensive social engineer­

social and cultural rebirth (palingenesis) has become

ing

essential to bring to an end a protracted period of

terror) undertaken by the self-appointed new elite

DECADENCE, and expressing itself ideologically in

of both countries in the bid to turn the utopia of a

(involving

intensive

propaganda

and state

revolutionary and forms of deeply antiliberal and

homogeneous and revitalized national community

mythically charged NATIONALISM (ultranational­

into a reality. Furthermore, the revolutionary dy­

ism) which may often embrace overt notions of

namic of the regimes is obscured by the scale of

racial superiority. Confined to publicistic writings

aggression and destruction it involved, especially in

and groups of activists on the margins of political

the case of the Third Reich. Indeed, fascism is

life prior to the outbreak of World War I (protofas­

bound to fail in achieving its goals because its

cism) and since the end of World War II (neofas­

success depends on its small natural constituency

cism), fascism provided the rationale for the

of believers implementing its vision of the new

formations and political parties of the ultra-right

order as the exclusive value system for the whole

which surfaced to combat liberalism, socialism and

of a modern, and hence pluralistic society. When­

conservatism in practically every European country

ever such an ideology is adopted as the basis of a

between 1918 and 1945. Significant ones appeared

regime it leads inevitably to systemic oppression

in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Ger­

and even to systematic inhumanity in some form

many, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Spain, as

of TOTALITARIANISM.

well as further afield in South Africa, Chile and

This definition of fascism is inevitably conten­

Brazil. Though some of these temporarily broke

tious since it is an IDEAL TYPE of a term which has

through to become the nucleus of popular move­

been the subject of considerable debate since it first

ments, or to play a part in collaborationist regimes as

came to be used generically in the early 1920s for a

part of the Third Reich's 'New European Order',

new form of populist, anti-Marxist nationalism.

only in Italy and Germany did particular conjunc­

However its use here is consistent with a partial

tures of events enable fascism to seize power

consensus which has been gaining ground since the

through a combination of legality with violence,

1990s. This sees fascism as a revolutionary form of

giving rise to Mussolini's Fascist State (1925-43)

nationalism bent on regenerating a nation's political

and Hitler's Third Reich (1933-45) (see NATIONAL

culture and create a 'new man' in order to help

SOCIALISM).

resolve a pervasive crisis in contemporary history

These two regimes exhibited the marked con­

(Griffin, 1998). However this shared ideological

trasts both in the surface ideology and the potential

matrix can generate a wide range of specific theor­

for ruthless brutality in the pursuit of domestic and

ies, policies, forms of organization and tactics. For

foreign policy which distinguish different permu­

one thing, being ultranationalist in inspiration, each

tations of fascism. However, their drive to regener­

fascism will inevitably draw on the history and

ate the whole nation through a popular reawakening

culture of the country in which it arises so as to

set both apart generically from the many contem­

legitimate its assault on the status quo, as exem­

porary authoritarian states of the ultra-right which,

plified in the Nazi vision of Germany as an Arya­

though adopting many of the trappings of fascist

nized Third Reich or the Fascist claim that Italy

Italy and Germany, were essentially opposed to the

was renewing its Roman heritage. In the past fas­

social revolution envisaged by fascism. They are

cisms have incorporated elements of militarism,

thus best seen as partially 'fascistized' or 'para­

technocracy, ruralism, imperialism, neoclassicism,

fascist' regimes (for example, Dolfuss's Christian

avant-garde art, syndicalism, national socialism,

Social Austria, Salazar's Estado Novo in Portugal,

neoromanticism, politicized Christianity, pagan­

Vichy France or Imperial Japan). The anticonser­

ism, occultism, biological racism, ANTI-SEMITISM,

vative, revolutionary dimension of fascism has been

voluntarism, SociAL DARWINISM, or more recently

obscured historically by the extensive collusion

elements of 'alternative culture' (for instance 'New

with traditional power elites (such as the army,

Ageism' and the Green Movement). For example,

the church, ruling elites, industry) which both Fas­

in the 1980s a convention of Italian 'New Right'

cism (best spelled with a capital to distinguish it

neofascists was held at Camp Hobbit, while more

from generic fascism) and Nazism were forced to

recently radically anticapitalist 'Third Positionist'

make on pragmatic grounds. Similarly, the genuine

fascists have played an active part of the 'anti­

populism intrinsic to their ideology is easily lost

globalization' movement.

FASCISM Though the rampant eclecticism of fascism makes generalizations about its specific ideological

233

ing hybrids of fascism with communism (Gregor, 1999).

contents hazardous, the general tenor of all its

The post-war period has also seen the emergence

permutations places it in the tradition of the late

of new 'philosophical' rationalizations of palingen­

nineteenth-century revolt against liberalism and

etic ultranationalism (Griffin, 199 5). The most

positivism which impart to it a strong emphasis on

influential of these are the post-Nietzschean vision

the primacy of vitalism and action over intellect and

of a 'conservative revolution' preached by De Beno­

theory. Consistent with the ideological complexity

ist on behalf of the French New Right (to be distin­

of fascism, the social basis of individual movements

guished from Anglo-American neoliberalism) and

is highly heterogeneous, and by no means restricted

Julius Evola's 'Traditionalist' fusion of Hindu and

to the lower-middle or capitalist classes, despite a

occultist theories of the historical process, both of

persistent assumption to the contrary which still

which have influenced the European New Right,

prevails among Marxists. Fascism also draws on

which retains unmistakable traces of its fascist pedi­

the tradition of ELITE THEORY, though the self­

gree despite its refusal to leave the safe haven of

appointed activist and paramilitary vanguards of

'metapolitics'. The 'European New Right' (which

its interwar variants were convinced of their mis­

has spawned a Russian version called 'Eurasian­

sion to revolutionize society not just 'from above',

ism') is symptomatic of perhaps the most important

but 'from below' through a mass movement capable

development in the evolution of fascism away from

of transforming the alleged chaos and degeneracy of

its interwar models, namely the increasing inter­

modern society into a coordinated and healthy na­

nationalization of fascism to produce various strains

tional COMMUNITY.

of Eurofascism and Universal Nazism. This pro­

Since the war nearly every Westernized country

cess has been vastly accelerated by the spread of the

has seen the appearance of minute and often ephe­

Internet, which means that fascism's most vital

meral groups ('groupuscules') modelling them­

energies are no longer channelled into creating

selves on Nazism or Fascism to agitate for crude

mass parties but into diffusing a multifaceted

versions of racism and chauvinism in what might be

'cyberfascism' which knows no national boundaries

called 'mimetic' fascism. More significantly, per­

but remains overwhelmingly 'metapolitical' and

haps, a number of parties have arisen which, even

hence ineffectual (Kaplan and Weinberg, 1998).

when officially dissociated from interwar fascism,

The tenaciousness of illiberal nationalism and

campaign for a version of ultranationalism adapted

racism as reactions to the global erosion of ethnic

to postwar conditions as, for example, Germany's

communities and cultural identities ensures that

National Democratic Party and Italy's MSI (Movi­

fascism and neofascism will continue to be ingredi­

mento Sociale Italiano) -since 1994 transformed

ents of modern politics, even in the most stable

into the 'postfascist' Alleanza Nazionale. In France,

democracies. Certainly it was to be expected that

Le Pen's Front National, which in the 1980s

after the Soviet Empire collapsed in 1989 neo-Nazi

became the role model everywhere in Europe for

and neofascist (mostly minuscule) movements sur­

an

faced in several of the 'new democracies'. However,

electorally

successful

'right-wing

populist

party', may have had some fascist followers, but

the unique conjuncture of structural forces that

its official platform is a racist perversion of conser­

enabled Fascism and Nazism to conquer state

vative liberalism ('ethnocratic' liberalism) rather

power have gone for good, and in both its party

than a revolutionary creed. Indeed, in terms of

and virtual forms fascism is condemned to leading a

activism the most vital fascist subcultures are now

highly marginalized existence for the foreseeable

no longer in Europe. One is in the USA, where the

future. At least its more sophisticated ideologues

fading of the American Dream has bred numerous

now believe themselves to exist in an indefinite

pagan neo-Nazi groupings bent on purging the

'interregnum' rather than on the brink of a new

nation's current degeneracy (e.g. Odinism), as

era (Griffin, 1995, part 5).

well as bizarre hybrids of neo-Nazism with hetero­

In terms of fascism's contribution to social

dox religious fanaticism in the Christian Identity

thought, some of its interwar intellectuals, notably

movement (Kaplan, 1997). The other is in Russia,

in Germany, Italy and France, produced relatively

where the acute disillusionment which followed the

elaborate theories on such themes as the organic

collapse of state communism triggered an explosion

concept of the state, the leader principle, economics,

of exotic forms of fascist ultranationalism, includ-

corporatism, aesthetics, law, education, technology,

234

FEDERALISM

race, history, morality and the role of the church,

may be combined with the free government and

while more recently the European New Right has

good order of a small state.' And a footnote prom­

produced an impressive corpus of sociopolitical

ised a sequel (which he never wrote) on 'the subject

theory and empirical research to rationalize its

of confederations. This subject is entirely new, and

longing for Western civilization to enter a post­

its principles have yet to be established.'

decadent era based on entirely new ethical and

The American federal constitution of 1787 es­

mythological principles. Though they all neglect

tablished such principles, clearly expounded in

or consciously reject fundamental liberal methodo­

reasoned polemics for its adoption, The Federalist

logical principles, they offer important case studies

Papers (Hamilton and Madison, 1787-8). The fed­

in the application of nationalist and utopian myth to

eral government was a new central government set

academic discourses as a contribution to the legit­

up above 13 existing states, former royal colonies,

imation of the 'grand narratives' of revolutionary

all with constitutions; but the powers of this central

politics.

body were limited by law and subject to judicial

As for the light thrown on fascism by orthodox social

thought,

the

Durkheimian

concept

review. English Tories at the time mocked any such

of

proposals as inherently unstable, so deeply did they

ANOMIE, the Weberian concept of charismatic pol­

believe that a fully sovereign state was essential to

itics and elites, research in sociology, social anthro­

political order. But the young Jeremy Bentham

pology and social psychology into the complex

mocked back, 'Do you not think that the Switzers

dynamics of revolutions, ritual politics, personal

have government?' (1776).

dictatorships, youth movements and totalitarian­

Federal governments are now common. Even the

ism, can all contribute to understanding fascism.

Stalin constitution proclaimed the USSR a feder­

So can academic studies which investigate the

ation, although the national elements seemed only a

mythic dimension of nationalism and the utopian

fa<;ade. But with the collapse of communist power

component of all revolutionary ideologies without

in the 1980s, a reality of divided powers was

confusing them with the discourse of genuine reli­

revealed. And it must be remembered that the

gious millenarianism which they so often mimic.

American colonies had enjoyed a considerable

ROGER GRIFFIN

degree

of

self-government

before

federation.

There are no examples in the world of a unitary Reading

state choosing to turn itself into a federation; the

Gregor, A. J. 1999: Phoenix. Fascism in our Time.

highly successful federalism of post-war West Ger­

Griffin, R. D. 1995: Fascism.

many, for example, was imposed by conquest.

--

1998: International Fascism. Theories, Causes, and the

New Consensus.

Kap1an, J. 1997: Radical Religion in America. Kap1an J. and Weinberg, L. 1998: The Emergence of a Euro-American Radical Right.

Mosse, G. L. 1998: The Fascist Revolution. Towards a General Theory ofFascism.

Payne, G. L. 1996: A History ofFascism. 1914-1945.

Behind these different institutional arrange­ ments lie profound differences of political theory. Modern thinkers as different as Lenin, Sidney and Beatrice Webb and apologists for the sovereignty of parliament in Britain line up behind Thomas Hobbes in believing that without a central, sover­ eign state, inefficiency, at the best, is rampant and, at the worst, civil war is latent. Look what

federalism

This denotes a division of powers

happened with the collapse of Soviet power! But

within a legal framework between central and sub­

others challenge the concept of sovereignty itself.

sidiary governments, and in such a way that, unlike

To John Adams (1774) 'sovereignty is very tyr­

under devolution, the centre cannot change the

anny'. And modern pluralist thinkers hold that

division without special and difficult procedures.

the very concept of sovereignty is a dangerous

All modern political thinkers face the dilemma

illusion: all power rests on consent of some kind

that if a state is too strong, it will threaten the

and has different limitations arising from the soci­

liberties of its people; but if weak, it may not be

ology, culture and tradition of different societies

able to help and protect them. Jean-Jacques Rous­

(see PLURALISM). Then federalism becomes a gen­

seau (1762) argued that sovereign power could only

eral theory of complex societies, not simply a pre­

be exercised justly in a small state, 'But if it is very

ferred set of institutions. Harold Laski once said 'all

small, will it not be subjugated? No, I shall show

power is federal' (1925).

later how the external strength of a large people

See also REGIONALISM.

FEMINISM

Reading Forsyth, M. 1989: Federalism and Nationalism. King, P. 1982: Federalism and Federation. Vile, M. J. C. 1967: Constitutionalism and the Separation of

235

right to choose about abortion- and the network of groups and refuges organized to protect women and their children from violent men. Although the rise of this so-called 'second wave' feminism is often linked to the politics emerging from the American

Powers.

BERNARD CRICK

Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the roots of these more radical ideas lie more obviously in indi­

This can be defined as the advocacy of

genous European political traditions: utopian so­

equal rights for women and men, accompanied by a

cialism, anarchism, libertarianism, Marxism and

feminism

commitment to improve the position of women in

so on. Other important sources of ideas were Frantz

society. It thus presupposes an underlying condi­

Fanon's work on the internalization of colonialism

tion of inequality, be this conceived as male domin­

and Mao Zedong's approach to political conscious­

ation, PATRIARCHY, gender inequality or the social

ness. During the 1980s and the 1990s this type of

effects of sexual difference. In 1938 Virginia Woolf

feminism - directed at broad cultural change -

provocatively described 'feminist' as 'a vicious and

has been active around issues connecting masculin­

corrupt word that has done much harm in its day

ity and war (for example the Greenham Common

and is now obsolete': an extreme statement that

peace campaign in Britain against nuclear weapons)

illustrates the disagreements about politics that

and the flourishing 'eco-feminism' that links women

occur even among these who support the cause of

to a particular concern with the preservation of the

women.

planet. Founding texts of this Western 'second

In Britain and the USA the longest feminist

wave' feminism are Simone de Beauvoir's The

tradition is that of democratic, liberal feminism

Second Sex (1949), Virginia Woolfs Three Guineas

directed towards obtaining equal rights and oppor­

(1938), and Kate Millett's Sexual Politics, Shula­

tunities for women. The founding texts of this

mith Firestone's The Dialectic ofSex and Germaine

tradition are Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication

Greer's The Female Eunuch (all 1970). In the British

of the Rights of Women in 1792 and John Stuart

context one would add Sheila Rowbotham's Hidden

Mill's essay The Subjection of Women in 1869. A

From History (1975) and Juliet Mitchell's Women:

useful modern discussion of this tradition can be

The Longest Revolution (1974).

found in Phillips (1987). In the nineteenth century

Western second-wave feminism has posed many

much of this work was focused on removing educa­

issues for discussion and it may help, in locating its

tional and professional barriers, and the impetus

context in social and political thought in the twenti­

behind these reforming campaigns was often quite

eth century, to take up two of these: (a) the question

militant. The culmination of this 'equal rights'

of feminist 'separatism', and (b) the relationship of

militancy came with the violent struggles of the

feminism to socialist thought and politics.

early twentieth-century suffragettes in their fight

(a) Feminist utopias have often depicted com­

for the vote, documented in the British context by

munities of women where the violent, militaristic,

Ray Strachey in The Cause (1928). More recent

hierarchical and authoritarian characteristics attrib­

areas of contestation in the North American and

uted to men are mercifully absent. This strand of

European contexts have been employment rights,

feminist thought inclines to pessimism on the ques­

equal pay and equality in social benefits, taxation

tion of ameliorating male brutality and advises the

and so on.

establishment

of female

communities

and the

Western societies since the late 1960s have seen

strengthening of women's ties to each other. His­

the rise (and decline) of feminist movements with a

torically this tradition tended to involve a senti­

more radical edge, proposing some sort of revolu­

mentalization

tionary political shake-up of society rather than a

than an eroticization. In second-wave feminism

redistribution of rights and resources, and insisting

the political articulation of lesbianism as an option

of women's relationships,

rather

that the oppression of women is embedded in deep

has been marked, although not by any means ne­

psychic and cultural processes and that feminist

cessarily as a separatist one. The Western Women's

objectives hence require fundamental rather than

Liberation Movement of the 1970s and 1980s at

superficial change. A particular focus of these cam­

some points linked with a more general liberationist

paigns has been the fight for women's control over

politics around sexuality, particularly in defence of

their own bodies- notably on the issue of a woman's

gay rights.

236

FEMINISM

(b) The relationship of feminism to socialist ideas

The characteristic theoretical assumptions of

and politics has been the subject of much discussion

second-wave

(see Barrett, 1988). With the collapse of the Soviet

point of influence in the 1970s, have now given

Western

feminism,

from

a high

bloc, and the decline of Marxism as an intellectual

way to a more dispersed and heterogeneous set of

force in the West, this relationship is likely to be

ideas. What one might call '1970s feminism' as­

eroded. It is worth noting that societies attempting

sumed that one could specify a 'cause' of women's

to implement a transition to socialism have, how­

oppression, however much feminists differed as to

ever they may have failed in general, attached con­

what that cause might be (male control of women's

siderable weight to the emancipation of women.

fertility, capitalism's need for a docile labour force

Hence, for example, the reunification of Germany

and so on). In the taxonomies beloved of this

(in 1991) has involved a loss of rights and resources

period, there were various packages of answers

for women in the erstwhile DDR. Similarly one

('liberal', 'socialist' or 'radical' feminist) to these

might note that state socialist regimes have offered

questions; with hindsight, the diversity of these

women opportunities that are infinitely superior to

answers can be seen to have concealed a high degree

those of regimes inspired by Islamic or other fun­

of consensus on what were the right questions to

damentalist religious programmes.

be posed. It was assumed, too, that all women were

It can be argued that feminism in the West, both

oppressed or subordinated, and that the dynamic

in its nineteenth- and twentieth-century forms, has

of this oppression lay at the level of determining

tended to oscillate around the issue of whether to

social structures. Arguments stressing the import­

press for equality and hence perhaps a 'sameness' of

ance of biology, nature, hormones or genetics were

women and men (androgyny), or whether to start

all dispatched with confidence as 'biologism' and

from the position that women and men are essen­

the social and cultural causes of sexist attitudes

tially 'different' from each other (whether under­

affirmed. Sexual difference, and the salience of

stood biologically, culturally or socially) and hence

childbearing and rearing for the lives of both

to press for a re-evaluation of women's distinctive

women and men, were largely ignored.

contribution. Certainly there is a tension in West­

The breaking up of this consensus could be at­

ern feminist thought and politics on this question,

tributed to three main sources: (a) the critique of

which has arisen in many specific contexts. The

Western feminism for attempting to universalize

'protective legislation' of the nineteenth century,

the

barring women from certain conditions of work

women in advanced capitalist countries; (b) a col­

(such as mining underground, or night shifts) can,

lapse of confidence in the sociological model of

experience

of

white

(often

middle-class)

for example, be interpreted from a 'difference' pos­

GENDER implied in the approach and a concomitant

ition as a proper protection of the reproduction of

reassertion of 'sexual difference' as an important

the species or from an 'equality' position as a cyn­

psychic and cultural phenomenon; and (c) the in­

ical move to exclude women from advantageous

corporation of unsettling ideas of poststructuralist

positions in the workforce. Decisions as to whether

and postmodernist provenance.

to fight for the repeal of such legislation or to leave

(a) Here it is important to note that black femi­

it in force involved taking up a position on this

nists delivered an eloquent critique of the failure of

'equality or difference' debate. Similar dilemmas

white feminism to engage with questions of racism

arise with regard to maternity provision, affirmative

and ethnocentrism. While this point was made 'on

action policies, arrangements for maintenance and

the doorstep' of Western feminism, it was also

custody of children after divorce, not to mention

argued that the high profile of Western feminism

more contentious issues of surrogate motherhood

had itself dwarfed awareness of women's struggles

or new reproductive technologies. Policy debates

elsewhere in the world (see WoMEN's MOVEMENT) .

on these issues in Britain, the USA and Australia

Certainly, it is true to say that political priorities

are discussed in Bacchi (1990). More profoundly, it

vary significantly and that the feminist agenda is

has also been argued (Scott, 1990) that the trad­

very different in non-Western societies. Attempts

itional binary opposition between 'equality' and

by Western feminists to address these issues in a

'difference' is a disabling one that contemporary

comparative context (for example, Robin Morgan's

feminism should refuse rather than continue to

Sisterhood is Global (1984) have understandably

work with. Equality need not involve the elimin­

been criticized for reproducing these underlying

ation of difference.

differences of power.

FEUDALISM (b) Sexual difference came to be viewed as more intransigent, but also more positive, than had been allowed at the high point of second-wave feminism, which had tended to echo the view of de Beau voir

237

Reading Bacchi, C. L. 1990: Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference. Barrett, M. and Phillips, A. eds 1992: Destabilizing

(1949) that femininity was not only a cultural

Theory: Contemporary Feminist Debates.

'achievement' but also a lessening, or distortion,

de Beauvoir, S. 1949 (1974): The Second Sex.

of woman's human potential. This shift was sig­

Hirsch, M. and Keller, E. F. eds 1990: Conflicts in Femin­

nalled in the growing interest in psychoanalytic explorations of sexual difference and identity, an influential text beingJuliet Mitchell's Psychoanaly­

sis and Feminism (1975), and in the analysis of mothering, massively developed after the publica­ tion in 1978 ofNancy Chodorow's The Reproduction

tsm. Millett, K. 1970: Sexual Politics. Morgan, R. 1984: Sisterhood is Global: the International Women's Movement Anthology. Phillips, A. ed. 1987: Women and Equality. Rowbotham, S. 1975: Hidden from History. Woo1f, V. 1938: Three Guineas.

of Mothering. An important aspect of this process

MICHELE BARRETT

was a reappropriation by feminism of the identity of woman, and a realization that the impulse towards

feudalism

'androgyny' or 'equality' was yet another capitula­

of social organization does not occur only for its

Modern interest in this early system

tion to a masculine norm of denying the salience of

own sake. The combination of individualism and

sex and gender.

hierarchy

found in

European

feudalism were

(c) The relationship of feminist thought to the

sources of political liberty, capitalism and science

theoretical currents of poststructuralism and post­

- all based on competition, whether of rulers, re­

modernism is complex, necessarily so if the histor­

sources or ideas. Two conditions of competition,

ical roots of feminism as a liberal humanist doctrine

absence of central coercive capacity and independ­

are considered. Various writers on this theme (Hek­

ence of participants, provide clues to the context

man, 1990; Pollock, 1992; Barrett, 1992) conclude

and content of feudalism.

that feminism straddles the modernity/postmod­

Noncentralized governments are found through­

ernity divide (see MODERNISM AND POSTMODERN­

out history: in ancient Mesopotamia during the

ISM). It is thus difficult to link feminism as a

Kassite period; Egypt during the Middle Kingdom;

historical political movement in any obvious way

Byzantium between the tenth and twelfth centur­

with poststructuralist positions, although many at­

ies; China during the Chou, late Han and late Tang

tempts to do so have been made (for example Wee­

dynasties; Japan between the ninth and eighteenth

don, 1987). Riley (1988) explores the problematic

centuries; and more. Over time, governmental au­

implications for feminism of a poststructuralist 'de­

thority has been fragmented among local jurisdic­

construction' of the category of 'woman'. Feminist

tions more often and for longer periods than it has

theory in Europe, North America and Australia is

been centralized. Only in medieval Europe, how­

currently exercised by the implications of post­

ever, did a noncentralized economy and society

structuralist ideas for conceptualization of any

generate competitive elements sufficiently strong

feminist project and hence the possibilities for

to survive recentralization.

feminist politics. A final point might be made concerning the idea

An eclectic system of governance and economic organization emerged there during the tenth cen­

of 'post-feminism', currently enjoying some popu­

tury AD, largely from mutual need for defence

larity in the West. Many young people in advanced

against invaders from Scandinavia. Under Euro­

Western societies appear to have a more progressive

pean feudalism, the collectivism (subordination of

and open view of the life choices open to women

individual interest to group interests) associated

than the generation of their parents, and to some

with ancient hierarchical polities combined with

extent this can rightly be attributed to the work of

rudiments of political

the active feminist movement of the 1970s and

from relationships among Germanic tribal leaders

1980s. Nevertheless, the idea that feminism is now

and their followers between the sixth and ninth

obsolete and that a 'post-feminist' culture of choice

centuries.

individualism stemming

prevails is, quite simply, not borne out by any socio­

By the sixth century AD, when all traces of western

logical or political investigation of gendered m­

Roman imperial administration had disappeared in

equality and power in contemporary societies.

northern Europe, such limited government as still

238

FEUDALISM

existed had become privatized. Common defence

this process is now called, each level of the hier­

and maintenance of law and order devolved on

archy pledged fealty, promising to supply armed

local bishops and landowners who were descendants

knights to the magnate directly above him, until at

of Germanic invaders.

the highest levels the chief vassals owed feudal dues

The warriors (vassals) in local chieftains' defence

to the crown.

forces gave volunteer service for nothing more than

Subinfeudation stabilized the feudal relation­

daily camaraderie and lifetime subsistence in their

ship: a principal vassal might hesitate to violate

master's house. Weak Merovingian and Carolin­

his feudal contract with the king because his actions

gian kings who were these chieftains' descendants

would set an unfavourable example to the men who

rewarded their vassals with extensive land grants

owed him feudal service.

(fiefs) in exchange for 40 days' armed service each

Emerging feudal customary law further stabil­

year; and, with unsettled conditions following the

ized hierarchical relationships by protecting the

ninth-century invasions, vassalage acquired a polit­

master's rights in intergenerational transfers. The

ical function. A relationship among near equals

rule of primogeniture (inheritance by the eldest son)

arising from mutual obligation evolved into a hier­

ensured that land, titles and rank in feudal society

archy adapted to local governance and military

passed intact to heirs. If the vassal's heir was incom­

defence.

petent, the lord's power of escheat permitted him to

In the vacuum created by the collapse of the

reclaim a fief and reassign it. By exercising the

Carolingian monarchy in the ninth century, each

power of wardship when a child inherited a fiefdom,

vassal assumed authority to govern all who lived on

a magnate could assert control until the child was

his fiefdom. He administered justice, collected

old enough to take the oath of fealty. The magnate

taxes, built roads and bridges and mobilized a

had rights to approve a widow's remarriage and to

private army from its residents. He could claim

approve mates for his vassals' daughters. Finally,

labour service from peasants and was entitled to

the open-ended power of entail permitted a grantor

all agricultural produce. Thus, with virtually no

to recover a fiefdom if its holder failed to meet his

distinction between private and public authority,

demands. Perhaps these powers indicate ways

management of public services and facilities was

vassals tried to evade their obligations.

indistinguishable from private estate management.

Individual power under feudalism was limited in

However independent each vassal might in fact

two important respects. No local governing notable

have been, the traditional obligation to provide

could control all or most of the others, nor could

defence forces sustained symbolic ties with the

any one magnate maintain his authority without

grantor. By the tenth century, when land titles

resources provided by subordinates, each of whom

and the political power and social status corres­

ruled independently over land within the higher

ponding to scale of ownership could be inherited,

magnate's domain.

the mutual defensive obligations of successive land­

Although

hierarchical

social

and

economic

owning generations were being formalized in a

relations persisted within each individual domain,

feudal contract. Heirs to the largest fiefdoms stood

where land might be worked by slaves and tied

near the apex of a social pyramid, superiors in an

tenants (serfs) completely dependent on the land­

emerging feudal nobility.

owner for survival, a few peasant families, espe­

In a ceremony administered by the church, the

cially on the continent, held land in freehold

vassal pledged fealty to his master, promising to

tenure and were exempt from feudal dues. By the

supply armed knights for a defence force in war­

twelfth century, as slavery disappeared and serfs

time, and to garrison the master's castle in peace­

bought their freedom and moved into towns, rules

time. (The master, in turn, would adjudicate

of hierarchy controlled fewer areas of life.

disputes among vassals and provide military aid if

No strong temporal authority existed throughout

a vassal's lands were attacked.) To meet his obliga­

the Middle Ages; late medieval feudal monarchs

tion to supply armed knights, a vassal with large

ruled over decentralized kingdoms. By the late

holdings would divide them, giving over use of the

Middle Ages, however, elements of interdepend­

land to lower ranking associates, and these men

ence permeated relationships among feudal masters.

would further subdivide their estates until, after a

As coalitions among near-equals formed, were dis­

holding

solved and reinitiated to attain mutual advantage,

belonged to one knight. With subinfeudation, as

the bargaining that went on weakened collectivism.

succession

of

partitions,

the

smallest

FORDISM AND POST-FORDISM

239

Bargaining, in which self-regulation substitutes for

methods, of the one best way to perform each

authority, is characteristic of the individualism corn­

elementary productive act, a sharp division be­

manly associated with capitalism.

tween these elementary tasks, and a specialization

Slowly, as weak feudal monarchs took over local notables'

authority

to

administer

justice

and

of each job in one standardized way- but added a search for automation through an ever more intense

RATIONALIZATION). The

defence, they negotiated a workable combination

mechanization (see also

of

other aspect of Ford's 'Fordism' was an advocacy

individualism

and

collectivism.

Eventually

(5 dollars a day), for which he

hierarchy came to dominate the polity. Yet its

of higher wages

formal structure coexisted with elements of indi­

advanced two reasons. High wages were a reward

vidualism, and over time these elements grew ever

for the discipline and stability of the workforce in a rationally organized firm. But it would also (should

stronger.

this practice be generalized) provide the necessary

STATE.

See also

outlets for mass production. In both cases, the working class was invited to benefit from its own

Reading Bloch, M. 1940

submission to management authority within the

(1961): Feudal Society.

--1974: The rise of dependent cultivation and seignor­

firm. Gramsci emphasized the 'microcorporatist'

Cambridge Economic History of

aspect of this compromise (within each firm),

ial institutions. In

Europe,

vol. !,eh. 4.

while Henri de Man concentrated on the possibility

Duby, G. 1974:

The Early Growth of the European Econ­ omy: Warriors and Peasants from the Seventh to the Twelfth Century. Lyon, B. 1972: The Origins of the Middle Ages: Pirenne's Challenge to Gibbon. Stephenson, C. 1969: Medieval Feudalism, chs I, 2 and 5. Strayer,J. R. 1971: The two levels of feudalism. In

Medi­

of a 'macrocorporatism' at the level of society (see also

CORPORATISM).

This was the time of the Great Depression, when fascists, social democrats and communists were criticizing the 'anarchy of the capitalist market', or, as Karl Pohinyi said, 'the domination of a self­ regulating market over society'. Macrocorporatism was on the agenda of all these antiliberal tendencies,

eval Statecraft and the Perspectives ofHistory. Webber, C. and Wildavsky, A. 1986: Finance in private

and in fact Henri de Man ended as a fascist.

A History of Taxation and Expenditure in the Western World.

But after World War II, the 'social democratic

CAROLYN WEBBER AND AARON WILDAVSKY

Roosevelt's liberating armies. Through the New

governments of medieval Europe: poor kings. In

solution' and the 'American way of life' became hegemonic in the West under the sway of President Deal in the USA, the Front Populaire in France,

film

See

CINEMA

the implementation of the Beveridge report in Britain, the successes of social democracy in Scan­

Fordism and post-Fordism

The term Ford­

dinavia, macrocorporatism was stabilized by the

ism was coined in the 1930s by the Italian Marxist

formalization of the Fordist compromise between

Antonio Gramsci and by the Belgian socialist Henri

management and the trade unions, under the aus­

de Man to refer to an interpretation of the writings

pices of the state. Social legislation was system­

of the car manufacturer Henry Ford as formulating

atized,

the premises for a major change in capitalist civil­

bargaining generalized. This compromise resulted

the

welfare

state

extended,

collective

ization. In the 1960s, the term was rediscovered by

in a 20-year boom in productivity, investment and

a number of Italian Marxists (R. Panzieri, M.

purchasing power.

Tronti, A. Negri) and then by the French regula­

Fordism is thus a kind of 'hierarchical holism'.

tion school (M. Aglietta, R. Boyer, B. Coriat, A.

Society secures for everyone participation in col­

Lipietz) as a name for the model of economic de­

lective work, and shares the benefits among all.

velopment actually established in advanced capital­

But this 'society' is organized by private or civil

ist countries after World War II. Ford had insisted

'managers' constructing the world according to

on two major points. First he emphasized the in­

their 'science'. In this respect, Fordism is con­

dustrial paradigm that he had implemented in his

nected with 'modernity', as a bureaucratic style in

factory, where he not only developed the principles

governance and as a rationalist style in urbanism.

of 'scientific management' first proposed by F.

However, contrary to Stalinism or fascism, the glory

Taylor - a systematization, by the design

of Fordism lies not in its collective achievements

of

240

FORMALISM

but in a general access to mass private consumption.

Linguistic Circle was formed in 1915, and included

Hence it paved the way to the AFFLUENT SOCIETY, a

Roman Jakobson, Osip Brik, and Boris Toma­

form of generalized individualism controlled by

shevsky. The complementary Petersburg group,

advertisement and regulation.

which founded the Society for the Study of Poetic

In the 1970s, the economic crises of Fordism

Language

(Opoiyaz) in

1916,

had

among

its

proceeded both from its 'Taylorian' aspect and

members Viktor Shklovsky, Boris Eichenbaum,

from its 'regulated' aspect. Taylorian principles

and Vladimir Mayakovsky. The formalist groups

proved less effective with new information tech­

shared the major project of establishing a strictly

nologies, and the internationalization of the econ­

scientific poetics, beginning with the demolition

omy made state regulation more difficult. Hence, in

of some standard critical principles and approaches.

the 1980s, the search for a 'post-Fordism', which

There could be no further place for the concept

was conceived at first as an inversion of Fordism:

of the artist-as-genius, for notions of authorial

craft

and

control, expressiveness, or intuitive presence. The

mass production, flexibility instead of strict regula­

biographical and psychological studies, along with

tion. This is the 'flexible specialization' (Piore and

the philosophical and the impressionistic, became

specialization

instead

of

Taylorism

Sabel, 1984) conception of post-Fordism, which

irrelevant. Works could not be identified in terms of

inspires some left-wing thinkers in the Anglo­

ideas, thoughts, propositions or themes.

Saxon world, and also the 'postmodernist' styles

The task the formalists set themselves was to

and ideologies (see also MODERNISM AND POSTMOD­

specify, by detailed analysis, exactly what was

ERNISM). But it is strongly criticized as abandoning

to constitute a 'literary fact', distinguishing litera­

the rights that labour had gained under Fordism. On

ture from any spoken or non-literary language, seen

the European continent, it is emphasized that 'spe­

as automatized, cliche-ridden, blunt, rigidified.

cialized skills' imply rigidity of the wage contract,

They proposed no one single position or fixed doc­

and that 'flexibility' fosters deskilling. Thus, there

trine, but all shared this founding assumption about

exist opposed conceptions of the way out of the crisis

poetic language. It is quite other than 'natural'

of Fordism, several 'post-Fordisms'. History is still

language, everyday speech, and not to be taken

open at the beginning of the twenty-first century,

as some mere variation. It is a complete, self­

but the more 'flexible' capitalist countries (Britain,

contained system on its own, with its own forms,

USA) seem

by

codes, and self-regulating laws. One exceptional

the more 'organized' and 'skilled' ones 0apan,

characteristic quality is its self-referentiality, its

Germany).

power to draw attention to itself. All the compon­

to

be

industrially

dominated

See also CAPITALISM.

ents of poetic writing, its units, patterns, forms and techniques, are directed towards this play of lan­

Reading

guage, a self-delighting awareness of expression to

Hall, S. and Jacques, M. eds 1991: The Changing Face of Politics in the 1990s. Harvey, D. 1989: The Condition ofPostmodernity: an En­ quiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Lipietz, A 1987: Mirages and Miracles: the Crises of Global Fordism. --

1991:

Choosing Audacity: an Alternative for the

which all other features are subordinate. The aes­ thetic function is not identifiable with the commu­ nicative, but prior and superior to it. 0akobson's commentary on Shakespeare's Sonnet 129 brilli­ antly exemplifies this approach.) The research into 'literariness' had produced handsome results with poetry. Formulating a styl­

Twenty-first Century. Piore, M. and Sabel, C. 1984: The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity.

istics from this work, the Moscow and Petersburg critics boldly went on to apply its principles to

Po1:inyi, K. 1944: The Great Transformation: the Political and Economic Origins ofour Time.

ALAIN LIPIETZ

prose. Shklovsky's Theory of Prose of 1929 was the manifesto. The thrust of all the critique of language had, of course, been directed against mimesis, against all notions of representation, of language

The groups of young progressive

as transparent, as directly mediating an external

Russian writers, artists, and critics who started to

reality. The application of formalist principles to

challenge the cultural values and aesthetic theories

narrative prose is seen in the work of Eichenbaum

of traditional Realists and Romantics became

and Shklovsky. Gogol's tales, such as The Overcoat,

known, pejoratively, as formalists. The Moscow

are treated as a sophisticated play of discrepant

formalism

FRANKFURT SCHOOL styles,

a

baring

of

the

devices

operating

m

the artistic process. The extended analyses of Laurence Sterne's

Don Quixote

Tristram Shandy and Cervantes'

by Viktor Shklovsky take Eichen­

241

Reading Bann, S. and Boult, J. E. eds 1973: Russian Formalism. Bennett, T. 1979: Formalism and Marxism. Jameson, F. 1972: The Prison-House of Language: a Crit­

baum's method to its limits. Paradoxically, Sterne

ical Account ofStructuralism and Russian Formalism.

is said to have composed 'the most typical novel

Lemon, L. T. and Reis, M. J. eds 1965: Russian Formalist

in world literature', since 'literature without sub­ ject-matter' is the formalists' definition of what qualifies as literature. Similarly, the

humour,

the character contrasts, the entertaining events, the pathos and resolutions of Cervantes's novel

Criticism: Four Essays.

Matejka, L. and Pomorska,

K.

eds

1971: Readings in

Russian Poetics: Formalist and Structuralist Views.

Pike,

C.

ed.

1979: The Futurists, the Formalists and the

Marxist Critique.

FRANK GLOVERSMITH

have to be seen as almost inadvertently produced, incidental to the parodic exposure of chivalric romance.

Frankfurt school

Among the attempts made

The formalists' account of literary evolution at­

during the period between the two world wars to

tributes change to development tendencies within

develop Marxist thought, the critical theory of the

LITERATURE itself, and to the passage of time. On

Frankfurt school occupies a prominent place. What

this account, the succession is not particularly

initially distinguished it was not so much its theor­

causal, since older, earlier forms could return with

etical principles, but its methodological objectives,

the same effect in disturbing the settled or canonical

which were the result of an unreserved acknow­

forms. As in the evolution of the genre, so in the

ledgement of the empirical sciences. One of its

internal formal shaping of the particular text. There

primary goals was the systematic incorporation of

emerges, from the processes of defamiliarization,

all social scientific research disciplines into a materi­

the peculiar and uniquely fresh awareness that

alistic theory of society, thus facilitating a cross­

breaks stock responses and habits of perception.

fertilization of academic social science and Marxist

Texts effecting this shock of the new have the

theory.

quality of 'literariness'. Shklovsky concludes: 'Art

The idea of an interdisciplinary extension of

is a means of re-experiencing the making of objects,

Marxism had matured during the 1920s in the

but objects already made have no importance for

thinking of Max Horkheimer, who recognized the

art.' The elusiveness of the 'object' (thing, content

value of the empirical sciences (Korthals, 1985).

or subject) in formalist explications is akin to the

When he succeeded Car! Gri.inberg as Director of

elusiveness of the non-object, 'literariness', the ul­

the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research in 1930,

timate quality that is to be defined. In so far as the

he used his inaugural address to introduce publicly

conventions and literary forms are the target, then

the programme of a critical theory of society (Hork­

the concept tends to be aestheticized (see AESTHET­

heimer, ed. Brede,

ICS), confined to literary constructions. In so far as it

elaborated this approach, together with Herbert

is ideas, attitudes and values, then extraliterary

Marcuse, in the

objects, ideologies, understanding itself are targets;

journal which was established in 1932 and which

1972). In the following years, he

Zeitschrifi fur Sozialforschung,

the

content returns with a vengeance, and form is

formed the intellectual focus of the Institute's work

returned to the social, to the cultural, to the histor­

until 1941. The fundamental idea of critical theory

ical and the immediately contemporary. Defami­

was to bridge the gap between substantive research

liarization, even when confined to literary codes and

and philosophy, fusing these two branches of know­

conventions, proves to have similar paradoxes. In so

ledge into a single form of reflection modelled on

far as literary norms and canons have necessarily to

the Hegelian philosophy of history. In order to

be subverted, then the concept itself is essentially

accomplish this it was of course necessary to have

relative to what is to be 'made strange'. As the new

a theory of history capable of determining the effec­

production becomes in turn the accepted norm,

tive powers of reason which lie in the historical

then there is no set or range of stable forms in

process itself. The basic assumptions of such a

historical equilibrium, from which the qualities

conception of the philosophy of history were de­

that define 'literariness' can be inferred and articu­

rived by both Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse

lated. The ultimate goal recedes, and the process is

from the tradition of Marxist thought (see MARX­

self-cancelling.

ISM).

242

FRANKFURT SCHOOL

As late as the 1930s, Horkheimer and Marcuse

fascism, the Institute retained the hope for progress

were still defending the classical version of the

inherent in the Marxist conception of history,

Marxist theory of history, according to which the

and even though the idea of a necessarily revolu­

development of the productive forces is assumed to

tionary proletariat had long since been abandoned,

be the central mechanism of social progress (Hork­

the idea of revolution continued to provide a vague

heimer, 1932) and critical theory was now to be

background for critical theory's political under­

incorporated into this historical succession of

standing of its role and its goals (Dubiel, 1978

events as a measure of society's knowledge of itself.

(1985),

As Marcuse, drawing on Horkheimer, put it, crit­

tute's research work as an intellectual form of

ical theory was to make apparent 'the possibilities to

reflection related to the labour movement, because

A.1). Horkheimer still conceived the Insti­

which the historical situation itself has matured'

he clung to a positive conception of the mastery

(1937, p. 647). At the same time, however, Hork­

over nature as a condition for emancipation,

heimer and Marcuse no longer believed that the

allowing the forces of production to be liberated

rationality embodied in the forces of production

from the capitalistic form of their organization. At

in contemporary society was also expressed in

the end of the 1930s, this ideational world finally

the revolutionary consciousness of the proletariat.

and definitively collapsed: in terms of practical

Their works were permeated by an awareness of the

politics through the experience of fascism, Stalin­

fact that, owing to the increasing integration of the

ism and capitalist mass culture joining forces to

working class into the late capitalist system, a

form a totalitarian whole; and in terms of theory

theory based on Marx had lost its social target

through a shift from a positive to a negative model

group. For Horkheimer, the point of reference for

of social labour. The productivistic view of progress

all the Institute's research activity was the question

gave way to a critique of reason that was critical of

of 'how the psychic mechanisms come about which

progress, and called into question the very possibil­

make it possible for tensions between social classes,

ity of changing social relations by means of a polit­

which are forced to become conflicts because of the

ical revolution.

economic situation, to remain latent' (1932, p. 136).

It was Theodor Adorno, however, who was the

Horkheimer's particular achievement was to estab­

foremost representative of this new conception of

lish the research programme of the Institute by

critical theory. His thought was profoundly marked

expressing the overarching question of capitalism's

by the historical experience of fascism as a cata­

new forms of integration in terms of its specific

strophic product of civilization, which had from the

relevance to the empirical disciplines. The pro­

beginning made him sceptical of the historical­

gramme which guided the Institute's work was

materialist ideas of progress. Moreover, his intel­

economic

lectual development had been so strongly shaped by

of the post-liberal phase of capitalism

artistic interests that he was bound to have doubts

sociopsycholo­

about the narrow rationalism of the Marxist theor­

based on a nexus of three disciplines: an

analysis

(undertaken by Friedrich Pollock); a

of the integration of individuals

etical tradition, and under the influence of Waiter

through socialization (by Erich Fromm); and a

Benjamin he made his first attempts to render aes­

gical investigation

of the effects of mass culture,

thetic methods of interpretation fruitful for the

which came to concentrate on the newly emerging

materialist philosophy of history (Buck-Morss,

culture industry (by Theodor W. Adorno and Leo

1977, pp. 43-80).

Lowenthal).

which he wrote with Horkheimer in the early

cultural analysis

The Dialectic of Enlightenment,

However, the idea of interdisciplinary social re­

1940s (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1947), is an ex­

search only exerted a vital, formative influence at

pression of this new intellectual motif in a negative

the institute until the early 1940s. The signs of an

philosophy of history. Totalitarianism could not be

overall shift in orientation were already manifest in

explained as an outcome of the conflict between

the essays which Horkheimer contributed to the

forces of production and relations of production,

Zeitschrifi for Sozialforschung

but was conceived as arising from the internal dy­

final volume of the

(Horkheimer, 1941a and 1941b). This change

namic of the formation of human consciousness.

affected not only the premises of critical theory

Horkheimer and Adorno departed from the frame­

based on the philosophy of history, but also its

work given by the theory of capitalism and now

perception of its own political role and objectives.

presupposed the process of civilization as a whole

During the 1930s, despite resignation in the face of

as the system of reference underpinning their argu-

FRANKFURT SCHOOL

243

ment. In this context fascism appeared as the final

which stood the overarching process of communi­

historical stage of a 'logic of decay' which is inherent

cation between the social groups.

in the original form of existence of the species itself.

When the Institute was reopened in Frankfurt

The process of civilization took the form of a spiral

in 1950, it resumed its research activity without

of increasing REIFICATION which was set in motion

any direct continuation of the social-philosophical

by the original acts of subjugating nature and

outlook of the 1930s and 1940s (Wiggershaus, 1986,

reached its logical conclusion in fascism. One con­

pp. 479-520). This was the point at which critical

clusion which The Dialectic ofEnlightenment forces

theory ceased to be a unified, philosophically homo­

us to draw (Habermas, 1985, eh. 5) is the denial of

geneous school of thought. However, the idea of

any dimension of progress in civilization other than

a 'totally administered world' did initially still

that which is manifested in an intensification of

represent a reference point for its work in social

the forces of production. A second conclusion is

philosophy. This idea runs like a leitmotif through

that every form of political praxis is control­

the critique of civilization in the studies of Hor­

oriented action, so that they had to exclude it in

kheimer, Adorno and Marcuse. There was no

principle from the range of positive alternatives.

departure from the philosophical premises of this

The Institute's innermost circle of researchers

diagnosis of contemporary society until a new ap­

were thus deprived once and for all of the possibi­

proach was formulated by Ji.irgen Habermas who,

lity of situating their own research activity in real

although he was a product of the Institute, had

politics. An alternative to such negativistic theoretical

a very different theoretical background and orien­ tation. In the development ofHabermas's thought,

models would have been the approach of Franz

philosophical anthropology,HERMENEUTICS, PRAG­

Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer, who belonged,

MATISM and finally linguistic analysis brought the­

together with Waiter Benjamin and later also Erich

oretical currents to the fore which had always been

Fromm, to a group who were only temporarily or

regarded as alien, indeed hostile, by the older gen­

indirectly associated with the Institute. This might

eration

have called into question that image of a 'totally

Nevertheless, Habermas's works gradually led to

surrounding

Adorno

and Horkheimer.

administered society', which necessarily led to the

the formation of a theory which was unmistakably

cui-de-sac of political abstentionism. During their

motivated by the original objectives of critical

period of exile in New York, Neumann and Kirch­

theory, and is founded on an insight into the lin­

heimer contributed to the Institute's work by con­

guistic intersubjectivity of social action. Habermas

ducting research into legal theory and theories of

arrived at this central premise through his concern

the state, and they put forward an analysis of fas­

with hermeneutic philosophy and Wittgenstein's

cism whose explanatory power was superior to the

analysis of language, from which he learned that

theory of state capitalism (Wilson, 1982). They

human subjects have always been bound to one

recognized that social integration does not simply

another by the medium of reaching understanding

take place via the persistently unconscious fulfil­

through language. This is therefore a fundamental,

ment of the functional imperatives of society, but

inescapable prerequisite for the reproduction of

rather via political communication between social

social life.

groups. Their active participation in the class con­

It was via this route that he also arrived at a

flicts which characterized the Weimar republic led

critique of Marxism, the result of which was

them to a realistic assessment of the 'ratio of power

a conception of history that had been expanded to

of social interests'; they saw that the power poten­

include the dimension of a theory of action. If the

tial which evolves from private capitalist control

life-form of the human being is distinguished by

over the means of production could not be overesti­

the medium of reaching understanding through

mated. Finally, their acquaintance with AusTRO­

language, then social reproduction cannot be re­

MARXISM made them aware that social orders as a

duced to the single dimension of labour, as Marx

whole are characterized by compromise. The insti­

had reduced it in his theoretical writings. Rather,

tutional structures of a society are to be understood

in addition to the activity of dominating nature,

as momentary fixations of agreements reached

the practice of linguistically mediated interac­

within society by the various interest groups in

tion must be regarded as an equally fundamental

accordance with their respective power potentials.

dimension of historical development (Habermas,

All of this formed a model of society at the centre of

1968).

244

FREEDOM

However, the decisive step which led to Haber­

signifies the absence of 'unnecessary or hurtful re­

mas's own theory of society was not taken until the

straint' (Lewis, 1832, p. 154), or more broadly, of

two action concepts of 'labour' and 'interaction'

'the deliberate interference of other human beings

were associated with different categories of rational­

within the area in which I could otherwise act'

ity. In the subsystems of purposive-rational action

(Berlin, 1958, p. 122), and from this it follows that

into which the tasks of social labour and political

freedom is greater where there is less restraint or

administration are organized, the species evolves

interference. This is the primary sense in which

through the accumulation of technical and strategic

freedom (above all vis d vis governments) was under­

knowledge; while within the institutional frame­

stood by liberal thinkers such as]. S. Mill and Alexis

work in which the socially integrating norms are

de Tocqueville in the nineteenth century, and by

reproduced, the species evolves through liberation

their successors in the twentieth century. All of

from all constraints which inhibit communication

them recognized, however, that some restrictions,

(Habermas, 1968). All the extensions to his theory

established mainly by law, are necessary in the

which Habermas undertook in the course of the

interests of social cohesion, justice and other values,

1970s follow the lines of this model of society, in

though they differed greatly in their views of how

which action systems organized according to pur­

much restraint is required or is tolerable, and pre­

posive-rational criteria are distinguished from a

sent-day libertarians (such as Hayek, 1973-9) argue

sphere of communicative everyday practice. In the

strongly for a severe curtailment of restrictive legis­

Theory of Communicative Action (1981) this pro­

lation and the activities of government.

gramme was presented in systematic form for the

The positive sense of freedom was defined by

first time. The fruits of the various studies are here

Lewis (pp. 151-2) as signifying the possession of

consolidated into a single theory in which the ra­

'rights the enjoyment of which is beneficial to the

tionality of communicative action is reconstructed

possessor of them', and this formulation has a very

in the framework of a theory of the speech act,

modern ring, for recent discussions of positive free­

further developed into the basis for a theory of

dom have frequently invoked the notion of CITI­ involving the establishment of a wide

society by reviewing the history of sociological

ZENSHIP,

theory from Max Weber to Talcott Parsons, and

range of civil, political and social rights. The

finally made into the point of reference for a critical

growth of freedom is then conceived as a develop­

diagnosis of contemporary society. The results of

ment of citizenship. Underlying such a conception

the discussion which this work has provoked will

is the view that if freedom is not to be merely an

decide the future of critical theory (Honneth and

abstract and empty notion, then conditions must

Joas, 1991).

exist in which individuals can actually exercise their

Reading

self-realization and self-direction of which they are

Arato, A. and Gebhardt, E. eds 1978: The Essential Frank-

capable.

freedom in order to achieve the maximum degree of

furt School Reader.

In relation to these issues there is a further dis­

Benhabib, S. 1986: Critique, Norm and Utopia.

tinction to be made between individual freedom

Bottomore, T. 1984: The Frankfurt School.

and what may be termed collective freedom. Na­

Buck-Morss, S. 1977: The Origin of Negative Dialectics. Held, D. 1980: Introduction to Critical Theory. Horkheimer, M. 1968 (1972): Critical Theory. Jay, M. 1973: The Dialectical Imagination: a History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research 1923-SO.

tional liberation or independence movements, class movements, women's movements and others aim to secure greater freedom, in a specific sense, for whole categories of people, though this is of course related to the achievement of certain kinds of indi­

Wellmer, A. 1969 (1974): Critical Theory of Society.

vidual freedom. Such phenomena make evident the

Wiggershaus, R. 1986 (1994): The Frankfurt School.

fact that freedom in its most universal sense

AXEL HONNETH

depends on a complex of social institutions which

A concept which has been interpreted

beings are not 'born free'; they are born into a

constitute a particular type of social order. Human freedom

in diverse ways in very varied social doctrines. An

pre-existing network of social relationships, as sub­

initial distinction may be made between what have

jects of an empire, or members of a tribe or nation,

been called 'negative' and 'positive' conceptions of

of a caste or class, a gender, a religious community;

individual freedom. In its negative sense freedom

and the limits of their freedom are conditioned by

FUNCTIONALISM

245

these circumstances. But they are not wholly deter­

realization and self-direction, likewise varying with

mined thereby, for individuals and groups can and

social circumstances, are critically examined.

do struggle for greater freedom, all the more suc­ cessfully as human productive powers and the

Reading

wealth of society increase. In modern societies,

Berlin, I. 1958

and particularly in the twentieth century, there has undoubtedly been, in spite of numerous retro­ grade movements, a considerable enlargement of freedom as a result of the acquisition of civil, polit­ ical and social rights on a much broader scale.

(1969): Two concepts of1iberty. In Four Essays on Liberty. Hayek, F. A. 1973-9 (1982): Law, Legislation and Liberty. Mill,]. S. 1859 (1991): On Liberty. In On Liberty and Other Essays. Ryan, A. ed. 1979: The Idea ofFreedom. TOM BOTTOMORE

These gains are the outcome of many collective struggles, for universal suffrage, the economic and

This brand of analysis in the

social rights of women, liberation from colonial rule

functionalism

and from various forms of political dictatorship.

social sciences refers to a methodological and the­

But it may also be argued that the extension of

oretical orientation in which the consequences of a

social rights in particular, in modern democratic

given set of empirical phenomena, rather than its

welfare states, has been attained at the cost of

causes, are the focus of analytical attention. The

greatly increased government intervention and

term has been applied to a variety of divergent

regulation, and a growth of bureaucracy, which

approaches, but the common element they share is

themselves constitute new limitations on the free­

a focus on the relations of one part of society to

dom of the individual. One principal source of such

another, and perhaps more frequently to the whole

views is Max Weber's exposition of the processes of

society. Causal and functional analysis are two dis­

rationalization and bureaucratization of life in

tinct approaches that need not be in competition

modern industrial societies, which he argued tend

with each other.

to undermine the autonomy and integrity of the

Functional analysis emerged from the attempt to

individual (see Liiwith, 1932; Mommsen, 1974).

use in social analysis notions first developed in the

These are not, however, the only issues which

biological realm. This mode of methodological

arise in considering how social changes that are

reasoning was pioneered by Emile Durkheim in

intended to promote freedom may, while initially

France and by Herbert Spencer in Britain. The

accomplishing their aims in one sphere, create new

Durkheimian strain was further developed by the

restrictions in others.

anthropologists A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Bronis­

Revolutions and radical

reforms, conceived as emancipatory, have fre­

law Malinowski in Britain, and by Talcott Parsons,

quently led to dictatorial regimes, while in demo­

Robert K. Merton and their disciples in the United

cratic societies the danger always exists of that

States. Functionalism dominated American soci­

tyranny of the majority which Mill analysed.

ology from the war years to the middle of the

More generally, it is evident that the liberty of

1960s but has since been subject to a variety of

individuals or groups always involves, or is likely to

attacks that led to loss of its former dominance,

involve, some limitation of the liberty of others -

and it never assumed major importance in Europe.

the most extreme statement of this idea beingJean­

A few examples will show the nature of this

Paul Sartre's dictum that 'hell is other people'.

approach. If one wishes to analyse marital patterns

Human life is necessarily social, and liberty can

in Western society, one may try to account for them

best be conceived as a continually changing balance

through an analysis of, say, Christian ideas of mar­

between the competing claims of individuals and

riage as they developed from the days of Saint Paul

groups within an inclusive society, the boundaries

to the pronouncements of the current Pope. But

of which may also expand as human rights are

one may also raise a different sort of question. For

asserted on a global scale. Hence a conceptual an­

example: why have monogamous marriage systems

alysis of freedom needs to be undertaken in the

been dominant in the Western world for a very long

framework of broader social theories, where both

time? In this case a satisfying answer must not only

the negative sense of freedom, concerned with

focus attention on the history of the modern West­

those forces which restrict individuals, in different

ern family system but needs, in addition, to account

ways and degrees according to their social position,

for its persistence over a very long stretch of West­

and its positive sense, of the possibilities for self-

ern history. This is best addressed by comparing

246

FUNCTIONALISM

such a family system with other family systems and

drug use for the mobility patterns of a particular

investigating its consequences for the wider frame­

minority.

work of Western society and for specific elements

There has been an unfortunate tendency among some functional analysts to assume that any item

within it. Systematic search for the social consequences of

that contributes to the maintenance of a larger

a given set of phenomena should be distinguished

whole is therefore a positive factor. But only those

from another 'forward-looking' notion in the social

with a conservative bias assume that what exists is

sciences: that of purpose. While the latter refers

necessarily desirable. Such conservative bias can be

to conscious motivations of one or more actors,

avoided if it is pointed out that it is possible to focus

the former is used to investigate consequences of

on alternatives which may have positive functions

which the actor may not be conscious. Such a

for a given item and yet are not tied to a set of

distinction was first formulated by Robert K. Mer­

undesirable consequences. Thus, while magic may

ton when he introduced a distinction between

give actors a sense of security in an environment

manifest and latent (that is unconscious) functions,

that is unpredictable, it is also true that insurance

as in the following examples. All societies have rules

policies may have the same consequences as one

of inheritance which determine who is to inherit

moves from a tribal to a modern society. Attention

what. Functional analysis is not interested in the

to alternative functions prevents analysis being tied

historical development of such rules, but rather

to conservative ideology.

turns the focus of inquiry to a consideration of the

Another conservative bias may be introduced

differential societal impact of different systems

into functional analysis if analytical attention is

of inheritance. It investigates, for example, the sali­

limited to positive functions. Merton distinguishes

ent consequences of systems of primogeniture and

between functions and dysfunctions. He shows

of systems that favour an equal partition among

moreover that given items under analysis may

sons and daughters; or of systems that provide for

have functional or dysfunctional consequences for

the

different parts of a social system. For example,

mother's, or the will of the testator. Each one of

patterns of individual mobility in an industrial so­

succession

through

the

father's

line,

or

these different systems of inheritance has strong

ciety might be strengthened by giving financial

structural consequences in as far as it leads, for

assistance to promising lower-class youngsters,

example, to concentration or dispersal of family

allowing them to attend superior high schools or

wealth. The concept of latent function extends

college. But such 'creaming off' of promising lower­

attention beyond the question of whether behav­

class students is likely to deplete the pool of able

iour attains the purpose of the actors, and directs

leaders for a labour party or trade union. When the

attention to ranges of consequences of behaviour of

dysfunction of a particular item becomes obvious,

which the actors are unaware and which they did

this may encourage reform-minded social scientists

not anticipate. In particular, behaviours that strike

and laymen to envisage alternative modes of organ­

the observer as irrational and senseless may turn

ization.

out, in the light of functional analysis, to have

As is often the case in the history of science when

important consequences. While rain dances are

a new approach, method or theory has been pub­

not likely to change the weather, they may well

lished, those introduced to it seem to feel that it

contribute to the raising of the morale of a group

would explain everything under the sun. The early

that is demoralized by an extended period of

Freudians tended to see sexual symbolism in Zep­

drought.

pelins or Havana cigars, and the early functional

Many social scientists, in particular anthropolo­

analysts believed that everything must necessarily

gists, have focused their major attention on the

have a function. This simple faith retains few wor­

consequences of a particular social fact for the

shippers today. Just as medicine is aware that there

wider structure in which it is embedded. It would

are parts of the anatomy, such as the appendix, that

seem, however, that an equally fruitful analytical

have no discernible functions, so most functional­

strategy would be to trace the consequences of a

ists now know that there are parts of the body social

given item for another such item within a larger

that seem no longer to have a function, or may never

whole. This perspective suggests, for example, that

have had a function.

it is likely to be fruitful to analyse the impact of a

Another approach to functional analysis, the no­

depression on the birthrate, or the consequences of

tion of functional prerequisites, enjoyed a good deal

FUNDAMENTALISM of attention a decade or two ago but seems since to have been rather neglected. The notion of pre­ requisites suggests that any social system needs to meet certain indispensable functions if it is to sur­ vive. The focus of attention here is on the precon­

Durkheim, E. 1895

247

(1938): The Rules of Sociological

Method. Giddens, A. 1977: Functionalism: apres la lutte. In Studies

in Social and Political Theory. Navaho Witchcraft.

Kluckhohn, Clyde 1944:

Malinowski, B. 1944: The functional theory. In A

often been followed up by the idea that a particular

Scien­ tific Theory of Culture and other Essays. Merton, R. K. 1949 (1968): Social Theory and Social Structure, enlarged edn. Parsons, T. 1951: The Social System.

existing item is a functional prerequisite, and this is

Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1952: On the concept of function

ditions and functional prerequisites for a society. This seems a however,

this

valuable notion. unobjectionable

Unfortunately, proposition

has

a highly questionable notion. Not only is attention

in social science. In

turned away from the alternative structures, but it

Society.

is also argued that specific cultural items must

Structure and Function in Primitive

Stinchcombe, A. 1968:

Constructing Social Theories. LEWIS A. COSER

be operative if the system is to survive. So, for example, religion has been said to be a functional requirement for the maintenance of solidarity in a

fundamentalism

society. Such a proposition can only be maintained

ence to a variety of conservative Protestantism,

by arguing either that formally non-religious cul­

more particularly in the United States, the term in

Beginning its life with refer­

tural institutions are actually of a religious character

its contemporary use is loosely extended to include

(for instance, that communism is really a religion)

varieties of conservative Islam and conservative

or that religion is indeed an indispensable and ir­

Judaism, and ought to include the kind of militant

replaceable institution, which has not been shown

and dogmatic Catholicism found in the Opus Dei

to be the case. Analysts arguing along these lines

movement.

have never convincingly established that religion is the irreplaceable cement to glue society together.

Christian

fundamentalism

had

originally

to

do with specifically designated fundamentals of

Moreover, many lists that have been compiled

belief, which included the inerrancy of the Bible

by authors upholding this point of view turn out

as well as the Virgin Birth and the Atonement. As a

on inspection to be not much more than lists of

movement fundamentalism represents one major

items, such as food production and sexual regula­

response to liberal Protestantism. Liberal Protest­

tion, that are indeed part of society by definition. It

ants accepted a higher critical approach to the Bible

seems of limited value to insist that people must

and adopted a flexible hermeneutic, with all that

indeed have something to eat if the society is to

implies with respect to modernization and relativ­

survive.

ization. From the liberal viewpoint, Christianity

Functional analysis is at present very much on

had ceased to be a unique and final revelation de­

the defensive in the United States and also in

livered to mankind in the Bible, but was rather an

Europe. Yet it is also a fact that much sociological

evolving awareness of the divine existing alongside

writing continues to use functional logic and

other spiritual resources generated by other faiths.

reasoning but without doing so explicitly. Moliere's

Liberalism in this mode was necessarily on the

character M. Jourdain did not know that he had

move, usually in a direction further away from

always been talking prose, and many members of

orthodoxy, whereas fundamentalism saw itself as

the sociological guild do not know, or do not want

standing by 'the faith once-for-all delivered to the

their readers to know, that they are really using

saints'. Typically fundamentalists held to the literal

functional analysis. Only the future will show whether functional

truth and precise historicity of the Bible, and to

analysis is indeed a requisite of a sophisticated

the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as some­

sociology.

how bound up in literalism. They rejected Darwin along with modern scientific accounts of the origins

See also STRUCTURALISM; TELEOLOGY.

of the cosmos and the usual understandings of the fossil record. Much of English Protestantism, even

Reading Davis, K. 1949:

of a conservative kind, absorbed evolution and

Human Society.

Demerath, N. J. and Peterson, R. A. eds 1967:

Change and Conflict.

System,

modern cosmology, even though there were some intellectual tragedies, for example the distinguished

248

FUTUROLOGY

marine biologist Philip Gosse, who had to circum­

Fundamentalism in Europe also seems only inci­

vent his own evidence. But in the United States

dental, whether it is part of Pentecostalism or older

there developed a closer interpenetration, espe­

forms of pietism, evangelicalism and revivalism.

cially in the South, of moral conservatism, funda­

That is to say there are layers of religious conserva­

mentalism and cultural defence. Perhaps this was in

tism in, for instance, western Norway, north-east

part because there is more room in the United

Holland,

States for the creation of networks of institutions

Northern Ireland, which do not place fundamental­

outside the educational heartlands controlled by the

ism in the front line of their cultural defence. There

northern Jutland,

nothern

Scotland,

liberal intelligentsia (and their allies in the liberal

are also minor political parties in much of nothern

clergy). So though the fundamentalist cause was

Europe devoted to traditional religious MoRALITY.

set back in 1925 by the adverse publicity attending

Parallel movements of religious conservatism have

the trial of John Scopes for illegally teaching evolu­

arisen of recent years inside most of the established

tion, it managed to reinforce its institutional de­

churches, and some of these are charismatic in

fences and has re-emerged a generation or so later

emphasis. But again, their conservatism is more

in alliance with several varieties of moral, theo­

linked to devotional attitude and moral discipline

logical, cultural and political conservatism.

than to strictly fundamentalist views of the Bible.

In

some areas fundamentalists acquired enough clout

Clearly, Christian fundamentalism is just one

to ensure that 'creationism' was taught in schools

element in a massive shift towards conservative

alongside other accounts. (Creationism is itself very

and evangelical versions of the faith. It runs parallel

varied, ranging from the standard view of God as

to a comparable shift in the Islamic world, more

Creator to a periodization based on the Book of

particularly among Shi'ites. In one sense IsLAM is

Genesis to a strict adherence to the narratives in

inherently fundamentalist given the emphasis on

Genesis 1 and 2). It is worth emphasizing that the

the perfect Word of God finally embodied in the

public profile and internal cohesiveness of funda­

Qur'an. Alongside this, as one of the 'fundamentals'

mentalism has been strengthened by religious tele­

oflslam, is the promotion oflslam and Islamic law

vision and radio, and by 'Christian' schools which

as a complete way of life encompassing the state

help create an all-encompassing 'plausibility struc­

wherever power and numbers allow. The the­

Such clout as fundamentalists achieved

ocratic ambitions of Islam are in sharp contrast to

through participation in the Moral Majority in­

the modest pressure group activity of conservative

volved novel alliances with conservatives of other

Protestants, although there are parts of Africa, such

faiths.

as Zambia, where ideas of a Christian society are

ture'.

Many commentators see fundamentalism just as

promoted. In contemporary usage, a 'fundamental­

a reaction and as a case of what Steve Bruce has

ist' Muslim is either linked to one of the conserva­

called 'cultural short trousers' (1990). However,

tive movements or else simply characterized by

this view is too biased towards the liberal under­

militancy and fanaticism. Certainly this kind of

standing of the matter. Religious conservatives may

militancy is part of a reaction to the freeing of

be engaged in a form of cultural defence but they

many Christian societies from Muslim (mainly Ot­

exist easily in the commercial and technical world

toman) colonialism and the advance of Western

without their neighbours noting any marked oddity

culture and colonialism, including in that advance

or backwardness. In any case, the main conservative

secularity and pluralism, into the Islamic world.

denomination, the Southern Baptists, is expanding where most liberal denominations are contracting,

Reading

and Pentecostalism is part of a worldwide move­

Bruce, S. 2000: Fundamentalism.

ment making astonishing progress in Latin Amer­

Marsden, G. 1982: Fundamentalism and American culture:

ica (compare, here, LIBERATION THEOLOGY) , the

the Shaping of Twentieth-century Evangelicalism, 1870-

Caribbean, parts of Africa, South Korea, and the Pacific rim. It is interesting that Pentecostalism is only incidentally fundamentalist rather than taking

1925. Martin, D. A. 1990: Tongues of Fire: the Explosion of Conservative Protestantism in Latin America.

DAVID A. MARTIN

off from the fundamentalist premise. Pentecostals treat the Bible in a conservative manner, but their raison d 'etre turns on the gifts of the Spirit, and on

futurology

healing and exorcism.

minent in the 1960s and 1970s to describe system-

The term 'futurology' became pro­

FUTUROLOGY atic efforts to examine long-term prospects for

249

Daniel Bell and other writers on topics such as

world development. Those involved in the devel­

automation and

opment and application of methods for such a task

cantly, application of futurological methods and

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY.

(Signifi­

now typically prefer terms such as 'futures studies',

associated planning and systems analysis tools,

'prospectives' and 'foresight'.

was here portrayed as a way for postindustrial soci­

Early in the twentieth century, several influential commentators made the case for in-depth and rig­

eties to guide their own progress and avoid eco­ nomic and political crises.)

orous thinking about the future. Thus H. G. Wells

In Europe this period also saw efforts to consoli­

asked why there were no professors of foresight,

date thinking about the future, with new bodies

when there were so many of history, in British

being founded and major reports being prepared.

universities. The period between the two World

In contrast to mainstream US work, the European

Wars (with its dampening of uncritical expectations

'futures movement' was rather more questioning

of social progress) featured much speculation about

about future progress - for example, European

future developments. A series of books published

writers on postindustrial society tended to be less

by Kegan Paul in the UK invited well-known intel­

confident as to the absence of socioeconomic con­

lectuals to speculate about the future, using the

flict and the end of ideology. Ossip Flechtheim, a

implicit methodology of 'genius futurology' -

German researcher who sought visions of a future

hoping that a sufficiently insightful and well­

distinct from those represented by American capit­

educated individual can use a mixture of intuition

alism and Soviet socialism, coined the term 'futur­

and expert analysis to identify important future

ology' itself. Ironically, the futurological studies

developments. A step beyond this was taken in the

emanating from the former Soviet Union in many

USA: in examining social trends and their conse­

respects mirrored the social and technological opti­

quences, William F. Ogburn and colleagues laid the

mism of their US counterparts, reversing the

foundation for later work on trend extrapolation,

superpowers' roles as progressive and reactionary

social indicators and technology assessment. They

forces. East European studies, by contrast, tended

also tended to endorse a technologically determin­

to be more guarded.

istic view: the future seen as featuring 'cultural lags' in adaptation to technological change. In the 1960s these foundations were built on

'Futurology' became briefly popular to describe these pioneering efforts to think systematically about the long-term future. Despite having entered

extensively, especially in military-associated US

public

'think tanks'. Almost as soon as World War II had

those working in this field. It is seen as making

consciousness,

it

is

often

rejected

by

concluded, the US army instituted long-range

spurious claims to scientific knowledge of the

technological forecasting exercises: multidisciplin­

future. In contrast, terms like 'futures studies'

ary organizations like the RAND Corporation

give more of a sense of alternative futures, of

became centres where academics could share ideas

a field that is open to nonscientists, of scope

with members of the military-industrial complex.

for

Efforts at assessing military and geopolitical contin­

than merely discovering them by technical means.

(participating

in)

creating

futures

rather

gencies resulted in the creation of a number of

'Futurology' is seen as being too closely associated

influential approaches to forecasting - more sophis­

with its origins in Cold War America, as carrying

ticated methods of trend extrapolation, methods

too much baggage (e.g. technological determinism,

of eliciting expert opinion such as the Delphi

technocratic approaches). It is not a term used in the

and cross-impact methods, group brainstorming,

titles of major professional bodies or journals in

gaming and scenario analysis. (Probably the only

the field: respectively the World Futures Society

substantial addition, since the 1960s to this ar­

and the World Futures Studies Federation; and

moury of methods is computer simulation.) These approaches were marketed by consultants and taken up by large corporations and government

Foresight, Futures, Futures Research Quarterly and Futuribles (together with the more popular The Futurist).

agencies concerned with their uncertain future op­

Whatever label is used, such approaches are

erating environments. They were also popularized

differentiated from more conventional forecasting.

through widely read and controversial books by the

Forecasting is seen as typically being short-term,

Herman Kahn and other think tank researchers.

concerned with the extrapolation of trends and

Parallel scholarly work appeared in the studies by

other 'surprise-free' developments, as trying to

250

FUTUROLOGY

predict or plan some feature of the future. It is

able revival of activity under the banner of 'Fore­

examines specific, restricted aspects of economic,

sight'.

environmental, social or technological develop­

forecasting future technologies, and using the fore­

ment. Futures studies, in contrast, are typically

casting process to reinforce innovation networks,

claimed to provide more holistic appraisals: even

Foresight was adopted as a major instrument for

Initially

based

on

Japanese

ways

of

when they begin by analysis of trends, they should

informing policy (especially science and technology

examine what forces underlie these, how very

policy) in many countries. What is notable about

interact,

many of these efforts is that, while they may employ

and so on. Scenario analysis is a standard way of

Delphi and other techniques, they seek to use the

describing alternative futures in terms of a large

process of envisioning the future as a social mech­

different

kinds

of

development

may

number of characteristics.

anism to empower networks for exchanging know­

A wave of enthusiasm for futurology in the 1960s

ledge about technologies, markets, social trends,

and early 1970s, during which time many research

environmental problems and the like. In many

groups and associations were established, receded

ways 'Foresight' has now taken up the banner of

somewhat during the subsequent decades. Efforts

'futurology', but with fewer scientific pretensions

to articulate long-term perspectives, and to relate

and more of an orientation to enlist a wide range of

together different dimensions of SociAL CHANGE,

inputs into the policy process.

tended to be compartmentalized within academic disciplines and policy-making specialisms- though some topics, such as those connected with technol­ ogy and employment, and with environmental problems, continued to attract interdisciplinary work. In the 1990s, however, there was a remark-

Reading Bell, W. 1997: Foundations ofFutures Studies. 2 vols. Foresight Programme (OST) 1998 (March): the Future in Focus: A Summary ofNational Foresight Programmes. Fowles, J. ed. 1978: Handbook ofFutures Research.

G game theory

A game is being played by a group

of individuals whenever the fate of an individual in

regardless of whether they are derived from parlour games or from real-life games.

the group depends not only on his own actions, but

The appearance of Von Neumann and Morgen­

also on the actions of the rest of the individuals in

stern's book raised great hopes that were only to be

the group. Chess is the archetypical example.

realized considerably later. The book introduced

Whether White wins, loses or draws depends not only on the moves made by White, but also on the

two approaches to the subject: a non-cooperative approach and a cooperative approach. The most suc­

moves made by Black. Bridge and Poker are further

cessful and satisfying approach is the former since it

examples which have the added interest that lack of

seeks to deduce its conclusions from the theory of

relevant information complicates the player's deci­

rational decision-making by individuals acting in

sion problems.

isolation. However, Von Neumann and Morgen­

The word 'game' is natural for the examples

stern's non-cooperative analysis extended only to

given above. But, for really interesting games,

two-person, zero-sum games in which, whatever

it would not be usual to use the word 'game' in

one player wins, the other loses. Their

ordinary English. Consider, for example, war,

theory for such games is justly celebrated. How­

international treaty negotiations, competition for

ever, few real-life games are zero-sum. Their co­

survival

operative

among

animals

or

for status

among

humans, elections, wage bargaining or the oper­

approach

formation of

was

concerned

minimax

with

the

coalitions. They formulated plausible

ation of market economies. All these activities fall

'axioms' about the coalitional structures that could

within our definition of a 'game'. The usage is not

survive the rational scrutiny of self-interested

meant to imply that wars are fun or that economics

players and explored their consequences.

is entertaining. It simply reflects the discovery

Although the cooperative approach is less satis­

made by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgen­

factory, it held the floor until comparatively re­

stern in their monumental book

The Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour (1944) that both

cently since progress with non-cooperative theory

parlour games and real-life games raise similar

years, great advances have been made in non­

proved to be difficult. However, over the last

15

problems and that an analysis which works for the

cooperative theory. These build on the idea of a

former may therefore well be relevant to the latter.

Nash equilibrium introduced by Nash (1951). The

This is not to argue that parlour games and real­

strategies used by players constitute a Nash equi­

life games are similar in every respect. The analogy

librium when each player's strategy is an optimal

noted by Von Neumann and Morgenstern between

response to the strategies of the other players.

real-life games and parlour games lies solely in their

These advances have revolutionized economic

strategic aspects. A person cast in the role of a

theory (see EcoNOMICS). Great strides have been

player in a real-life game would be wise to consider

made in the theory of imperfect competition (Tir­

reducing the problem with which he or she is faced

ole,

to its essentials by discarding all detail that is not

gupta,

traction, and at worst may so obscure matters that

1988), bargaining theory (Binmore and Das­ 1987) and in the economics of information (Rasmusen, 1989). Progress has also been made in evolutionary biology (Maynard Smith, 1984). Else­

no progress can be made at all. Once all irrelevant

where in the social sciences, the influence of new

immediately relevant. Such detail is at best a dis­

detail has been stripped away, the player will be left

ideas in game theory has been more tangential.

with an abstract decision problem. Von Neumann

However, the study of how cooperation may arise

and Morgenstern's observation is that the basic

among self-interested individuals has been a theme

structure of such decision problems is the same

that has been of continuing interest (Axelrod,

252

1984).

GENDER It is now hard to contemplate this issue at all

without recourse to the theory of repeated games. See also DECISION THEORY; RATIONAL CHOICE

THEORY.

ticular there is a growing differentiation of the position of younger and older women (Walby,

1997). Gender differences and inequalities can be found in many arenas of social life. Many aspects of the

Reading

social are gendered. Sometimes this is more obvious

The Handbook of Game Theory. Binmore, K. 1990: Essays on the Foundations of Game Theory.

than in other cases. For instance, it is clear that

Aumann, R. J. ed. 1992:

KEN BINMORE

childcare is gendered in that women more often than men look after children. It is less obvious that international relations are gendered, but the relative exclusion of women from key decision­

Gender

Gender relations are the social relations

making positions institutions, such as the military

between men and women. Gender is distinguished

and government ministries of foreign affairs, con­

from the biological relations between the sexes in

stitutes a gendered dimension even here. While

that it is always socially constructed. The nature of

these two examples are based on the relative pres­

gender relations varies significantly by time and

ence or absence of women and men, this is not a

place, changing over time and shows great diversity

necessary element of gendering. Gendering of the

by culture and by social location. Explanations of

social can refer to values, discourses, practices and

the pattern of gender relations vary in their priori­

domains, so for instance, caring is often considered

tization of different domains and levels of abstrac­

more feminine than aggression.

tion (Walby,

1990).

Gender is constructed and expressed in many social institutions, domains and dimensions of social life. It includes, but is not confined to, cul­ ture, ideology and discursive practices. Gender is part of the constitution of the division of lab­ our between men and women in the home, espe­ cially between husbands and wives.

Gendered

social relations are also part of the constitution of waged employment, government and the state, sexual practices and interpersonal violence. Gender differentiation is usually combined with gender inequality, with men typically having di­ verse forms of power over women. A related term is that of PATRIARCHY, which conceptualizes gender inequality as socially structured in a systematic way. These gendered patterns of inequality are constructed in complex combination with other forms of social difference and inequality. Gender relations take different forms in different countries, historical periods, ethnic groups, social classes and generations. Nevertheless, they have in common a differentiation between men and women, despite the immense social variability in the nature of the difference. Gender relations have undergone transformation in Britain and many other countries in recent

Essentialism Too simple a set of associations of social phenom­ ena and one gender or the other runs the risk of essentialism. Essentialism is the problem of redu­ cing the complexity of social processes to a greater extent than is warranted. This criticism especially applies if gender is reduced to a biological base. Rather, the associations of social phenomena with one gender or the other are contextual rather than universal, and may be expected to vary between different social locations. Hence, sociological ac­ counts of gender are usually careful not to essentia­ lize gender differences, that is to root them in biological or other universal processes, and are sen­ sitive to context and location. However, the criti­ cism of essentialism should not be taken too far. Social theory requires a process of abstraction from empirical detail. Concepts and categories do need to be stabilized, at least temporarily, if they are to be used in social analysis. The issue is one of the appropriate balance between descriptive complex­ ity and the simplification of phenomena needed for analysis and explanation.

Performativity and structure

decades. Women have increasingly participated in

Gender has been theorized within most of the

paid employment, the state and the public sphere

major

more generally. Patterns of inequality have changed

social science, ranging from conceptions of gender

during this transformation, with some inequities

as performance to gender as a set of social structures

diminishing, while others have increased. In par-

or social system. These vary in the manner in which

theoretical

frameworks

available

within

GENDER gender is embedded in the social. For instance,

253

children. Households may be formed by unmarried

within symbolic interactionism gender is a per­

heterosexual or homosexual couples or singles, with

formance or a script, while within structural func­

or without children, and with or without older

tionalism gender is a role generated by structures.

generations. FAMILIES may map onto households,

There is considerable disagreement as to whether

or they may be split between households. Variation

agency or structure should be primary in the analy­

in forms of families and households correlate sign­

sis, or how they are best to be combined.

ificantly with culture, ethnicity and generation. In­ creasing numbers of mothers live in households without husbands or the fathers of their children,

Difference An important theoretical issue in the analysis of gender is that of difference. This refers not only to the differences between men and women but, more particularly, to the differences between patterns of gender relations. These include those based on ethnicity, 'race', class, sexual orientation, able­ bodied/disabled, age, nation and religion. This produces a theoretical puzzle as to how social rela­ tions between men and women can be theorized when the types of gender relations are so varied. This theoretical dilemma has been addressed in a number of ways. There has been concern to dem­ onstrate that it is inappropriate to universalize from the experiences of particular groups of women. This criticism has been especially developed by those who argue for the significance of ethnicity and racism (Mirza,

1997). A combination of gender

and class was developed by dual-systems theory, in which gender and class were seen as different but articulating social systems. Others moved away from this kind of structural and systems-based ap­ proach, arguing against such modernist accounts and for a more postmodern account of the complex­ ity.

that is, lone parent households. Households and families are key social institu­ tions in the constitution of gender relations in many social theories, both traditional and feminist. In traditional functionalist theory the family was seen as a primary site of differentiation of male and female roles, between the instrumental role of the male wage earner and the expressive female role of caring. In many feminist theories households and families are key sites of both gender differentiation and inequality, of women's oppression and exploit­ ation. Women more often than men do most of the housework and childcare, regardless of whether women have paid employment. Whether or not women can be said to choose their role in the family and the sexual division of labour has been subject to much theoretical controversy. At one pole in the argument, for instance in rational choice theory, people are seen always to have agency and thus to make choices. Thus some women are seen to actively choose to be housewives rather than career women. At the other pole, individual's choices are conceived as constrained by social struc­ tures and practices. For instance, the absence of quality publicly funded childcare is seen to con­ strain choice and to make it difficult for a mother

Domains

of young children to have a paid job as well.

Gender relations are constituted in many domains of social life. The following is an account of six of

Employment

the most important of these. These domains are

in that women's patterns of employment are differ­

interconnected and changes in the pattern of

ent from those of men. Women's participation in

gender relations in one are likely to affect those in

paid work is less than that of men, although the gap

Employment relations are gendered

has been narrowed significantly in recent years.

others.

Women typically get paid less than men (in the The household and the family are

UK four-fifths of men's hourly wages if they work

slightly different concepts. A household is a group

full-time and three-fifths if they work part-time).

of people living together, while family refers to a

There is still a high degree of occupational segrega­

group of people who are related to each other.

tion by sex, in that women and men typically do

Traditionally they have been seen to go together,

different jobs and rarely work side by side. These

Household

but today there are many different forms of both

gender differences are themselves further varied,

households and families. No longer are a family

especially by ethnicity and by age. Minority ethnic

and household most typically formed by a married

women and older women tend to be the most dis­

couple of man and woman living together with their

advantaged.

254

GENDER

There are two main reasons for this pattern of differentiation and inequality. First, women's do­

Violence

Knowledge of the nature, extent and

significance of gendered interpersonal violence has

mestic work means that they spend less time in paid

been developing in recent years. This is primarily

work and have spent less time acquiring the educa­

violence by men against women and includes do­

tion, skills and work experience which lead to

mestic violence, rape, sexual abuse and sexual har­

higher-paid jobs. Second, the labour market is

assment.

structured to women's disadvantage, either as a

to be widespread, though varying in form and

Such

violence

is

now

understood

result of direct discrimination or indirectly as

prevalence (Kelly, 1988). The effects of the vio­

a result of the sedimentation of historic discrimin­

lence are often to limit women's freedom of move­

ation, such as patterns of segregation by occupation

ment and action.

and industry and between full-timers and part­

conditions under which this violence occurs is

The analysis of the social

timers.

wide-ranging. It includes the failure of the criminal

The extent of the differentiation and the in­

justice system to prevent this violence as well as the

equality is narrowing, though writers disagree

dynamics of households in which there is domestic

as to the extent and implications of this. Among

violence.

young women there has been a significant closing of the human capital gap with young men, as the

Culture

education

narrowed.

is in terms of culture, rather than material issues.

However, there is still a wages gap in the first

This is partly a matter of theory and partly a sub­

gap

between

them

has

Much recent analysis of gender relations

jobs of equally qualified young men and women.

stantive concern. Recent feminist theory has drawn

There is a decrease in the extent to which young

on literary theory, such as the deconstructionism of

people specialize in different subjects at school

Derrida as well as the discourse analysis of Fou­

and university. However, occupational segrega­

cault. Even the analysis of science and technology

tion is declining only slowly. The wages gap

has been subjected to modes of analysis more com­

between women and men working full-time has

monly found in literary theory (Haraway, 1997).

been narrowing significantly, but not that between

There is consideration of the cultural construction

women who are working part-time and the average

of the category of gender and the distinctions be­

man.

tween its various forms. This has involved in par­ ticular analyses of consumption (Lury, 1996) and

Sexuality

The significance of sexuality for gender

sexuality.

relations has been the subject of much debate, ranging from its centrality to marginality, from

Politics and the state

key source of oppression to source of playful resist­

a major role in transformations of gender relations.

ance (Richardson,

2000).

Feminist politics have played

Traditionally, within feminist analysis, these polit­

Freudian understandings of sexuality as a drive

ics have been analysed primarily through an exam­

have largely been supplanted by social construc­

ination of social movements and the way that the

tionist approaches influenced by FEMINISM and by

personal can be conceived as political, that is, they

Foucault. In these new approaches the emphasis is

have been seen as sets of politics outside of the state.

on the social variability and malleability of sexual

When the focus shifted to the state the question was

practices.

that of the causes and implications of the exclusion

Some have seen sexuality as the primary domain

of women from the state and public sphere. How­

within which gender is constituted and some have

ever, women are increasingly becoming elected as

further argued that this is an area in which men

MPs. There has thus been an increase of interest in

routinely dominate women. Such an interpretation

explaining changing levels of representation and in

includes analysis of pornography and sexual vio­

considering the impact and implications of the

lence, as well as everyday practices of heterosexual­

higher, but still minority, proportion of women

ity. Analyses of the significance and relationship of

MPs.

heterosexuality and homosexuality have drawn on

The welfare state has played an important role in

developments within queer theory. Others have

women's economic security and, in some countries,

seen sexuality as relatively marginal to material

increased participation in paid employment. The

processes, which are seen as more important in

gendering of the analysis of the welfare state has

the constitution of gender.

distinguished the implications of the different kinds

GENOCIDE

255

of gendered welfare state regimes found in different

Genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide are

countries, in particular, the distinctive role of the

now a crime in international law in times of peace or

social democratic welfare state found in the Nordic

war, in domestic or interstate practice, under the

countries (Sainsbury, 1996).

UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UN GC), which came into force in 1951. Yet no genocides have been pros­

Globalization Globalization provides a new framing for many analyses of gender. Gender relations in any locality are increasingly influenced by social relations in other places as a result of increased global intercon­ nections. There is interest in the interconnections of different kinds of

feminist politics around

the world (Nelson and Chowdhury, 1994), and the implications of these for debates about commonal­ ities and differences. The economic changes in­ volved in globalization have complex effects on gender relations, depending considerably on social location.

organizations (see Fein, 1993; Gurr and Harff, 1995 and 1998). The failure of the United Nations and individual states to prosecute genocide has been related to: (a) structural faults in the UN; (b) the juridical paradox of the convention; and (c) the many political uses states have found for genocide in the twentieth century. The late Leo Kuper, an inter­ nationally known scholar on genocide, observed that 'the sovereign territorial state claims, as an integral part of its sovereignty, the right to commit genocide, or engage in genocidal massacres, against peoples under its rule, and ...the United Nations, for all

Reading Haraway,

ecuted under the UNGC despite the citation of over 18 cases by scholars, lawyers and human rights

D. J. 1997.: Modest_Witness@Second_Millen-

nium.FemaleMan

©

_Meets_OncoMouse

@l

practical purposes, defends this right' (Kuper, 1981, p. 161). Kuper drew the latter conclusion from the refusal of the United Nations to censor,

Kelly, L. 1988: Surviving Sexual Violence. Lury, C. 1996: Consumer Culture.

sanction or prosecute states committing genocide in

Mirza, H. ed. 1997: Black British Feminism: a Reader.

the period before 1981.In the last decade, there has

Nelson,

B. and Chowdhury, N. eds 1994: Women and

been a marked change in international reaction to such events which might cause Leo Kuper, were he

Politics Worldwide.

D. 2000: Rethinking Sexuality. D. 1996: Gender, Equality and Welfare States.

Richardson,

alive, to modify his conclusion.The UN has not yet

Sainsbury,

established a permanent international criminal court

Wa1by, S. 1990: Theorizing Patriarchy.

but convened an international conference which

--1997: Gender Transformations.

SYLVIA WALBY

endorsed in Rome in July 1998 a treaty to establish such a court which will be created when the treaty has the requisite 60 ratifications, possibly in 2002.In

genocide

The concept was coined by Raphael

the past decade ( 1990-2000), the United Nations has

Lemkin (1944) to refer to a principal objective of

relied on ad hoc tribunals such as the International

German population policy in World War II: to

Criminal Tribunal on War Crimes in the Former

annihilate completely the Jews - the principal

Yugoslavia and Rwanda which it created to pros­

target entrapped throughout the German domain

ecute war crimes and genocide in those states and

- and Gypsies, and to decimate and reduce

currently (October 2000) has promised to set up

selectively some Slavic nations. Although geno­

courts to prosecute or participate in the prosecution

cide

of crimes against humanity and genocide in Sierra

has occurred

throughout

history,

it has

come to contemporary attention because of (a)

Leone and Cambodia.

its calculated and repeated use in the twentieth

The study of specific genocides - principally the

century and its justification by totalitarian ideolo­

'Final Solution of the Jewish Question' of 1939-45

gies; (b) the rationalization of its usage; and (c)

(see ANTI-SEMITISM) and the Armenian genocide of

the growth and specification of human rights

1915 - together with the comparative study of

norms.

genocides, which began in the 1970s, grew expo­

The crime of genocide was a specification of

nentially in the 1980s. Disagreement exists among

crimes against humanity - an international crime

scholars about the definition and best methods of

under the Hague convention of 1907 - which was

explanation and analysis. Definitional disagree­

one of the charges against Nazi leaders at the Inter­

ments focus on the usefulness and justification of

national Military Tribunal at Nuremburg in 1946.

the UNGC definition of genocide, especially the

256

GENOCIDE

notion of intent and the inclusiveness of victim

genocide as a rational choice (after taking all pre­

groups stipulated. According to the UNGC, geno­

conditions into account), viewing the precipitating

cide is 'any of the following acts [starting with

factor as the change in the anticipated costs and

killing group members] committed with intent to

benefits of genocide: this stems from 'a crisis or

destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,

opportunity perceived to be caused by or impeded

racial or religious group as such' (United Nations

by the victim' (Fein, 1993).

1948-9, p. 959).

Social-psychological theories focus on the inner

Many scholars today use the term genocide to

states and motives of the perpetrators which inter­

refer to the deliberate annihilation of any group,

act with external events to lead them to blame

including political (and non-violent) groups and

victim groups for their problems, to follow authori­

social classes. A new definition is intended to paral­

tarian leaders, and to kill without shame and guilt

lel the terms of the UNGC definition: 'Genocide is

(for a multilevel analysis, see Staub, 1989).

sustained purposeful action by a perpetrator to

Genocide has been most prevalent in the post­

destroy a collectivity directly or indirectly, through

war world in new states, especially states with com­

interdiction of the biological and social reproduc­

munist or authoritarian governments. Before 1950,

tion of group members, sustained regardless of the

most twentieth-century perpetrators were totalitar­

surrender or lack of threat offered by the victims'

ian states, including major European powers: prin­

(Fein, 1993).

cipally Nazi Germany and the USSR. The recent

Explanations of genocide invoke several kinds

and highly visible genocides in the 1990s in Bosnia

social­

(1992-5) and Rwanda (1994) and the developing

psychological. Genocide is viewed by Chalk and

pattern of 'ethnic cleansing' or genocide (see

of

analysis:

historical,

structural

and

Jonassohn (1990) as first arising from the practice

ETHNIC CLEANSING)

of empires seeking (a) to eliminate a real or potential

indictments under the provisions of the UN Geno­

in Kosovo in 1999 has led to

threat; (b) to spread terror among real or potential

cide Convention. But there was no attempt to deter

enemies; and (c) to acquire economic wealth. Syn­

such acts except in Kosovo in which there was a

thesizing their formulation and the typologies of

successful intervention by the North Atlantic

others, we may distinguish four types: retributive;

Treaty Organization in 1999, which, although it

despotic; developmental; ideological.

did not deter expulsions, led to the withdrawal of

Both structural and social-psychological the­

troops of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which

orists generally agree that a necessary but not

permitted the expelled Kosovars to return. This

sufficient precondition for victimization is the pre­

outbreak of genocides has been related to the rise

existing 'definition of the victim as outside the

of ethnonationalism, legitimizing the state as the

universe of obligation' (Fein, 1979, eh. 1): an alien

vehicle of the dominant group, spurring leaders of

or stranger, an enemy or outsider, a pariah group or

that group to eliminate members of other groups,

national community identified as foreign with no

and memories of past injuries by the victimized

protective foreign nation-state to support them,

group reinforced by ethnic entrepreneurs. Some

and indigenous peoples who have never been con­

have also related the rise in intergroup hostility in

ceived of as part of the polity. Structuralists focus

these cases to premature elections and democratiza­

on the interaction of preceding conditions which

tion and international incentives pushing the states

make genocide a likely outcome. These include

of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to

crises of state decline and of legitimacy, the coming

secede.

to power of revolutionary and totalitarian regimes,

Two recurrent interests unite many social scien­

the implications of exclusive nationalist, fascist and

tists concerned with genocide: the acknowledge­

communist ideologies, the competition for power

ment of past genocides, and the prevention of

between groups in new states, and the opening of

future ones. In recent years, social scientists have

new lands for development or plunder. Lastly,

begun to consider how to measure and monitor

there are often common facilitating or enabling

indicators of gross violations of human rights (in­

conditions: wars which render the victims less vis­

cluding political killings and patterns of discrimin­

ible and make it unlikely, if not impossible, that

ation which may preface genocide), to propose

other states will try to protect them; and the sup­

'early warning systems' and to assess the states

port of major world and regional powers for the

and 'minorities at risk' (Gurr and Harff, 1995,

perpetrators. Fein conceives the calculation of

1998). See also

EUGENICS.

GLOBALIZATION

257

'closure and good gestalt', by which missing parts

Reading Chalk, F. and Jonassohn, K. 1990: The History and Sociology of Genocide.

of a stimulus array are automatically 'filled in' by the perceiver. The gestaltists argued that such laws

Charny, I. W. 1999: Encyclopedia of Genocide. 2 vols.

of perception are not learnt, and in this respect their

Fein, H. 1979: Accountingfor Genocide.

ideas conflicted with the tenets of BEHAVIOURISM.

--1993: Genocide: A Sociological Perspective. Gurr, T. R. and Harff, B. 1994: Ethnic Conflict in World

those of behaviourists. Gestaltists emphasized the

Politics. Gurr, T. and Scarritt, J. 1989: Minorities at risk: a global survey. Human Rights Qyarterly 11. 3, 375-405. Harff, B. 1984: Genocide and Human Rights: International Political and Legal Issues. Kuper, L. 1981: Genocide: Its Political Use in the Twentieth Century.

Gestalt theories of learning also differed from role of insight, suggesting that problems are solved when grasped in their totality. Kiihler illustrated these notions in his classic studies of apes. Bananas were placed just out of reach, but the apes would suddenly grasp the problem, or see the total gestalt; then they would use sticks to reach the distant objects (Kiihler, 1925).

Lemkin, R. 1944: Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.

Although the basic notions of gestalt psychology

Staub, E. 1989: The Roots ofEvil.

HELEN FEIN

were formulated in Germany, the three major ge­ staltists were to end their careers in the United

geography, human gestalt psychology

See HUMAN GEOGRAPHY The gestalt movement in

psychology originated in Germany in the early part of the century. Gestalt psychologists argued that the psychological whole is greater than the sum of its parts: psychologists should analyse experience in terms of whole patterns of stimuli, or gestalts, rather than seek to break them down into component parts. Although many of their ideas

were

disputed

by

behaviourists,

they

have now been integrated into modern cognitive science. The three major figures in the gestalt movement were Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Kurt Koftka (1884-1941) and Wolfgang Kiihler (1887-1967). Kiihler explained the basic theoretical term of 'gestalt': 'beside the connotation of shape or form as an attribute of things, it has the meaning of a concrete entity per se, which has, or may have, a shape as one of its characteristics' (Kiihler, 1947, p.

I 04). Gestalt theory suggested that the perceptual system registers the whole shapes of objects rather than their elements. Gestaltists often illustrated

States. Wertheimer and Koftka, as Jews, fled from Nazi Germany. Kiihler was one of the very few non­ Jewish German psychologists to oppose Nazism publicly. In 1935 he resigned his post at the Psy­ chological Institute of Berlin University and left for America. Gestaltist ideas have had a direct effect on the development of SociAL PSYCHOLOGY. Ideas about the structure of attitudes and the influence of atti­ tudes on perception became influential in the psy­ chological study of PREJUDICE and group dynamics. In recent years gestalt notions have been taken up by cognitive scientists. There is an affinity between the ideas of gestaltists and those of David Marr (1945-1980), who analysed how perceivers sort stimulus arrays into 'primary sketches' (Marr, 1982). There is a linguistic connection between gestalt psychology and a form of therapy, known as 'gestalt therapy'. However, the loosely defined concepts

of

gestalt

therapy,

with

their

anti­

scientific themes, bear little relation to the ideas of gestalt psychology (Henle, 1986). See also PSYCHOLOGY.

Reading

this principle with the example of music. It is

Ellis, W. D. ed. 1938: A Sourcebook of Gestalt Psychology.

possible to recognize a melody, even if played in

Koffka, K. 1935: Principles of Gestalt Psychology.

an unfamiliar key. The separate notes cannot be

Kohler, W. 1967: The Task of Gestalt Psychology.

MICHAEL BILLIG

recognized, for they have not been heard before. Therefore, it is the overall pattern, or gestalt, which is recognized.

globalization

The 1990s were the decade of

The gestaltists set themselves the task of formu­

globalization, not simply in academic settings but

lating the 'laws of perception', by which stimulus

also in public policy worldwide. Earlier the idea of

arrays are spontaneously grouped into meaningful

globalization was promoted in the global marketing

patterns. These laws included principles such as

and strategic planning of transnational corpor-

258

GLOBALIZATION

ations, led by Coca-Cola, Ford and McDonald's.

the new discourse of the global, globality, globalism

Relying on standardized production methods, long

and globalization. The answer lies in the conse­

recognized as the rationalization of the world, they

quences, in all that the 'limits to growth' (Meadows

customized a core, globally recognizable product

et al., 1972) imply, in the changed frame for new

for national markets.

ventures.

From the outset a twofold imagery of the global

There were, then, deep tensions in the discourse

inhabited the marketing notion of globalization -

of the global prior to the 1990s. One emphasis was

there was the global market, simply the totality of

on the continuation of modern technical progress

potential consumption for a brand worldwide, and

and economic growth, with all the universalistic

there was the globe as the firm's territorial field of

claims of a Western outlook on property and rights.

operation. They came together in the defining

The left/ right ideological divides over social justice

global advertising campaign of the early 1970s,

persisted in conjunction with this emphasis. But

Coca-Cola's multiethnic choir chanting on a hill­

there was another competing set of concerns,

side their wish that the world could sing in perfect

broadly 'postmaterialist' (Inglehart, 1990), around

harmony.

the ends of human endeavour, which relativized the

Corporate global strategies drew on a pre­

Western experience, gave priority to noneconomic

existing global imagery and metaphors. The poten­

ends, and stressed culture and identity in a global

tial of worldwide television broadcasting prompted

field. This double-edged discourse featured in the

Marshall McLuhan's 'global village' (1962) even

American Presidential campaign of 1992 when can­

before space exploration and satellite communica­

didates Bill Clinton and AI Gore used Japanese

tion caught the public imagination. Both message

threats to American industry and environmental

content and technology were global. President

issues to call for America to reposition herself to

Jimmy Carter's farewell address to America in

the globe.

1981 pointed to a similar duality with new weapons

In this already contested discourse of the global

technology. The same rocket technology for de­

the new defining event was the seismic geopolitical

livering nuclear warheads enabled us to see the

shift precipitated by the demise of the Soviet

earth as a fragile globe. Global science was also a

Union. The worlds of the Cold War era, with the

threat to the globe.

Third courted by the other two, effectively col­

Considering something as a totality has no ne­

lapsed into one. The 'New World Order' was pro­

cessary connection with taking the earth as the

claimed as a triumph for free market capitalism.

territorial frame. The French language renders

First capital markets, and later Internet commerce,

this distinction effectively through globalization

supplanted the transnational firm as the favoured

for totality, and mondialization for extension world­

engine of globalization as the 'new economy'

wide. In English they are confused. The spread of

boomed.

standardized practices that George Ritzer (1993),

The Clinton/Gore administration made global­

from a Weberian position, calls McDonaldization is

ization the mantra of their public policy, imple­

not tied logically to planetary imagery, multicul­

mented in part through the US State Department,

turalism or concern for the environment. These are

but more through the US Treasury and the Inter­

contingent outcomes. Nuclear weaponry intends

national Monetary Fund. They emphasized the

the destruction of the enemy, the internal combus­

relentless force of global markets, the need for all

tion engine is designed for transportation. But

countries to abide by strict fiscal and monetary

threats to humankind, nuclear holocaust or global

policies, and the revolutionary effects of the new

warming, are the unintended consequences. These

information and communication technology. By

are effects of human activities, both unwilled and

1999 globalization and this 'Washington consensus'

material.

were almost synonymous.

These effects mean a change in the relations of

Globalization signalled the effective merging of

humankind to its environment, an epochal shift that

foreign and domestic policy in the Clinton adminis­

the discourse of the global registers. It refers then to

tration but, defined as an economic phenomenon, it

more than the expansionary aspirations of Western

required a rethinking of social issues. Even Thomas

capitalism. The unchanging basic thrust of capital­

Friedmann of the New York Times, close to the

ism for centuries prompts the frequently asked

White House, whose book the Lexus and the Olive

question 'What is different now?' that can justify

Tree (1999) unofficially represented the American

GLOBALIZATION

259

view of globalization, complained that it seemed out

agency persists in a global as much as in any other

of control.

frame.

Concern for the management of globalization

The shared interest that preserves the global

and its consequences for society was the main

frame of mutually recognizing nation-states also

thrust of the so-called Third Way, the shared pro­

limits their capacity to mobilize populations for

ject between Clinton and British Prime Minister

national goals. It can equally become the sounding

Tony Blair. They enlisted sociologist Anthony

board to promote statehood claims by ethnic mi­

Giddens (1998), who had already promoted the

norities, like the Kurds or the Basques, or provide

idea of globalization as a conceptualization appro­

the template for a multicultural nation, as with

priate for overall contemporary social transform­

Canada or Brazil. Post-national, or identity, polit­

ation, to develop Third Way thinking.

ics, in the sense of politics beyond the nation state,

Globalization then became the key theme of the

oscillates between these possibilities.

Third Way meetings of Western leaders in the late

In the economy there are equally unresolvable

1990s. They marked an unprecedented confluence

antinomies in the regulation of competition. The

of social science and collective international public

line between the regulation that provides condi­

policy making. Even one of the participating na­

tions for efficient markets and that stifles market

tional leaders, President of Brazil, Fernando Car­

behaviour is always contestable. Global market

doso, was a former President of the International

fundamentalism that seeks to dismantle limits to

Sociological Association. Now, in the twenty-first

trade may also consolidate monopoly and the he­

century, any newly elected national leader receives

gemony of American capital. But a global frame

a briefing on globalization from officials.

for trade, however 'fair', in itself will not alter

In the research and academic world funding

fundamentally

unequal

relations

between

the

has followed governmental interest and globaliza­

powerful and the weak. One of the consequences

tion has become a favoured umbrella for research

of the global increase and spread of capital has been

into everything from the spread of AIDS to

increasing local discrepancies between rich and

human rights, cocaine smuggling to technology

poor.

transfer. However the American construction of

Indeed it is a new form of inequality, the digital

globalization as the expansion of free trade pro­

divide between those with and without access to

voked an appositional coalition of over 60 NGOs

personal computers, that emphasizes that connect­

mobilized as the Turning Point project for the

edness itself is a distributed good. Space-time com­

Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization

pression proceeds unevenly and the new global

in 1999. Thereafter antiglobalization and anti­

society is no less differentiated and divided than

Americanism became almost synonymous in much

earlier forms of world society. Given these inherent dilemmas that arise for

of the world. Within the broad discourse of globalization, the

human endeavours in a global field the popularity

following quite disparate issues have to be distin­

of the idea that globalization is a relentless single

guished for fruitful analysis.

direction process is likely to be confined to the

The bonding of

nation-states through multilateral arrangements

1990s. The idea of a global age, the epochal shift

has created an interconnected global polity that is

to a global frame for human endeavour, registers

not necessarily or primarily focused on the welfare

the contradictions and radically different alterna­

either of humankind,

tive futures that confront both countries and the

or of national citizens.

Whether governments bonded in this way can and

increasing number of nongovernmental organiza­

should address issues that affect the welfare of

tions that seek to globalize public policy. Mean­

humankind or the future of the planet is always

while

contested.

power of transnational corporations calls itself anti­

Combatting global warming, human trafficking,

whether

opposition

to

the

increasing

globalization or globalization from below is less

protecting endangered species, regulating global

important than the common search for solutions

markets, prosecuting war crimes require mobiliza­

to global problems.

tion by specific agencies, individuals, movements or organizations. In brief, neither global networks

Reading

nor transnational connections guarantee global

Albrow, M. 1996: The Global Age: State and Society

public policy. The tension between structure and

Beyond Modernity.

260

GREEN MOVEMENT

Featherstone, M. ed. 1990: Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity.

follows from these concerns, and it is true that parties claiming the 'green' label are to be found

Giddens, A. 1999: Runaway Worl d. Reinicke. W. H. 1998: Global Public Policy. Scholte, J. A. 2000: Globalization: a Critical Introduction. MARTIN ALBROW

espousing policies traditionally associated with both left and right of the political spectrum. The German Green Party has been one of the most successful and has also been very influential as a model for green parties elsewhere. Its political

government

See STATE

programme has linked ecologically necessary eco­ nomic transformation with questions of social just­

Formed at the end of the

ice, women's rights, peace, regional and local

1970s, the West German Alternative Political Alli­

autonomy, civil liberties and radical democracy.

ance or 'Green Party' was widely hailed as a major

Attempting to combine extraparliamentary action

green movement

new departure in European politics. The move­

with electoral politics, the greens established them­

ment brought together remnants of the student

selves as a political party at federal level in West

radicalizations of the 1960s, some elements of the

Germany in 1980. Their early electoral perform­

extraparliamentary Marxist left, local 'citizens' ini­

ances were uneven, reflecting local differences in

tiatives' and 'new social movements' such as gay

popular awareness, and the pre-existing balance of

rights activists, ecologists, feminists, peace and

forces, as well as divisions between left and right

anti-nuclear campaigners, together with more con­

factions within the greens themselves. After the

servative and libertarian elements.

departure of the main right-wing groupings, the

By the late 1980s there were green political

greens consolidated and extended their electoral

parties in virtually all European countries, includ­

support, breaking through the 5 per cent barrier

ing the UK, where the tiny Ecology Party changed

to enter the federal parliament at the 1983 elections.

its name to the Green Party in 1985. So far the most

Their electoral base has been broad, although it is

impressive electoral achievement of the UK greens

nevertheless drawn disproportionately from the

has been their showing in the 1989 elections for the

younger, more highly educated, middle-class and

European parliament, when their candidates re­

professional sections of the population. On social

ceived a total of 3.25 million votes.

and economic issues, Green Party supporters are

Although the most visible manifestations of the

generally to the left of the Social Democratic Party

rise of the green movement are the green parties

(SPD) and if they are not first-time voters they are

and radical environmentalist pressure groups, it is

likely to have a history of SPD support. Reflecting

important to keep in mind some distinction be­

the radical-democratic values of green movement

tween the movement and its political expressions.

members, the Green Party set out to be a party of a

Many greens remain suspicious of and even hostile

'new kind', with a constitution designed to main­

to party politics, even where the party proclaims to

tain decentralized grass-roots control over policy­

be a radically new kind of party. Also the comprom­

making, leadership, parliamentary representatives

ises of party structure and programme imposed by

and the allocation of resources, and to ensure full

the vicissitudes of electoral politics have taken some

participation by women members.

green parties some distance from the radical green

The policies of the greens are a compromise

vision of many of their more 'fundamentalist'

between the different political traditions which

members and supporters. The unifying theme of

are brought together in the movement. In defence,

the movement is deep disquiet about the environ­

opposition

mental consequences of providing patterns of eco­

with a vision of a non-aligned Europe, and the

nomic growth on a global scale. Unlike reform

break-up of the major military blocs. Green eco­

to

nuclear

weapons

is

combined

environmentalists, greens do not put their faith in

nomic policy favours decentralization, workers'

technological advances and improved environmen­

self-management and a reorientation of production

tal management. For them, the environmental

for the meeting of need in accordance with the

crisis demands nothing less than a profound trans­

self-regulating mechanisms of nature. The purely

formation of social, economic and political life: the

quantitative commitment to growth upheld by

creation of a sustainable society. So much is

both state 'socialist' and capitalist regimes is

common ground among greens, but it is question­

rejected in favour of a selective approach geared to

able whether any determinate political programme

need, sustainability and quality of life. These demo-

GROUP

261

cratic and egalitarian values are also evident in

rules and rituals), and a psychological basis in the

green support for feminist aims, the extension

consciousness of its members. A family, a village, a

of civil liberties and Third World liberation

sporting association, a trade union or a political

movements.

party is a group in this sense. However, there are

Werner Hi.ilsberg distinguished four main ten­

also larger groupings of individuals -in a tribe, a

dencies within the West German greens. The 'eco­

nation or an empire -and sociologists have gener­

socialists' favoured consolidation of the greens as a

ally distinguished such entities, which are con­

political force to the left of the SPD, urged support

ceived as 'inclusive societies', from the smaller

for workers' defensive struggles and argued for an

groups which exist within them. Some writers

ecologically oriented socialism, built on a new ma­

have also identified a third category of 'quasi­

terial-technical basis. The 'fundamentalists' argued

groups', characterized by more tenuous relation­

the necessity for a 'cultural' or 'spiritual' revolution,

ships among the members, less awareness of the

in which the false consumer needs engendered by

group and perhaps a more fleeting existence, indi­

capitalism were renounced in favour of a qualita­

cating as examples of this phenomenon crowds or

tively different way of life. Small, self-managing

mobs, age and gender aggregates, and social classes.

and convivial communities would be responsible

But the boundary between groups and quasi­

for meeting their own basic needs, and life would

groups is not fixed or clearly marked, and Max

be sustained with a much lower level of material

Weber's observation on classes, that while they are

consumption. The most influential thinker in this

not in themselves communities, they are frequently

tendency has been RudolfBahro. The 'ecolibertar­

a basis for communal action, can be applied more

ians' were a diverse grouping who favoured pro­

widely. Thus crowds may develop into protest

posals for a 'basic income' unrelated to work, and

movements, age differences sometimes crystallize

for a 'dual' economy which would allow individuals

in age-sets or youth movements, gender has given

more freedom for self-development, study and au­

rise to women's movements, and distinctions of social status, which produce quasi-groups such as

tonomous work. Through the 1980s the West German greens

the 'professions' or the 'intellectuals', may then

served as a model for the emergent green move­

become the source of more organized groups in

ments across Western Europe, and there are close

the form of professional associations or specialized

parallels as well as direct links between these move­

elites.

ments and the environmental protest movements of

Social groups in the strict sense are extremely

Eastern Europe. Though they are so far predomin­

varied in character. Tiinnies (1887), in a work

antly a European phenomenon, there are compar­

which has had a considerable influence on later

able green movements in the USA, Australia and

social thought, made a broad distinction between

New Zealand, Japan, and in numerous Third

two types of group,

World countries. See also ENVIRONMENTALISM.

Gemeinschafi (community) and Gesellschafi (society or association), in terms of the

nature of the relations among the members. In a community individuals are involved as whole per­

Reading

sons and are bound together by an accord of feeling

Bahro, R. 1984: From Red to Green.

or sentiment, and Tiinnies gives as examples the

Capra, F., and Spretnak, C. 1984: Green Politics.

family or kin group, the neighbourhood (rural vil­

Hi.i1sberg, W. 1988: The German Greens.

lage), and the group of friends. The members of an

Parkin, S. 1989: Green Parties: an International Guide.

association, on the other hand, enter into the rela­

Porritt, J. 1984: Seeing Green.

tionship in a more calculated and deliberate way,

Ry1e, M. 1988: Ecology and Socialism. TED BENTON

look to the satisfaction of specific and partial aims and are united by a rational agreement of interest, and the main examples given are those groups con­

A social group can be defined as an aggre­

cerned with economic interests. Tiinnies, it may be

gate of human beings in which (a) specific relations

noted in passing, also applied this typology to in­

group

exist between the individuals comprising it, and (b)

clusive societies, primarily in a contrast between

each individual is conscious of the group itself and

feudalism and modern capitalism. So far as groups

its symbols. In short, a group has at least a rudi­

within society are concerned his distinction has

mentary

some similarities with that made by Cooley (1909)

structure and organization

(including

262

GUERRILLA

between 'primary groups' and others (frequently

possible an analysis of the conditions in which spe­

called 'secondary groups' by later sociologists), the

cific social groups such as elites or organized dom­

primary groups being those 'characterized by in­

inant classes (see ELITE THEORY) may themselves

timate face-to-face association and cooperation'

acquire an inordinate power. From various stand­

which results in 'a certain fusion of individualities

points, therefore, the study of groups can illuminate

in a common whole'.

some fundamental questions in social thought con­

1948, and the sociometric researches of Moreno, 1934) con­

cerning the relation between individual and society, the sources of social solidarity and stability, and the

centrated on these'primary' or 'small' groups, and

prerequisites of a democratic order.

although it was generally recognized that they are

See also SociAL PSYCHOLOGY.

Many later studies of groups (Homans,

only one element in the social structure, some writers tended to adopt Cooley's own view that

Reading

such groups are primary above all in being funda­

Cooley, C. H. 1909 (1962): Social Organization.

mental in forming the social nature and ideals of the

Gurvitch, G. 1949: Industrialisation et technocratie.

individual. Against this it can be convincingly main­

Homans, G. C. 1948: The Human Group.

tained that small groups are shaped by the inclusive

Moreno,J. L. 1934 (1953): Who Shall Survive?

society to a much greater extent than they shape it,

Redfield, R. 1955: The Little Community.

as is most evident in the impact of modern industrial

Tonnies, F. 1887 (19SS): Community and Association. TOM BOTTOMORE

society on such groups as the family and the rural village. Redfield

(1955) in his study of the 'little

community' recognized the importance of this

growth, economic

See ECONOMIC GROWTH

issue, and explored very thoroughly, with reference mainly to tribal societies, the (diverse) relations

guerrilla

which exist between small groups and the larger

of'small war', goes back to Napoleon's intervention

society in which they function.

in Spain

The origin of the word, in its meaning

(1808-12). But its tactics are as old as

A much more elaborate typology of groups was

history. Guerrilla warfare is used by irregulars

outlined by Gurvitch

(1958, vol. I, sect. 2, eh. I) 15 criteria of classification: content,

(often now themselves called guerrillas) and is

who proposed

based on surprise and harassment to weaken a regu­

size, duration, rhythm, proximity of members,

lar army. Guerrilla warfare was often used as a form

basis of formation (voluntary and so on), access

of resistance to foreign occupation (Roman, Otto­

(open, semi-closed, closed), degree of organization,

man, Napoleonic); later it was widely practised

function, orientation, relation with the inclusive

against European colonial expansion in Asia and

society, relation with other groups, type of social

Africa.

control, type of authority, degree of unity. This

Guerrilla warfare once again occupied an im­

takes account of all the major differences between

portant role during

groups and of the diversity of their relations with

(Greece, Yugoslavia, China). With Mao Zedong,

and

after World War II

each other and with the inclusive society. Thus it

guerrilla tactics become revolutionary warfare, a

encompasses, for example, such issues as Georg

military tool aimed at seizing political power (See

(1902)

MAOISM) . Mao's innovation was not military but

Simmel raised, in

a well-known essay

which examined the relationship between the

political. He used the vanguard party originally

number of members in a group and its structure,

created by Lenin to organize the urban proletariat

(1903) which showed how the

to mobilize the peasantry. This mode, based on

concentration of population in cities changed the

widespread propaganda, organization and the use

nature of social relations.

of selective terrorism, is aimed at building a popular

and in another study

More generally, Gurvitch's typology provides a

support and, above all, a political underground

more adequate starting point for a systematic inves­

infrastructure. It was successfully used by the Viet

tigation of the ways in which social groups establish

Minh while fighting against French colonialism,

a network of relationships in CIVIL SOCIETY which

and Vietnamese troops were able to win the battle

interact with, and modify, those tendencies towards

ofDien Bien Phu. Later, the same model was also

the creation of a MASS SOCIETY where relatively

adopted by non-Marxist movements of national

isolated

increasingly

liberation. Middle cadres are an essential help to

powerful state. On the other hand, it also makes

win the support of segments of the population

individuals

confront

an

GUERRILLA through agitation and propaganda, the aim being to

2

vention ( 1979-88), withdrew;

of the state. From beginning to end, military prob­

Although Greece,

3

Guerrillas fighting for the autonomy or the independence of an ethnic or religious minority

ical aims. (in

Against foreign occupation, as in Afghanistan where Soviet troops, after eight years of inter­

create a new order which challenges the legitimacy lems are closely related and subordinated to polit­

263

were

defeated

(Eritrea, Sri Lanka, the Kurds in the Middle

the Philippines, Malaya,

Kenya),

East); and anti-Marxist guerrillas, first helped

many

insurgencies

many did succeed after long wars of attrition -

by South Africa

sometimes with the sympathy of the public opinion

RENAMO in Mozambique), then by the USA

(UNITA in Angola and

of the colonial country - in gaining independence

(Contras in Nicaragua). Guerrilla warfare is not

through a political victory. Democracies agreed to

going to vanish, because the conditions that

negotiate, since nothing vital to them was at stake.

trigger it are still present. But with urban

Dictatorships on the other hand would not negoti­

unrest, the increasingly crowded megalopolis

ate and only a military victory (most of the time

is becoming more and more the epicentre of

against a weak state) would end the conflict. This

riots and insurgencies.

was the case in Cuba (1959) and, 20 years later, in Nicaragua. The Vietnam war (1965-73) confirmed

See also WAR.

the capacity of the weak to resist the strong. But in the 1960s, all Latin American guerrillas lacking popular support were defeated ( Guevara in Bolivia, 1967). Today there is an increasing variety of guer­ rillas: Marxist guerrillas aiming at seizing power for social change (as in Peru, El Salvador, the Phil­ ippines);

Reading Beaufre, A. 1972:

La Guerre revolutionnaire: les forces nouvelles de la guerre. Cha1iand, G. 1979 (1984): Strategies de la guerilla. Ellis,J. 1975: A Short History ofGuerrilla Warfare. Laqueur, W. 1977: Guerrillas: a Historical and Critical Study. Sarkissian, S. S. ed. 1975: Revolutionary Guerrilla War­ fare. GERARD CHALIAND

H health

In

1948 the World Health Organization

promulgated a definition of health as 'a state of

which health in Western society is described and organized.

complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'. This widely used definition, though commonly criticized as overinclusive and difficult of achieve­ ment, draws attention to the major change which has taken place in the latter half of the twentieth century: the replacement of a strictly biomedical model of health by a more holistic and social con­ cept. This is not new, echoing as it does the classical Platonic model of health as harmony or the Gale­ nian concept of disease as disturbance of equilib­ rium.

Some

reasons

for

its reappearance

in

developed countries during the last century, how­ ever, are held to be the rise in importance of chronic disease in 'ageing' populations, the possibility of the eradication of many 'scourge' diseases, and the general improvement in living conditions which gives emphasis to the quality of life rather than simple survival. The human ecology movement is also relevant, encouraging a focus on health as a state of balance between human beings and their environment. A further strand in the development of holistic concepts has been the growing know­ ledge about mind-body links and what has been called the sociobiological translation: the mechan­ isms by which social and psychological factors re­ sponsible for vulnerability to disease are translated

Disease During the twentieth century concepts of disease itself changed, with a challenge to the key suppos­ itions - the definition of disease as deviation from normality, the doctrine of specific etiology, the universality of disease taxonomy, and the scientific neutrality of medical science - which had shaped modern medicine during the nineteenth century (Dubos,

1961). The conviction that the universe

of disease is finite, and that for every disease there is a unique cause and a cure to be found, has been shaken by the advent of new diseases (such as AIDS) and the recognition of the multiple and interactive causes of many forms of ill-health. Fur­ ther, it is suggested that the definition and categor­ ization of disease is a social as well as a scientific process, and normality can be only a relative con­ cept. The influence ofFoucault, arguing against the theoretical models of the 'sciences of man', has been strong in creating the view that medical knowledge (no less than medical practice) is socially con­ structed, and connected with broader develop­ ments in social thought: it cannot simply be taken for granted. Illness

into actual biological processes. Thus concepts of

Similarly, the experience of illness involves cultural

stress and social integration have been seen not only

meanings and social relationships. A major question

as causes of ill-health but as integral parts of the

of a considerable body of research in social anthro­

concept of social health, and health is now generally

pology and medical sociology during the last thirty

conceived of as multidimensional, encompassing

or forty years has concerned the perception and the

but not confined to the absence of disease.

meaning of health and illness among those who

Discourses of health are of course contingent and

experience them. Bodily states and changes are in­

emerge at particular historical periods. In the latter

terpreted differently in different cultures and at

decades of the twentieth century, the prominent

different periods: as Douglas

issues concerned biotechnology, the 'new genetics',

social body constrains the way the physical body is

(1970) noted, the

and new environmental risks. Thus health became a

perceived. Many studies, following pioneering

key area in the concept of the 'risk society' (Beck,

work by Herzlich

1992) and risk became a common discourse around

of health held by lay people. The most positive

(1973), have mapped the concept

HEGEMONY

2 65

concept of health as fitness or wellbeing is generally

income was higher. By about 1970, however, the

found to be associated with better education or more

richest nations had reached a stage where the curve

favourable social circumstances. A feature of all

had flattened, and it was equality of income distri­

these studies is the strong moral meaning demon­

bution within societies which appeared to be a

strated to attach to the concept of health.

predictor of relative life expectancy (Wilkinson,

Health behaviour and health lifestyles

were centring around (not uncontested) theories of

199 6). By the end of the last century, discussions

Growing public expectations have been associated with a marked trend in Western societies towards an emphasis on positive aspects of health and health

social capital - the strength of community life, cohesion and social trust- as determinants of popu­ lation health.

promotion. From about 1950s, research strongly implicated personal behaviours - smoking, diet, lack of exercise - as agents in the cause of chronic disease. Concepts of 'self-responsibility' for health were fostered. Complementary and alternative medicine and self-help movements flourish in this

Reading Armstrong, D. 1983: The Political Anatomy of the Body. Blane, D., Brunner, E. and Wi1kinson, R. eds 1996: Health and Social Organisation. Foucault, M. 1963 (1976): The Birth of the Clinic. Sontag, S. 1979: Illness as Metaphor.

environment, as does the commercialization of

Williams, S.]., Gabe, J. and Ca1nan, M. eds 2000: Health

health promotion. Critiques of the 'medicalization'

Medicine and Society: Key Theories, Future Agendas.

of society (Illich, 1975) fed into this trend, as,

MILDRED BLAXTER

from different perspectives, did critiques of medi­ cine's efficacy (Cochrane, 1972 ; McKeown, 1976). During the 1970s and 1980s there was, however, some reaction against the model of health promo­ tion which emphasizes only lifestyle change and voluntary behaviour, which, it was suggested, fostered a climate of victim-blaming. In the attempt to theorize the structure-agency problem in relation to health and behaviour, the work of Bourdieu (199 0) became influential: life­ styles seen as the product of 'habitus', expressed through the 'tastes' adopted as seemingly voluntary choices but rooted in material constraints.

hegemony

The twentieth-century use of this

term combines and extends earlier usages. It trad­ itionally indicated the dominance of one country or ruler over others. Secondly, it also signified the principle around which a group of elements was organized. It is now not only applied to inter­ national relations, where it still means dominance, but - mainly under the influence of the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci, who developed the concept significantly (1929-35)- has also come to indicate the organizing principle of a society in which one class rules over others not just through force but by maintaining the allegiance of the mass

Population health

of the population. This allegiance is obtained both

With this re-emphasis on the social and environ­

through reforms and compromises in which the

mental determinants of health behaviour, the con­

interests of different groups are taken into account,

cept of 'health inequality' reemerged strongly in

and also through influencing the way people think.

Britain, and in other countries of Europe (DHSS,

Whereas at first Gramsci (192 1-6) used the term in

1980). In the international arena, the World Health

the same way as other Marxists such as Lenin,

Assembly 1998 declared the reduction in socioeco­

Bukharin and Stalin with regard to the leadership

nomic inequalities in health a priority for all coun­

of one class over others in a system of alliances, in

tries. A focus on the material causes of ill-health

extending the term he went beyond the usual

represented some return to the 'public health'

Marxist concept of state PoWER as the instrument

movement of the early years of the century.

of a class which employed a monopoly of force, to

At the same time, concepts of population health which

were

perhaps

more

sociopsychological

argue that the state in the modern period could only be understood as force plus consent.

regained prominence with the rise of the concept

This enriching of the meaning of hegemony is

of 'social capital' (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 1995).

related to the increasing complexity of modern

Early in the twentieth century the relationship be­

society, in which the terrain of politics has changed

tween health and the wealth of societies was rela­

fundamentally. In the age of mass organizations

tively simple: life was longer where per capita

such as political parties and pressure groups,

266

HERMENEUTICS

when the expansion of the suffrage requires any

hermeneutics came to represent a central topic in

state, however restricted democratic liberties are,

philosophy and cultural analysis, thereby vindicat­

to attempt to maintain the consent of the governed

ing the assertion contained in this seminal work

-and with the development of the educational and

concerning the 'university of the hermeneutic

cultural level of the population, its ideas, practices

problem'. Gadamer's position is pivotal in contem­

and institutions - the area of state action expands

porary hermeneutics. Working from within the

and the public and private spheres of society are

tradition of Heidegger's ontology, he could critic­

increasingly intertwined. In this context the very

ally appropriate and develop earlier formulations of

meaning of political leadership or dominance has

the 'hermeneutic problem' and provide the founda­

changed as rulers must claim to be ruling in the

tions for the subsequent application of hermeneutic

interests of the ruled in order to stay in power.

insights to a wide field.

Increasingly the demands and needs of society

In the social sciences, the influence of hermen­

have come to be considered the responsibility of

eutics has been pervasive. Debates concerning, for

governments, when once they might have been

example, the scientific status of the social sciences,

relegated to the private sphere defined as outside

the relationship of subject and object, the meaning

politics. Ideas, culture and how people view them­

of 'objectivity', the formulation of appropriate

selves and their relationships with others and with

methods, the meaningful constitution of the object

institutions are of central importance for how a

have all been crucially shaped by hermeneutics and

society is ruled and is organized, and underpin the

today proceed largely on its terrain.

nature of power - who has it and in what forms.

The seminal influence of Gadamer's work can

Thus, as the very nature of politics has changed, the

also be traced in a wide range of disciplines outside

meaning of hegemony, as leadership, dominance or

philosophy and the social sciences, ranging from

influence, has in turn evolved. It now also implies

medicine to business studies to architecture - in

intellectual and moral leadership and relates to the

fact, anywhere where the dialogical constitution of

function of systems of ideas or ideology in the

meaning is reflected upon.

maintenance or the challenge to the structure of a particular society. It is consequently instrumental not only in the continuance of the status quo but in the manner in which a society is transformed.

Reading Anderson

P.

1976-7:

The

antinomies

of Antonio

Gramsci. New Left Review 100. Buci-Glucksmann, C. 1982: Hegemony and consent. In

methodology of the human sciences ( Geisteswissen­ schafien ), it referred to those disciplines ancillary to theology, jurisprudence and philology that at­ tempted to provide rules and guidelines for the late as the seventeenth century but its field, the

interpretandi,

Approaches to Gramsci, ed. A. S. Sassoon. Femia, J. 1981: Gramsci's Political Thought: Hegemony, Consciousness and the Revolutionary Process.

ars

reaches back into the beginning of

Western thought. It was, in particular, at times of social and cultural upheaval that hermeneutics was

Mouffe, C. 1979: Hegemony and ideology in Gramsci. In Gramsci and Marxist Theory, ed. C. Mouffe. Sassoon, A. S. 1980 (1987): Gramsci's Politics, 2nd edn. ANNE SHOWSTACK SASSOON

This area of philosophical activ­

ity and enquiry is concerned with the theory and practice of understanding in general, and the inter­ pretation of the meaning of texts and actions in particular.

charged with the task of clarifying the self-under­ standing of an age in relation to traditioned frames of meaning. It is when taken-for-granted concep­ tions are shaken that the interpretation of meaning, as its method-guided appropriation, comes into play. Hermeneutical theory as it developed before the nineteenth century, that is, as a set of practical rules, is in principle unable to provide a theoretical foundation for the interpretation of meaning. What is required for this purpose is nothing less than the

Overview

contribution Kant made to the foundation and jus­

In the two decades after the publication of Hans­ Georg Gadamer's

In so far as hermeneutics has been regarded as the

interpretation of texts. The term was coined as

Bocock, R. 1986: Hegemony.

hermeneutics

As a methodology

Truth and Method

in

1960,

tification of the natural sciences. In this respect, Wilhelm Dilthey's 'Critique of historical reason'

HERMENEUTICS

267

(see Dilthey, 1927) represents a widening ofKant's

the human 'being-there' in the world, that is char­

Critique ofPure Reason in accounting for the histor­

acterized by a search for meaning and a meaningful

ical dimension in the development of human

existence (Heidegger, 1927). The meaning of Dasein can only be approached

thought. Dilthey's attempt to provide the foundation for

through an interpretive effort:

'hermeneutical'

the human sciences was continued in this century

therefore becomes the central concept in existential

by Emilio Betti, who set himself the task of harvest­

analyses. Hermeneutical theory, on this basis, can

ing the wealth of hermeneutical thought that had by

be no more than a derivative of the more funda­

now accumulated, and putting it to good methodo­

mental hermeneutic of Dasein where we are en­

logical use.

gaged in clarifying an already existing form of

A major attraction of Emilio Betti's objective­

understanding of our world of everyday life.

idealist perspective on the study of meaning resides

But not only is methodically disciplined Verste­

in the promise of being furnished with an account

hen a derivative of existential understanding, it is

of the possibility of Verstehen, here used in the sense

also directed by the latter. The interpretation of

of a method-based form of understanding leading

something as something, that is, the 'as-structure

to objective results. Betti introduces his general theory of interpret­

of understanding', is based on the fore-structure of understanding. The circularity of argument appar­

ation through a consideration of the relationship of

ent in the conception of interpretation as a move­

subject and object in the interpretation of meaning­

ment within the fore-structure of understanding is

ful forms. The object of the human sciences is

that of the existential-ontological, or hermeneutic,

constituted by ethical and aesthetic values. They

Circle.

'represent an ideal objectivity that unerringly

Hermeneutical theory stressed the movement

follows its own lawfulness' (Betti, 1955, p. 9). The

from part to whole and reverse in the process of

ideal objectivity of 'spiritual values' can, however,

understanding. That methodologically guided in­

only be comprehended through the 'real objectiv­

terpretive procedure is now seen as a derivative of

ity' of 'meaningful forms'. These forms contain

the existential structure of our Being-in-the world.

values which Betti regards as something absolute,

In Heidegger's account, it is not a question of

that is, as containing within themselves the basis of

getting out of this Circle (as in the pursuit of 'ob­

their own validity. They are thereby removed from

jective' findings) but of getting into it properly

the perceiver's subjective arbitrariness and, as ob­

since it contains the possibility of original insight.

jectively existing, are accessible to intersubjective

Gadamer

verification.

Hermeneutical

theory

conceives

of

understanding as an act residing in the interpreter's

Hermeneutic philosophy Betti's work represents a sophisticated exposition of hermeneutical theory as the methodology of the interpretation of objective mind. Hermeneutic phil­ osophy, in contrast, shifts the focus of hermeneutics from the problem of Verstehen to the existential constitution of possible understanding from the standpoint of active existence, especially in refer­ ence to our embeddedness in tradition and language.

capacity to engage with meaningful forms. In Gada­ mer's view, however, understanding is not to be thought of as an act of one's subjectivity so much as the placing of oneself within a tradition in which past and present are constantly fused. The bringing together of past and present in the act of understand­ ing Gadamer describes as the 'fusion of horizons'. In understanding, the interpreter's horizon is widened to encompass the initially unfamiliar object, and in this process forms a new, widened horizon. It is at this point, at the converging of initially differing

Heidegger

In the later work of Edmund Husserl,

positions, that true meaning can arise. Meaning is

the central figure in the development of PHENOM­

constituted in the dialogic formation of agreement.

ENOLOGY, the life-world- the world of everyday life

Only in this communicative experience do we come

that we uncritically accept as 'our world'- provided

to understand and to know more fully what previ­

the ontological basis for any possible experiencing

ously had remained an unclarified part of our pre­

(Husserl, 1937).

understanding, our initial horizon.

Martin Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology

The stress on the historicity of understanding,

develops this theme towards an analysis of Dasein,

on the situatedness of the interpreter within an

268

HERMENEUTICS

active tradition, has already been referred to in terms of the 'fore-structure' of knowledge. Gada­ mer pursues this point further in the terms of a 'pre-understanding' and the inevitability of

teile

Vorur­

(which can mean both prejudice and pre­

judgement). This aspect has been regarded as a 'rehabilitation of prejudice' by critical hermeneutics and as such a step back behind the questioning of unjustified assumptions that characterizes the Enlightenment tradition. At this point, thought, this insight into the pre-judgemental structure of understanding can be developed further into an argument for the 'universality of the hermeneutic problem' on the basis of Gadamer's stress on the linguisticality of our Being. Language is not merely an instrument of thought but it itself operates to disclose a world to us; we move within it and on the basis of it. Ultimately, it is language that forms the 'tradition', the 'pre­ understanding', that generates our understanding of ourselves and our world.

Hermeneutics

as critique

The figure of the

hermeneutic circle

was used

by Gadamer to reject the objectivism inherent in the historical-hermeneutical

Geisteswissenschafien.

When challenged by Betti to produce any criteria for judging the correctness or truth of proffered interpretations, Gadamer answered that he was only concerned with showing what it was that was always happening when we understand. Gadamer's reference to the embeddedness of interpretation in a tradition was seen by Betti as a relapse into subjectivism. For

critical hermeneutics

this not only prevents hermeneutics from acquiring any methodological significance but also, and per­ haps more importantly, it represents the forfeiting of the hard-won degree of autonomy from the forces of tradition which Enlightenment thought had secured. In the work of social philosophers working within the wider orbit of the FRANKFURT SCHOOL, such as Karl-Otto Ape! and Ji.irgen Habermas, an integration is attempted of hermeneutic philosophy with other traditions such as phenomenology, prag­

Poststructuralism

matism, linguistic philosophy and Freudian analy­

Gadamer's emphasis on the productive rather than

sis. Both aim towards an integration of Gadamer's

merely reproductive nature of interpretation paral­

analyses with sociopolitical concerns, and with the

lels a shift in French philosophical and literary

formulation of a social science that can assist in

thinking

freeing repressed social practice.

towards

a

'poststructuralist'

position.

One strand, often referred to as 'textualist', is of

Adhering to the 'project of the Enlightenment',

particular interest here, especially since its main

Habermas seeks to develop a critical social science

representative, Jacques Derrida, has entered into a

that reconstructs suppressed possibilities for eman­

dialogue with Gadamer (see, for instance, Derrida,

cipation. As a critical-dialectical social science,

1967).

Habermas's

(See also DECONSTRUCTION.)

The figure of the 'fusion of horizons' that repre­

depth hermeneutics

attempts to mediate

the objectivity of historical forces with the subject­

sents the dialogic constitution of meaning appears

ivity of actors. Since its aim is to free emancipatory

in poststructuralist thinking as 'intertextuality'.

potential through reconstructing processes of re­

These terms, too, refer to an active relationship of

pression it is not surprising that Habermas should

reader and text, to an interaction and performance

use psychoanalysis as a model.

rather than passive consumption or detached analy­

Because repression takes place in and through

sis of a fixed meaning. This move, at the same time,

language, the theoretical framework required for

forms the central point of departure from STRUC­

such a programme takes the form of a projected

TURALISM and semiology (see SEMIOTICS) with its

'theory of communicative competence'. Ideologies

emphasis on the 'sign' as closure.

provide an illusory account of societies that are

Where poststructuralism parts company with

characterized by the domination of one section

hermeneutics, however, is in its radical denial of

over another. Consensus in such conditions is likely

any foundations of knowledge in the sense of opera­

to be false or distorted, that is, the results of

tive assumptions regarding a self-evident basis of

'systematically distored communication'. In condi­

knowledge claims. For this tradition, it is impos­

tions of inequality, consensus can only be a 'coun­

sible to use notions such as 'reaching a consensus' or

terfactual' assumption, the anticipated aim of social

'arriving at a truth' without becoming entangled in a

interaction, rather than its unquestioned precondi­

self-contradictory circular movement of thought.

tion.

HINDUISM AND HINDU SOCIAL THEORY Postmodernism

269

Reading

Habermas's discursive ethics, which centres on

Bauman, Z. 1978: Hermeneutics and Social Science.

the idea of dialogue free from domination, has

B1eicher, J. 1980: Contemporary Hermeneutics.

been rejected by philosophers who draw their in­ spiration from Heidegger and, further back, from Nietzsche. The universalistic intention of Enlightenment thought and its emancipatory programme is now seen as, at best, illusory, but more likely as itself repressive. Such a project involves a philosophical justification, in Jean-Fran<;ois Lyotard's phrase a 'grand narrative' or 'meta-narrative'

(1979), the

function of which is to impose a unilinear, mono­ logical conception of the object and to legitimize its own rules of procedure. One such grand narrative is represented by the 'hermeneutics of meaning', and it characterizes the postmodern condition that we have become 'in­

--1982: The Hermeneutic Imagination. Dallmayr, F. and McCarthy, T. eds 1977: Understanding and Social Inquiry. Gadamer, H.-G. 1960 (1975): Truth and Method. Habermas, J. 1967 (1988): On the Logic of the Social Sciences. Hekman, S. 1986: Hermeneutics andthe Sociology ofKnow­ ledge. Hoy, D. C. 1982: The Critical Circle: Literature, History and Philosophical Hermeneutics. Kog1er, H. H. 1996: The Power ofDialogue. Ricoeur, P., 1974: The Conflict ofInterpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics. Wachterhauser, B. R. 1986: Hermeneutics and Modern Philosophy. Warnke, G. 1987: Gadamer: Hermeneutics, Tradition and Reason.

credulous' towards it. This attitude arises from

JOSEF BLEICHER

the valued recognition of heterogeneity, plurality and local determination, and leads Lyotard to reject the unanimity of minds sought in the formation of consensus as not only unrealistic but even as dan­ gerous, as 'terroristic'. As far as the philosophical and practical-political concern with the formation of consensus is con­ cerned, it is necessary to state that the dialogical constitution of meaning and the striving for com­ municatively achieved, rational agreement is unre­ lated to the monological imposition of one particu­ lar language-game. More to the point, critical hermeneutics is concerned with formulating the conditions of the possibility of plurality. It is only on the basis of consensual norms that diverging positions can freely be developed and be given a fair hearing. Critical hermeneutics seeks to expand that space through helping to initiate an emancipa­ tory practice that removes obstacles in the way of genuine consensus formation.

Hinduism and Hindu social theory

Hindu­

ism is the name generally given to the beliefs and practices which have developed over many centur­ ies in the Indian subcontinent. These are diverse but bear a family resemblance to each other. Three traditions:-

BUDDHISM, Jainism

and

Sikhism­

have emerged as distinct but cognate religions. The Western term 'Hinduism' derives from a Sanskrit word for the Indus river, and variants of the word 'Hindu' have been used for over

2,000

years by outsiders to describe the people of India. Hindus call their way of life 'sanatana' (eternal) 'dharma'. Dharma, often translated as 'religion', is a fun­ damental concept which has no English equivalent and includes the notion of morality. It denotes the conduct appropriate to an individual's caste, gender and age. Human life is regarded as an opportunity for achieving moksha (liberation) from the soul's cycle of birth and rebirth. Hindus believe that

Conclusion

suffering and good fortune can be explained by

Hermeneutic thought points to the situatedness

karma, the cosmic law of cause and effect, operating

of all activity within a particular interpretive

over many lifetimes.

framework. As such it draws our attention to the presuppositions,

and

limitations,

of

all

forms

Hindu social theory is the view of society which emerges from analysis of Hindu history and culture

of thought and social practice. The aim of its

and as articulated by Hindu thinkers and by ana­

proponents has been to enhance communicative

lysts of Hindu society. Hinduism has no single

interaction and thereby to facilitate the develop­

founder and no single book that is regarded as

ment of humane and truly rational forms of social

scripture. Its roots can probably be traced to the

coexistence. See also THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE.

period of the Indus Valley civilization

(2500-1500

BCE (before Christian Era)) and to the many local

270

HINDUISM AND HINDU SOCIAL THEORY

tribal religions of the subcontinent. The oldest

teaching, threw up Hindu thinkers with pro­

texts, the Veda, which were probably written

grammes for transforming society. In Bengal the

about

Brahma Samaj founded by Ram Mohan Roy ( 1772-

1000 BCE in north India, record the sacrificial

hymns of the Aryans (a term which has acquired

1833) promoted social reform, especially the rights

connotations of racial purity or of pristine Hindu­

of women. In his thinking a form of theistic monism

ism but more accurately indicates speakers of an

was defended by philosophical reasoning of a West­

Indo-European language, who probably originated

ern type. The Gujarati ascetic Swami Dayananda

further west). The Aryans worshipped male gods

Saraswati

such as Indra.

to his conception of a pure V edic society, purged of

(1824-1883) exhorted Hindus to return

500 years

the superstitious overlay of subsequent centuries.

later, there emerges the characteristically Hindu

He and the movement which he created (Arya

belief in the transmigration of the soul and the

Samaj) emphasized Hindu rather than Western

unity of atman (the individual soul) with brahman

philosophy, strove to eliminate untouchability, en­

In the Upanishads, composed about

(the impersonal absolute which pervades all). Mys­

couraged the education of women and enabled

tical experience assumed great importance and

widows to remarry. Swami Vivekananda

there subsequently arose systems of physical and

(18621902) preached mystical monism coupled with

mental control for advancing this (yoga), which are

social reform without ruling out caste or the wor­

prefigured in the Bhagavad Gita.

ship of images.

The purpose of the Arthashastra, a fourth-cen­

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

(1856-1920) promoted

tury BCE account of social relationships, is the pre­

social conscience and political nationalism. He

servation of a king's power. Realpolitik is combined

argued for the antiquity of Aryan culture and that the Bhagavad Gita should be understood as an

with principle. Underlying Hindu society are the twin concepts

exhortation to selfless service. Mahatma Gandhi

of varna (see CASTE) and ashrama (stage of life).

(1869-1948) strove to realize a society, free of for­

Society is understood as a hierarchy of interde­

eign domination, and characterized by non-vio­

pendent but unequal elements characterized by

lence,

harmony rather than by competition. The life of a

valued. He saw no justification in Hinduism for

male from the 'twice-born' castes came to be

untouchability. His principle of sarvodaya (univer­

in

which

all

individuals

were

equally

thought of as a sequence of stages. The brahma­

sal uplift), espoused by Vinoba Bhave

chari (celibate student) would marry and become a

and other Gandhians, means practical action to

(1895-1982)

grihastha (married householder). When his son's

improve the quality of life of the most needy. In

son was born (and his line assured) he could become

the philosophy of the erstwhile political activist Sri

a forest hermit (varnaprastha) before renouncing all

Aurobindo Ghose

ties with the world as a sannyasi (renunciant). This

maya (illusion) as a fundamental principle of society

pattern persists in Hindu society as an underlying

and the universe.

ideal of family life giving way to untrammelled

(1872-1950), evolution replaces

For Jawaharlal Nehru

(1889-1964), India's first

preoccupation with religious pursuits. From the

prime minister, society must embody democracy,

Rig Veda, the epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana)

socialism and secularism - that is, loyalty to the

and the lawbooks (Dharmashastra) emerges an

basic unity of India - rather than communalism (the self-interest of communities as divided along

evolving view of society. The prime concern of theologians and philoso­

religious lines). Sarvapelli Radhakrishnan

phers was not social theory but understanding the

(18881975), philosopher and president oflndia, saw an

ultimate reality. Shankara

(c.800 CE) preached

Indian Idealism as the potential saviour of civiliza­

advaita (non-dualism). In other words all appear­

tion from exploitation by Western commercial

ances of duality (for instance between God and

technology. As defined by Radhakrishnan, secular­

matter) were illusory. For medieval mystics, such

ism does not mean irreligion or atheism, but lays

as Kabir and Ravidas, mystical experience left no

stress on spiritual values which may be attained in a

place for caste division, but it would be anachronis­

variety of ways. Harmony rather than competition

tic to describe them as social reformers or theorists

was the ideal incorporated in the caste system, as he

in the modern sense.

expounded it (Radhakrishnan,

1927).

Nineteenth-century India, ruled by the British

Twentieth-century Hindu social thought was

and sensitive to Western thought and Christian

characterized by increasing tension between the

HISTORICISM principles of secularism and Hindutva (Hindu re­

271

thought, especially in the German-speaking world.

vivalism) in which Bharat (India) is emotively iden­

The conte xtualizing approach to law and economics

tified

of the respective 'historical schools' and their cri­

with

Hinduism.

This

developed

m

conjunction with a movement to unify Hindus of

tique of abstract systems with a pretention to uni­

all sects, castes and regions. The aim of the Rash­

versality was at the centre of important theoretical

triya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer

controversies (see METHODENSTREIT ) which con­

Union), founded in

tinued into the early twentieth century - when the

1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgevar (1889-1940) was to revive the self-confi­

terms historismus or historizismus came into general

dence ofHindus and their sense of civil duty, largely

use. As the virulence of these disputes declined, and

through involving young people in disciplined

historicism was eclipsed by the rise of PosiTIVISM

social service. In

and PHENOMENOLOGY, thinkers such as Ernst

1964 the Vishwa Hindu Parishad

(World Hindu Organization) was founded with the same ethos to unify Hindus. Many Hindus, angered by their perception that the Indian government was

Troeltsch

(1865-1923) and Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954) offered retrospective critical evalu­ ations of historicism (for Troeltsch, see 1922).

appeasing minorities, have asserted themselves

Karl Mannheim's principle of 'relationism' at­

more militantly, united by the struggle for a temple

tempted to do justice to historical and other differ­

rather than a mosque to mark the birthplace of Rama

ences in perspective without falling into a full­

in Ayodhya. This activism inspired by idealization

blown RELATIVISM.

of the Hindu past is represented politically by the

There had always been a more speculative strand of historicist thinking which understood the stress

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Analysts of Hindu society have understood it in

on change and development not as a caution against

terms of a variety of processes, for e xample the

generalization but as an invitation to construct

interactive relationship between the Great and

grand schemes of historical development and pro­

Little Tradition (pan-India and local forms of Hin­

gress (see EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN SOCIETY) .

duism). Srinivas postulated Sanskritization (the

Karl Popper used 'historicism' in this sense in his

process whereby lower castes change their behav­

critique of 'prophecy' in social theory, particularly

iour to resemble that characteristic of the brahman

MARXISM. This usage which, as Popper recognized,

secularization

is directly opposed to the first one, became domin­

(whereby what is identifiably religious, such as a

ant in English-language discussions, leading many

castes).

Other processes

include

belief in the supernatural, plays a less significant

writers, including the translator of Meinecke's

role in people's lives), modernization, industrializa­

book, to prefer the term 'historism'. Popper's cri­

tion, urbanization (as unprecedented millions move

tique of Marxist 'historicism', like Jean-Fran<;ois

from villages to the cities) and Westernization (de­

Lyotard's later critique

noting a shift towards, for instance, the consump­

(1979), gave rise to considerable discussion within

tion of meat and alcohol, behaviour at odds with

the Marxist tradition. Here, however, the term is

Sanskritization).

also used to indicate a stress on the historical

Reading

thought itself, in opposition to more scientistic

of

'grand

narratives'

embeddedness, and hence changeability, of Marxist Basham, A. L. 1954: The Wonder that was India. Beteille, A. 1966: Caste, Class and Power: Changing Pat­ terns ofStratification in a Tanjore Village. Dumont, L. and Pocock, D. eds 1957-{)9: Contributions to Indian Sociology, vo1s 1-9. Lannoy, R. 1971: The Speaking Tree: a Study of Indian Culture and Society.

versions of Marxism such as that defended for some time by Louis Althusser, who popularized this further usage in his critique of such Marxists as Lukacs and Gramsci (Althusser,

1965).

Historicism or historism in the primary sense was an important, if ine xplicit, feature of philoso­

Radhakrishnan, S. 1927: The Hindu View ofLife.

phy and social theory in the later decades of the

Srinivas, M. N. 1967: Social Change in Modern India.

twentieth century. Peter Winch

(1958) emphasized

ELEANOR M. NESBITT

the need to understand 'alien' cultures in their

A stress on the historical variability

tral historicist principle e xplicit with a quotation

own terms, making his identification with this cen­ historicism

of systems of ideas and practices, their subordin­

from Nestroy in the frontispiece of his book. Quen­

ation to broader processes of change, was one of

tin Skinner has emphasized the importance of

the

understanding the texts of political theory in the

main characteristics of nineteenth-century

272

HISTORY

context of their traditions (see Skinner, 1978, and

In the past 'period' historians have gained

also Tully, 1988), and this historical concern has

access to storehouses of information, hitherto

affinities with 'contextualist' approaches in modern

beyond their reach for lack of technology or tech­

political theory which argue for a holistic approach

niques to exploit them or lack of the perspective

to concrete forms of life and traditions, rather than

from which to make historical sense of them. For

the implementation of discrete moral and political

the first time historians systematically used sources

principles. A more general valorization of diversity

such as aerial land surveys, registers of births, bap­

or 'difference' has been a pervasive theme of recent

tisms, marriages and deaths, physical measure­

Western thought, as the legacy of imperialism grad­

ments of men drafted into armies, catalogues of

ually gives way to a less ethnocentric and more

mail-order companies, records of school enrol­

'multicultural' awareness. Most recently, the label

ments and university matriculations, automobile

'new historicism' was applied to literary and cul­

licences, guild memberships, telephone directories.

tural studies which, in opposition to the more ab­

This detritus of human life people had gathered

stract theorizing of the 1970s and early 1980s,

and shaped into manageable form some time, some­

engage closely with historical texts but with a

where, for some purpose. Their purposes were

focus on the ways in which they are produced and

other than those of the twentieth-century historians

the complex mediations through which we have

who ultimately reshaped the surviving data for their

access to them. In these various and disparate

own uses. The common characteristic of these

ways, the legacy of historicism survives, and what

kinds of data was that they attained significance

was denoted by the term in the nineteenth and early

for historians only by aggregation. In the very

twentieth centuries comes to seem, along with and

nature of things the kinds of advancement of his­

opposed to more systematizing and universalistic

torical knowledge such sources lent themselves to

approaches, a permanent pole of attraction in phil­

were quantitative. A second sort of data that engaged the attention

osophy and social theory.

of professional academically trained historians in Reading

the twentieth century was the mass of information

Mannheim, K. 1952: Historicism. In Essays on the Soci­

that for 250 years or more local antiquarians had

ology ofKnowledge. Meinecke, F. 1946 (1972): Historism: the Rise of a New

Historical Outlook. Popper, K. 1957: The Poverty ofHistoricism. Schnadelbach, H. 1984: Philosophy in Germany 1831-

1933, eh. 2. Skinner, Q 1978: The Foundations of Modern Political

been unsystematically amassing in the publications of local learned societies. Professional historians had long been contemptuous of such antiquarian activities. Their contempt was well merited by the ineptness of some such efforts, and the triviality or mediocrity of much of the rest. In the twentieth century professional historians dug into kitchen

Thought. Veeser, H. A. ed. 1989: The New Historicism. WILL! AM OUTHW AITE

middens of local history and amid much vacuous rubbish found precious artifacts of a past not hith­ erto explored. To the new quantitative data they

history

The invitation to write a short essay on

added the letters (diaries, marriage settlements and

history for a dictionary of modern social thought is

wills, rentals and leases) of obscure men and

an invitation to decide for that essay what the

women; and on both counts history was enriched

modern period is. For that purpose it will here be

by the increment.

a short period - the 75 years from 1914 to 1989,

Both kinds of new historical sources have pro­

from the onset of World War I to the multiple

vided data on the kinds of people to whom profes­

collapse of communism as effective actuality and

sional historians had hitherto paid only slight

as ideology in the world. In that 75-year 'period' the

attention - agricultural workers, peasants, factory

writing of history has undergone three sorts of

hands, foot soldiers, domestic servants, women,

major change, distinguishable but also mutually

children, indeed the larger part of humankind

interrelated. The sources to which historians paid

since human life came to be. So in the twentieth

professional attention changed; the subject matter

century for the first time it became possible - and

that the profession wrote about changed; and the

soon thereafter it became common practice - for

framework within which they defined their discip­

professional historians to write coherently about

line changed.

phenomena that earlier historians had few means

HISTORY

273

and less disposition to concern themselves with:

before the discovery of America. The story of the

diet, health, water power, energy sources and ap­

rise of the West thus comfortably fits the two nar­

plication, literacy, population, productivity, epi­

rative traditions with which the men of letters of the

demics. (See also SociAL

West were most familiar before

HISTORY.

) The historians

who undertook to open new fields of enquiry ac­

1492 and which

almost all the founding fathers of the historical

companied their pioneering effort with appropri­

profession in the nineteenth century accepted as a

ately loud trumpet blasts and less felicitously with

given.

territorial claims that made those of the

13 original

states of the USA seem modest by comparison.

Not surprisingly many of the twentieth-century historians who took part in the discovery of history

The shift of interest to people whom historians

'from the bottom up', considered this 'old' narra­

of earlier generations had neglected or looked down

tive history an evidence of the former subjection of

on disrupted a complacency that the profession had

other races, other classes, other age cohorts and the

cultivated. The reconception of the historical, pro­

other sex to bondage by hegemonic white males. It

tean sometimes to the point of appearing chaotic,

was also an instrument of that bondage.

had altered the visible practice of professional his­

The devaluation of individual persons as the

torians with a series of seismic shocks, the ultimate

centres of historical stories and the devaluation of

force of which was hard to gauge when the 'century'

stories as the natural form of history therefore fit

ended in

comfortably the kinds of evidence that the new

1989.

In the period of the founding of their profession

types of sources yielded in the twentieth century.

1914, historians by training had

That evidence afforded answers to many historical

given most of their attention to the past doings of

questions that no historian had hitherto asked. It

from about 1815 to

leaders of white adult males, a minuscule minority

afforded no answers to the kinds of questions which

of the persons who had hitherto lived on earth. The

had mainly preoccupied nineteenth-century histor­

intensity of their dedication may have been over­

ians and later successors who continued to share

estimated, and their grounds for it misperceived by

their concerns. In a culture which for 200 years had

many of their successors in the twentieth century.

assigned an unprecedented honorific value to in­

Still the generality with which in the nineteenth

novation, it was to be expected that twentieth-cen­

century professional historians, all adult white

tury innovators would cry down the value of kinds

males, pursued the study of the power struggles in

of story-telling history that their practices were no

war and peace of adult males, especially white ones,

more apt to produce than a pile driver was apt to

is conspicuous. The bringing to light of evidence

produce an etching. (This is said with no intent to

about how the overwhelming majority of human

compare invidiously the value of one to the other;

beings-not just white adult males-had lived and

they are not comparable.)

died in the human past resulted in a large and

So the innovative sort of twentieth-century his­

confused tumult over what to count as the sign­

torical work marginalized writers of narrative

ificant past and how to count it. Clearly in the

history. It also marginalized human persons, or

course of the four-and-a-half centuries between

effectively disintegrated them, made into historical

1492 and 1942 adult white males had come to dom­

nonentities the actual players in those manifold

inate, to have hegemony over, the earth. To some

stories of the past, that had been most of what

historians in the twentieth century, even to some

most historians wrote about during the previous

not easily chargeable with parochial or blinkered

hundred years.

vision, it was evident that the rise of the West was

The Story of the 450 years before that, in the same sense that World War II was The Story of the six years (1939-1945); it was the coherent story or text

In the twenty-first century (beginning in

1989),

historians may want to examine the confluence of the

new sources

of

twentieth-century history

writing, its new subjects, and the conceptions,

of which most other human doings within that

indeed the

interval could be seen as context or background.

the most influential historians of the era. The

idees fixes, that captured the minds of

This way of looking at the past is of course older

longer they wait, the more the passage of time will

than the modern West. It had its origins in the

diminish their capacity to empathize with the

literatures of two ancient cultures - the Graeco­

durable fascination - both attraction and repulsion

Roman and Judaeo-Christian - which the rulers

- for twentieth-century historians of the particular

and writers of the West had found congenial well

cluster of ideas to which we will shortly return.

274

HISTORY

The confluence of sources, ideas and events oc­

effective than it was in those early years of the

curred between 1914 and 1945. Its setting was two

communist experiment in Russia. It stood in stark

terrible wars, generated in Europe, which in 30

contrast with the blind stumbling of the West in the

years left that violent civilization desolate amid

ten years before World War II. On the one hand a

the ashes of its own folly. The first years of the

firmly directed march through socialism to a com­

twentieth century thus witnessed a holocaust of

munist society in the Soviet Union. On the other,

the expectations, hopes and aspirations of the nine­

the Great Depression, massive unemployment, the

teenth - expectations of the spread throughout the

collapse of the prewar pseudodemocratic regimes of

earth of the civilization of the states of Europe most

Italy and Germany into fascism and Nazism, the

advanced in science, technology and literacy, hopes

paralysis of capitalist economies, and the apparent

for continuous PROGRESS on the way to feedom and

death-throes of imperialism and the bourgeois

democracy,

world order.

aspiration

for universal peace. In

Europe since Waterloo there had been occasional

Before World War I, the word Marxist had been

short episodes of armed strife. But from the Urals

applied to a polycentric cluster of political sects and

to the Atlantic, north of the Danube, for the first

factions with two shared traits. The first was an

time since the states of Europe had achieved the

aversion to the political, economic and social struc­

cohesion necessary for interstate conflict there had

tures amid which they lived, and the conviction that

been no long major wars among the great powers.

those structures were so exploitative and oppressive

We need to remember that, lest with the advantage

to most of humankind that they should be replaced

of hindsight we ascribe to historians teetering on

by any feasible means. The second was the convic­

the brink of mankind's most hideous century,

tion that Karl Marx had effectively analysed how

idiocy - moral or political or both. In the clash of arms of World War I, the greatest

mankind had come to the pass it had in 1914; he had also discovered the route that it would and should

clash of human resources in Europe's history, this

follow in the future, the route called socialism

facile optimism of a century sank. It left as jetsam

to the goal called communism. By 1914, followers

only the idiot smile of the naive transatlantic giant,

of Marx's teachings, from Russia to the Iberian

the United States, which had bumbled on to the

peninsula, were in multifold disagreement about

battlefield only long enough to determine the im­

what the true Marxist philosophy was and about

mediate military outcome, had muttered a ritual

what course of action it required of them at the

incantation, 'Make the world safe for democracy,'

moment. All Marxists agreed, however, that the

and then withdrawn into its wonted isolation, spir­

teaching of Marx required that his followers apply

itual as well as geographical.

his doctrine, whatever it was, in the sphere of

In the post-war years, in their dire and aban­

action; it provided a scientific law of life.

doned plight, the best intellects of Europe turned

Especially via their impact on Marxism, the

back to those few prophets of woe who in the midst

events of World War I produced a torsional effect

of the promise of the nineteenth century had seen

on the perceptions of historians that, almost to the

omens of impending ill. Many turned especially to

end of the short twentieth century, was to shape or

that succession of prophets who, although perceiv­

twist the history written during its seven-and-a half

ing in their own time the threat of world catas­

decades. In the last years of World War I, the Muse

trophe, saw dimly on the horizon the omens of a

of History played a sour joke on Marxism and on

red dawn that appeared in the early 1920s- a new

all but one of its main sects. At the very beginning

light in the East, the first socialist society.

of his magnum opus, Capital (1867), Karl Marx

One after another the socialist goals proclaimed

had set out the prime prior condition for a com­

by Karl Marx in 1848 were attained in the Soviet

munist society, the kind of society he had envisaged

Union - the abolition of private property, the li­

in the Communist Manifesto of 1848. That condition

quidation of an archaic class structure, the dictator­

was the abolition of private property. Capitalist

ship of the proletariat, the destruction of that opiate

society having passed from maturity into senile

of the people, organized religion, and- but 12 years

decay, the proletariat in a socialist revolution

into the Russian phase of the world revolution- the

would overthrow an obsolete bourgeoisie and

introduction of economic planning, and thus at last

set society on the path toward its communist goal.

a society rationally organized to attain its stated

This must be achieved through capitalist exploit­

goal. Never was the persuasiveness of doing more

ation of the working class by the bourgeoisie before

HISTORY a society could be right for the socialist revolution.

275

ians, not only in Russia but throughout the world.

Late in 1917, however, under the leadership of

This was the case not only for explicitly Marxist

Lenin, a small communist faction in Russia seized

historians but also for uncommitted historians who,

power. In the ensuing five years the Russian Com­

self-consciously or not, regarded history as one of

munist Party succeeded for the first time in history

the policy sciences, aiming at human betterment.

in abolishing private ownership of the instruments

For them it was potentially a source of scientifically

of production. It also consolidated its own rule over

verified information that pointed towards a correct

almost the whole domain in Europe and Asia once

course of social, economic and political actions.

under the Tsars of Russia, a domain hitherto

They had to consider whether the Soviet Union

viewed by Europeans, Marxists or not, as 'back­

was infallibly marking either the way other societies

ward' and 'Asiatic'. The time, the place and the substance of the

should follow or the way they should resist and reverse. Even in the few countries where up to

triumph of communism in the Union of Socialist

1945 the vocation of historians was not subject to

Soviet Republics, formerly the Russian Empire,

irresistible guidance from above, many historians

imparted a unique and peculiar tilt to what went

were attracted by the power exercised in the Soviet

on in the world in the ensuing 75 years. It is there­

Union in the name of science. Others were hypno­

fore appropriate to begin the story of the twentieth

tized by the intellectual complexity and encompass­

century with the emergence of Soviet Marxist so­

ing

cialism and to end it between 1989 and 1992, when

simultaneous missions of embracing the world and

by official action the former Union of Soviet Social­

squaring the circle.

grandeur

that

Marxism

achieved

in

its

ist Republics became the Community oflndepend­

A good bit of serious historical evidence could be

ent States. The implications of that change for

made to shape up in forms congruent with Marx­

Marxism were not heartening and for communism

ism. So too, was a populous belt of the earth from

were dire. So the shorter twentieth century was the

the Elbe and the Adriatic on its western boundary

Marxist Century. For 75 years the Soviet Union, of

all the way to the Pacific Ocean and the South

which Marx and Lenin were the official icons, pre­

China Sea on the eastern. Theoretical fascination

sented to humankind the first 'acting out' of social­

joined with apparently imminent political triumph.

ism on the world stage. Off and on in that century

That gave Marx's historical vision a particular pi­

Britain, the United States, Nazi Germany, Japan,

quancy for intellectuals of the few surviving free

and Maoist China joined the Soviet Union centre­

democracies. Many of the most articulate of those

stage. The Union, the first great society explicitly

intellectuals inclined with varying degrees of acute­

founded on Marxist principles and precepts, was

ness toward Marxism. Those who did not so in­

however from its inception constantly at one pole of

cline, rather than those who did, found that the

humanity's current vision of the world as it was and

unenviable burden of proof was tipping on to

ought to be.

their shoulders. Some of them spent much energy,

To moderately observant people during the first

too much perhaps, in showing their reasons for not

three decades of the twentieth century, it seemed

being Marxists. This entailed asserting that from

that on the most stringent human test for a scientific

where they were standing they did not see the

claim, the test of experience, Marxism had vindi­

inevitable Red Dawn- or any other shade of inevit­

cated its assertion that it was the true science of

able dawn for that matter - of a new day for hu­

human society or at least the place where that claim

manity, not the message humanity finds most

was being experimentally tested. Earlier Marxist

heartwarming.

predictions of the imminent collapse of capitalism

insisting on the inability of Marxists and quasi­

They

spent

considerable

effort

were being confirmed by events all over the world.

Marxists to come to grips with the dilemmas, para­

In Europe the Thirty Years' War among imperialist

doxes and contradictions inherent in Marxism from

cultures, capitalist jackals and fascist hyenas looked

the start. Such historians nibbled away at large

as if it was winding down into assured mutual

Marxist assumptions that arbitrarily ruled out as

destruction.

inconsiderable or secondary (not basic, or unim­

For nearly the whole of the twentieth century the

portant in the long run) events and processes of

Communist Revolution and the success or survival

which Marxism was unable to offer an adequate

of the Soviet Union were the decisive events in

scientific explanation. In a world palpably intent

colouring the imagination of professional histor-

on plunging towards wrack and ruin, rejection of

276

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

the Marxist hope was not always popular with or plausible to intellectuals. With the advantage of hindsight now, at the

change, has made unsaleable -readiness to write down much less to write off the value of a life's work does not come easy. Already in the past 30 years, as

dawn of the twenty-first century, the preoccupa­

the credit and credibility of the Soviet experiments

tions of historians in the previous century with a

slumped, historians who had most of their intellec­

view of the nature and destiny of man so palpably

tual assets invested in communism have looked for

flawed at its foundations as that of the Marxists may

ways to hedge their bets. Only rarely did a Marxist

seem either mysterious or utterly ludicrous. When

historian say 'I have spent all my life digging my

this happens-as it surely will-those present and

way into a dead end.'

future historians must try to see the world of the early twentieth century as those who lived in it saw

Reading

it. Until 1989, no one -no layman, no expert­

Barraclough, G. 1964: An Introduction to Contemporary

foresaw the end of the twentieth century as it actu­ ally happened: the implosion of the Soviet power structure and along with it of the ideology to which it was committed. At the time this article is being written no-one has been able to make a plausible estimate of the devastation wrought by the inward collapse of communist institutional structures in

History.

Braudel, F. 1980: On History. Carr, E. H. 1961: What is History? Collingwood, R. G. 1946: The Idea ofHistory. Hexter, J. H. 1961: Reappraisals in History. --

1971: The History Primer.

Le Roy Ladurie, E. 1973 (1979): The Territory of the Historian.

much of the world and their probable imminent

J. H. HEXTER

unhinging in China, the only major area where they have survived. There they are kept in being

history, economic

See EcoNOMIC HISTORY

by the wiliness of a handful of men in their middle eighties; what will happen when the men die, as

history, social

See SociA L HISTORY

soon they must, is beyond knowing. It is not the least irony of the twentieth century

human geography

In their study of human oc­

that the catastrophes at its end have been catas­

cupancy of the earth's surface, the empirical efforts

trophes of Marxism, the intellectual structure that

of human geographers throughout the twentieth

attained dominance at its beginning, and of the

century have been extremely heterogeneous, but

institutional structures, those of Soviet commun­

they have almost always been associated with

ism, through whose agency that dominance was

three

largely maintained. What this void in institutional

themes: the role of humans in transforming nature,

structures will entail historians can begin to surmise

in physically modifying the earth's surface; the

at least to the extent of imagining a limited array of

organization of space by societal units and the

alternatives to them and of making exploratory

impact of spatial organization on social and eco­

moves toward understanding those alternatives.

nomic interaction; and the human activities or

As effectively to review and replace the dominant

IDEOLOGY of the twentieth century presents histor­

underlying

built-landscape

and

features

frequently

overlapping

characterizing

cities,

regions or other delimited areas. A key common

ians with a more perplexing problem. Structures of

thread of these themes -the situated conduct of

ideas are far more durable than structures of insti­

practice by human agents operating within a spe­

tutions, their custodians more conservative, with

cific constellation of social relations - was long

more deeply entrenched vested interests in preserv­

unrecognized and helped result in a disciplinary

ing them. Need for prompt disposal of institutions

discourse which was largely oblivious to social

that send up suffocating fumes, and in the end

theory; even though Vidal de la Blache and his

produce nothing more than junk, sleaze, heartache

fellow practitioners of la geographie humaine did

and death is not all that hard to discern and the

regard the genres de vie, the ways of life, character­

demolition tends to be evident to those trapped in

istic of regions together with the interactions of

the ruins. Being intangible, ideologies cling more

humans with their physical milieu as social phe­

persistently and are harder to clean away. For a

nomena above all else.

historian-as for any intellectual who has invested

Adherents of environmental determinism, the

his or her life in acquiring an expertise the contents

most widely prevailing view during the early twen­

of which the turn of events, that is, historical

tieth century, ignored the existence of social rela-

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

277

tions and insisted that livelihood practices, cultural

social justice issues that had previously been

characteristics,

beyond the realm of acceptable enquiry.

human

physical

attributes

and

mental abilities all varied geographically because

As Marx-inspired scholars became the target of

of differences in the natural environment (and, in

criticism in the discipline and opened themselves to

so doing, legitimated the persistence of European

internal debate, and as Harvey (1982) himself

and American imperialism). 'Cultural geography',

expanded on the 'limits to capital', going beyond

as developed by Car! Sauer and his followers from

Marx in emphasizing the spatiality of capital and

the mid-1920s onwards, avoided the social by

calling for a 'historico-geographical materialism', a

adopting the superorganic view of CULTURE pro­

number of human geographers became directly en­

pounded by Alfred Kroeber and other anthro­

gaged in wider social theoretical developments.

pologists, by assigning culture an independent

They embarked on the reformulation of social

ontological and determinative status, by removing

theory and a new discourse began to take form,

it from the realm of human agency and conflict and

especially on the pages of the journals Antipode

by allowing it magically to generate its own planted­

and Society and Space and in a surge of important

on-the-ground forms. In the 1940s and 1950s those

books, only a few of which appear in the suggested

who pursued what Richard Hartshorne termed

reading below. Sometimes calling on such dissimi­

'area! differentiation' abjured social theory through

lar figures as Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault and

focusing on the areally unique interrelation of phe­

Anthony Giddens, those critical human geograph­

nomena directly or indirectly bound to the earth,

ers participating in this discourse have in various

through stressing the variable and the different and

ways argued that history is no longer to be privil­

through being inattentive to geographically exten­

eged in social analysis; that geography and history

sive social structures and processes. Finally, the

have equal ontological status; that the spatial, the

quantitative 'revolution' of the late 1950s and

temporal and the social are always inseparable; that

1960s brought with it a new strict empiricism -

all which is social is situated on the ground and

now focusing on the statistically measurable rather

context dependent; that the historical dynamics of

than the field observable; a considerable concern for

social systems must be seen in concrete geograph­

models derived from classical location theory and

ical context; that the spatial conditions, or struc­

neoclassical economics; a search for geometric

tures, which enable and constrain human activity

order; a preoccupation with spatial form rather

are

than process; a positivistic disdain for theories

unfolding of history, social and spatial structures

that dealt with unquantifiable relations; and, as a

constantly play on one another. In so doing, and in

themselves social

products;

that,

in

the

result of all this, little attention to cultural and

one way or another acknowledging the transform­

social theoretical issues.

ational interplay of agency and structure, they have

In the context of the Vietnam war and the cas­

given a new set of meanings to Marx's famed

cade of popular social movements in highly indus­

dictum that people: 'make their own history, but

trialized capitalist countries, there emerged an

they do not make it just as they please; they do not

internal critique of mainstream human geography

make it under circumstances chosen for them­

that at last came to grips with the social theoretical

selves, but under circumstances directly encoun­

dimension

tered, given and transmitted from the past'.

of

the

discipline's

subject

matter

through the introduction of a Marxist perspective.

With epistemological sensitivities awakened by

During the 1970s, behind the pioneering efforts of

the sceptical stance of postmodernist philosophers

David Harvey, a growing minority of human geog­

towards absolute standards of truth, many contrib­

raphers began theoretically and empirically to rein­

uting to the new human geographic discourse in

terrogate the world of spatial organization and

question have - following the stances of Keat and

regional differentiation in terms of political econ­

Urry (1975) and Sayer (1984) - become adherents

omy, uneven development and the 'logic of capital'.

of REALISM because of its assertion that science is

They began to explore the impact of contemporary

possible and necessary; because of its contention

capitalism on many of the urban and rural phenom­

that structures, with their impalpable relations

ena, many of the human-land relationships, that

and causal powers, exist to be identified; and be­

had traditionally been an object of the discipline's

cause of the suggestions it provides for avoiding

scrutiny. And they began - in an often combative

unwarranted causal conclusions in the empirical

manner - to examine the geographical dimension of

study of open and complex social systems.

278

HUMAN NATURE

The new discourse has yielded a number of

nature is an indispensable component of social

theoretically informed and theory embellishing

thought. The more significant contributions over

studies. Some of the most important explore the

the last century can be divided into two chief

shifting articulations of the local and the global

groups - the 'scientific' and the 'humanistic'.

under late twentieth-century capitalism and inves­ tigate the ways in which gender relations, class relations, other power relations, the details of everyday life and elements of culture are restruc­ tured locally as different forms of capital are relent­ lessly restructured globally. Particularly significant advances have been made in the realm of industrial geography, where there has been a new focus on industrial

restructuring

and

regional

labour

markets, on the concentrated production com­ plexes resulting from flexible accumulation, and on the central role of geographically specific indus­ trialization in growth under capitalism (Massey,

1984; Scott and Storper, 1986; Storper and Walker, 1989). Throughout all these developments critical human geography has not escaped the postmoder­ nistic questioning of language and representation as a result of issues repeatedly raised by Gunnar Ols­ son since 1980 (Olsson, 1980).

scape.

Gregory, D. and Urry, J. eds 1985: Social Relations and Spatial Structures.

and Walford, R. eds 1989: Horizons in Human Geog­

0.

Wilson

defines human

an environment largely vanished, the world of the Ice Age hunter gatherer' (1978, p. 196). Evolution­ ary psychologists argue that human social life has been strongly shaped by the mental mechanisms or modules evolved at that time. These range from the acquisition of grammar, mate section and the rec­ ognition of emotions to detecting when children need assistance (Tooby and Cosmides, 1992). The governing assumption in SociOBIOLOGY, more gen­ erally, is that human nature is a topic to be studied within the natural sciences with the aim of creating an internally consistent network of causal explan­ ation between biological and social sciences. Writers in this school, such as K. Lor­

the fact that the human genotype shares 99 per cent of its history with that of the chimpanzee. The seeming narrowness of this difference means that the biological species homo sapiens emerged only recently in evolutionary time. Ethologists claim that the behaviour patterns of primates - their

raphy.

Harvey, D. 1985: Consciousness and the Urban Experience. 1989: The Condition ofPostmodernity: an Enquiry into

the Origins of Cultural Change.

Peet, R. and Thrift, N. eds 1989: New Models in Geog­ raphy: The Political-Economy Perspective, 2 vols.

Pred, A. 1990: Making Histories and Producing Human Geographies:

E.

nature as 'a hodge podge of genetic adaptations to

Ethology

Cosgrove, D. 1985: Social Formation and Symbolic Land­

--

Neo-Darwinism

enz (1966) and I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1971), focus on

Reading

--

Scientific interpretations

the Local

Transformation of Practice,

Power Relations and Consciousness.

Soja, E. W. 1989: Postmodern Geographies: the Reassertion

aggressivity,

hierarchies

and

territoriality

for

example- have their counterparts in human society (see ETHOLOGY).

Behaviourism

While writers in this school do not

question the tenets of neo-Darwinism, their focus is directly on human behaviour. This behaviour, like any other natural phenomenon, has antecedent causes which necessarily determine certain effects.

of Space in Critical Social Theory.

Thrift, N. 1983: On the determination of social action in space and time. Society and Space I, 23-57. Watts, M. J. 1985: Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria.

In the terminology of B. F. Skinner (1971) human behaviour is subject to operant conditioning. One consequence of this, Skinner believes, is that many current social institutions and practices, such as

ALLAN PRED

punishment for crimes, are outmoded and should be replaced with an appropriate technology of be­

human nature

There are many

contending

haviour (see BEHAVIOURISM).

definitions of this notion. Each definition not only

What Skinner's position reveals, and what is

takes up a particular position but also claims for

present also in the other two schools, is the convic­

itself a uniquely privileged perspective that pre­

tion that supposedly scientific statements have

empts all alternatives. This contentiousness is not

significant social as well as moral and political im­

an incidental matter because some notion of human

plications. All three assume human nature is a

HUMAN RIGHTS

279

proper object of 'scientific' study and also assume

All the views canvassed thus far accept that

that any social thought that does not comport with

human nature is a meaningful concept. Perhaps

the findings of these studies is untenable. Despite

the most characteristically 'modern' view on this

the great prestige enjoyed by science, the appropri­

topic has been an attack on this meaningfulness.

ateness of this whole set of assumptions has been severely challenged. At the heart of these challenges

The most celebrated version is Sartre's (1946) (see EXISTENTIALISM). According to Sartre, human

is the contrary conviction that it is the humanness

nature does not exist because there is nothing 'out­

of human nature (not its 'nature') that should be the

side' it (such as God) to give it a 'nature' or essence.

subject of enquiry.

In humans, existence precedes essence; unlike nat­ ural objects which merely exist, humans decide to

Humanistic interpretations Contextualism

According to this account human

nature is specified or made concrete by the particu­ lar context within which it is necessarily found. Outside such a context only uninformative abstract generalizations (such as the number of chromo­ somes) are possible. No meaningful separation can be made between humans and their specific culture, since, as Clifford Geertz puts it, humans are 'cul­ tural artifacts' Symbolism

(1972, p. 50).

Ernst Cassirer defines 'man' as an

animal symbolicum

(1944, p. 26). The way to under­

stand that which is essentially human is to examine what is distinctive, and that lies in the fact that humans alone are linguistic beings. Human reality is not that of behaviour patterns but of symbolic action manifest in myths, art, religion and so on. Large issues are involved in the differences be­ tween the various scientific and humanistic views of human nature. Of course neither position denies

exist. Another criticism of the concept is that it only exists within certain historically specific discourses, so that M. Foucault

and is not, accordingly, a universal transhistorical idea. In modern social thought human nature plays a prominent

role

in

human nature. Less overtly, the difference between the scientific and humanistic accounts is similarly disputatious. For example, the scientific claim that altruism is impossible, because selfishness is an ineluctable fact of human nature, is criticized for being rather an ideological defence of the status quo since it forecloses humanly possible futures. These examples illustrate why no uncontentious defini­ tion is possible. Reading

The Limits ofHuman Nature. Human Nature Smith, S. eds 1983: Politics and Human

Benthall, J. ed. 1973:

as bridging the gap. The premise of Freud's (191517, 1923) psychoanalytic account of human nature

Forbes, I. and

operates. But Freud's whole endeavour is to un­ edies to improve both individual and social life -

Nature. Jaggar, A. 1983:

Feminist Politics and Human Nature. Beast and Man. Rid1ey, M. 1993: The Red Qyeen Rough1ey, N. ed. 2000: Being Humans Trigg, R. 1982: The Shaping ofMan. CHRISTOPHER J. BERRY Midg1ey, M. 1978:

religion, for example, he regarded as a 'neurotic relic'

(1927, p. 72) (see PSYCHOANALYSIS).

For

socialist and liberal views of a 'good society' is

Berry, C. J. 1986:

cover pathologies in this operation and supply rem­

argument.

whether cooperation or competition is central to

reaching accounts in the last century can be seen

a scientific account of the way the unconscious

ideological

example, integral to the differences between the

that the other has a role and one of most far­

is that its basic components can only be revealed by

(1966) is able to claim that it

only emerged at the end of the eighteenth century

human rights

See

RIGHTS

I The classification of phenomena into

ideal type

ized concepts linked together in laws. The hermen­

types is a common aspect of scientific work, as well

eutic critique inaugurated by Alfred Schutz

as of ordinary life, and many scientific concepts

stresses that the type-construction operated by the

involve an element of abstraction from concrete

social scientist is parasitic on earlier processes of

reality, or idealization in a non-moral sense: for

typification carried out in the life-world. Weber is

(1932)

example the concepts of frictionless motion or of a

too quick to replace actors' typifications of the

per fectly

meaning of social phenomena with his own ideal

competitive

market.

Max

Weber

borrowed (from the political historian Georg Jelli­

types, without concerning himself sufficiently with

nek) the term Idealtypus (ideal type) to distinguish

the fit between them - what Schutz calls 'ad­

the analytical concepts of history and the other

equacy'.

social sciences from merely classificatory concepts.

Both criticisms share a sense that ideal types, as

The term 'exchange', for example, can be used

Weber presents them, are too arbitrary; decisions to

either simply to refer to a set of similar phenomena,

construct or to abandon them are left to the judge­

with what Wittgenstein later called ' family resem­

ment, what Weber calls the 'tact', of the individual

blances' between them, or as an analytical concept

theorist.This suspicion of the conventionalism im­

related to judgements about economic rationality,

plicit in Max Weber's philosophy of science (see

marginal utility and so forth. In the latter case,

NEO-KANTIANISM) has led rationalists and realists to uphold a more ambitious conception of real DEFIN­ ITION- which Weber however would probably have

Weber claims, the concept is ideal typical in the sense that 'it removes itself from empirical reality which can only be compared or related to it' (Weber,

accused of essentialism.The present mood in social

1904, p. 102, cf. pp. 93-4). Hence ideal types

science seems somewhat sceptical both of the posi­

cannot be directly falsified if empirical reality

tivist ideal of precision in measurement and of the

seems not to fit them even approximately.

radically distinctive contribution of 'phenomena­

Weber's account of the ideal type is an aspect of

logical' and other forms of hermeneutic theory, and

his broader model of the relationship between the

thus Weber's concept of the ideal type remains

social sciences and

attractive.

VALUES, or more precisely value

reference: 'There is no absolutely "objective" scien­ tific analysis of culture - or ...of "social phenom­

Reading

ena" independent of special and "one-sided" view­

Burger, T. 1976: Max Weber's Theory of Concept Forma­

points according to which - expressly or tacitly, consciously or unconsciously - they are selected, analyzed and organized for expository purposes'

(1904, p. 72). Criticisms of Weber's account fall roughly into two categories, positivistic and hermeneutic. Posi­ tivists have tended to assimilate ideal types to the general class of theoretical concepts, emphasizing

tion: History, Laws, and Ideal Types. Gerhardt, U. 2001: Idealtypus. Outhwaite,

W.

1983:

Concept

Formation

in

Social

Science. Papineau, D. 1976: Ideal types and empirical theories. British Journal for the Phiolosophy ofScience 27 .2. Schutz, A. 1932 (1972): The Phenomenology of the Social World. Weber, M. 1904 (1949): 'Objectivity' in social science

the possibility of measuring how far empirical phe­

and social policy. In The Methodology of the Social

nomena diverge from the pure type and of mapping

Sciences.

WILL! AM OUTHWAITE

out a continuum between opposed types.Science, it is claimed, moves from the rather primitive clas­ sificatory and typological phase with which Weber

identity

was concerned to a more precise set of operational-

plying sameness and continuity, the term has a long

Derived from the Latin root idem, im­

IDENTITY

281

philosophical history which examines permanence

did the later concept of mid-life crisis-coined in

amid change and unity amid diversity, but in the

the 1970s through the work of Gail Sheehey (1976)

modern period it is closely linked to the rise of

and Daniel Levinson (1978).

INDIVIDUALISM, and its analysis is considered to

The sociological tradition of identity theory is

start with the writings of John Locke and David

linked to SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM and emerges

Hume. It is not till the twentieth century, however,

from the pragmatic theory of the self discussed by

that the term comes into popular usage; reinforced

William James (1892, eh. 3) and George Herbert

especially since the 1950s in North America with

Mead (1934). For James, identity is revealed when

The Lonely Crowd Identity and Anxiety

'This is the real me!' (cited in Erikson,

the publication of books like

we can say:

(Riesman et al., 1950) and

1968, p. 19). The self is a distinctively human

(Stein et al., 1960). These, along with much litera­

capacity which enables people to reflect reflexively

ture and drama, documented the increasing loss of

on their nature and the social world through com­

meaning in MASS SOCIETY and the subsequent

munication and language. Both James and Mead

search for identity; and during this period the

see the self as a process with two phases -the 'I'

term became widely used in descriptions of the

which is knower, inner, subjective, creative, deter­

quest to establish 'who one really is'. Initially deal­

mining and unknowable; and the 'Me' which is the

ing with the crises faced by blacks, Jews and reli­

more known, outer, determined and social phase.

gious minorities, it was ultimately generalized to

As Mead says: 'The "I" is the response of the

the whole of modern society. By the 1970s, Robert

organism to the attitude of others; the "me" is the

Coles could claim that the term was 'the purest of

organised set of attitudes of others which one him­

cliches' (Gleason, 1983, p. 913).

self assumes' (Mead, 1934, p. 175). It is the 'Me'

In the social sciences, discussions of identity take

which is most linked to identity-with the way in

two major forms, psychodynamic and sociological.

which we come to take ourselves as an object

The psychodynamic tradition emerges with Sig­

through the act of seeing ourselves and others.

mund Freud's theory of identification, through

Identification, here, is a process of naming, of

which the child comes to assimilate (or introject)

placing ourselves in socially constructed categories,

external persons or objects (usually the superego of

and language becomes central in this process

the parent). Psychodynamic theory stresses the

(Strauss, 1969). In the later works of Erving Golf­

inner core of a psychic structure as having a con­

man and Peter Berger, identity is clearly seen to be

tinuous (though often conflictual) identity. For

'socially bestowed, socially sustained and socially

Lichtenstein, it is 'the capacity to remain the same

transformed' (Berger, 1966, p. 116). People build

in the midst of constant change' (1977, p. 135). It

their personal identities out of the culture they live

was, however, the psychohistorian Erik Erikson

m.

who most developed the idea. He saw identity as

Both the sociological and psychodynamic ap­

'a process "located" in the core of the individual

proaches aim to link the inner world to the outer

and yet also in the core of his communal culture, a

world, but their emphases differ. For both, how­

process which establishes, in fact, the identity of

ever, the struggle to define the self is linked to the

those two identities' (1968, p. 22). He developed

way in which a community constructs conceptions

the term 'identity crisis' during World War II with

of people and life. In the modern world, both per­

patients who had 'lost a sense of personal sameness

spectives suggest that a shared community has

and historical continuity' (p. 17), and he subse­

largely dissolved-leaving modern people without

quently generalized it to a whole stage of life (as

a clear sense of identity (see also ANOMIE) . This

part of his epigenetic life-stage model -the eight

dilemma has spawned a huge literature, including

stages of man). Here, youth is identified as a uni­

many plays and novels where the 'quest for iden­

versal crisis period of potential identity confusion,

tity' or the 'breakdown of the self ' are primary

which can ultimately be resolved through a com­

themes. These accounts have both an optimistic

mitment to a broader social ideology: there is 'a

and pessimistic version, and can generate consider­

universal psychological need for a system of ideas

able ambivalence (Waterman, 1985). For the opti­

that provides a convincing world image' (p. 31).

mists, the modern world has brought with it

Personal crisis and the historical moment are here

increasing individuality and choice over a wider

strongly connected. Subsequently, the term 'iden­

range of identities. Thus people are more likely to

tity crisis' moved into common parlance, as indeed

'self-actualize' (Maslow, 1987); to discover an inner

282

IDEOLOGY

self which is not artificially imposed by tradition,

Erikson, E. H. 1968:

between self and culture and the rise of the narcis­

Identity: Youth and Crisis. The Dilemma ofHuman Identity. Mead, G. H. 1934 (1962): Mind, Self and Society. Riesman, D., Glazer, N. and Denny, R. 1950 (1966): The Lonely Crowd. Strauss, A. 1969: Mirrors and Masks: the Search for Iden­ tity. Wiegert, A.]., Teitge, J. S. and Teitge, D. 1986: Identity and Society.

sistic personality; while the sociologists see a trend

KEN PLUMMER

culture or religion; to embark on quests for greater individuality, self-understanding, flexibility and difference. It is the 'democratization of personhood' ( Clecak, 1983, p. 179). In contrast, pessimists por­ tray a mass culture of estrangement: the psycho­ dynamic tradition highlights the loss of boundaries

Lichtenstein, H. 1977:

towards fragmentation, homelessness and mean­ Literally referring to a science (or logos)

inglessness, and bemoan the loss of authority

ideology

in the public world through the growth of self­

of ideas, the term was used in that sense by the

absorption and selfishness (Lasch, 197 8; Berger et

French philosopher Destutt de Tracy in his book

al., 1973; Bellah et al., 1985). Most popularly, all

Elements d'ideologie, published in 1801. Ideas derive

this is caught in the label given to the 1970s of the

exclusively from sense perceptions, he believed,

'Me Decade' (Wolfe, 1976). Whatever analysis is

human intelligence is an aspect of animal life, and

made, most agree that there has been a profound

'ideology' is, therefore, a part of zoology. Tracy and

shift in the modern self, making it more individual­

his colleagues felt that by this reductionist analysis,

istic and impulsive than in former times.

in the sense that mental activities were attributed to

Apart from the way ideas on identity have

underlying physiological causes, they had arrived at

formed the basis of much therapeutic practice,

scientific truth; and they demanded that educa­

they have also given rise to a distinctive form of

tional reforms should be based on this new science

politics.

Identity

politics

became

increasingly

prominent from the late 1960s onwards, and is

(see

ENLIGHTENMENT). When Napoleon was a gen­

eral, he had proudly accepted membership in the

particularly associated with ethnic and religious

Institut National made up of the learned societies,

minorities, as well as with feminist and lesbian

and - like the

and gay movements. It tacitly draws from Marx's

ical salon of Mme Helvetius. But once in power,

model of class consciousness in which a subordinate

Napoleon wanted to uphold religion against its

ideologues- he visited the philosoph­

group develops a self-conscious awareness of its

detractors. Hence he denounced Tracy and his

position and becomes galvanized into political

circle as 'nebulous metaphysicians' and their sci­

action (Marx's distinction between a class in itself

ence of ideas as a dangerous ideology: these enemies

and a class for itself). There is a clear move here

of the French people wanted to base legislation on

from a class-based politics to a broader set of alli­

the 'first causes' they claimed to have discovered,

ances. Experiences such as those of black, gay or

and hence do away with the laws of the human heart

women's oppression become highlighted as the

and the lessons of history. Ever since, the term

focus for creating a separate group identity - as

'ideology' has been inseparable from the pejorative

blacks, gays or feminists. Around this a strong

implication that ideas are used to obscure the truth

culture of support develops and a political analysis

and to manipulate people through deception (see

takes shape. (See also

COUNTERCULTURE.) There

also

PROPAGANDA). In this historical episode one

is hence a dialectic of culture, politics and identity

finds assembled all the meanings associated with

which brings about social change (see Weeks,

'ideology': a science of ideas, the notion that ideas

1985). Towards the end of the twentieth cen­

are derived from some underlying, extra-ideational

tury, some postmodernist commentators perceived

basis (physiology, class, the struggle for power, and

'identity' politics as the pattern for the future (see

so on), the denunciation of ideas as visionary and

MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM). The traditional

subversive and hence the association of doctrines or

'left-right' distinctions seemed to be breaking

myths with some group or movement bent on put­

down as new alignments were being forged.

ting a dangerous political or cultural plan into effect. The pejorative meaning of ideology became a

Reading Baumeister, R. F. 1986:

Identity: Cultural Change and the

Struggle for Self Social Selves.

Burkitt, I. 1992:

stand by of the political struggle during the nine­ teenth century, as the politics of notables gave way to the development of political parties with their

283

IDIOGRAPHIC appeals to the masses. Public affairs had been the

cause of that crisis) those identified with the

concern of the privileged few, who took for granted

working class can and will comprehend 'theoretic­

that they knew what was best for their inferiors. In

ally the historical movement as a whole'. In the

their own eyes, the privilege of their social position

socialist society of the future, the mystical veil of

dispensed with the need to justify their actions.

religion and all other ideological distortions of

Conservatives of this persuasion typically accused

man's real condition will finally vanish, because

their opponents of being ideological visionaries who

'the practical relations of everyday life offer to

subverted the social order by abstract schemes, out

man none but perfectly intelligible and reasonable

of touch with reality. Liberals and radicals, on the

relations with regard to his fellow men and to

other hand, held that public affairs were a concern

nature.' These references

of the people and organized political clubs or parties

(Theses on Feuerbach, 1845; Communist Manifesto, 1848; Capital, 1867)

to advance their ends. Typically, they accused the

show that throughout his career Marx placed his

privileged few of exploiting the people under the

own work at the centre of his world-historical dis­

pretence of benevolence. However, liberals and

tinction between ideology and truth. The idea of

radicals also accused each other, because each

being on the 'right side' of world history, and hence

group saw its opponents as hiding partisan goals

'scientific', distinguishes Marxism from all other

under the guise of identifying them with the public

social and political theories.

good. The consequence was that the pejorative use

Since Marx, various other conceptions of ideol­

of ideology became universal, leading Thomas Car­

ogy have been developed, though frequently in

lyle to quip that 'orthodoxy is my doxy, heterodoxy

relation to his views. This persistent tendency in

is thy doxy.' It was the ancient paradox of the liar: a

Western thought is due to the underlying assump­

man says that all men use ideas to deceive; he is a

tion that ideas cannot and should not be taken at

man; and so his own statement also deceives.

face value, but must be analysed in terms of the

Here is one reason for the enormous appeal of

'forces' that lie behind them. Among them are

MARXISM, which is diminishing only now. Marx

Marx's class struggle, Nietzsche's struggle for

and Engels denounced their opponents as 'ideolo­

power, Freud's libidinal constitution of human

gists', and in addition they elaborated a theory of

nature, or a general preference for genetic explan­

'historical truth' which, they claimed, proved their

ations. Not what a person says, but why he or she

own views to be scientific. History is a history of

says it has become a main focus of attention, so that

class struggles, they asserted, arising from the or­

an 'end of ideology' is not in sight.

ganization of production and affecting all aspects of consciousness. Marx distinguishes successive social

Reading

The Politics of Truth. The Concept ofIdeology. McLellan, D. 1986 (1995): Ideology. Thompson, J. 1984: Studies in the Theory ofIdeology.

structures such as feudalism and capitalism in

Barrett, M. 1991:

terms of the classes and the consciousness to

Larrain, J. 1979:

which they give rise. And he identifies TRUTH with the historical role of the class which, because

REINHARD BENDIX

it was suppressed in the past, has the progressive future in its grasp. The reactionary rule of a class The

distinction

between

idio­

(aristocracy under feudalism, bourgeoisie under

idiographic

late capitalism) leads to ideological defences of the

graphic and nomothetic method was first drawn

status quo; the progressive role of a class (bour­

by the philosopher Wilhelm Windelband

geoisie under feudalism, proletariat under capital­

(18481915). An idiographic approach is concerned with

ism) is the source of truth in the sense of access to

individual phenomena, as in biography and much

the correct understanding of all present alienation

of history, while its opposite, the nomothetic ap­

and of human emancipation in the future. In the

proach, aims to formulate general propositions or

nomos). Windelband and Heinrich

past, philosophers have only interpreted the world

'laws' (Greek:

and produced ideological reflections of dehuman­

Rickert distinguished the idiographic method of

izing class relations, however abstractly. In the

history and other 'cultural sciences' from the

present and the future, the point is to destroy

nomothetic approach of economics and sociology,

dehumanizing conditions once and for all. That

which they categorized as natural sciences. They

can be done only by a unity of theory and practice

recognized, however, that these categories have

such that in the final crisis of capitalism (and be-

to be understood as ideal types (see IDEAL TYPE) .

284

IMPERIALISM

Evolutionary biology, for example, is in large part

thinkers working in the tradition established by

idiographic, and an idiographic, historically specific

Marx, in contrast, put the concept at the centre of

approach to economics and law was upheld by the

their analyses and debates. The reason is quite

corresponding 'historical schools' in late nine­

simple. The resurgence of interstate territorial ri­

teenth-century Germany (see HISTORICISM; METH­

valries continually undermined the solidarity of the

ODENSTREIT).

world proletariat and pulled and pushed its various

In much of the twentieth century, idiographic

components into antagonistic national alignments

approaches were somewhat depreciated, under the

under the hegemony of their respective ruling

influence

STRUCTURALISM,

classes. Faced with the equally unpleasant alterna­

though they remained dominant in ethnographic

tives of holding on to the principles of proletarian

of

POSITIVISM

and

field work (see ANTHROPOLOGY) and were formal­

internationalism but losing the support of their

ized in social science methodology as the 'case study

constituencies, or going along with the nationalist

method'. 'Ethnographic' and historical case studies

predispositions of their constituencies and aban­

have recently played a growing part in sociology -

doning the principles of proletarian international­

notably in the SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE and the soci­

ism, Marx's followers were forced to question the

ology of education. Biographical or 'life history'

assumed dominance of a unified world market over

approaches are also attracting considerable atten­

state action and engage in a major revision of re­

tion.

ceived theories and doctrines.

Reading

focused on the relationship between the resurgence

Marxist Bertaux, D. ed. 1981:

theories

of

imperialism

invariably

of interstate territorial rivalries and the develop­

Biography and Society.

Hamel, J. ed. 1992: The case study method.

Current

ment of capitalism on a world scale. Notwithstand­

Sociology 40.

ing

(1986): The Limits of Concept Formation in Natural Science (abridged).

imperialism had one thesis/hypothesis in common:

WILL! AM OUTHW AITE

ment and an expression of its maturity. Disagree­

Rickert, H. 1902

all

thier differences,

Marxist

theories

of

imperialism was the result of capitalist develop­ ments concerned the question of how and why

illness

See HEALTH; PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL

capitalist development had generated imperialism, whether imperialism was the 'last' or the 'last-but­

ILLNESS

one' stage of capitalist development, and what pol­ immigrant workers

itical conclusions ought to be drawn from the hy­

See MIGRATION

pothesized relationship between capitalism and imperialism

The concept of 'imperialism' was

imperialism.

But

whatever

the

disagreements,

introduced at the beginning of the twentieth cen­

there was an underlying consensus that the resur­

tury to deal theoretically and practically with an

gence of interstate territorial rivalries was a neces­

unexpected development of the capitalist world­

sary consequence of the maturity of capitalism.

economy. Nineteenth-century liberal and socialist

The two main variants of Marxist theories of

thought had both assumed that the free-trade world

imperialism were Rudolf Hilferding

order established under British hegemony in the

Rosa Luxemburg

first half of the century was there to stay and that,

alism to a fundamental mutation in processes of

over time, this order would strengthen the ten­

accumulation due to three interrelated tendencies:

dency towards the supersession of interstate rival­

the increasing concentration and centralization

ries over territory. In the closing decades of the

of capital; the spread of monopolistic practices;

century there occurred instead a major resurgence

and the organic domination of finance capital

(1913).

(1910)

and

Hilferding traced imperi­

of struggles over territory among the great powers

over industrial capital. At a certain stage of their

of the state system, which threatened to destroy the

development- it was maintained- these tendencies

very unity of the world market.

heightened interstate territorial rivalries. Never­

The concept of imperialism was first introduced by a liberal political economist (Hobson, with

some

Schumpeter,

notable

exceptions

(for

1902) but, instance,

1919), liberal social thought generally

ignored or dismissed its significance. Socialist

theless, by centralizing the control of the industrial apparatus in the hands of a few financial institu­ tions,

they

also

created

the

organizational

conditions for a 'socialist' takeover of national econ­ omies.

IMPERIALISM

285

In contrast to this theory, Luxemburg saw the

with which such strategies were associated. To

forcible incorporation of peoples and territories into

some extent this is a legitimate point of view. In

processes of capital accumulation as a constant fea­

particular, there can be little doubt that throughout

ture of the latter, due to the attempts of the agents of

the first half of the twentieth century, Lenin's

capital accumulation to overcome chronic overpro­

reconceptualization of Hilferding's theory of im­

development

perialism provided a far better guide to political

deepened and widened, the pressure to incorporate

action than any of the rival conceptualizations and

duction

tendencies. As

capitalist

ever-new peoples and territories increased, but the

theorizations. However, this does not mean that the

availability of peoples and territories not yet incorp­

Hilferding-Lenin theory of imperialism accounted

orated decreased. Imperialism was thus conceived

accurately for all the relevant connections between

as 'the political expression of the accumulation of

capitalism and imperialism, or that the theory

capital in its competitive struggle for what remains

retained all its relevance and validity once it had

still open of the non-capitalist environment' (Lux­

been effectively applied in the anti-imperialist

emburg,

1913).

struggle.

Early twentieth-century political debates among

On the contrary, the evolution of the capitalist

Marxists on what to expect and on what to do under

world-economy since World War II has shown

the world-systemic circumstances created by the

the historical limitations of the Lenin-Hilferding

resurgence of interstate territorial rivalries came to

theory of imperialism and has made the entire body

be centred around Hilferding's theory, and paid

of early twentieth-century Marxist thought on the

little or no attention to Luxemburg's theory. The

subject increasingly irrelevant to an understanding,

positions taken by Karl Kautsky Lenin

(1916)

(1913-14)

and

in these debates were both based on

let alone to a purposive transformation, of the pre­ sent

WoRLD-SYSTEM.

Ironically, this increasing ir­

Hilferding's theory. For Kautsky, the joint tenden­

relevance of Marxist theories of imperialism in the

cies towards the concentrations of capital, the

second half of the twentieth century has been at

spread of monopolistic practices and the organic

least in part the result of their success as a guide to

capital

political action in the first half of the century. As

would, over time, lead to a supersession of inter­

predicted by Lenin, interimperialist conflicts did

state territorial rivalries and to the development of

create unique opportunities for socialist and na­

domination

of

finance

over

industrial

what he called 'ultra-imperialism'. Only at this

tional liberation movements to seize state power

ultra-imperialist stage of capitalism would condi­

across the globe (see also

tions be optimal for the socialist transformation of

MOVEMENT),

the world.

World War II world capitalism did indeed seem to

these same tenden­

be about to 'turn into its opposite'. To be sure,

did not unfold in a political vacuum. Rather,

socialist revolution failed to take root in the centres

For Lenin

cies

COLONIAL LIBERATION

and in the years immediately after

(1916),

in contrast,

they developed 'under such stress' with such a

of world capitalist development as was generally

tempo, with such contradictions, conflicts, and

expected by Lenin and most Marxists at the begin­

convulsions- not only economic, but also political,

ning of the twentieth century. But even in these

national, etc., etc.- that ...before the respective

centres the power and influence of working-class

national finance capitals will have formed a world

organizations at the end of World War II was at an

union of'ultra-imperialism', imperialism will inev­

all-time high.

itably explode, capitalism will turn into its opposite'

Under these circumstances, capitalism survived

1915 preface to Bukharin's Imperialism and World Economy). Only by actively intervening

by shedding its imperialist clothes. The tendency

(Lenin's

towards interstate territorial rivalries, which had

in these contradictions, conflicts and convulsions,

prompted the introduction of the concept of im­

while upholding the principles of proletarian inter­

perialism,

nationalism, could Marxist parties hope to retain

wave of decolonization accompanied by the delegi­

was

reversed

in

an

unprecedented

and expand their national constituencies and initi­

timation of territorial expansionism and the recon­

ate the socialist transformation of the world.

struction of the world market. Over time, it became

The success of Leninist strategies of socialist revolution between

1917

and

1949

has been gener­

quite clear that world capitalism could survive, and expand

further,

without

being associated

ally taken by Marxists to provide strong evidence in

with the kind of territorial rivalries among core

support of the validity of the theory of imperialism

capitalist states that Marxists had assumed to

286

IMPERIALISM

be the necessary outcome of full capitalist develop­

imperialism to capitalist development, he was care­

ment.

ful in ruling out any necessary connection between

This capability of capitalism to survive imperial­

capitalism and the generalized territorial expan­

ism is what all Marxist theories had failed to predict.

sionism of the late nineteenth century. In his analy­

Even Kautsky's prediction of an ultraimperialist

sis, the connection was purely contingent on

stage of world capitalism, which may seem to

the distribution of wealth and power among states

come close to what has happened after World War

and within the dominant world power. Hence the

II, failed at least as much as rival Marxist predic­

connection could be severed by greater political

tions in foreseeing the course of twentieth-century

democracy and economic equality in the UK,

capitalist history. For one thing, what came into

and/or by a change in world leadership from the

being after World War II was not the kind of highly

UK to a less oligarchic state.

centralized, world-monopolistic structure envis­

Hobson's conceptual apparatus can be expanded

aged by Kautsky's ultraimperialism but a highly

without great distortions to accommodate both the

competitive

important,

acute interstate conflicts typical of the first half of

or not, the capitalist

the twentieth century, and the decolonization and

world-economy.

whether ultraimperialist

More

world order established under United States he­

recomposition of interstate conflicts typical of the

gemony was not the outcome of a self-acting devel­

second half of the century. In this expanded Hob­

opment of capital accumulation. Rather, it was the

sonian framework, imperialism, as originally con­

result of 30 years of acute conflicts and convulsions

ceived by liberal and Marxist thought, appears not

in the world-system and of the active intervention in

as the highest/latest stage of capitalism but as a

such conflicts and convulsions of socialist revolu­

phase in a long cycle of world hegemony character­

tionary vanguards, which Kautsky neither foresaw

ized by a strong evolutionary tendency towards the

nor advocated.

supersession of territorial expansionism in inter­

The truth of the matter is that Marxist theories

state relations (Arrighi, 1983). If this characteriza­

of imperialism in general, and the most influential

tion is borne out by future trends of the capitalist

among them (that is, Hilferding's) in particular,

world-economy, Schumpeter's thesis that in the

were all based on the historical experience of late

very long run the correlation between territorial

nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century

expansionism and capitalism is negative rather

Germany, and assumed that that experience was

than positive may deserve greater credit than Marx­

prototypical of late capitalism. In reality, however,

ists have been willing to admit.

the relevance and validity of Hilferding's exem­

Thus far, however, Marxists have shown little

plary analysis of finance capital and imperialism

predisposition to engage in major revisions of

were limited to Germany and other states of con­

received theories of imperialism. Their main reac­

tinental Europe in the period of transition from

tion to the reversal of territorial expansionism after

British to US hegemony. By no stretch of the

World War II has been to redefine imperialism

imagination could it be said to have accounted for

to include the forms of world capitalist domination

the relationship between capitalism and territorial

that were resurrected or created anew under United

expansionism as evinced in the experience of the

States hegemony. 'Imperialism' in Marxist writings

declining hegemonic power (the United Kingdom)

has thus come to designate the development

or of the rising hegemonic power (the USA).

of

underdevelopment

and

other

international

From this point of view,]. A. Hobson's pioneer­

aspects of capitalism. The result has been a seman­

ing analysis of imperialism was far less limited than

tic confusion and an analytical impasse (Sutcliffe,

that of either Hilferding or Luxemburg. His con­

1972, pp. 313-14) which have never been re­

ceptualization was better suited to capture system­

solved.

level, long-term tendencies than those of his Marx­

The traditional concerns of theories of imperial­

ist counterparts. He defined imperialism as one of

ism have lately been taken over by

several forms of expansionism and traced the par­

analysis

ticular form that expansionism took at the end of

Within these perspectives, the notion of imperial­

and

international

WORLD-SYSTEM

political

economy.

the nineteenth century to the policies and social

ism has been superseded by the concepts of hegem­

structure of the declining hegemonic power.

ony and world power. One can only hope that what

Even though Hobson anticipated in many re­ spects both Hilferding and Luxemburg, in tracing

remains relevant and valid of early social thought on imperialism is not lost in the process.

INDIVIDUALISM See also COLONIALISM; DIVISION OF LABOUR,

287

ety to itself, first sapping 'the virtues of public life', then attacking and destroying all others, eventually

INTERNATIONAL .

being 'absorbed into pure egoism' (Tocqueville,

Reading

1835-40, bk 2, pt 2, eh. 2). This usage has been

Arrighi, G. 1983: The Geometry ofImperialism.

influential among modern theorists of mass society

Hilferding, R. 1910 (1981): Finance Capital.

and American social and cultural critics. It con­

Hobson, J. A. 1902 (1968): Imperialism: A Study. Kautsky, K. 1913-14: Der Imperialismus. Neue Zeit 32. 2,

908-22. Lenin, V. I. 1916 (1964): Imperialism: the Highest Stage of

Capitalism. Luxemburg, Rosa 1913 (1951): The Accumulation of Cap­

trasts with another usage in which the term has been a catchword for free enterprise, limited gov­ ernment, personal freedom and the attitudes, forms of behaviour and aspirations held to sustain them. This usage was exemplified in Herbert Hoover's famous campaign speech of 1928 celebrating the

ital. Schumpeter, J. 1919 (1951): The sociology of imperial­ ism. In Imperialism and Social Classes, ed. Paul Sweezy. Sutcliffe, B. 1972: Conclusion. In Studies in the Theory of

Imperialism, ed. R. Owen and B. Sutcliffe.

GIOVANNI ARRIGHI

'American system of rugged individualism'. Of a more abstract character are various further doctrines. One is methodological individualism. This is a doctrine about explanation which states that no explanation in social science or history can be ad­ equate (or in another version 'rock-bottom') unless

individual, socialization of the

See SociAL­

IZATION

couched in terms wholly of features of individuals­ their properties, goals, beliefs and actions. Social whales, or aggregate patterns of behaviour, must

individualism

This

term

embraces

several

always be explained, or ultimately explained, in

ideas, doctrines and attitudes whose common factor

terms of individuals. This doctrine has taken

is the according of centrality to the 'individual'. It

many forms and never ceased to be controversial,

originated in the early nineteenth century in post­

often passionately so. Karl Popper and Friedrich

revolutionary France, where it signified the dissol­

von Hayek have seen its defence as essential to the

ution of social bonds, the abandonment by individ­

liberal defence of a free society. Others, from Emile

uals of their social obligations and commitments.In

Durkheim on, have seen its rejection as the first step

the German lands, its meaning was different: there

to the sociological understanding of realities that

it was associated with Romanticism and tended to

are independent of and constraining on individuals.

signify the cult of individual uniqueness and ori­

Yet others see the contests over it as combining

ginality and the flourishing of individuality. In

useful caveats and insights with misleading exag­

England its meaning was different again: it con­

gerations.Thus its defenders sensibly warn against

trasted with 'collectivism', and it typically served

the hypostatizing of social entities and collective

to refer to the virtues of self-reliance and initiative

forces and wisely insist that macro-explanation re­

celebrated by Samuel Smiles, in the moral sphere,

quires microfoundations, yet they too often claim

and was associated with LIBERALISM in the eco­

that social facts are really fictions and that social

nomic and political spheres. Another influential

whales are mere constructions of individuals. Con­

nineteenth-century usage was that of Jacob Burck­

versely, its opponents rightly claim that impersonal

hardth for whom the Italian Renaissance had en­

structures and the behaviour of collectivities can

meant

have independent explanatory force, yet they all too

(among other things) the recognition of the dis­

easily detach these from a plausible theory of indi­

tinctness of unique individuals and the cultivation

vidual action.

gendered

individualism,

by

which

he

of PRIVACY (Burckhardt, 1860). All of these mean­ ings have survived into our time.

A further doctrine concerns practical deliber­ ation: it is sometimes called atomism. It holds that

twentieth­

the ends of action are all individual and thus that

century uses has been Alexis de Tocqueville, who

social goods are no more than concentrations of

wrote that it was 'a new expression to which a new

individual goods, and hence that there are no irre­

Perhaps

most

influential

on

its

idea has given birth ...a deliberate and peaceful

ducibly social goods, partly or wholly constituted

sentiment which disposes each citizen to isolate

by common actions and meanings. UTILI TARIANISM

himself from his fellows and to draw apart with

and what is today called 'welfarism' exemplify this

his family and friends', abandoning 'the wider soci-

view, holding that the relative goodness of a state of

288

INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY

affairs must be based exclusively on, and taken to be

Lukes, S. 1973: Individualism.

a function of, the various individual utilities it con­

O'Neill, J. ed. 1973: Modes ofIndividualism and Collectiv­

tains. Charles Taylor sees atomism as rooted in 'those philosophical traditions ... which started with the postulation of an extensionless subject, epistemologically a tabula rasa and politically a presuppositionless bearer of rights' (Taylor, 1985,

tsm. Tay1or, C. 1985: Atomism. In Philosophical Papers II. Tocqueville, A. de 1835-40 (1966): Democracy in America, trans. G. Lawrence, ed. J. P. Mayer and M. Lerner, esp. bk 2, pt 2, eh. 2.

STEVEN LUKES

p. 210). Otto Gierke identified it with Natural Law thinkers from Hobbes to Kant, for whom all forms of social life were 'the creation of individuals' and merely 'the means to individual objects' (Gierke, 1868-1913, pp. 106, 111). Apart from these, various other varieties may be mentioned. Epistemological individualism places the source of knowledge within the individual. It has been asserted in different ways by Descartes and various versions of EMPIRICISM. E thical individual­ ism sees morality as essentially individually oriented -either in the form of ethical egoism (according to which the sole moral object of an individual's action is his own benefit) or a further, more radical set of ideas, from which EXISTENTIALISM descends

;

according to which the individual is the very sourc

of moral principles, the supreme arbiter of moral and other values. Finally, there is a complex of ideas which may be labelled political individualism which proposes various connections between 'the individual' and government: first, a view of government as based on the individually given consent of its citizens, its authority deriving from that consent· second view of political representation, not

;f orders

'

a or

estates or classes or social functions, but of individ­ ual interests; and third, a view of the purposes of government as confined to enabling individuals' purposes to be satisfied and individuals' rights to be protected, allowing them maximum scope to pursue their interests. The first is rooted in social contract theories, but even where such theories are abandoned, it is the centre of justification for liberal democracy, though anarchists, since Henry David Thoreau, have drawn more subversive conclusions from it. The second was central to the framing of the United States constitution and the utilitarians' proposals for political reform and to modern con­ stitutionalism in general. The third, which goes back to John Locke, is close to the heart of political liberalism. Reading Hayek, F. A. 1948 (1980): Individualism and Economic Order.

industrial democracy

The concept designates

the idea and practice of cooperation between capital and labour to run in common workshops and enter­ prises. Industrial democracy aims to overcome the social DIVISION OF LABOUR, that is the hierarch­ ical differences in the production process. In a broader sense it has to be associated with the gen­ eral process of PARTICIPATION and democratization of society (Lauck, 1926). The term has also to be linked, and is sometimes identical, with 'economic democracy' (Naphtali, 1928; Carnoy and Shearer, 1980). The idea of industrial democracy dates back to the early or utopian socialists at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The most famous protagonist was Robert Owen, who founded in 1800 an indus­ trial community in New Lanark, in Scotland (Owen 1812-16). It is the child of industrial societies which created the modern division between capital and labour, and the class of wage earners. From the very beginning two schools of social thought tried to overcome the conflicts and misery which accom­ panied the childhood of this society. The first is that of humanist, religious and philanthropic thinkers and practitioners who tried to integrate the prole­ tariat into society to prevent revolutions and upris­ ings. The two churches-Protestant and Catholic­ provoked many debates and activities. In Germany the Catholic priest Adolph Kolping created in the second half of the nineteenth century a broad social movement which resulted in Pope Leo XIII's social Encyclica Rerum Novarum of 1891. The second school is linked with the workers' movement in its different expressions as SociALISM, SYNDICALISM and TRADE UNIONS. Here industrial democracy might be understood as part of a process from alienation through participation to self-determin­ ation. The COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT is a specific form of industrial democracy in so far as it covers producer cooperatives. In 1916 England introduced joint management in the form of the Whitley councils. Certainly, as in other countries, the war situation facilitated a

INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY

289

democratic opening into what had been until then

economic system as such and is therefore not revo­

mainly

lutionary. (Derber, 1970; Okamoto, 1981.)

authoritarian,

quasi-military

decision­

making structures in the economy. Joint manage­

Shop stewards as a form of industrial democracy

ment was also reintroduced into the American

have developed in Britain. This is a grass-roots

economy during World War II.

democratic structure in which the elected represen­

After World War II, labour legislation based on

tative of a shop negotiates directly with manage­

concepts of industrial democracy was introduced in

ment on different issues of work-life. It may be

many countries. The OECD and the International

regarded as complementary to the system of col­

Labour Office also became active. The ILO itself

lective bargaining. (Coates and Topham, 1975.)

may be regarded as the international part of indus­

Worker ownership has always had a certain import­

trial democracy. A number of reports and bibliog­

ance. Popular capitalism tried to integrate the

raphies have been published under its auspices and

workers through shareholding and profit-sharing

its International Institute of Labour Research

schemes into the company and/or economy. Re­

carried out a number of studies itself (International

cently the so-called Employee Stock Holding Pro­

Labour Office, 1981; Monat and Sarfati, 1986).

gramme (ESOP) in the USA has been much

Industrial democracy may be, and was, interpreted

discussed and scientifically studied. But often these

as a counter movement against 'scientific manage­

participative schemes do not include voting rights,

ment' which alienated men and women even more

and they have not yet fundamentally changed labour

from their product than capitalism had previously

relations. (International Handbook ofParticipation in

done.

Organizations, vol. 1, 1989, and vol. 2, 1991.)

The principal types of industrial democracy may

Guild socialism is linked with the name of

be differentiated in various ways (ILO, 1981; King

G. D. H. Cole, who formulated this concept from

and van de Vall, 1978), but the following forms may

World War I on. In Self-government in Industry

be suggested as having developed historically and

(1917) he developed the main principles, which

geographically.

may be summarized as follows: In the first place

Participative management developed with the

the guild constitutions have to achieve true individ­

'human relations' movement from the 1930s and

ual self-government; secondly they have to com­

new forms of work organization have been intro­

bine efficiency with freedom.

duced since that time. It often takes the form of

decentralization to the utmost extent, that is, indus­

The means are

industrial democracy but remains one-sided and

trial democracy. He polemicized against the collect­

limits participation generally to the workplace

ivists- that is, the communists- that their utopia is

level, with the final say reserved to management.

a world of public trusts, whereas the utopia of the

Nevertheless, it can be regarded as a management

guilds is a world of producer combines, which all

response to growing demands by the workforce for

work in the common interest. Consumer coopera­

more democracy at the workplace, and therefore

tives were for him never democratic, since direct

promising for the future of democracy. 'Organiza­

democracy is the only true DEMOCRACY. He de­

tional

systems'

veloped a system which still guarantees unity

(Emery and Thorsrud, 1969) and 'quality circles'

through a federation of guilds with a central office.

development',

'socio-technical

are some of the methods used.

Go-determination has been characterized as the

Collective bargaining is the most widespread form

typical German form of industrial democracy. It is

of industrial participation. It consists of regular

a result of a historic compromise between capital

negotiations over wages, working conditions, social

and labour in 1920 after the Council Revolution of

benefits and so on, which may be held at the shop­

1918-19 failed, and is based on the WoRKERs'

floor, enterprise, industry or even national level. In

COUNCIL, which is generally controlled by the

the Anglo-Saxon countries this is in general the

trade unions. But there is a division of tasks be­

only form of industrial democracy accepted and

tween the works council - as it is named in Ger­

practised. At the end of the last century Sidney

many- and the unions. The unions are responsible

and Beatrice Webb (1897) developed the general

for collective bargaining whereas the works coun­

framework for this approach ( see FABIANISM). Al­

cils are company oriented. Since 1951 different

though there is a pluralist understanding of diver­

schemes of participation in the board of the com­

gent economic interests at the base of the collective

panies or in the nomination of the works director -

bargaining model, it tends never to question the

responsible for personnel and social affairs - had

290

INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY

been introduced (Bruegmann, 1981). It is largely a

duced in many Third World countries. An ILO

legally codified system of industrial democracy, and

account lists a large number of them (Monat

there are various degrees depending on the industry

and Sarfati, 1986). With

and size of the enterprise. It has also been extended

countries of Eastern Europe also began to democra­

perestroika the socialist

to the public sector. For many the relative success

tize the economy after a long period of centralized

of the German economy after World War II, its

management,

Wirtschafiswunder (economic miracle), depends

future of industrial democracy at the beginning of

largely on its system of participation, also desig­

the twenty-first century seems to be open. There

and

subsequent stagnation.

The

Sozialpartnerschafi (social partnership).

is a broad debate about the end of industrial society

This concept was elaborated in 1928 by Fritz

and the beginning of postmodernity. Participative

Naphtali and was seen as leading to a general system

management

of economic democracy that would include a coun­

widespread.

cil system for all industries up to the national level, but although this feature was incorporated in the

Slater and Bennis declared in 1964 (in the Har­ vard Business Review) that democracy is inevitable;

Weimar Constitution from 1919 and in the German

and what socialists had asserted for more than a

nated as

has

become

more

and

more

Trade Union Federation's (DGB) Fundamental

hundred years, namely, that political democracy

Programme of 1949 it has not yet been applied.

must be complemented by economic democracy to

Naphtali emigrated before World War II to Pales­

realize full democracy, seemed to have received

tine and realized most of his ideas there in the

support from management as well. With the final

Histadrut (trade union federation). Workers' control was much discussed in the 1960s

dissolution of Stalinism the last defenders of Tay­ lorism have been overthrown too. 'New production

and 1970s in Britain and also on the Continent

concepts' (Kern and Schumann, 1984; Piore and

(Coates and Topham, 1975; Mandel, 1970). In

Sabel, 1984) which are based on a historic com­

this conception the collaboration with capital in all

promise between management and labour seem to

forms of participation schemes such as eo-deter­

guarantee productivity and the reduction of costs.

mination was radically rejected as collaboration

Social partnership under capitalist leadership on

with the capitalist enemy.

the one hand, and democratic socialism on the

Self-management has two different meanings in theoretical debate and in practice (see SELF­

other both incorporate industrial democracy as the social basis of the economy.

MANAGEMENT). One is linked with the theory and practice in Yugoslavia as it was formulated in op­

Reading

position to Stalinism from 1950, mainly by Edvard

Cole,

Kardelj

workers'

(1978), and is generally conceived as self-management.

Empirical

research

showed- at least until the 1970s- that the Yugoslav system gave workers most of the rights of manage­ ment not only dejure but also defacto (Adizes, 1971; IDE, 1981; King and van de Vall, 1978). The other sense was developed especially in France as 'general self-management' (Bourdet, 1970). The introduc­ tion of industrial democracy in France is seen as secondary to a general transformation of society where all sectors are self-determined. Bourdet's term for this system is autarchy. Polish and other experiences seem to have shown that isolated ex­ periments with full industrial democracy cannot survive. A general

political framework has to exist

on a national or even international level. Without any doubt industrial democracy has

G.

D.

H.

1917

(1972): Self-government in

Industry. IDE (Industrial Democracy in Europe International Re­ search Group) 1981: Industrial Democracy in Europe. International Handbook of Participation in Organiza­ tions, 1989-92, 3 vols. King, C. D. and van de V all, M. 1978: Models ofIndustrial Democracy: Consultation, Go-determination and Workers' Management. Monat, J. and Sarfati, H. 1986: Workers' Participation: A Voice in Decisions,

1981-85.

Sze!l, G. 1988: Participation, Worker's Control and Self management. --ed. 1992: Concise Encyclopedia of Participation and Go-management. UNESCO 1984: Industrial democracy:

participation,

labour relations and motivation. International Social Science Journal36, 196-402. Webb, S. and Webb, B. 1897: Industrial Democracy. Woodworth, W., Meek, C. and Whyte, W. F. eds

been one of the main social ideas and practices in

1985: Industrial Democracy: Strategies for Community

the twentieth century in almost all industrialized

Revitalization.

countries, and such schemes have also been intra-

GYiiRGY SZELL

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS industrial relations

291

The term derives mainly

common to whole industries, to whole economic

from the work of a group of American researchers,

sectors, sometimes beyond national boundaries,

Clark Kerr, John T. Dunlop, Frederick Harbison

and that those features are of prime importance.

and Charles A. Myers; during the 1950s they con­

For this author, the distribution of power in society

ducted, with the financial support of the Ford

contributes to the structuring of industrial relations

Foundation, a large research programme on labour,

themselves. Dunlop conceives trade unions as a

'The Inter-University Study of Labor Problems in

kind of equivalent of firms, with union leaders who

Economic Development'.

have to adapt themselves to the labour market in

The importance of this approach has to be

order best to maximize economic returns to the

understood through the research of the human

workers (Dunlop, 1950 and 1958; Dunlop and

relations school, carried out by Elton Mayo and

Whyte, 1950).

his colleagues with large-scale experiments and ob­

Industrial relations studies show that workers'

servations on the Western Electric Company from

attitudes depend on factors far beyond the control

1927. Among their main results, these researchers

of employers and that workers' protest has a positive

pointed out the importance of the relationship be­

impact on the process of industrialization (Kerr et

tween workers and their supervisors. Mayo and his

al., 1960). They disagree with the conception of a

colleagues also found that workers tended to re­

labour movement as a response to capitalism and

strict production even if their earnings were based

consider the labour movement as a whole, providing

on the level of production: the group, in an informal

a much broader analysis than their predecessors.

way, fixed output for each worker and constructed a

They analyse it as a response to INDUSTRIALIZATION,

system of social control. This system, protecting

in its economic and social dimensions. In this way,

workers from outside and from inside, operated as

the means of action and organization of labour

an informal power against the formal power of

movements are to be understood in terms of differ­

managers (Mayo, 1933 and 1945). These findings

ent aspects of industrialization such as the labour

differed greatly from F. W. Taylor's idea of'scien­

market, sources of investments, pace of develop­

tific management', according to which workers'

ment or types of rulers.

main motivation was income maximization. The

The studies of C. Kerr and his colleagues gave

studies of the human relations school, however,

rise to the convergence theory, in which the world

attracted many comments and criticisms. Compared with the human relations school, in­

was perceived as entering 'the age of total industri­ alization'.

dustrial relations scholars are oriented towards the

E. Mayo's works gave way to other theoretical

effect of the extra-organizational environment on

developments and criticisms. On the one hand, the

the attitudes of workers and employers. For them,

sociology of organizations is an attempt to explain

business conditions have a direct influence on

the complex relationship between formal and infor­

matters such as turnover, absenteeism or workers'

mal organizational structure (for instance, Gould­

demands. The industrial relations approach con­

ner, 1954; Etzioni, 1961; Crozier, 1964). On the

siders workers not only as members of work groups,

other hand, there is the French 'sociologie du trav­

as does the human relations approach, but also as

ail' (sociology of work), in which work becomes a

members of other social groups such as occupa­

manifestation of social relations (Friedmann and

tional groups, families, and economic or political

Naville, 1961-2). In a broader analysis, social con­

groups. This system of relations has an effect on the

flict becomes one of the main themes, with social

attitude of workers towards their work, towards

actors fighting for the control of social development:

managers or towards the organization.

the field open to social negotiation is unlimited

Industrial relations theorists criticize the human relations conception of the enterprise as a global social system. In their opinion this ignores conflict and glorifies a monolithic structure in which indus­ try is supposed to provide individuals with an inte­ grated social order (Kerr and Fischer, 1957). ]. Dunlop points out the interrelations between actors in the industrial system, showing that tech­ nological features of the workplace are often

(Touraine, 1965). See also ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. Reading Dunlop, J. T. 1958: Industrial Relations Systems. Etzioni, A. 1961: A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations: On Power, Involvement, and their Correl­ ates.

Gouldner, A. W. 1954: Patterns of Industrial Bureau­ cracy.

292

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

Kerr, C., Dunlop, J. T., Harbison, F. and Myers,

be even more important, not least in sociology, the

C. A. 1960 (1973): Industrialism and Industrial Man:

very name of which he coined. Comte was as anti­

the Problems of Labor and Management in Economic Growth.

Mayo, E. 1933 (1946): The Human Problems of an Indus­ trial Civilization, 2nd edn. --

1945: The Social Problems of an Industrial Civiliza­

tion.

SYLVAINE TRINH industrial

society

The

characteristics

most

often used to define industrial society are:

political a thinker as Saint-Simon, but he added two important glosses to his teacher's work. First, he argued that the creation of affluence would lead to the end of wars between nations. Second, he be­ lieved that the industrial age would, once the false ideals of religion had been destroyed by science, have its own 'positive' beliefs - which he termed 'the religion of humanity'. (See also SECULARIZA­

TION. ) The optimism of Comte in this last point was not

2

A change in the nature of the economy such that

maintained by most nineteenth- and twentieth­

a very small primary sector can feed a popula­

century social theorists. Novelists inveighed against

tion involved in the secondary and tertiary

the crass materialism and moral emptiness of

sectors;

modern life, and more academic writers echoed

The dominance of machine production within

their characterization. Thus Karl Marx attacked

factories;

the alienation brought on by industrial capitalism;

3

The urbanization of society (see URBANISM) ;

somewhat similarly, Emile Durkheim argued that

4

The growth of mass literacy;

the 'anomic' lack of moral integration of modern

5

The application of scientific knowledge to pro­

life was responsible for an increase in suicide,

duction;

scarcely the sign of some sort of universal progress.

6

An increase in the bureaucratic regulation of all

Interestingly, both Marx and Durkheim thought,

aspects of social life.

albeit in very different ways, that modern industrial society could be combined with moral regulation:

On occasion, different characteristics are cited.

that is, they wrote, in the last analysis, in the spirit

This is understandable: social theory has tried to

of Comte. This was not true of Max Weber, the

understand both capitalism and industrialism, and

greatest of all theorists of industrial society. This is

it is scarcely surprising that some of the character­

not simply because he accurately predicted, against

istics of the former have been ascribed to the latter.

Marx, that the state socialist version of industrial

One thing is absolutely clear, however: the emer­

society would be more bureaucratic than the capit­

gence of industrial society marks a sea change in

alist model. Rather he insisted that there were op­

human affairs. The massive, Promethean increase

portunity costs to industrial society that could not

in human powers that resulted meant that human

be escaped. Knowledge can bring affluence, in his

beings were no longer at the mercy of nature -

view, but the principles upon which science works

indeed, nature is now perhaps all too much at the

are absolutely at odds with moral certainty: afflu­

mercy of human beings.

ence is thus bought at the price of a measure of

The first theorists of industrial society were

'disenchantment', that is, by the loss of previous

aware that they were witnessing the birth of a new

moral guidelines established by religious belief. It is

world. The roots of the concept lie in the Enlight­

important to note, however, that his tragic pessim­

enment thought of Turgot and Condorcet. But the

ism on this point was not endorsed by many other

most striking formulation of the idea came early in

thinkers. Heidegger, for example, sought ways in

the nineteenth century from Henri de Saint-Simon

which some 'real' morality could be created such

and from Auguste Comte. Saint-Simon believed

that 'mere' technology would be kept in its place.

that industry would so change social life that trad­

The concept of industrial society was given a

itional political struggle could be entirely displaced:

fundamental restatement in the two decades after

instead of there being choices between different

the ending of World War II. The concept underlay

ends in life, what would matter much more would

the optimism of Talcott Parsons, and it was quite as

be the administration of the industrial machine.

much behind the insistence of many thinkers -

Saint-Simon's views had a considerable practical

Clark Kerr being the most important - that devel­

impact on French society, especially on its engin­

opment had become the key issue of the age. At its

eering profession. But Comte's thought proved to

worst, this reworking of the concept led to the naive

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY belief that the ideas and institutions of state social­

293

ant in modern society, this amounts to intensifying

ism and liberal capitalism would simply converge.

rather than replacing the key principles on which

But it was possible to be much more sophisticated

modern society works. This is not, however, to say

than this, and it was the great achievement of Ray­

that no socially significant changes have taken place

mond Aron to produce a judicious synthesis of the

during the industrial era. The diminution in size of

theory of industrial society. This synthesis was

the manual working class is certainly a matter

remarkable for paying proper attention to the polit­

of importance, as is the increasing political salience

ical, that is, in refusing to grant that all change

of newly educated labour.

resulted from socioeconomic variables. This was particularly clearly seen in his various volumes on the autonomous logic of geopolitical conflict and in his masterpiece, Democracy and Totalitarianism, which described the alternate political systems by which industrial systems could be managed. We can

best understand the strengths and

weaknesses of the concept of industrial society by considering four areas of debate which it has occa­ sioned.

Capitalism and industrialism A second general area of discussion concerns the respective virtues of the concept of CAPITALISM in contrast to that of industrialism. Marxists certainly have much in their favour when they insist on the greater cognitive power of the former concept. In­ dustrial society theorists tend to see social stratifi­ cation

in

functional,

even

meritocratic terms;

Marxists are correct to point out that life chances are in fact determined by one's parents' position in

Origins There has been much discussion, firstly, both of the origins of industrial society and of the extent to which we may now be passing into some new era. Capitalist society came, of course, before the emer­ gence of industrial society, and we have some knowledge of the uniqueness of Europe - a histor­ ical pattern of nuclear families, the destruction of extensive kin networks, a multipolar state system, rainfall agriculture, the legacies of antiquity - that facilitated its rise. Industrialism first emerged on the basis of this pre-existent commercial back­ ground in a piecemeal manner. Exactly why this process took place in England rather than, say, the Netherlands remains the subject of much dispute, with the most recent account by Wrigley stressing the importance of coal stocks and of a high level of demand consequent on the prior agrarian revolu­ tion. What is certain is that the industrialization or development of the Third World today cannot take place in the same gradual and piecemeal manner. The advantages and geopolitical need of industri­ alization have made it something that state elites wish to achieve as fast as possible; this tends to

the class system. This does not, however, mean that the Marxist paradigm is in every way superior to the concept of industrial society. Thus, while the working class certainly exists, it shows no sign of fulfilling the historic role ascribed to it by Marxism; more important still, Marxism's characterization of the nature of state socialist industrial society is nothing like as plausible as that offered by the theorists of industrial society. It is worth noticing in passing that the concept of capitalism is, how­ ever, in one unrecognized way distinctively super­ ior to that of industrialism.

The theorists of

industrial society suggested that once affluence had been achieved all that then remained was to sit back and enjoy it; in this light there were even discussions of the benefits of a no-growth society. In fact, it is impossible to stand still within the world economy because it is organized on capitalist lines: to stand still means decline if others insist on making greater profits. International capitalist soci­ ety remains restless and anarchic in a way foreign to the spirit of the theory of industrial society.

Industrialism and war

encourage authoritarianism of political regimes.

This general point can be highlighted by consider­

All this is to say that many loose ends remain to

ing a third debate. The hope that the age of afflu­

be tied in understanding the crucial story of the rise

ence would curtail war was proven illusory by two

of industrial society. In contrast, the concept of

world wars. Much of that conflict can be under­

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY suggested by Daniel Bell

stood in traditional terms, that is, as the result of

(1974) and Touraine (1971) has little to recommend it, as Kumar has powerfully demonstrated (1978).

rational action on the part of states within the

While it is true that knowledge is ever more import-

tremely important. It means that we live within

'asocial society' of state competition. This is ex­

294

INDUSTRIALIZATION

nation-states which have to swim quite as much

production. However, the motor of change within

within the larger society of interstate competition

the modern world order cannot be derived simply

as that of international capitalist society. Geopolit­

from some sort of 'logic' of industrialism. The

ics has affected the nature of social change quite as

dynamics of the modern world remain those

much as has capitalism; indeed it is the interaction

created by the interaction of nation and capital.

between the two, still not properly understood,

Industrialism has raised the stakes within that

which has provided the dynamism for modern

interaction, but it has not replaced it.

social change. Put negatively, we misunderstand our position if we say simply that we live inside

Reading

industrial society. This is not, however, to say that

A ron, R. 1962 (1966): Peace and War.

both class and nation have not been affected by the

(1968): Democracy and Totalitarianism. The Coming ofPost-Industrial Society. Gellner, E. 1974: Legitimation ofBelief Kerr, C. et al. 1960 (1973): Industrialism and Industrial Man. Kumar, K. 1978: Prophecy and Progress. Po1:inyi, K. 1944: The Great Transformation. Saint-Simon, H. de 1953: Selected Writings, ed. F. M. H.

industrial age. The fact that there have been no major wars between the major powers since 1945 is the result of the balance of terror that has resulted from the application of industrial principles to the waging of war. Modernity and ideology

--1965

Bell, D. 1974:

Markham. Wrig1ey, A. M. 1988:

the fourth area of discussion concerns the vexed

Continuity, Chance and Change: The Character of the Industrial Revolution in Eng­ land.

question as to whether it might give birth to an age

JOHN A. HALL

If industrial society did not bring peace in its train,

free of great ideologies. Was Max Weber right to suggest that the spread of science was incompatible with the retention of belief systems, whether an­ cient or modern, which sought to provide guide­ lines for social life? In the 1930s his claim looked decidedly unlikely given that the pace of political life was set by Bolshevism and fascism; the revival of Islam in the present-day world similarly repre­ sents an attempt to have the technology of modern­ ity with an inclusive and total belief system. But these creeds appeal, as does the visceral force of nationalism, to societies in transition from the agrarian to the industrial era. The real question is whether ideology can maintain its salience over time in regimes that were themselves founded on a claim to know the truth. The evolution of the Soviet Union

under

Gorbachev

suggests that

Weber's contention may have truth to it; but the whole matter is extremely complex, and it is best simply to say that history has not yet sat in judge­ ment on the whole affair. Conclusion

industrialization

The process by which soci­

eties acquire the equipment, organization and skills necessary to engage in mass production using power technology is referred to as industrialization. Formerly the term 'industrial revolution' was often used. Social scientists now regard that term as misleading since it implies an abrupt discontinuity. The statistical record does not support such an assumption. Preindustrial economies, since most of their output originates in agriculture, are un­ likely to experience a sudden surge in growth; the inertia of their dominant sector is too great. Dis­ continuities, if they occur, will be in sectors such as manufacturing which are initially much smaller. It is to these sectors that such terms as 'take-off' or 'spurts in growth' should be applied. The modern tendency is to think of industrializa­ tion as a mode of economic growth rather than an event or short period of time. Its essential character­ istic is the ever wider use of inanimate energy. It has its origins in an earlier phase of'proto-industrializa­ tion', occurring within societies where agriculture

A summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the

and trade are still dominant. The success of indus­

concept of industrial society can be offered in con­

trialization is markedly influenced by the accumula­

clusion. There is no doubt, to begin by stressing the

tions of capital that this earlier phase of growth

usefulness of the concept, that the emergence of

facilitates, the types of labour force and skills that

industrialism marks a qualitative change in human

it brings into existence, the foreign exchange

affairs: it is nothing less than a moment of social

earnings that it creates and the cultural values and

evolution. Our lives are determined by this mode of

political structures that it engenders. Furthermore,

INDUSTRIALIZATION

295

social scientists now do not assume that industrial­

From this arise many of the impediments to

ization has a definite end in time. Terms such as

successful industrialization. Resistance to industri­

DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION or 'post-industrial society'

alization stems not from rejection of its prospect of

refer to the rise of the service-based and informa­

higher material living standards but from oppos­

tion-based sectors of society; they do not imply that

ition to its social, cultural and political costs. As

the process of industrialization has ended.

industrialization has been diffused, so too has an

Historians conventionally date the first emer­

appreciation of these costs. They include, first, an

gence of industrialization as around the middle of

exploitative attitude towards the natural world and

the eighteenth century; most of the important sites

a propensity to undervalue the ecological and en­

were in Great Britain. The process was rapidly

vironmental damage that industrial growth can

diffused thereafter, first to regions in Western

cause. Costs that do not appear on the account

Europe, North America and Russia, later to other

books of the corporations or government bureaus

parts of the world. In the twentieth century it has

that direct the industrialization process tend to be

become almost synonymous with economic devel­

ignored because they are not carried by those

opment. Particularly in the new states that won

making the decisions. Second, industrialization in

national independence after World War II, the

the past has been associated with an exploitative

drive for higher living standards is essentially

attitude toward labour. Labour under a regime of

a drive for industrialization. Few of these states

industrial capitalism comes to be treated as a com­

are willing to base their hopes for political auton­

modity, and the attitudes that govern the exploit­

omy and a higher standard of living on raw material

ation of commodities are transferred to human

production alone.

beings. From this arises the aggravation of class

The technologies of industrial growth have

conflict that often occurs during the initial phases

changed over time and are still changing. Long

of industrialization - phases when the social infra­

before the eighteenth century, wind and water

structure of urban housing, education and public

power had been used to supplement the energy of

health is inadequate, when the rate of population

humans and other animals, but the widespread use

growth is accelerating, and when labour is still

of coal to smelt iron and generate steam-power

learning how to influence wage rates and working

vastly increased usable energy. Greater energy

conditions. Third, there typically occurs a break­

inputs were fundamental to later increases in

down in community and a rise in ALIENATION and

output. Coal, steam-power and iron no longer

ANOMIE. Industrialization breaks up traditional

play the critical role they once did in industrial

social formations,

growth but the essence of the process is unchanged:

roles and undermines traditional sources of author­

transforms traditional social

industrialization implies the tapping of inanimate

ity. Sometimes referred to as the rise of individual­

energy sources on an ever-increasing scale. Human

ism, this might better be called depersonalization,

energy comes to be used primarily for control.

and in that sense it is as true of the state-directed

The increasing use of inanimate energy re­

industrializations of the twentieth century as of the

sources was of critical importance because of what

more laissez-faire industrializations of the nine­

it meant for man-hour productivity. Real incomes

teenth. The technology of industrialization is the

are closely linked to productivity, and industrializa­

technology of standardization and uniformity and

tion, because of its use of inanimate energy, is one

interchangeable parts; this often applies to con­

sure way to raise productivity. It is not the only

sumers and workers as well as to processes and

way. Productivity can also be increased by better

products.

markets, better information, better organization

In the hope of overcoming these obstacles, in­

and better division of labour. Industrialization, in

dustrialization in the late twentieth century was

fact, requires improvements in these social arrange­

often undertaken not through decision making by

ments. Major policy errors can arise from concen­

private entrepreneurs but through direction by the

trating on the technological shift alone and ignoring

state. The entrepreneurial groups were not private

the institutional changes that must accompany it. It

businessmen and corporations but politicians, civil

is not possible to alter drastically the mode of pro­

servants and technocrats. The drive is to enter

duction without similarly transforming the social

industrialization quickly, to make the 'giant leap'

structure in which it takes place and, to a degree,

into modernization in one generation or less. Partly

the culture in which it is embedded.

this is for reasons of national pride. Partly it is in the

296

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THEORY

belief that obstacles can be overcome only by a 'big push'. And partly it is in the hope that the growth of output will outpace the predictable explosion of population as traditional restraints on family for­ mation give way. These are the problems that face many industri­ alizing societies today. At the same time, many of the nations that made the transition to industrial growth earlier are finding their older industries hard-pressed to compete against later industrializ­ ing societies elsewhere. The tendency in these 'mature' economies is for an increasing proportion of the labour force to be em played in the tertiary or 'service' sector, where increases in productivity are hard to achieve, and a decreasing proportion to be employed in primary production or manufacturing, to which older technologies more readily apply. The output of such economies is becoming infor­ mation intensive, rather than resource intensive or labour intensive. Some analysts call this the rise of postindustrial society. An alternative is to say that the technological base of industrialization is changing, as it always has been. In the late nine­ teenth century it moved away from the coal, iron and steam-power complex to the complex of hydro­ carbon fuels, electricity, plastics and the light alloys. Now, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the technological base for fur­ ther industrialization seems to lie in the informa­ tion industries, based on electronics and the computer (see AUTOMATION; INFORMATION TECH­ NOLOGY AND THEORY). Reading Chenery, H. B., Robinson, S. and Syrquin, M. 1986:

Industrialization and Growth: a Comparative Study. Kemp, T. 1978: Historical Patterns ofIndustrialization. Kuznets, S. 1966: Modern Economic Growth: Rate, Struc­

ture, and Spread. Landes, D. S. 1969: The Unbound Prometheus: Techno­

logical Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Mumford, L. 1934 (1963): Technics and Civilization. Rostow, W. W. 1978: The World Economy: History and

Prospect.

HUGH G. J. AITKEN inequality

See EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY

information technology and theory Informa­ tion technology has allowed the digitization of information through the common language of binary code, enabling voice, data and video to

become streams of digitized information which can be stored, manipulated and transmitted cheaply and at great speed by digital computers. At the same time, the electronics, computing and telecommuni­ cations industries have converged to become one all-embracing, global information technology (IT) industry, a trend noted during the 1970s (Nora and Mine, 1978; Barron and Curnow, 1979). The coming of the information society has been proposed to be 'the third industrial revolution' (Stehr, 1984; Lash and Urry, 1984). Many writers have seen IT as a pervasive 'core' technology at least as important as electricity or steam-power and therefore probably the most important techno­ logical development in the twentieth century. The key importance of IT stems from the fact that unlike other technologies - decreases in the cost and size of electronic components have been ac­ companied by increases in their power, speed and sophistication. Thus powerful computers now sit neatly on individual desktops, whereas a few decades ago machines with the same processing power would have filled a huge room. The term 'revolution' is frequently applied to IT and the 'IT revolution' is often compared in social significance to the Industrial Revolution two hun­ dred years ago, The economic, social and political implications of the ongoing IT revolution are the subject of continuing research and debate, but clearly some very important changes to society are under way, especially in the workplace, if not in homes and schools (Guile, 1985; Miles et al., 1988; Schille, 1983; Castells, 2000). Recent work, how­ ever, has cast doubt on the 'revolutionary' import­ ance ofiT (Webster, 1995) and some see IT as part of the continuing evolution of control technologies which began in the last century (Beniger, 1986; Giddens, 1987). The productivity pay-off from IT has also been seriously questioned (Forester, 1989). Some writers have taken the opportunity to pro­ claim new types of society arising from the IT revolution, with the 'information society' (Bell, 1979; Castells, 2000) replacing the 'PosTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY' as the front-runner. Both these notions have been subjected to critical scrutiny (see Lyon, 1988; Webster 1995) and they raise important ques­ tions about 'paradigm' shifts, the process of social development, technological determinism and the importance of manufacturing industry as opposed to the services sector (Cohen and Zysman, 1987). Some writers also believe that the changes that IT brings both challenge and reinforce systems of

INTELLECTUALS domination that are emerging in a postmodern so­

297

obscuring the necessary distinction between the

see MoDERNISM

creators of culture and those who distribute or

AND POSTMODERNISM. Others think that it is the

apply it. It would, in addition, preclude the possibil­

ciety and culture (Poster,

1995);

'informatization' of society rather than an 'infor­

ity of assessing and evaluating the status and influ­

mation society' that should be the focus of analysis

ence of creators of ideas as distinct from related

(Webster,

groups or strata. It makes it impossible to determine

1995).

Commentators on the IT revolution (as with the

whether creators of ideas have a social weight differ­

issue of technology and society in general) tend to

ent from that accorded other categories of symbol

divide broadly into 'optimists'- Bell

users.

(1979), Toffier (2000) and Kranz­ berg- and 'pessimists' - Webster (1995), Kumar (1995), Weizenbaum (1976), Roszak (1986) and Winner (1986) - although the latter three might

sonable to define intellectuals more narrowly and to

more properly be called 'heretics' because they

important as creators of symbols, who possess attri­

strongly oppose the orthodox view that computer­

butes not to be found among the numerically much

(1980),

Castells

(2000),

Slevin

Under these circumstances it appears more rea­ see in them those men and women in given societies who, while numerically small, are yet qualitatively

ization will have generally beneficial effects on soci­

larger group of persons engaged in the arts, the

ety.

sciences, the professions and religion. Academics

See also ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, INTERNET.

or members of the professions are not necessarily intellectuals. Intellect, as distinct from the intelli­ gence required in the arts and sciences, presumes a

Reading Castells, M. 2000: The Information Age: Economy, Society

capacity for detachment from the immediate issues

and Culture Volume One: The Rise of the Network Soci­

at hand, a movement beyond the pragmatic tasks of

ety. Forester, T. ed. 1985: The Information Technology Revo­ lution. --1987: High-Tech Society: The Story of the IT Revo­ lution. Kumar,

K.

1995:

From

Post-Industrial

to

Post­

the moment, and a commitment to core values transcending professional or occupational involve­ ment. While most persons in the professions and else­ where tend to be absorbed in the pursuit of concrete

Modern Society: New Theories of the Contemporary

answers to specific problems, intellectuals are more

World.

likely to involve themselves with more general

S1evin, J. 2000: The Internet and Society.

realms of meaning and values, with the sacred

Webster, F.1995: Theories ofthe Information Society.

core of the culture. As such they seek to provide

Winner, L. 1986: The Whale and the Reactor.

TOM FORESTER, revised by DAVID BERRY

moral

standards

and

to

maintain

meaningful

common symbols. Modern intellectuals are des­ cendants of the priestly upholders of sacred trad­

The term has been subject to a

ition even as they are also related to the biblical

great deal of dispute ever since it made its appear­

prophets whose message was far removed from the

intellectuals

ance in France at the end of the nineteenth century

pieties of court and synagogue, castigating the men

during the debates between the defenders and the

of power for the wickedness of their ways.

adversaries of Captain Dreyfus in the famous Drey­

Those who see intellectuals in this way will also

fus affair. To many, intellectuals are impractical

contend that they are persons who never seem

dreamers unable to come to grips with mundane

satisfied with things as they are and with the sway

realities in society and state. To others they are the

of custom and habit, that they question the truth of

prime defenders of the moral and cognitive values

the moment in terms of a higher truth: that they

and standards that sustain democratic or liberal

consider themselves special custodians of abstract

political systems.

ideas such as truth or justice and see themselves

Certain scholarly analysts have tended to group

as guardians of moral standards when these are

under the term 'intellectual' all those persons in­

under attack in the marketplace and the house of

volved in the sphere of culture, that is in the world

power.

of symbols. But others have objected that this is

Intellectuals are not only gatekeepers of ideas and

too wide a definition, which would include in its

fountainheads of ideologies but, unlike medieval

range winners of the Nobel Prize, on one hand, and

churchmen or modern political zealots, they tend

schoolteachers and newspapermen, on the other,

at the same time to maintain a critical attitude.

298

INTELLIGENCE TEST

They are persons who think otherwise and they tend to be disturbers of complacency and adjust­

Znaniecki, F.

1940:

The Social Role of the Man of

Knowledge.

LEWIS A. COSER

ment. It was only after the waning of the Middle Ages, after Reformation and Renaissance had fragmented

intelligence test

the unified and monopolistic worldview of the

gence?' 'Do intelligence tests measure it?' created

The questions 'What is intelli­

church, that intellectuals could begin to raise an

controversy throughout the twentieth century, and

independent voice; only as multiple religious and

still lack generally agreed answers. Part of the prob­

secular powers began to emerge on the social scene

lem is that such tests were originally devised, not

and started competing for the allegiance of individ­

for scientific investigation, but for S ociAL POLICY

uals could there arise a stratum of men and women

purposes. Sir Francis Galton, who devised the first

of ideas no longer tied to the church or to secular

test in the late 1890s, wanted a measure of 'general

patrons. With the emergence of a variety of centres

ability' for 'choosing superior strains or races' for

of power and influence, with the thawing of a hith­

eugenic breeding purposes (see EUGENICS) . Later,

erto frozen culture, there arose conflicts of ideas

the burgeoning education systems wanted them for

carried by unfettered spokespersons for different

selection and administrative reasons.

trains of thought and winds of doctrine.

Even in the absence of an agreed scientific de­

Some intellectuals were still partly dependent on

scription of intelligence, testing for it has proceeded

patrons to sustain them before there emerged a

on the basis of the premise that differences in

literate public of wide scope in the eighteenth cen­

mental ability arise from a unitary entity- a 'gen­

tury, but at least they had the choice of patrons.

eral ability' (or 'g')- usually described metaphoric­

From the eighteenth century on, however, a lay

ally as a mental 'energy', essentially genetic in

public began to provide a receptive audience for

origin. A second assumption is that such variation

people of letters. From that point on the study of

can be treated as a simple quantitative (biometric)

intellectuals needs to pay close attention to the

trait like height or head size. It follows that 'g' will

complicated net of relations between them and

be stronger among people of high success or

the marketplace of ideas as well as with institutions

achievement, less so in others. Accordingly, con­

such as the university or national academies. Atten­

struction of intelligence tests has followed a 're­

tion must be paid to those social arrangements

verse' logic: assuming to know who is more or less

such as coffee houses, salons, periodicals, censor­

intelligent, and then (without knowing exactly what

ship, government bureaucracies, all of which im­

is tested) accepting a test as such if it places people

pinge, be it positively or negatively, on the life

in that order.

of the mind in the world of modernity. Intellectuals

All tests consist of a series of small problems or

in the modern world, be it in the East or in the

tasks, the number of correct items being taken as

West, have assumed crucial strategic positions.

the score which gets transformed to match a popu­

They are often wooed but also often persecuted

lation mean of 100 resulting in an intelligence quo­

by the men of power as well as by vested economic

tient (IQ). Galton had devised numerous small

interests. At times their position seems fairly well

sensorimotor tasks like reaction times, length esti­

established, at other times however they still seem

mation and visual acuity. But these were rejected

an endangered species. Yet, in the last analysis, they

because scores did not correlate with social status in

are what Ezra Pound once called 'the antennae of

the way expected.

the race'.

The first 'modern' intelligence test was devised

See also ENLIGHTENMENT.

Alfred Binet to help screen out children who

Reading Boggs, C. 1993: Intellectuals and the Crisis ofModernity. Coser, L. A. 1965: Men ofIdeas: a Sociologist's View. Hofstadter, R.

1963: Anti-intellectualism in American

Life.

Mannheim, K. 1929 (1960): Ideology and Utopia: an Intro­ duction to the Sociology ofKnowledge. Shi1s, E. 1972: The Intellectuals and the Powers and Other Essays.

in 1908, when the School Board in Paris asked might become 'backward' in school, so that special provision could be arranged. Binet simply devised dozens of small school-type tasks - factual infor­ mation, sentence comprehension, mental arith­ metic, arranging objects by size and so on - and, by trial and error, selected those whose perform­ ance corresponded with school attainment and age and discarded the rest.

INTERACTION Although Binet himself rejected the idea that he was measuring a 'fi x ed, innate' intelligence, the 'Binet method' quickly became the standard pro­ cedure for IQ test construction on both sides of the Atlantic. For example, the most popular test, the Stanford-Binet, originated from translations of Binet's items with the addition of forty or so others. And other tests followed suit. Because they happened to discriminate between social classes and groups in the way Galton's theory pre­ dicted, they became widely used in eugenics and anti-immigration propaganda in Britain and the USA. In Britain they formed the rationale of the 11-plus exam for school selection. Although on a day-to-day basis, IQtests are still widely accepted by psychologists for selection and clinical purposes, debate about their validity (that they measure what they claim to measure) has con­ tinued. More recently, contention has continued in light of the use of IQ scores to drive new lines of research into molecular genetic analysis, the alleged neural correlates ofiQ, and use of scores to justify special programmes for gifted children. Most judge them to be 'valid' because they do actually predict school attainments; but (others reply) by the way the tests are constructed this could hardly be otherwise. Some argue that they merely screen individuals for certain forms of learning, forms of cognition, beliefs about personal abilities (themselves imputed by parents, teachers and others); and self-confidence, anxiety and so on, in testing situations. These are all reflections of the class/cultural background of individuals: in effect that scores simple reflect ap­ proximation to an IDEAL TYPE. That this ideal type does not reflect general mental ability, or the ability for complex problem­ solving, is suggested in other research. For example, IQ scores have only small correlations (0.3 on a scale from 0 to 1) with job performance as assessed by supervisors. This could easily be explained by non-cognitive variables such as levels of self-confi­ dence/anxiety, language and so on. For example, even the small correlation usually reported disap­ pears after people have been in the job for some time. In addition, IQ scores do not discriminate between the more and less successful individuals in a wide range of occupations. Finally, a number of studies have failed to establish any association be­ tween IQscores and ability for complex reasoning in a wide variety of real life problem-solving situ­ ations or laboratory simulations of them. See also COGNITIVE SCIENCE.

299

Reading Blum, J. M. 1978: Pseudoscience and Mental Ability. Evans, B. and Waites, B. 1981: IQ and Mental Testing: An Unnatural Science and its Social History.

Michell, J. 1999: Measurement in Psychology. Richardson, K. 1999: The Making ofIntelligence. Rose, S. et al. 1984: Not in our Genes. KEN RICHARDSON AND SARAH NORGATE

interaction In everyday language, interaction means interrelated acts, actions, activities and movements of two or more individuals, as well as animals and objects, such as machines. Generally, the term stands for reciprocal active influencing. In the social and human sciences the concept 'inter­ action' is used in a nonuniform way, although it has been one of the central themes. In sociological and psychological literature the term 'interaction' is used in the following contexts. Social interaction

The interrelated behaviour of individuals who influence each other by means of communication is called social interaction. In the literature, inter­ action and communication are often used as syno­ nyms. Watzlawick et al. (1967) define interaction as a reciprocal sequence of communications (that is, messages) between two or more individuals. The term 'patterns of interaction' exists for the more complex units of human communication. Social interaction is sometimes referred to as interactional communication. According to Hare, interaction means 'all words, symbols, and gestures with which persons respond to each other' (1976, p. 60). In recent SociAL PSYCHOLOGY nonverbal communi­ cation (facial expressions, exchanged glances, body movement, spatial behaviour, extralinguistic be­ haviour and so on) is considered to be of great importance for understanding social interaction (DePaulo and Friedman, 1998). Sociological and psychological interaction theor­ ies will not be dealt with here in detail. It should be enough to mention SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY and SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM. Exchange theory (see Thibaut and Kelly, 1959) explains social interaction in terms of rewards and costs. The Thibaut-Kelley theory of interaction outcomes deals mainly with two-person relationships. The two-person inter­ action (dyadic interaction) forms the basic para­ digm for most interaction theories. With regard to the empirical study of group interaction processes,

300

INTERACTION

the observational methods which have been de­

only to verbal but also to nonverbal communica­

veloped so far actually start with the analysis of

tion. A series of observational procedures (see

two-person interactions. The theory of symbolic interactionism (see Blumer,

1969)

is an influential

Simon

and

1974;

Boyer,

1985) 1988) has

Weick,

recording devices (Kri.iger et al.,

and been

sociological interaction theory which is mainly as­

developed to classify verbal and nonverbal commu­

sociated

sociologist

nication. According to past orientation, these pro­

George Herbert Mead. Reference is made to it

cedures are mainly concerned with the coding of

with

the

philosopher

and

here because this theory and the related research

verbal interactions in dyads or small groups (see

strategy has experienced a certain renaissance in

Hare,

social psychology over the past years. The central

1976).

The Interaction Process Analysis (IPA), de­

(1950),

assumptions imply that individuals behave on the

veloped by Bales

basis of 'meaning' which comes from social inter­

small group research, is still considered the proto­

one of the founders of

actions. Meaning is constantly modified by a con­

type for an observational coding system. This

tinuing interpretation process of the individuals

system consists of twelve categories and is aimed

1969).

at revealing patterns of interaction in leaderless

The self is seen as the result of interaction; the

problem-solving groups, and describing these pro­

who participate in the interaction (Blumer,

interactional behaviour of an individual can be

cesses over time (phases of group development).

understood only on the basis of reciprocal acts of

The categories follow the model of a problem­

interpretation between the interacting partners in a

solving sequence. The central pair of categories

certain historical, cultural and situational context.

illustrates the problem of collecting information in

6:

In European social psychology greater attention is

the initial phase (category

given to social interaction between members of

category

different groups (intergroup behaviour; intergroup

(Gives Opinion) and

relations); see especially the social identity theory

the evaluation of information; categories

7:

Gives Orientation;

Asks for Orientation). Categories

8

5

(Asks for Opinion) refer to

4

(Gives

where the role of group

Suggestion) and 9 (Asks for Suggestion) refer to the

membership and social identity for intergroup be­

problem of control. The next problem areas are:

(Worchel et al.,

1998),

3:

decision-making (category

theme.

Disagrees),

Human-computer interaction

sion), and in the final phase coping with socio­

regulation

of

Agrees; category

10:

haviour and the self-concept is made the central

tension

Shows Tension Release; category

HCI is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive com­ puting systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them (see ACM,

1996).

emotional problems (category

1:

11:

(category 2: Shows Ten­

Seems Friendly;

category 12: Seems Unfriendly). The further de­ velopment of the IPA approach, which led to the more recent SYMLOG system (System for the Multiple Level Observation of Groups), linked the categories to a spatial model which was obtained

Computer-mediated interaction Computer-mediated communication systems (text­

through factor analysis and consideration of the content of messages (Bales and Cohen, Bales,

1999).

1979;

The SYMLOG coding of interaction

based electronic mail, INTERNET) are believed to

permits the description of the communication pro­

have powerful effects on social relationships. It is

cesses on three levels: the level of verbal and

claimed that this new form of social interaction

nonverbal observable behaviour, the level of com­

encourages wider participation, greater candour,

municated images, and finally the level of the value

and an emphasis on merit over status (see Kollock

judgements which the actor communicates through

and Smith,

1996).

his or her expressed images. The images can be then assigned to six levels (Self, Others, Group,

Interaction analysis Based on the above given definition for interaction,

Situation,

Society, Fantasy). Shown behaviour

and expressed content can be localized and inter­ preted in a three-dimensional space (dimensions;

interaction analysis means the systematic collect­

dominance

ing, recording, analysing and interpreting of CoM­

negative; task orientation versus expression of emo­

MUNICATION. Communication here does not refer

tions). The data, which can also be processed with

versus

submission;

positive

versus

INTEREST GROUP the help of computer programs, are graphically presented as field diagrams. A

theory-based

interaction

coding

system

(TEMPO), which seems to be easy to learn and

301

Reading Bales, R. F. 1968: Interaction Process Analysis. In Inter­ national Encyclopedia ofthe Social Sciences, vol. 7, ed. D. L. Sills.

applicable to a wide range of group task perform­

Duncan, S. and Fiske, W. 1977: Face-to-Face Interaction.

ance settings, has recently been introduced by

Goffman, E. 1959: The Presentation of Self in Everyday

Futoran et al. (1989). The majority of the published observational methods is made up of systems of classroom observation (such as Flanders, 1969). In psychodiagnostics there is a wide range of concepts and procedures which go by the name of interaction diagnosis. In this frame of reference interaction behaviour is provoked by means of experimental

Life. Heath, R. L. and Bryant, J. 1992: Human Communication Theory and Research. Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges. Homans, G. C. 1961 (1974): Social Behaviour: Its Elemen­ tary Forms, rev. edn. Jaffe,J. and Feldstein, S. 1970: Rhythms ofDialogue. ]ones, E. E. and Gerard, H. B. 1967: Foundations ofSocial Psychology.

techniques (tests, problem and conflict-provoking

Parsons, T. 1968: Social Interaction. In International

tasks, role-play situations) and is analysed with the

Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 7, ed. D. L.

help of interaction coding systems (see McRey­

Sills.

nolds and DeVoge, 1978).

Statistical interaction

JOHANN. interest group

F.

SCHNEIDER

This is a private organization

which seeks to aggregate the shared values and

In research statistics the term interaction is con­

preferences of its members and, by articulating

nected with the statistical research method of 'fac­

them, attempts to influence both public opinion

torial analysis of variance'. In this case it refers to a

and government policy.

possible source of variance, the variation due to the

The generic term interest group encompasses

joint action (that is, interaction) of two or more

organizations that function primarily to represent

independent variables (see Leigh and Kinnear,

the economic interests of their members (such

1980).

as employer associations) and those that seek to promote a particular cause which reflects attitudes

Interactionism The term refers to a group of theories which deal

held in common by its members. Whereas eco­ nomic interest groups are usually depicted as defending sectional, even selfish, interests, promo­

with interactive effects, for example, the relation

tional groups are invariably portrayed as being

between body and mind, individual and society,

engaged in the selfless advocacy of a cause which

and organism and environment. This is illustrated

is pursued in the interests of all (for example, en­

in the following examples. According to Drever,

vironmental groups). Though the terms differ, the

interactionism is 'a theory of the relation between

categorization of interest groups into two such

mind and body, which assumes interaction or re­

types is characteristic of the academic literature.

ciprocal causation between the two- that mind acts

While distinguished from political parties by

on body and body on mind - as the solution of the

attempting to influence rather than constitute gov­

psycho-physical problem' (1964, p. 142). In the

ernment, interest groups have acted as the progeni­

field of differential psychology and PERSONALITY

tors of political parties (thus the British Labour

psychology a collection of articles published by

Party's origins lay in the trade union movement).

Endler and Magnusson (1976) led to the so-called

Moreover, the distinction between economic and

person-situation debate during which interaction­

cause groups is not always clear-cut, if only for the

ism was advocated as a more appropriate model for

reason that the former do identify with causes that

personality theory and personality research. This

are wider than the particularistic interests of their

view assumes that actual behaviour is determined

members.

by a continuous and multidirectional interaction

In the twentieth century, the preoccupation with

between person variables and situation variables

interest groups as a field of study originated largely

(ibid., 1976). An optimistic provisional appraisal

in the United States. It was rooted in a tradition of

of this continuing debate is given by Kenrick and

writing on the American political system which had

Funder (1988).

interpreted its plethora of groups as a testament

302

INTERESTS

both to the energy of its people and the vitality of its

Dah1, R. 1961: Who Governs?

democracy.

Jordan, A. G. and Richardson, J. J. 1987: British Politics

In the United States (Truman 1951· Latham 1952), and somewhat later in the

UK (Mackenzie :

and the Policy Process.

01son, M. 1965: The Logic of Collective Action. R. A. WILFORD

1955; Beer, 1956; Finer, 1958) and Western Europe (Lapalombara, 1964), the adoption of a group­ centred approach followed in the wake of Bentley (1908). He had presented the study of groups and their interactions with government as a key to the understanding of the wider political process. While freeing scholars from a single-minded concern with constitutions and political institu­ tions, the fashion for group studies was criticized by some for neglecting or misunderstanding the motives of individuals (Olson, 1965) and for sub­ ordinating the role of more traditional political institutions (Crick, 1959). Others (Bachrach and Baratz, 1962; Lukes, 1974) took issue with those like Dahl (1961) who interpreted the widespread existence of interest groups competing openly to influence policy as evidence of the diffusion of power (see also PLURALISM). They challenged this pluralist analysis, contending that power is concen­ trated in the hands of relatively few groups which are enmeshed with government because of their strategic economic role (Mills, 1956; Lindblom, 1977). The reinvigoration of the intellectual debate on the concept of PowER is a direct outcome of the study of interest groups. The literature on interest groups, especially in relation to policy-making (Kimber and Richardson

;

1974; Wilson, 1981; Marsh, 1983), has led to a mor

comprehensive knowledge of both the dynamics and the substance of government actions. In add­ ition, their study has underscored the necessity for institutions that mediate between the citizen and government, providing for individuals both the opportunity and motive for political representation and PARTICIPATION other than through the medium of political parties. For these reasons, and because of the question of whether they enhance or impair democratic

government,

interest groups

have

become an integral element in the analysis of polit­ ical systems. See also SociAL MOVEMENT.

interests

To say that an action, policy or state of

affairs is in the interests of an individual, organiza­ tion or collectivity is to suggest that it would further their wellbeing in some significant respect. Thus, reference to interests may be used to defend or to recommend action on behalf of oneself or on behalf of others, for example, by governments, parents or welfare agencies. In such contexts, the attribution of interests involves little more than the construc­ tion of a plausible argument relating the wellbeing of those concerned to some action, policy or state of affairs. It need say nothing about what motivates the individual, organization or collectivity whose interests are in question. However, there is also a more specialized usage in which interests are assumed to form part of the motivational structure of human action. Ji.irgen Habermas has suggested, for example, that human experience is organized in terms of a priori cogni­ tive interests. However, the more usual under­ standing of interests is as contingent but relatively stable features of the actors concerned (unlike tran­ sitory wishes or desires) which provide them with actual or potential reasons for action. Interests, in this sense, have been seen as an underlying source of social conflict and of differences in the political ideas or worldviews of different classes

�

and as accounting for important aspects of know

ledge and of culture. Many authors would agree with William Connolly's claim that every 'explana­ tory

theory

of

politics

includes

assumptions

about persons and their real interests' (1993, p. 73). American pluralism, for example, analyses pol­ itical life as a matter of the interactions of organized groups who have banded together for the defence or promotion of their interests. This view suggests that organizations bring together and express inde­ pendently existing interests, but it is now generally recognized that organizations themselves play an important part in determining what interests are effectively represented in political life.

Reading Bentley, A. F. 1908 (1967): The Process of Government, ed. P. Odergard.

There have been many changes in the way inter­ ests are thought to relate to other sources of motiv­

1981: Organizing Interests in Western

ation but in the modern period the pursuit of

Europe: Pluralism, Corporatism and the Transformation

interests has often been counterposed to behaviour

ofPolitics.

that is not self-interested. Max Weber, for example,

Berger, S. ed.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS treats 'material' interests and VALUES as independ­

303

tions and more recent explorations of the relations

ent sources of motivation, providing distinct and

between race, class and gender. Third, if one as­

often conflicting reasons for action. Others have

sumes that real or objective interests effect behav­

disputed this contrast, suggesting that it serves

iour, then the case of those who do not act on their

only to hide the true sources of action. In this

interests poses a particular problem of explanation.

case, interests are seen as having effects even when

Marxism conventionally attributes an interest in

they are not acknowledged by those who act on

socialism to the working class, but the majority of

them. A common manoeuvre is to unmask behav­

the working classes in the advanced capitalist soci­

iour that appears not to be self-interested by

eties neither acknowledge such an interest nor act

claiming to reveal its true foundations in the realm

on it. The problem is then to explain the failure of

of interests. In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis

the supposed link

Bonaparte, for example, Marx argues that what

action, and an answer is frequently given in terms

distinguishes the Legitimist and Orleanist factions

of the operation of power, false consciousness and

of French royalism 'was not any so-called prin­

ideology.

between

social location and

ciples, it was their material conditions of existence,

Where the contrast with values tends to suggest

two different kinds of property' (1852, p. 118).

a rather negative perception of interests, a more

Here the distinct interests of the two royalist fac­

positive view is suggested by a contrast with the

tions are held to account for their political differ­

passions. The idea that interests could be used

ences and for the 'convictions, articles of faith' and

to keep the passions under control was a common

the like which they use to justify their actions. The

theme in early liberal thought and commerce was

interests identified in such unmasking manoeuvres

particularly

are often regarded as real or objective, meaning that

seemed to encourage the peaceful pursuit of inter­

favoured

in

this

respect

since it

their existence and effectiveness does not necessar­

ests. The promotion of commerce was seen, in fact,

ily depend on any subjective awareness on the part

as a means of pacifying the conduct both of indi­

of those whose interests they are said to be. How­

viduals and of states. While this contrast with the

ever, if the attribution of these interests is to explain

passions is no longer such a prominent theme,

or predict behaviour they must somehow provide

the more general claim that the pursuit of private

the relevant actors with actual reasons for action.

interests through the market promotes the wider

This point gives rise to a number of difficulties.

social good continues to play a fundamental part in

First, 'objective' interests may well not be recog­

liberal political thought.

nized by those who are said to act on them. On this case, their explanatory significance is obscure,

Reading

unless the interests in question are assumed to be

Connolly, W. E. 1983: The Terms of Political Discourse.

unconsciOus.

Hirschman, A. 0. 1977: The Passions and the Interests.

Second, objective interests are usually attributed to individuals or collectivities by virtue of some significant feature of their social location such as class, ethnicity or gender. In the above example,

Ho1mes, S. 1995: Passions and Constraints: On the Theory ofLiberal Democracy.

Mannheim, K. 1929 (1936, 1960): Ideology and Utopia. Wi1son, G. K. 1981: Interest Groups in the United States. BARRY HINDESS

Marx refers to the forms of landed or commercial property that distinguish the interests of the Legit­ imists from those of the Royalists. The concept of

international division oflabour

interests then appears to provide an explanatory

OF LABOUR, INTERNATIONAL

See DIVISION

link between the social locations of individuals All social phenomena

and collectivities on the one hand and their actions

international relations

on the other: locations determine interests, and

not confined within a single state - the relations of

interests then provide individuals with reasons for

states with one another, the operations of non-state

action. Different features of social structure may

actors such as international organizations, multi­

well seem to specify different, and sometimes con­

national corporations and religious movements,

flicting, sets of interests. The analysis of such cross­

and the impact of abstractions such as the inter­

cutting interests has been an important theme in

national economy - fall within the scope of inter­

several traditions of political analysis, for example,

national relations. In the twentieth century, its

in Marxist treatments of contradictory class loca-

study was stimulated by such events as the two

304

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

world wars, the Russian revolution and its global

maintain a 'balance'. In the decades that followed,

repercussions, the economic collapse of 1931, the

all these facets of Realism were to be vigorously

invention of nuclear weapons in 1945 and their

challenged.

seemingly endless refinement thereafter, the decol­

Initially, though, the debate over substance

onization of Asia, Africa and elsewhere, the subse­

was overshadowed by one over method. Rather

quent confrontation of North and South, and the

than replacing one set of dogmas and prescriptions

multiplication of novel forms of international or­

by another, it was argued, scholars should investi­

ganization, global and regional, including the Euro­

gate

pean Community.

applying the techniques and philosophy of science,

the

reality

of

international

relations

by

During and after World War I, international

whereby theories would stand or fall according to

relations, as a subject, was often seen as the servant

the weight of the empirical evidence for or against

of INTERNATIONALISM, charged with helping states

them, and concepts would be so tightly defined

to civilize the conduct of their mutual relations and

that it was clear in advance of an investigation

avoid future wars. In this perspective, which came

what findings would count in favour of a given

to be known as 'rationalism' or 'utopianism', much

theory or hypothesis and what against it, so that

emphasis was placed on the need to uphold and

others could replicate the investigation the field of

extend the rules and procedures of the League of

international relations was also widely seen as no

Nations.

more than a special case of human relations, to

The approach of World War II, in 1939,

which the appropriately modified findings of other

prompted E. H. Carr into a scathing attack on

social sciences, notably economics, sociology and

'rationalism', from a perspective which came to be

psychology, must apply. The scientific approach

known as 'realist'. In similar vein, Hans Mor­

made much use of models, that is, attempts

genthau (1951) denounced US participation in the

to portray the causal process implied by a theory

Korean War of 1950 to 1953, in which sixteen

in abstract and often mathematical form, and thus

states, under the United Nations banner, associated

highlight the empirical assumptions on which

themselves with the Republic of Korea.

it rests.

Carr had long since insisted that the League's

Lewis Fry Richardson's work on WAR was a

rules of political and economic conduct reflected,

forerunner of this mode of enquiry, and its posthu­

not an underlying harmony of interests among

mous publication in book form coincided with the

states, but simply those of the initially stronger

appearance of several major new works in this vein

and 'satisfied'. As the once weak grew in strength,

(Kaplan, 1957; Rapoport, 1960; Boulding, 1962). In

they would naturally challenge these rules. For the

the ensuing methodological controversy, whose

'satisfied', wisdom lay, not in treating every chal­

flavour is well captured in Knorr and Rosenau

lenge as a crime, but in deciding which to resist and

(1969), Hedley Bull's 'International theory: the

which to accommodate; 'a successful foreign policy

case for a classical approach' (in that volume) was

must oscillate between the apparently opposite

a conspicuous rallying point for the traditionalists.

poles of force and appeasement' (1939, eh. 13).

On the whole, the scientists won, at least to the

For Hans Morgenthau, both 'political necessity'

extent of having their contributions to the subject

and 'moral duty' dictated that the sole guide to

accepted on their merits.

foreign policy should be the national interest. In

One notable field for this was that of inter­

the Korean war, bemused by the notion of North

national 'systems', in whose operation, and stability

Korean aggression and the supposed obligation to

or instability, theorists detected the effects of holis­

resist it, the USA had, he argued, lost sight of that

tic attributes derived from the behavioural tenden­

central truth.

cies of the units making them up (just as economists

Realists thus promoted an emphasis on states

see the 'market' for a commodity as a holistic fact

rather than international organizations or other

derived by aggregating the likely responses of the

non-state actors; on their interests rather than

commodity's customers). Kaplan (1957) specified

their doctrines or their leaders' beliefs; on the nor­

what he saw as the crucial differences between the

mality of force and thus the importance of strategic

nineteenth-century 'balance of power' system and

considerations; and on the distribution of power in

the post-1945 'loose bi-polar' one, and explored

the international system and the need to achieve or

four more systems which might conceivably arise.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

(1964)

305

contended that, in gen­

religion, language, race or even a purely subjective

eral, multipolar systems were likely to be more

sense of a common identity. It is the Hobbesian

stable and more peaceful than bipolar ones; Waltz

premise that is flawed.

Deutsch and Singer

( 1979, eh.

8) argued the reverse. Though difficult, it

Nevertheless, though the replacement of terri­

is possible, and instructive, to trace the different

torial states by a world government is not remotely

assumptions that lead to such diametrically op­

in sight, they have come to share their powers to

posed conclusions.

a significant extent with other bodies. Whereas

The substance of Realism came under attack from four main quarters. First, theorists of inter­

(1977),

national society, among them Bull

con­

once treaties could be concluded only between states, the United Nations Law of the Sea Conven­ tion, for instance, had to be open for signature not

tended that there is more to the relations of states

merely by the European Community's members,

than an unceasing struggle for power. Bull, follow­

but also by the Community itself, because of the

ing a classification Martin Wight has used in his

latter's centrally administered Common Fisheries

lectures at the London School of Economics, delin­

Policy. Again, the parties to the European Conven­

eated three traditions of thought about inter­

tion on Human Rights, in what to an earlier gener­

national relations, the Hobbesian, corresponding

ation

to Realism; the Kantian, a 'revolutionary' concep­

derogation of their sovereignty, have accepted the

tion based on the centrality of the transnational

right of their citizens to appeal to an international

bonds that make all people, as people, part of the

body capable of overturning decisions of their

community of humankind; and a Grotian (from the

highest national courts and even of overriding na­

would

have

seemed

an

unimaginable

seventeenth-century jurist Grotius), asserting the

tional legislation deemed incompatible with the

existence of a society of states, bound by a set of

convention.

norms manifest in international law and diplomacy.

'National interest' was the target of the third

While acknowledging that elements of all three

challenge to Realism. The cybernetic approach of

(1963)

were discernible in the contemporary world, Bull

Karl Deutsch

regarded the Grotian conception as predominant.

tal explanation of state policy. Like other actors,

From a somewhat different perspective, Keohane

states, in responding to ever-changing circum­

(1977)

attempted a more fundamen­

reinforced this critique of Realism

stances, are seen as needing to combine receptivity

by showing that international 'regimes' -the rules

to new concerns and new values with fidelity to old

accepted as applicable to a given set of international

ones. Their performance, like that of motorists,

and Nye

issues-did not simply reflect the preferences of the

depends heavily on the communications networks

most powerful.

at the disposal of their decision-makers: on how

A second target was the assertion that states

far they can see ahead ('lead'), how quickly their

are, and for the foreseeable future will remain, the

decisions are implemented ('lag'), how much com­

central actors of international relations. To attack

petes for their attention ('load'), what weight they

it, Herz

(1959)

axiom,

that

used a Realist, indeed Hobbesian,

political

loyalties

are

given

only

can bring to bear in the desired direction ('gain' -a refined form of power) and how quickly and how

in return for security. Since economic warfare,

accurately they can assess the results of their deci­

ideological penetration, aerial bombardment and

sions (feedback). It is the state that cannot cope with

finally the invention

had

its environment that is likely to fall back on power

rendered the state permeable and indefensible,

in its cruder form, 'the ability not to have to learn'.

of nuclear

weapons

Herz proclaimed its demise. As he was later to

Conversely, states whose citizens are linked in a

concede, this obituary was premature. States have

variety of close networks, official and unofficial,

indeed become vulnerable to violent separatist

can create 'security communities' within which

movements and transnational terrorism, but to a

PEACE is assured.

large extent they have survived, not because they

States retain enormous military arsenals, but

are defensible, but partly because the organizational

are less preponderant than they were, or than Real­

networks that sustain them remain 'going con­

ism would posit. Their functions and their power

cerns', capable of clipping the wings of most alter­

are being increasingly circumscribed by other layers

native actors, and partly because of what the

of authority, intergovernmental, nongovernmental

citizens of most states have in common - culture,

and local, often in no orderly relationship. Bull

306

INTERNATIONALISM The insistence that social and

warned that if the Grotian pattern of a society of

internationalism

states were thus to be superseded, which he thought

political problems must be considered from a

to be unlikely, it could give rise to a possibly more

standpoint transcending that of any one state is

violent condition of 'a new medievalism'.

not new. Hinsley

The fourth attack on Realism came from Marx­

(1963) begins his history of inter­

nationalist theories with Dante's De Monarchia,

ists, who have sought to portray human society,

thought to date from

including global society, from the perspective of

tury, internationalism took three different, though

1310. In the twentieth cen­

the poor and weak, in which classes, not states or

not unrelated, paths: the promotion of action across

nations, are the basic units. Events have not, how­

state frontiers by those with similar interests and

ever, corroborated some fundamental Marxist con­

opinions (sometimes known as 'transnationalism');

tentions, particularly about war; and explanations

opposition, in the Benthamite tradition, to nar­

of imperialism and other aspects of foreign policy in

rowly nationalist state policies such as protection­

terms of economic interests have not, on the whole,

ism; and support for the creation, upholding and

been convincing; but the Marxist prophecy of the

strengthening of international institutions.

ever-increasing concentration of economic power

Ethically, the main argument has been between

under capitalism has been borne out by the seeming

those who hold that 'the state is fundamentally a

lack of any natural limit to the size of firms, and it is

nexus of special and general obligation' (Paskins,

hard to imagine that such power will not carry with

1978, p. 163), and those who maintain that inter­

it increasing political power, especially in the Third

national society should be so structured as to ex­

World.

press the rights and duties that 'each member of

Realism has thus been shown to oversimplify the

mankind might reasonably claim' from others

complexity of international relations, but so, too,

(Linklater,

have most alternative approaches. The most fertile

moralities' as 'forms of human understanding

1982, p. 9), and see all 'particularistic

counterpart to it may prove to be cybernetics,

which would be superseded in time as men grasped

which teaches us to assess the world's political and

the nature of their capacity for self-determination'

other systems in terms of their capacity to identify

(ibid., p.

global problems and respond to them adequately.

137).

In a later work

(1998), Linklater elaborated this

Any list of such problems, which would include

latter view, arguing for what he saw as a form of

famines, epidemics, environmental hazards, the ex­

cosmopolitanism, which, without claiming any

haustion of resources and the continuing dangers of

knowledge of 'permanent moral truths that bind

'conventional' and even nuclear war, is inevitably

the whole of humanity' (p.

incomplete, which underlines Deutsch's insistence

all unjust systems of exclusion, and thus develop a

48), sought to eliminate

that the first prerequisite of such systems is 'open­

'universal communication community' offering all

ness'.

whose needs were affected by a decision of a state

Reading

with those making it, regardless of whether those so

(or other actor) the chance to engage in dialogue

Aron, R. 1962 (1966): Peace and War, trans. R. Howard

affected were individuals or communities, and of whether they were within or outside the decision­

and A. B. Fox. Bull, H. 1977: The Anarchical Society.

making unit. Thus states would need both to de­

Carr, E. H. 1939 (1964): Twenty Ye ars' Crisis.

volve more power to local communities and become

C1aude, I. L. 1962: Power in International Relations.

answerable to international (including, where ap­

Deutsch, K. W. 1963: The Nerves of Government.

plicable, European) institutions.

Kap1an, M. A. 1957: System and Process in International Politics. Keohane, R. 0. and Nye, J. S. 1977: Power and Interde­ pendence. Knorr, K. and Rosenau, J. N. eds 1969: Contending Ap­ proaches to International Politics. Link1ater, A. 1982: Men and Citizens in the Theory of

The transnationalist path is exemplified by MARXISM, which, in its original form, held that the state was a mere instrument of the bourgeoisie and that 'the worker has no fatherland', but the very occurrence of World War I demonstrated the inad­ equacy

of

international

proletarian

solidarity.

When the revolution in Russia of October

International Relations. Wight, M. 1979: Power Politics.

1917

failed to ignite an uprising of workers throughout RODERICK C. OGLEY

the capitalist system, the internationalism of the

INTERNET

307

Second International (founded 1889) and its suc­

human rights, the protection of the environment

cessors became pragmatic rather than radical, and

and the management of the resources of the sea,

direct representation of workers (within national

conceived of as the 'common heritage of mankind'.

delegations) in the International Labour Organiza­ tion gave socialists some scope for transnational

Reading

collaboration. In contrast, the Third International,

Dower, N. 1983: World Poverty.

founded by Lenin, became a channel through

Hinsley, F. H. 1963: Power and the Pursuit ofPeace.

which the USSR controlled communist parties of the rest of the world, until Soviet interventions in

Hungary

(in

1956)

and

more

blatantly

Czechoslovakia (in 1968) liberated most Western Marxists from this subservience. Non-Marxist

Linklater, A. 1982: Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations.

--1998: The Transformation ofthe Political Community. Paskins, B. 1978: Obligation and the understanding of international relations. In The Reason ofStates, ed. M. Donelan.

manifestations of transnationalism in the late twen­

RODERICK C. OGLEY

tieth century have included charities and move­ ments

such

as

Oxfam,

European

Nuclear

Internet

The Internet has revolutionized the

Disarmament (END), Amnesty International and

computer and communications world. Not simply

Greenpeace.

a series of computers connected by cable, the Inter­

The second, 'Benthamite' path has come under

net is a global, interactive system of information exchange. It is as much a form of media as it is a

increasing challenge this century,

and, in its

economic

nationalists.

computer network, though not media in the trad­

Between the two world wars, repeated calls by

itional sense. Interactivity is possible between indi­

aspect,

not

just

from

League of Nations conferences for all-round reduc­

viduals without regard to geographic location and it

tions of tariffs exemplified the 'utopianism' de­

can function as an information distributor, storage

nounced by E. H. Carr (1939) (see INTERNATIONAL Followers

of

device, retrieval system and even global computer

also

system, or Grid, supplying distributed computing

regarded free trade and multilateralism as mis­

power in a manner analogous to the electricity

guided in the absence of a managed international

mains grid system (Foster, 2001).

RELATIONS).

KEYNESIANISM

economy with adequate mechanisms for sustaining

The Internet itself was formed in 1973, by the

effective demand, a view nominally embodied in the

US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

institutions created at Bretton Woods to manage

(DARPA) who initiated a research programme to

the international economy after World War II,

investigate techniques and technologies to develop

which ]. M. Keynes helped to negotiate. Another

communication which

aspect

the

computers to communicate transparently across

principle of freedom of movement across frontiers,

multiple networks. This was called the Internetting

of

this

form

of

internationalism,

would allow

networked

has also had to fight a rearguard action against

project and the system of networks which emerged

increasingly restrictive immigration controls and

from the research was known as the 'Internet'. In

ever more formidable obstacles to the granting of

1986, the US National Science Foundation (NSF)

asylum to refugees.

initiated the development of the a major communi­

In the early part of the twentieth century, those

cation service for the Internet. In Europe, major

who took the 'institutional' route to international­

international connectivity to over one hundred

ism (see Angell, 1908; Woolf, 1916) usually made

thousand computers on a large number of networks

peace their goal, though, as indicated earlier, the

was also created.

newly created bodies commonly assumed other

A great deal of support for the Internet commu­

tasks. With the influx of new states, almost all of

nity has come from the US Federal Government,

them underdeveloped, into the United Nations

since the Internet was originally part of a federally

after 1950, internationalists also looked to such

funded research programme and, subsequently, has

bodies to promote 'development' and correct the

become a major part of the US research infrastruc­

alleged biases of the existing economic system (see

ture. During the late 1990s with the creation of the

also

UNDERDEVELOPMENT).

World Wide Web (WWW) the population oflnter­

More recently, 'institutional' internationalism has

net users and network constituents expanded inter­

added to its concerns the worldwide upholding of

nationally and began to include commercial users.

DEVELOPMENT

AND

308

INVENTION

Indeed, the bulk of the system today is made up of private networking facilities in educational and re­ search institutions, businesses in addition to gov­ ernment organizations across the globe. The Internet is, strictly speaking, neither direct nor mediated. The technological medium offers a potential for interaction that other mediated forms of communication largely lack. Exchanges of infor­ mation using traditional forms, such as letters, for example, take much longer than similar exchanges on the e-mail, in effect modifying qualitatively the nature of the interaction. In addition, in contrast to telephone communication, which also allows for interaction, the Internet may involve a multiplicity of actors and start interactive processes which not only extend beyond the originators of the exchange but can also create new knowledges and synergies (Slevin, 2000). Some scholars argue that the Internet is causing people to become socially isolated and cut off from genuine social relationships, as they work alone over their computer screens or talk with anonym­ ous strangers through a socially impoverished medium (Stall, 1995; Turkle, 1996). Others argue that the Internet leads to more and better social relationships by freeing people from the constraints of geography or isolation brought on by stigma, illness or schedule. For them, the Internet allows people to join groups on the basis of common interests rather than convenience (Katz and Aspden, 1997; Rheingold, 1993: Shapiro, 2000). The Internet is often seen as an essential con­ tributor to the emergence of an 'information soci­ ety' or 'information age' (Bell, 1979; Castells, 2000; Poster, 1995) although this concept has been widely criticized (see Webster, 1995). See also ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THEORY. Reading Castells, M. 2000: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. 2 vols.

Kumar,

K.

1995:

From

Post-Industrial

to

Post­

Modern Society: New Theories of the Contemporary W orld.

Slevin, J. 2000: The Internet and Society. Webster, F. 1995: Theories of the Information Society. Winner, L. 1986: The Whale and the Reactor.

DAVID BERRY The creation of new institutional structures, practices or objects, or any significant alteration in the above, is an ongoing feature

invention

of human history. For a variety of reasons, how­ ever, invention since the twentieth century has been largely reserved as a term describing scientific and technological developments (see TECHNO­ LOGICAL CHANGE). Additionally, theories with a de­ terminist base (whether economic, biological, psychological or technological) assume that insti­ tutional or attitudinal changes are the functions of systemic requirements. But theory which attributes to invention itself an independent character makes more Promethean assumptions concerning the abil­ ity of people to alter radically their environment. On this view, the sonnet and the button were both inventions, one cultural and one technological, both of them representing 'different types of creativity' on the part of individuals in response to perceived needs (White, 1963, p. 114). Theorists of invention, whether concentrating on technological or on social, economic, cultural and political acts of creation, focus on both the origins and the nature of inventive acts and patterns of diffusion. Many writers emphasize the fact that inventions are rarely the result of a single creative act but the result of a series of innovative responses, sometimes over many years, to the resolution of a problem. Invention often results from the applica­ tion of differing perspectives to a problem. Bell's invention of the telephone was made possible by his very lack of expertise since the inventor saw possibilities for the instrument as a speaking device that experts in telegraphy did not (Hounshell, 1975). Architectural invention results from a play­ ful inclusion of disparate cultural images and styles (Venturi et al., 1977). Some writers suggest that the development of certain kinds of inventions can be traced to the Weltanschauung of different histor­ ical periods. Robert Nisbet contends that the Middle Ages were rich in the creation of social inventions (the guild, marketplace, monastery, university) while in the twentieth century there is a dearth of social invention and a preoccupation with technological invention (1975). Other writers suggest that invention occurs more frequently in periods of political upheaval, particularly revolu­ tion. Georges Sore!, referring to the 'social poetry' of revolutionary activity, discusses the creation of myths of a future society as 'expressions of the will' (1906). Hannah Arendt argues that modern revolutions have regularly produced invented representative institutions which have thus far not succeeded in surviving (1965). The role of insti­ tutional sources of invention has also been

ISLAM explored, such as the impact of research laborator­

309

scholars, are that Islam has a stronger sense of the

ies on technological invention and ideological struc­

indivisible nature of law and religion, it has no

tures on political inventions. If major cultural,

sacramental

technological and political changes can be con­

pays

ceived as inventions, additional important ques­

Orthodox Islam has no tradition of baptism, eu­

little

priesthood and its orthodox core attention

to

sacramental

ritualism.

tions arise as to the nature of the interaction

charist or confession. Where such ritualism has

among inventions and whether it is possible to

developed in Islam, it has been associated with

categorize inventions in general. Some writers

more popular or deviant traditions such as Sufism.

argue that recent inventions in electronic technol­

Contemporary field work has challenged this view

ogy now permit the invention of new democratic

of Sufism, arguing that the Sufi orders are an im­

practices (Barber,

1984). Others contend that tech­

nological invention crowds out other inventive forms through cultural reliance on a 'technological

portant conduit of orthodox belief and practice (Abu-Zahra,

1997).

From a historical perspective, Islam arose in

fix' to solve problems. Inventions themselves have

seventh-century Arabia in the cities of Medina

been categorized by their impact on society and on

and Mecca as a consequence of the preaching of

one another, or in terms of their propensity to

Muhammad

generate or forestall human liberation.

the Qur'an in the form of inspired verses or chap­

(570-632 AD). The Prophet received

ters (surat) which called all people to accept Allah as the one and only God, to renounce all aspects of

Reading Abbott, P. 1987: Seeking New Inventions: the Idea of

their local religions, and to unite together in one community (the Household of Islam) in order to

Community in America. Hughes, T. 1989: American Genesis: a Century ofInvention and Technological Enthusiasm.

practise their religion faithfully. Out of these early practices, there developed a core of orthodox prac­

Illich, I. 1978: Toward a History ofNeeds.

tice which is called the Five Pillars of Islam - the

Nisbet, R. 1976: Sociology as an Art Form.

renunciation of polytheistic heresy by a proclam­

Pool, I. de Sola ed. 1977: The Social Impact of the Tele­ phone.

PHILIP ABBOTT

ation that 'there is no god but God (Allah) and Muhammad is his Prophet' (shahadah), fasting during the month of Ramadan, the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj), alms giving (Zakah) and daily prayer

Islam

A

monotheistic

world

religion,

Islam

(Salah).

combines holy law, prophetic revelation and a

Islam developed in a geopolitical niche between

sacred text to form a religious tradition that is

two declining empires- the Byzantine and the Sas­

detailed and all-embracing. Although there are

sanian. Having successfully overcome opposition to

a number of versions of Islam, there is an ortho­

his preaching, the simplicity of Muhammad's mes­

dox core which is still authoritative (Hodgson,

sage functioned as an important social bond which,

1974).

during his lifetime, united the fissiparous nomadic

From the orthodox point of view, Islam is time­

tribes. Islam spread rapidly through the Middle

less. As a faith based on complete submission to the

East and North Africa. There has been much dis­

will of Allah, Islam has neither beginning nor end;

pute over the causes of conversion to Islam. Critics

Islam is self-sufficient in that it has not depended on

emphasize the importance of holy war Gihad) and

any other religion, but it is also the last religion,

the economic benefits of either conversion or pro­

which perfects all other versions of monotheism.

tection. Islam has often been regarded as a warrior

1920-1) but

From a sociological point of view, Islam is an Abra­

religion which spread by force (Weber,

hamic religion which shares many beliefs and insti­

it is important to acknowledge that Islamic expan­

tutions with Christianity (see CHRISTIAN SOCIAL

sion depended heavily on the growth of trade and

THEORY) and ]UDAISM, such as a sacred book

commercial links as the routes along which Islamic

(the Qur'an), an ethical prophet (Muhammad), a

missionaries spread. Islam is essentially an urban

normative tradition (the Sunnah), a doctrine of

religion of merchants, not a faith of desert nomads.

individual salvation and a view of Islam as a social community

(the

Ummah),

which

is

essential

After the death of the Prophet, Islam split into a Sunni majority and a Shi'ite minority movement.

if Muslims are to practise their religion fully. The

Sunnism became the official ideology of the caliph­

principal

ate (the central institution of the Islamic polity). By

differences,

which

are

disputed

by

310

ISLAM

contrast, Shi'ism, which became eventually the

al-Wahhab

'official' religion of Persia, was based on the idea

mentalist return to Islamic principles. Liberal

(1703-1787), sought to create a funda­

of a charismatic succession of religious leaders

responses on the part of the urban intelligentsia,

(Imams) who drew their legitimacy from their des­

particularly

cent from the Prophet (Richard,

a reform oflslam with Western principles of parlia­

1995). Its religious

in

Egypt,

mentary The

practice. These two branches of Islam eventually

and cultural penetration was thus intensely am­

developed different legal and religious characteris­

biguous, swinging between outright acceptance of

Sunnism

developed

four

major

'rites'

(Hanafite, Malikite, Shafi'it and Hanbalite). Once

response

secular

integrate

tyrdom; Sunnism remained a more sober, ascetic

Islamic

and

to

ethos gave greater emphasis to suffering and mar­

tics.

democracy

attempted

to

Western

education. economic

secular Westernization and violent anti-colonial nationalism.

the holy law (Shari'ah) had been fully developed by

In the twentieth century, these cultural and

these four schools, it was said that no further or new

social dilemmas continued, despite the successful

interpretation of the sacred law was possible; the

process of decolonization which occurred after

gate of judgement (ijtihad) was closed.

World War II. Immediately after the war, Islamic

Intellectually Islam then went into a long period

societies were significantly influenced by various

(from the tenth to the nineteenth century) of official

forms of secular NATIONALISM, of which Nasser's

ossification in which any change in the core doc­

Egyptian brand of nationalism and P ANARABISM is a

trines was ruthlessly opposed. Although Islam

significant example.

continued to expand through the creation of new

movement had a strong attachment to both nation­

cultural and political centres in Spain, India, Persia

alism and Marxist SociALISM. In Indonesia, the

In Algeria,

the liberation

and Turkey, social scientists have claimed that the

anticolonial struggle against Western, specifically

failure oflslam to maintain a technical and military

Dutch, colonialism adopted a mixture of Islamic

advantage over Europe has its origin in this rigid

universalism, paganism, nationalism and a person­

opposition to innovation. After a series of crucial

ality cult around Sukarno. In Iran, the intellectual

turning points for Islam- the loss of Spain in

leader Ali Shari'ati

1492,