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A post‐liberal theory of stratification
Author(s) -
Jackson Michelle,
Grusky David B.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12505
Subject(s) - stratification (seeds) , contest , individualism , social stratification , inequality , positive economics , economics , norm (philosophy) , neoclassical economics , sociology , political science , social science , mathematics , law , market economy , seed dormancy , mathematical analysis , botany , germination , dormancy , biology
The iconic ‘liberal theory’ of stratification fails to attend to the many types of downward mobility and wage loss generated by late‐industrial stratification systems. Although the liberal theory and its close cousins assume that loss and failure will be interpreted in individualistic terms, recent developments suggest instead that they are generating solidary groups that are increasingly locked into zero‐sum contest and successfully mobilized by politicians and other norm entrepreneurs. These developments imply a Marxisant future for late‐industrial inequality that bears scant resemblance to the highly individualized, unstructured, and non‐conflictual stratification system envisaged by the liberal theory. We outline a new post‐liberal theory of stratification that better captures the forces making for change and resistance in late‐industrial societies.