Stand Reconstructed

Contingent Closure and Institutional Change

Bibliographic Data

ID2247227
AuthorsJozsef Borocz (0000-0003-4672-4293, Rutgers University and Hungarian Academy of Science, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume15
Issue3
Pages215-248
Publication date1997-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/0735-2751.00033
OpenAlexW1973881136
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited67

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 This might help to avoid the outdated contrast of the 'West' vs. its 'Others

Economics · Epistemology · Estate · German · Inequality · Political science · Positive economics · Social class · Social inequality · Social science · Social stratification · Sociology · History · Law · Mathematics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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