John Scott 
Stratification and Power 
Structures of Class, Status and Command

This volume presents a systematic discussion of the leading
theoretical approaches to social stratification. It is both an
accessible overview and a distinctive contribution to the analysis
of class, status and power.

John Scott argues that Max Weber’s conceptual framework –
reconstructed and enlarged – provides the basis for integrating
what have been considered up to now as divergent approaches to
stratification studies. Marxist theories of class and economic
division, normative functionalist theories of status and cultural
division, and elitist theories of command and authoritarian
division all find their place in the proposed framework. Each
theoretical approach is illustrated through empirical
investigations undertaken by writers associated with them. Recent
work by Dahrendorf, Wright and Goldthorpe is also examined, and it
is shown how their arguments contribute to a theoretical synthesis
in the analysis of stratification.

Stratification and Power will be much appreciated by
students and academics alike in the social sciences. The clarity of
its style and the significance of its contribution have made it a
leading text in its field.

Table of Content

List of Figures.

Preface.

1. Images of Stratification.

2. From Max Weber: a Framework.

3. Class, Property and Market.

4. Status, Community and Prestige.

5. Command, Authority and Elites.

6. Property, Authority and Class Relations.

7. Structures of Social Stratification.

8. The Question of the Working Class.

Notes.

References.

Index.

About the author

John Scott is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex.