CLASS, STATUS  AND PARTY

Weber’s theory of social class , status group and power is central to his writhing and are related to economic , social and political aspects respectively. It was written between 1911and 1920 and appears in the second volume of Economy and society .In this context ,Abraham stated “ In the formation of relationship ,says Weber ,men tend to be attracted to and enter into social relationship with other who  share common positions .and interests in the area of economic politics and culture “ In fact class , status and power are considered to be three dimensions of social stratification of  weber . Firstly , Weber put forward his theory of social class on the basis of three distinct categories :

(i)  Class in relation to market situation .

(ii)          Class in relation to different types of social action flowing                         form class interests : and

(iii)          The formation of social classes in relation to historical    
types of class struggle “

Weber defined the concept of class in reliance to the market .he stated “a class is a numbers of people having in common a specific causal component of life chances . This component is represented by economic interests in the possession of goods and opportunities for income under conditions of the market “ From this definition two things appeared : life chencecs and market By . Class  Weber is referring to the economic order of society where “ market relationships “ were of the utmost importance. It is clear that this concept of Weber ‘s class is very close to the ‘objective ‘ part of Marx ‘s concept of class .Weber S definition of class also refers to “ class situation that is determined by life chances Which may arise When individuals sell skill and services on the market “ 80 In fact class  situation , on the other hand ,is also determined by the ownership of usable property which creates returns on investment and incomes in the form of rent . ,These two class situations ,viz,.. property and the opportunities arising form incomes , define the class situation of modern society .

 

Weber ‘s Concept of Status

 

The second dimension of power , according to weber is the development of the “status group “in modern society .the concept of status group has major role in his theory of class and stratification .by status ‘weber talks about talks about the way the organisation of society produces different amounts of prestige or social honour for different groups of individual .status situation is basic concepts to understand status in the sphere of social activity . Weber defined a status situation as “ every component of life fate that is determined by a positive or negative social estimation of honour “82 Therefore status situation is determined by a specific  positive or negitive social honour . members of status groups are held together by notions of proper life styles or consumption patterns and the social esteerm or honour  honour accorded to them by others . In addition , weber also made a distinctions between class situation and status situation .weber explained class situation ,the economic order and the sphere of the market and in this sense is functionally separate form class  class is restricted to the Speyer of the market and characterised by acquisitions whereas status is outside the market and characterised by consumption .in fact both class and status are considered as separate dimension of the stratification  system .In this sense , the highest preying (status )in a particular sociol group dose not always belong to the richest (class) .

Weber outlined four distinct characteristics of status groups groups and their function within society .status groups . He stated .

(i)  Evaluated social worth and bestow honour :

(ii) Segregate themselves form other status group

(iii) Uphold patterns of consumption and canons of                  taste : and

(iv) Monopolise status privileges.

For the first characteristics of status group , weber designated to status situation as determined by a “positive or negitive evaluation of honour  second characteristic of social groups is

Segregation .weber thought that the status group sets itself apart form other groups in terms of life style and badges . Indian caste system is group is the privileges associated with it weber stated that status  “.British royal family would be an example of this category

Another fact related to it is that status groups form communites  with common interest and purposes .”These are based on shared condition and a common perspective that derives from similar experience of life style and habits of taste “ It can be said that status groups are usually considered as communities.

Concept of parties

 

Parties are the third dimension of power and stratification  system. Parties may be formed on the bas of classes or status groups or some sort for mixture of both .the notion of parties are found only in complex  societies in fact political order the action of parties is oriented toward two kids of activities :first the acquisition of power and second the influencing of the action of other for political purposes .”90 The key purpose according to weber of political parties is to secure power and maintain separation from the economic and social sphere .in brief parties are the groupings of people oriented toward the acquisition of social power

Weber tride to understand the complexes of social stratification from class to bureaucratic organisation in modern society . Weber thought that it was a type of movement from class to authority to bureaucracy in order to understand the nature and function of power in modern society . Finally Weber proposed legitimate authority thought the bureaucratic cooperation of activities on the basis of rational principles to regulate modern society .

                         

                                    CONCLUSION

             German born sociologist and philosopher Max Weber used to introduce himself as a political economist. He opposed with Marx on the idea of historical materialism and defining social system in a new way by combining the factors of economy and religion. In this new way of viewing society, Weber identifies the processes of rationalization, secularization and disenchantment. These three processes are associated with the rise of capitalism and modernity. This is a great shift of focus to analyze capitalism

 

 

Max Weber is recognised as one of the greatest sociologists of the modern era. Compared with Marx and Durkhiem, Weber’s approach seems to be individualistic in nature. Analysis of the different structure of modern society is his central thrust of study.

His major  contributions to sociology are methodological approach, capitalism, sociology of religion, social stratification and rationality. However, Weber himself was opposed to creation of professorship in sociology. he tries to find out the solution of any problem from the contextual viewpoint. Weber’s methodological approach lo sociology was directly related to Methodenstrait or the German debate about the use of proper method in the social sciences.  Verstehen, interpretive understanding, subjective meaning and ideal type construction are central to Weber’s methodological orientation.  From entire analysis, I find that Weber mainly focuses on the way in which social reality can be understood and explained.  In this sense, he tries to see social situation or problem or phenomena on the basis of contextual reality.  And hence causal functional relation can be traced out on the basis of concentrating on particular situation.  At the same time, he evaluates any social phenomena from the actor’s point of view.  Weber applied his methodological approach in the analysis of social action, religion and capitalism, bureaucracy, class, status and party and so on.  Here, he tried to study meaningful human actions in relation to society through a proper perspective.

In the analysis of social change, he did not accept a single factor is responsible for it.  Here Max Weber was certainly influenced by Marx’s analysis of economic interpretation of society.  As Parsons puts it, “Undoubtedly, the main starting point of Weber’s descriptive treatment was Marx. Marx’s writings and the discussions of capitalism and socialism revolving about them were making a profound impression in Germany in Weber’s formative period but typically enough it was the ‘Historical Marx and not the Manx, who was most closely related to the classical economic theory “.

Although Max Weber tried to present sociology a scientific look but he has also been subjected to a good deal of criticism.  He has been charged of being weak towards Functionalism.  In this in text, Weber has been criticized of giving more emphasis on individualistic and subjective understanding of social phenomenon.  analysis of relationship between religion and capitalism has been attacked.  In this respect, Sorokin has quoted examples of where no progress worth the name was made in the field of but it had miraculous progress in the economic, political.