Annotation
In this course, students will gain an overview of current research and analyses of social and economic inequality in the context of the theory of social stratification and the theory of elites and oligarchy. The course thus helps students orient themselves in the current problems of society which are related to this issue. These topics became more relevant after 2008, and they also started to be discussed in the wider professional public and in the media. We will approach the issues of social and economic inequalities from the perspectives of elite theory, elitology, class stratification theory (inspired by Weber and Marx) and oligarchy analyses. This course is dedicated to forming a deeper acquaintance with the theoretical and research field, based on reading and analysing relevant classical and contemporary texts.
Content:
• The sociological and anthropological sources of socio-economic inequalities: hierarchy or equality?
• Inequalities: social and economic causes and possible solutions - analysis, criticism and prognosis.
• Classes: Marxist and Weberian models.
• Elites: the difference between the critical-descriptive concept and the normative concept of elites.
• Oligarchy: empirically-oriented research of oligarchs and their role in politics.
• Alternative models of organization: non-hierarchical and egalitarian patterns of economic relations.