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Tumin's critique of Davis and Moore.
Davis and Moore were not trying to justify social inequality. Melvin Tumin was the first sociologist to point out what he saw as major flaws in the functionalist position.
Is a surgeon really more important to society than a garbage collector, since the garbage collector helps prevent contagious diseases?.
Second- if stratification worked then society would be a meritocracy; all positions would be awarded on the basis of merit. Ability should predict who goes to college. Instead, the best predictor is family income. If it is so functional than it should benefit almost everyone. Think of the people who could have made valuable contributions to society had they not been born in slums and had to drop out of school and take menial jobs to help support the family. .
The Conflict Perspective:.
Class Conflict and Scarce Resources.
Stress that conflict, not function, is the base of social stratification. They point out that in every society, groups struggle with one another to gain power, it uses that power to extract what if can from groups beneath it. It also uses the social institutions to keep the other groups and itself in power. .
No society can exist unless it is organized. This requires leadership of some sort in order to coordinate people's actions and get society's work done.
Leadership means inequities of power. Some people take leadership positions while others follow. .
Human nature is self-centered. Therefore, people in power will use their positions to seize greater rewards for themselves. .
How does Elites Maintain Stratification?.
How can you make sure you don't lose your privileged position? The key lines in controlling ideas and information, in social networks, and, in the least effective means of all, the use of force. .
Ideology vs. Force.
Medieval Europe provides a good example of the power of ideology. At that time, land was the primary source of wealth. Only the nobility and the church owned the land.