Theoretical Departures

1. Theoretical Departures Professor Roger Penn University of Bologna 2009

2. The Elements Structuralist History: the French Annales School Neo-Weberian Sociology Neo-Ricardian Economics

3. The �Annales� School I Named after the journal �Annales d�histoire �conomique et sociale� Founded by Marc Bloch & Lucien Febre Subsequent figures include Fernand Braudel, Georges Duby and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie **Burke, P [1972] Economy and Society in Early Modern Europe: Essays from Annales**Burke, P [1972] Economy and Society in Early Modern Europe: Essays from Annales

4. The �Annales� School II Rejected the narrative political history of �great men� and �events� in favour of an emphasis on long-term structural factors [�longue dur�e�] cf Duby �reject� simple accounting of events, but strived�to observe the long and medium-term evolution of economy,society and civilization� [Le dimanche de Bouvines] Advocated �total history�: rejected intense fragmentation of professional history

5. The �Annales� School IV Rejected Marxist approaches: ? demographic factors were seen as more fundamental than material ones ? cultural factors also emphasised [mentalit�s]

6. The �Annales� School V The �Annales� school pioneered social history They also incorporated a multi-disciplinary approach: history intersected with demography, climatology and geography Braudel�s �La Mediterran�e et le Monde Mediterran�en � l�Epoque de Philiippe II� [1949] Events seen as �surface disturbances, crests of foam that the tides of history carry on their strong backs�

7. Types of Change Structural change: very long term Conjunctural change: medium term Events: immediate

8. Neo-Ricardian Economics This is a school of economics founded by Sraffa which was critical of the dominant neo-classical paradigm but which was also critical of Marx�s classical reasoning in �Capital�

9. Piero Sraffa Italian economist �friend of Gramsci and Turati [PCI] - who left Italy in 1927 for Cambridge Here he edited the collected works of Ricardo [British classical economist who Marx criticized in �Capital�] He also formed a close friendship with Wittgenstein [Austrian philosopher]

10. Neo-Ricardianism Sraffa�s interpretation of Ricardo culminated in his Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities [1960] Sraffa showed that there was no long-term tendency for capitalism to collapse amidst its internal contradictions Marx had been mistaken to assert that there was both a tendency for profits to fall in the long term and for wages to remain at subsistence levels All that could be shown in abstract was that capital and labour were engaged in a struggle over the distibution of the surplus in capitalist societies

11. Core Propositions of Neo-Ricardian Sociology I Industrial capitalist society involves a structured conflict between capital and labour. This conflict is fundamentally asymmetric as a result of the essential characteristic of industrial capitalism: the separation of the producer from the means of production as a result of capitalist ownership rights

12. Core Propositions of Neo-Ricardian Sociology II These conflicts take various forms. The two most central involve conflicts over wages [the distribution of the surplus] and the organization of the division of labour [the managerial prerogative] These conflicts take place within variable structures: one key element is the nature and structure of the spatial organisation of employers and employees

13. Core Propositions of Neo-Ricardian Sociology III These conflicts over wages and over authority relations are both economic and normative [issues of legitimacy are central to both sets of relations] A major factor in the actual relationship between employers and employees is the pattern of collective organisation of both parties. Such collective organisation varies historically and spatially

14. Neo-Weberianism I Weber�s sociological writings are fragmented Much of his writings was in the form of either personal notes [Economy and Society] or derived from his students notes [General Economic History] It requires a specific reading

15. Neo-Weberianism II Weber accepted the distinction between capital and labour He developed additional stratification categories These included �intermediate classes� which covered the self-employed and professional/managerial strata He also included �exceptionally qualified workers� within these intermediate strata

16. Neo-Weberianism III Weber�s model suggested that not all manual workers form part of the working class [�proletariat�] Weber�s model is premised upon the differential power in the capitalist market place of various groups Capitalist entrepreneurs, the self-employed, professional/managerial strata and skilled workers are all relatively advantaged when compared to the sellers of non-skilled manual labour

17. Neo-Weberianism IV Weber also argued that class differences do not, in themselves, produce class struggles nor, in the extreme, class revolutions These are contingent [not inherent] features of particular capitalist systems Other factors may form the basis fore collective action: these include religion, ethnicity, nationality and gender Social stratification is a multi-faceted phenomenon [opposed to economic reductionism]

18. Synthesis I A neo-Weberian perspective shares key elements with the neo-Ricardian economic position They both recognise the importance of capitalist relations within contemporary societies These are not exhaustive of patterns of social inequality in such societies

19. Synthesis II There are multiple nodes of market power in such societies Conflict may just as likely occur within and between different categories of �labour� as between capital and labour itself There are also other aspects of social inequality that may be more important than class at any given moment empirically: these include ethnicity and gender

20. Contemporary �Theory� A combination of theoreticism and positivism Data selected to fit an a priori scheme Abstract formulations matched by anecdotal examples that always fit the argument Examples: A.Giddens The Transformation of Intimacy [1993] U.Beck The Brave New World of Work [2000]

21. Alternative Approach Empirically rigorous: data not selected to fit a preconceived scheme but used to probe a series of sociological debates The three underlying theoretical approaches provide ways of seeing not empirical answers They should be seen as framing the types of data collected