Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 39 n. 1 Rio de Janeiro 1996
Abstract
The article advocates abandoning class theories as instruments in analyzing the professional stratum and posits the advantages of replacing these with a theory of status groups. It begins by discussing both the problems that Marxists run into when they endeavor to account for the position of professionals within the class structure as well as some of the deficiencies found in Weberian solutions to this issue. Using the concept of social closure, attention is then drawn to the notion of academic credentialism as a special case of exclusion, or monopolization of advantages and privileges grounded in cultural elements and in motivations that value factors like education, honor, and occupational conventions. Lately, it is argued that substituting the class principle with the status principle constitutes an analytical operation that can unveil the unique nature of professionals as a stratum and their singular contribution to the structure of social inequalities.
O Senhor e o Escravo como Tipos-Limite de Dominação e Estratificação
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