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2 - Conflict Theories in Political Sociology

Class, Power, Inequality, and the Historical Transition to Financialization

from I - Theories of Political Sociology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2020

By
Harland Prechel  and
Linzi Berkowitz
Edited by
Thomas Janoski ,
Cedric de Leon ,
Joya Misra  and
Isaac William Martin
Thomas Janoski
Affiliation:
University of Kentucky
Cedric de Leon
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Joya Misra
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Isaac William Martin
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

The social organization of capitalism in the twenty-first-century is radically different from in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Scholars from multiple disciplines and theoretical perspectives present this historical transition as a shift from a manufacturing to a finance-based economy. Although scholars from several disciplines examine dimensions of the transition to financialization, they tend to focus on outcomes and give limited attention to the political process of enacting policies and laws that made this transition possible. As a result, the transition to financialization is often assumed to be the outcome of an inevitable historical process moving toward economic equilibrium or the actions of an autonomous state. In contrast, conflict perspectives in political sociology focus on process and demonstrate how the emergent social structure is an outcome of conflict among different power holders.

Keywords

conflictcorporationsinstrumentalelitestructureneoliberalismfinancializationclass politicssocial policyinequality
Type
Chapter
Information
The New Handbook of Political Sociology , pp. 53 - 78
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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