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Inequality and the division of labor: the Davis-Moore theory reexamined

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Dennis H. Wrong
Dennis H. Wrong
Affiliation:
New York University(New York).
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Abstract

Social inequality has long been subject to theoretical dispute with moral and political overtones. The most recent debate was over the argument of American sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore that unequal rewards were ‘functionally’ necessary to maintain a complex division of labour. Their theory has gained new credibility as a market model of occupational selection assuming competition among self-interested individuals. Its abstractness and limited scope need recognition, but it remains a valuable starting point for the consideration of inequality.

Kingsley Davis et Wilbert Moore avaient soutenu que l'inégalité sociaie est nécessaire au fonctionnement d'une division complexe du travail. Très critiquée, et surement trop peu spécifiée, cette hypothèse mérite pourtant d'être reprise à une époque où la compétition sur les marchés du travail est fortement affectée par les calculs stratégiques individuels.

Lange Zeit hatte die Diskussion urn das Thema der «Sozialen Ungleichheit» einen moralischen und politischen Unterton. Die gegenwärtige Debatre setzt sich mit der These der amerikanischen Soziologen Kingsley Davis und Wilbert Moore auseinander, fur die Ungleichheiten im Rahmen einer komplexen Arbeitsteilung zwingend sind. Ihr Marktwirtschaftsmodell gewinnt in der heutigen Zeit an Bedeutung, da der Arbeitsmarkt die Individuen verstärkt in Wettbewerb zu einander setzt.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , November 1999 , pp. 233 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1999

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