Gunnar Landtman - The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes

The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...99

Routledge Revivals

The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes

Originally published in 1938, The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes presents ethnological research into how rank and inequality has been created or formed in various societies. This study especially focuses on recent changes in aboriginal cultures with particular attention paid to the Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea whom Landtman researched extensively from 1910-1912. This title will be of interest to students of Sociology and Anthropology.

The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes

Gunnar Landtman

First published in 1938
By Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd

This edition first published in 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1938 Gunnar Landtman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 39000593

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-19518-9 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-63852-2 (ebk)

THE ORIGIN OF THE INEQUALITY OF THE SOCIAL CLASSES

By
GUNNAR LANDTMAN, PH.D.

E. O. Professor of Sociology at the University of Helsingfors, Finland. Hon. member of the Royal Anthropological Institute and of the Folklore Society, London. Author of " The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea ".

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD.
BROADWAY HOUSE: 68-74 CARTER LANE, E.C.

First Published 1938

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., HERTFORD.

To

HIS EXCELLENCY THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF PAPUA, SIR HUBERT MURRAY, K.C.M.G.

in gratitude and admiration

Contents

The scope and limitation of the idea of equality.Natural variations and social inequalities.In every society social influence varies to a great extent according to personal merits and demerits.Opportunity never equal.The task of sociology mainly descriptive and explanatory, not concerned with the valuation of phenomena.Individual differences and legal barriers.Complete social equality characterizing peoples in the lowest degree of culture.Rousseau a bizarre eighteenth-century forerunner of modern sociology.Equality as regards rank, property, and labour a distinctive feature of the Kiwai Papuans. The sharing of game, fish, and garden produce with fellow-villagers.Variations in social influence dependent solely on personal qualifications among the Papuans.Social equality among other undeveloped peoples.

Political and social inferiority of women.Unequal distribution of labour between the sexes.Women generally excluded from political and religious affairs.Rights denied to women. Instances of women holding an influential position.Such cases do not invalidate the general rule of their subjection.Women's social standing comparatively favourable among the very lowest races.An illustrative instance offered by the Kiwai Papuans. The rights of parents over their children.The authority of advanced age in general.The reverence paid to old people often subject to important restrictions.Age-classes, initiation ceremonies.The initiation of girls.Schurtz opinion of the initiation ceremonies.Initiation in the first place only refers to the attained age of puberty ; the existence of only two real age-classes.Privileges of the adult generation.Food-regulations ,'change of name at initiation ; mutilations and alterations of the outward appearance; dress, ornaments, and tattooing. Significance of the hardships inflicted at initiation ; symbolic death and rebirth.Magic significance of mutilations, tattooing, and name-changing.

Definition of classes.Classes defined in theoretical literature. Differentiation through individual conditions.Influence of old age, of supernatural power, of eloquence, of physical adroitness, of courage and skill in hunting.Warlike renown the surest road to eminence.Manliness and strength of mind accompanied by recognition and advancement.Personal dexterity not to be understood according to civilized ideas.Trophies of the chase or war outward tokens of a mans superiority.The preservation of heads and skulls as trophies.Scalps and other similar trophies.Significance of trophies.Badges or traditional symbols for deeds of valour.Weapons as badges.Feather ornaments, horns, hair, and head-dresses.Painting the body; the meaning of colours.Hunters and man-slayers regarded as unclean.Incisions and tattoo-marks denoting honourable achievements.Other similar signs.Precise heraldic meaning of certain badges and signs.General significance of badges. Honorary names and titles.Their importance.Actual privileges procured through personal distinction.Marriage sometimes an advantage of individual superiority.Obligatory trials of young men before marriage.Polygyny accompanies expertness in hunting and fishing.Other advantages of a similar kind. Magic significance of trophies and ornamental badges.Sinking in the social position through personal inferiority.Names and signs of ignominy.Tendency to hereditariness of social inequalities.Varying degrees of importance attached to hereditariness.Position of illegitimate children." Old " and " new " families.

Combined influence of personal dissimilarities and inequality of wealth in the formation of classes.Various theories in literature regarding influence of wealth upon social differentiation. Fortune accompanied by respect and influence.Hospitality and generosity highly valued.Names and badges denoting wealth.Distinctive equipment and attire of the rich.Various advantages of wealth ; polygyny.The benefits of polygyny. A plurality of wives highly respected.The mutual position of the wives in a polygynous family.Wealth constitutes a more permanent pre-eminence than personal qualities.The retaining of property within a certain class.The relation between nobility and wealth.The poor and destitute sink to a subordinate position.

Division of labour contributing to the origin of classes. No real division of work in the lowest communities.Voluntary intra-tribal assistance.Geographical specialization of labour. Gradual development of a division of labour.Varying degrees of social estimation assigned to different groups of workers. Important handicrafts and such as require great skill are highly respected.Hereditariness of trades.Despised occupations degrade those engaged in them.Among many peoples all handicrafts as a rule stand low in estimation.The position of executioners.Butchers.Workers in leather.Cooks. Women's work accounted degrading.Agricultural labourers. Weavers.Potters.Barbers.Griots or minstrels.Importance of the division of labour.

Next page

1234567...99

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes»

Look at similar books to The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Marie Harte

Gunnar's Game

David Robbins

Rethinking Social Inequality

Walter A. Jackson

Alva and Gunnar Myrdal in Sweden and America, 1898–1945: Unsparing Honesty

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind (Mobi Classics)

Christopher Steed

A Question of Inequality: The Politics of Equal Worth

Charles E. Hurst

Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences

Reay

Miseducation: inequality, education and the working classes

Gunnar Stiesch

Modeling Engine Spray and Combustion Processes

Gunnar Hansen

Chain Saw Confidential: How We Made the Worlds Most Notorious Horror Movie

Gunnar Garfors

198: How I Ran Out of Countries*

Liljas Gunnar

NHibernate 4.x Cookbook Second Edition

Rousseau Jean-Jacques

A Discourse Upon the Origin of Inequality

Discussion, reviews of the book The Origin of the Inequality of the Social Classes and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.