Cecilia L. Ridgeway - Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?

WE SEE STATUS virtually everywhere in social life, if we think to look for it. It suffuses everyday possessions, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, the food brands we prefer, and the music we listen to. More significant aspects of our lives are equally marked by status, like the neighborhood we live in, our occupation, or our educational background. Even the organizations we work for carry more or less status value, as we can be acutely aware when we describe them to others. Think about what is at stake, for instance, in how you will be viewed at a social gathering when someone asks, What do you do anyway? Whether we like it or not, status is also attached to our social identities, like our sex, race or ethnicity, age, and social class background. And of course, in every interpersonal group we enter, implicit (or explicit) status differences quickly emerge and we find ourselves ranked up or down in the process.

Why is status everywhere? Why does it matter if it is? Defined simply, status is a comparative social ranking of people, groups, or objects in terms of the social esteem, honor, and respect accorded to them. But what is status really? That is, why does status develop and how does it work? What is its significance for our lives?

Notice that I said, We see status everywhere... if we think to look for it. Oddly enough, we usually do not think about it, at least not explicitly, even though it permeates our lives. And if we do knowingly think about status, we dont often credit it with much consequence. We think of it as a relatively trivial aspect of social life, a social vanity. And yet, people give every appearance of being deeply motivated by status concerns. Teenagers look for respect on the streets, as do CEOs in the boardroom. A fatherboasts about my daughter the lawyer. Billionaires care about their public status as one of the worlds richest people, above and beyond the exchange value of their massive fortunes. Why is this? What is the nature and power of status as a social processthat is, as something people do? And what is the nature and power of status as a form of social inequalitya structure of advantage and disadvantage that shapes peoples life outcomes? What is the significance of status for broader patterns of inequality in an advanced industrial society such as the contemporary United States? These are the core questions that this book addresses.

In taking on these questions, my goal is to make a case for what I refer to as the deep story behind status as a form of social inequality. Rather than providing a descriptive review of empirical research on status hierarchies or offering a how-to guide for attaining status, I want to inquire into the fundamental nature of status as a form of inequality distinct from more familiar forms of inequality based on power or wealth. What is it and why do we do it? Or better, howaccording to what processesdo we do it? To answer these questions, I develop a conceptual account of what I claim underlies status hierarchies and status evaluations. Although my goals are analytical, I develop this account out of a close consideration of current empirical research on status processes. I further attempt to show how my account of what status is, at root, helps explain some of its distinctive characteristics: that it is everywhere in social life, affecting individuals and groups alike, and that it is an ancient form of inequality that nevertheless interpenetrates modern meritocratic institutions. I also argue that it plays a unique and powerful role in the creation and maintenance of durable patterns of inequality based on social differences such as gender, race, and social class.