fairly well without government, and would thus only agree to a rather limited
form of political control. The obvious problem is the lack of any evidence
about non-political social systems, and the arguments about the form of the
state of nature are entirely hypothetical. Nevertheless, given some basic views
about human nature, it can be a theoretical technique of great analytic power,
even though it is now accepted that man has never lived outside of at least a
rudimentary state.
Status
All known societies have had some form of hierarchical ordering in their
population, an awareness that some people are, in one way or another, ‘higher’
on a scale than others. Status is a general way of referring to this phenomenon,
and of measuring it. Some of the forms of relative standing are well known and
accounted for by specific social theories; economicclassandcaste, for
example, are well defined. Status is more ambiguous, both because many
different factors can enter into thestratification, and because it is inherently
more subjective. Essentially status is a measure of social respect, of how the
value system of a society appraises individuals as more or less worthy of
deference, admiration, or honour. Itisoften highly correlated with economic
class, and certainly with wealth, but the connection is not automatic. Indeed in
some contexts wealth follows from status, rather than endowing it.
A status hierarchy is likely to have evolved over a lengthy period, and to be
preserved by those at its head—in their own interest. As such it can often
involve the prevention of those lower in the hierarchy from making full use,
and receiving full benefit from, their talents (seediscrimination). This is
particularly so when the characteristics that give social status are relatively fixed
and out of an individual’s control. Attempts to disguise the characteristics of
racial or ethnic origin (for example by blacks, particularly in the USA,
cosmetically to lighten skin colour and straighten hair) confirm the existence
of such hierarchies and the difficulty of countering their social influences.
Other status characteristics, such as educational attainment, earning more or
being awarded a title or decoration, can be achieved through individual effort,
although even here coming from a background of high non-achieved status
can be of assistance. The most basic status determinant in modern Western
societies is a person’s job. Research has shown that there is a fairly high degree
of consensus among the population on how to rank occupations, though
rankings vary from country to country, and any particular ranking will
represent a number of different evaluations. In most societies airline pilots
and medical doctors rank high on status scales, whereas coal-miners and nurses
rank very much lower. Skill, responsibility and high academic qualifications
Status