Why some peoples are more unemployed than others

by GORAN THERBORN

Why Some People are More Unemployed Than Strange Paradox of Growth and Unemployment

Genres: Sociology, Politics, Nonfiction, Class, Philosophy

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Homo · Rating 1 out of 5]

"What then does the ruling class do when it rules ? Essentially, it ensures that its dominant positions in the economy, state apparatus and ideological superstructures are reproduced by the state in rela­tion both to the other modes of production present within the social formation and to the international system of social formations. These reproductive state interventions are enmeshed in the struc­tural dynamics of the mode of reproduction, but they also have to be secured in the thick of the class struggle."

[Esioan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard work of sociology, I particularly liked the analysis of how feudalism transitioned into industrial capitalism. I hadn't known Marx recognized the enclosure movement as a destructive force to the extent that the average Saxon serf was supposedly better off than the average 1700s London commoner.

[Left_coast_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does the ruling class do when it rules? Göran Therborn provides some answers in this book. A rigorous, analytical examination of feudal, capitalist, and socialist states and how they function. This is accomplished with a nuanced approach to Marxist concepts like base/superstructure, hegemony, and more.

The book is well-organized. Therborn likes to categorize and enumerate. As a contribution to this summary and to provide a glimpse into his methodical approach, his schema is as follows:
INPUTS INTO THE STATE
1) Principles regulating the type of tasks the state handles
2) Criteria of personnel recruitment
3) Modes of securing state revenue
PROCESSES OF TRANSFORMATION
4) Modes of decision making
5) Patterning of organizational positions and relations between their incumbents
6) Modes of allocation/utilization of material resources
OUTPUTS
7) Patterning of decisions and practices
a. toward other states
b. toward its own society
8) Patterning of relations of state personnel
a. with the personnel of other states
b. with other members of its own society
9) Modes of outflow of material resources

He pays close attention to the institutional forms or "organizational technologies" used by different states. He goes on to explain what is required to actually wield state power. He argues that the state must "represent" the ruling class--it must promote and defend this class and its mode of exploitation through a system of leadership selection. And the state must "mediate" the exploitation or domination of this class over other subordinate classes. He explains how the bourgeoisie has maintained power even in an era of universal suffrage.

This is the first I've read of Therborn and I'm impressed. His clarity of thought and the deliberateness of his writing style is excellent. He's at his best when he provides concrete historical examples of his various categories. The one negative is that at times the number of abstract concepts becomes overwhelming. The reader needs a lot of patience. This feels like a book best enjoyed with big chalkboard and a comradely professor. I'll return to this book in the future and continue learning from it.