Results of Family Activity IV

First, let me make some general remarks about your efforts on this exercise. Overall, the families did poorly interpreting Pareto but better with Veblen and Michels. I believe you all would have benefitted from reading the introduction to these chapters in the text. So, let me begin with some general remarks, and then I'll incorporate some of what the families concluded.

The following passage really gets to the heart of what I hoped you would have discovered on your own:

"Section V (Chapters 9 & 10) introduces the political sociology and economic sociology theories that responded to the two major aspects of the radical anticapitalism of Marx and his followers. Almost uniformly, criticism of Marxism begins with the concept of a final revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. The critics consider the notion of a classless society without a state or a ruling elite, and with everyone living 'happily ever after,' as utopian, and therefore untenable. The theoretical response is that there will always be a ruling elite, and any major change simply involves who is in charge."
"In Chapter 9, Robert Michels argues that there is an 'iron law' of oligarchy, or rule by a few -- meaning that a small number of people run any institution, including the government. Neither monarchy nor democracy is possible. Furthermore, Vilfredo Pareto claims not only that there is a circulation of elites, but that success in politics is enhanced by cynicism and hypocrisy -- that is, by manipulating one's message to fit the audience -- and that success is its own justification. Ideologically, such critics of radicalism are conservative, in the sense that they believe nothing important ever changes, only the personnel in positions of leadership. However, Pareto would argue (as do the positivists) that this is not ideological at all, but is simply reality -- that his theory is not just political, but deals with the character of both human nature and society." (p. 224)

Think about this passage in connection not only with their reaction to Marx, but how it relates to so-called communist societies of the 20th century such as the former Soviet Union. Clearly, they seem to reflect more Michels' "iron law of oligrachy" than any utopian classless society.

Veblen is a bit different from Pareto and Michels, but he too was cynical about the possibility of a classless society. Veblen was critical of capitalism. Nonetheless, "Veblen found Marxism's 'withering away of the state or political institutions as particularly untenable." (p. 254)

And now to the families:

GREEN FAMILY: For some strange reason this family began by talking about "Pareto's most important contribution to his response to Weber's ideas about capitalism..." THIS EXERCISE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WEBER! It appears you meant Marx, but you repeated Weber throughout the first paragraph. And I would also add, that Pareto's notion of "residues and derivations" is also largely irrelevant, whereas his notion of "circulation of elites" is very relevant. But the following paragraphs were pretty good:

"Unlike Marx, Robert Michels perceives little chance for a social insurrection, arguing that "the iron law of oligarchy" essentially meant that democracy, mass movements, and organization of the masses for revolution are impossible" (239). In explanation of this view, Michels further asserts, "the oligarchic and conservative tendencies of the labor leaders, the differentiation of the workers both horizontally and vertically, and the ideology of mobility all obscure the likelihood of mass revolution" (240)..."

"Veblen believed that the system won't be overthrown because "the habits and institutions are too tenacious" (247)....Marx's view that capitalism can (and will) be overthrown by the unhappy masses is unrealistic to Veblen. It is unrealistic because in Veblen's mind capitalism is too entrenched in society. So, Veblen agreed with Marx on the nature of capitalism but disagreed about there being a major change."

BLUE FAMILY: Your treatment of Pareto was ok, but failed to mention specifically his "circulation of elites" concept.

You also add something to Veblen: "Veblen also had critiques of Marx. As he says, "History is goalless, not goal-oriented; the poor do not become increasingly miserable; and there is not likely to be a growing reserve army of unemployed workers." (p. ?)... He (Veblen) thought they (the working class) were more comfortable avoiding change and so would avoid revolution."

You did bring out Michels' "iron law of oligarchy," but in talking about Michels as being most relevant to understanding 20th century communist states you make no mention of them.


YELLOW FAMILY: You also got side-tracked on Pareto's "residues and derivations". You do bring out a couple valid points about Veblen, which were mentioned above. You did the best job on the question of relevance to 20th century communist states, so I will quote part of that:

Referring to Michels' "iron law of oligarchy", you go on to say, "His argument was that there were oligarchic tendencies in every kind of human organization (238). Michels noted that the administration of social wealth always requires an extensive bureaucratic hierarchy, which leads "by an inevitable logic to the flat denial of the possibility of a state without classes, or a classless, stateless society. Thus oligarchic tendencies in all organizations preclude a final revolution leading eventually to communism" (239). The fact that Michels understood that "society is always run by a small party or small number of individuals" is relevant to understanding "so-called Marxist or communist societies that emerged in the 20th century," and the Communist Party of Cuba is an example of such a society." And I would add, not to mention the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, etc.


That's all for now. Please incorporate the above remarks in your notes because they may be a source for questions on the final exam. We will hear the final set of presentations on Tuesday (4/28) and some of those MIAs (missing-in-action) yesterday (Thurs. 4/23)also need to get your papers in ASAP.