Origins of Inequality

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses inequality among people. It discusses this phenomenon from a gender point of view, as well as from a social status point of view and attempts to explain why these levels of inequality exist. The paper suggests that while few modern nations claim to possess hereditary classes, most do possess groups of individuals who control vast amounts of family wealth and the power that goes with it.

From the Paper:

"As societies become still more complex, the amount of wealth that it is possible to accumulate becomes larger and larger, eventually reaching enormous proportions. Wealthy individuals exercise control or influence over huge numbers of their fellows. The gap between the community's wealthiest and poorest members eventually comes to resemble a huge gulf, with vast differences in power and prestige developing between these two extremes. By the time the people of Sumer, in modern Iraq, had created what is generally considered to be the world's first true civilization, extremes of wealth and poverty already existed. Modern day archeologists and anthropologists can deduce the relative status of individuals simply by looking at the physical remains they left behind; the size and content of their dwellings, and the locations of those dwellings within the Sumerian cities. To an even greater extent than among simple farmers, the wealth accumulated by certain small groups of people in civilized societies permitted them to coalesce as distinct classes. They passed not merely their accumulation of resources, but also their right to control others, onto future generations."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Angle, John. "The Surplus Theory of Social Stratification and the Size Distribution of Personal Wealth." Social Forces 65.2 (1986): 293-326.
• Maisels, Charles Keith. Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, India, and China. London: Routledge, 2001.
• Mclendon, Michael Locke. "The Overvaluation of Talent: An Interpretation and Application of Rousseau's Amour-Propre." Polity 36.1 (2003): 115+.
• Runciman, W.G. "Stone Age Sociology." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11.1 (2005): 129+.
• Spear, Thomas, and Richard Waller, eds. Being Maasai: Ethnicity & Identity in East Africa. London: James Currey, 1993.

More papers on Origins of Inequality:

• Analytical Essay # 23189 : "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality" by Rousseau"
• Comparison Essay # 44444 : "Marx's Analysis Of The History And Dynamics Of Capitalism Compared With Rousseau's Arguments In His Discourse On The Origin Of Inequality."
• Essay # 137929 : "Analyzing the Inherent Inequalities of Human Nature through the Theme of Reason in Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality"

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