Beschreibung:
Human beings are hierarchical animals. Always and everywhere, people have developed social ranking systems. These differ dramatically in how they are organized, but the underlying causal mechanisms that create and sustain them are the same. Whether they are on the top or bottom of the heap, people attempt to be superior to some other persons or group. This is the root of Melvyn L. Fein's thesis presented in Human Hierarchies: A General Theory.
Introduction, 1. Hierarchy and Science, 2. A Hierarchical Animal, 3. The Mechanisms of Hierarchy, 4. A Profile of Relative Strengths, 5. Hierarchical Changes, 6. Historical Trends, 7. Bureaucracies and Professionalism, 8. The Middle-Class Ascendancy, 9. The Working and Lower Classes, 10. On Loss and Social Mobility, Epilogue: Age and Gender, Bibliography, Index