ABSTRACT
This chapter begins that the study of social stratification is somewhere near the middle of the second stage. The task of a theory of stratification is to describe, classify, compare, and ultimately explain this aspect of social organization over the whole range of known and adequately documented cases. The chapter proposes a 'neo-capitalist' type in which the mode of social control is a blend of the 'class' and 'pluralist' ideal types; a 'social-democratic' type in which there is further added an element of the 'socialist' ideal type; and a 'state socialist' type in which the 'socialist' and 'elite' ideal types are blended. It also proposes a 'revolutionary socialist' type in which the 'revolutionary' and 'pluralist' ideal types are blended; and an 'ethnocratic' type in which the 'caste' and 'elite' ideal types are blended. The chapter shows that the variation between industrial stratification systems cannot be accounted for by reference to any one predominating variable, whether economic, social, or political.
