No Natural State of Human Inequality or Equality
In Kenneth Guest’s Cultural Anthropology, we read chapter 10, “Class and Inequality” together with “New York City” in Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed for Cultural Anthropology 2023. (Commissions earned)
Guest begins by asking: “Is inequality a natural part of human culture?” (358). There are people who claim that all human societies have always been unequal, that we are just status-filled animals who like hierarchies. However, there is no natural state of human inequality. We see all kinds of ways in which humans have been equal and unequal to each other throughout history and across cultures.
At the same time, we must be careful not to assume a natural state of equality either (358). While some anthropologists have held up hunters and gatherers as examples of egalitarian societies, they are not all egalitarian. We do see sharing, cooperating, collaboration, and reciprocity across human societies (358). Even in hierarchical societies, we see various forms of hierarchy, such as gift-giving to attain status (360)—the Potlatch in the northwest coast of the Americas and Ongka’s Big Moka.
Theorists of Social Class—Mostly Not American
Guest discusses four key thinkers who have provided insights into social class, most of whom come from outside the United States. Karl Marx (1818-1883, Germany) divided society under capitalism into bourgeoisie and proletariat (362), though his later analytical work was more complex than The Communist Manifesto. Max Weber (1864-1920, Germany) discussed more social classes and how people rise, fall, and compete for status, introducing the idea of the state’s monopoly over the legitimate use of force (364).
Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002, France) explored how the educational system reinforces class society through habitus and cultural capital (364-365). In Outline of a Theory of Practice, Bourdieu describes habitus as excluding “the most improbable practices…as unthinkable, or at the cost of the double negation which inclines agents to make a virtue of necessity, that is, to refuse what is anyway refused and to love the inevitable” (77). He calls habitus “the durably installed generative principle of regulated improvisations” and “history turned into nature, i.e. denied as such” (78).
Leith Mullings (1945-2020, Jamaica) examined how class, race, and gender intersect, such as in her work with the Harlem Birthright Project and the African Burial Ground (367; Smith, 228-231).
The Culture of Poverty: US Anthropology’s Problematic Contribution
In contrast to the theorists from outside the US, the one major contribution from US anthropology was the problematic idea of the “culture of poverty” from Oscar Lewis (382). While Lewis advocated for government intervention to change this culture, the phrase became stigmatizing, implying that poverty perpetuates itself and that the poor are responsible for their condition. Much anthropological work has since criticized this concept.
Class in the US: Wealth vs Income
The US has a national myth of being a classless society (387-390). In reality, “one’s life chances are heavily influenced by the class position of one’s family—the financial and cultural resources passed from generation to generation” (369).
Income inequality in the US is already highly unequal and known through reporting (378). However, wealth inequality is even more extreme and difficult to access information on, as it is not reported on income tax and the wealthy hide their assets (379). The racial wealth gap between White and Black households is much larger than the income gap: median income ratio of 1.7 but a wealth ratio of 7.8 in 2019 (380). This wealth gap is likely a legacy of the fact that certain people were themselves owned and considered a form of wealth.
Course Navigation
This lecture on anthropological perspectives on class and inequality uses chapter 10 of Cultural Anthropology by Kenneth Guest alongside Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed. (Commissions earned) Following Biological Sex Variation, we continue with Global Economy. See also the Power Analysis Hub.