Class and Class Conflict
in Industrial Society
RALF DAHRENDORF
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
This work originally appeared in Germany in 1957
under the title Soziale Klassen und Klassenkonfiikt
in der in-dustriellen Gesellschajt and has been
translated, revised, and expanded by the author
Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 1959 by the
Board of Trustees of the Leiand Stanford Junior University
Printed in the United States of America Cloth ISBN
0-8047-0560-7 Paper ISBN 0-8047-0561-5 Original edition
1959 Last figure below indicates year of this printing:
90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82. 8i
Contents
Preface to the First (German) Edition vii
Preface to the Revised (English) Edition
xi
PART ONE: THE MARXIAN DOCTRINE IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORICAL CHANGES AND
SOCIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS
I. Karl Marx's Model of the Class Society 3
The social etymology of the concept of class, 3
Consequences of
industrialization, 4 Marx's theory of class, 8 The problem, 9 Two false
approaches, ю Property and economic power, ll Relations of production,
class situation, and political power, 12 Class interests, 14
Class
organization and class struggle, 16
The classless society, 18
Sociological elements of Marx's theory of dass, 18 Philosophical elements
of Marx's theory of class, 27 Marx's image of the capitalist class society,
32
II. Changes in the Structure of Industrial Societies Since Marx
36
Capitalism versus industrial society, 36 Ownership and control, or the
decomposition of capital, 41
Skill and stratification, or the decomposition
of labor, 48 The "new middle class," 51
Social mobility, 57 Equality
in theory and practice, 61
The institu-tionalization of class conflict, 64
Capitalism cum industrial society, 67
III. Some Recent Theories of Class Conflict in Modern Societies
72
Refutation is not enough, 72 The dilution of the concept of class, 74 On
and off the party line, 77 Capitalism, socialism, and social classes, 84
The managerial and the clerical revolutions, 87 Class society without class
conflict, 93
Class society in the melting-pot, 97 Citizenship, equality,
and social class, 100 The new society, 109 Unsolved problems, 114
IV. A Sociological Critique of Marx
117
Sociology and the work of Marx, 117 Social structure and social change:
Marx sustained, 119 Social change and class conflict (i):
Marx sustained, 124 Social change and class conflict (ii): Marx rejected,
126 Class conflict and revolution: Marx rejected, 130 Social classes and
class conflict: Marx rejected, 133
Property and social class: Marx
rejected, 136 Industry and society: Marx rejected, 141
Social roles and
their personnel: Marx supplemented, 144 The concept and theory of class,
150
xvi
Contents
PART TWO: TOWARD A SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF
CONFLICT IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
V» Social Structure, Group Interests» and Conflict Groups
157
Integration and values versus coercion and interests: the two faces of society,
157
Power and authority, 165
Latent and manifest interests, 173
Quasi-groups and interest groups (i): theoretical conditions of conflict group
formation, 179
Quasi-groups and interest groups (11): empirical
conditions of conflict group formation, 182 A note on the psychology of
conflict groups, 189 "Elites" and "ruling classes," 193 "Masses" and
"suppressed classes," 198 Classes or conflict groups?, 201
VI. Conflict Groups, Group Conflicts, and Social Change
206
The "functions" of social conflict, 206 Intensity and violence:
the variability of class conflict, 210 Pluralism versus superimposi-tion:
contexts and types of conflict, 213
Pluralism versus super-imposition:
authority and the distribution of rewards and facilities, 215
Mobility
versus immobility: the "classless" society, 218 The regulation of class
conflict, 223
Group conflict and structure change, 231
The theory of
social classes and class conflict, 236
VII. Classes in Post-Capitalist Society (I): Industrial Conflict
241
Capitalist society in the light of the theory of group conflict, 241 Do we still
have a class society?, 246
The authority structure of the industrial
enterprise, 248 industrial democracy, 257 The institutional isolation of
industry and industrial conflict, 267
Empirical consequences of the theory
of institutional isolation of industrial conflict, 272
Industrial conflict:
trends and countertrends, 276
VIII. Classes in Post-Capitalist Society (II): Political Conflict
280 How people see
society, 280 The authority structure of the political state, 289 Bureaucratic
roles and political authority, 295 The ruling class, 301
Political democracy, 307
Totalitarian societies vs. free societies, 314
Bibliography
329 Author Index
319 Subject Index
333