Abstract

Recent developments in advanced industrial societies have increased the prominence of kinds of social inequality not adequately accomodated in traditional theories of class and social stratification. It is argued that the source of this failure is not, as has been claimed, the vertical imagery informing these theories, but rather their one-dimensionality, i.e., their assumption of a single unitary distributive mechanism as the essential generator of comprehensive social inequality. The weakness of a one-dimensional approach is illustrated through an analysis of Beck’s criticism of a class-hierarchy model and his notion of ‘individualized’ inequality. The analytic superiority of a three-dimensional view of social stratification is advocated, and its systematic foundations in Weber’s statements on classes, estates, and political domination are explicated and elaborated. The shortcomings of Weber’s views on social status are diagnosed, some elements of a theory of status inequality compatible with Weber’s analytical schema are presented, and the multidimensionality of status inequality is underscored.