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"Milner, Murray, Jr"
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Status and Sacredness
In this provocative study, Milner argues against the widely held view that the caste system of India is unique. Instead he contends that caste distinctions which appear to be singular or exotic are actually similar to customs elsewhere-a theory that sets in sharp relief the methods by which society is organized around status relations.
eBook
Paradoxical Inequalities: Adolescent Peer Relations in Indian Secondary Schools
Peer relationships in secondary schools in two different cultural areas of India are compared, A general theory of status relations and a specification of the distinctive cultural features of each area are used to explain the observed differences in peer inequality, clique formation, petty deviance, putdowns, fashion consciousness, romantic relationships, and gossip, A surprising finding is that the degree of status inequality among school peers is inversely related to an ideological emphasis on equality and hierarchy: The more egalitarian the cultural ideology, the greater the inequality in peer relationships, and conversely, the more emphasis on hierarchy, the less the actual peer inequality. The apparent paradox is resolved by specifying the structural mechanisms through which cultural and ideological differences operate. Brief comparisons with the United States suggest that these findings are not unique to India.
Journal Article
Is Celebrity a New Kind of Status System?
A number of previous writings on celebrity have suggested that it is a qualitatively different phenomenon from previous kinds of status systems. Hence, theoretical arguments that have been used to explain more traditional status systems are seen as inadequate to explain and understand the behaviors that are associated with celebrities. This article argues that the differences in traditional and contemporary status systems have been exaggerated. To demonstrate this it takes a theory of status relations that was initially developed to explain the Indian caste system and shows how it can explain much of the behavior associated with celebrities and their fans.
Journal Article
Theories of Inequality: An Overview and a Strategy for Synthesis
The long debate between functional and conflict theories of social inequality has not been resolved largely because the issues have been inadequately formulated. This paper largely abandons this dichotomy and presents explicit models of five approaches to explaining inequality. These are then synthesized into a common framework. It is shown that stratification literature as divergent as status attainment models, the Davis—Moore theory, power elite studies, Lenski's evolutionary theory, Habermas' analysis of distorted communications, and world-systems theory can be subsumed under the framework.
Journal Article
Hindu Eschatology and the Indian Caste System: An Example of Structural Reversal
Virtually all interpreters of Hinduism agree that the notions of samsara, karma, and moksa are central to nearly all varieties of Hinduism. That is, it is agreed that most Hindus assume continuing reincarnations (samsara), that a person's current incarnation and experiences are, at least in part, the fruit of past actions (karma), and that release or liberation (moksa) from this ongoing cycle is possible and desirable. As David Kinsley (1982:8) says, “certain underlying beliefs are accepted by most Hindus: karma, samsara, and moksa, for example.” J. L. Brockington (1981:5) notes, “Doctrines concerning … samsara, karma and moksa … may be regarded as axiomatic by most schools of Hindu philosophy.” Thomas Hopkins (1971:50) observes, “By the early sixth century B.C.E., transmigration and the “law of karma” had been generally accepted as basic facts of existence and were rarely challenged from that time on by any major Indian system of thought.” According to A. L. Basham (1989:42): “These [karma and samsara] are the beliefs of nearly all Indians, other than Muslims, Christians, and Parsis, down to the present day.”
Journal Article
Teenage Behavior: It's Not Biology, Psychology, or Family Values
This article examines the explanations behind these questions: (1) Why do American teenagers behave the way they do?; (2) Why are many obsessed with the brands of clothes they wear, their lunchtime seatmates, the parties they are invited to, the latest popular music, the intrigues of school cliques, and who is hooking up with whom?; (3) Why do students in some schools rigidly segregate themselves by race and ethnicity and yet get along amicably?; (4) What causes castelike divisions?; and (5) Why are teenagers often mean and even cruel to one another? Studies reveal that answers to these questions has relatively little to do with family values, liberalism, progressive education, or what teachers do or don't do. Rather, teenager behavior is difficult because adults, especially parents and businesses, benefit from the present ways of organizing young people's lives. This article examines how peer status, consumerism; and educational reform influence teenage behavior.
Journal Article
Status and sacredness: Worship and slvation as forms of status transformation
The concept that sacredness is a special form of social status allows the use of common theoretical concepts and propostions to explain status and sacred relationships. This concept is discussed, and an analysis that focuses on Christianity in relation to Hindu worship is provided.
Journal Article