imascholar

⁃ pareto reacts ag premises of libera demo and marxian socialism
⁃ irrational man is his image that he tries to assert
⁃ they are engaged in debate with marxist ghost
⁃ marx chapter on historical sociology for next test
⁃ neo-machiavellian or elite theorists
⁃ humans r self-interested, its constant and immutable, will never change to altruistic
⁃ it led to good possibilities if we study history, where we find recurrent patterns
⁃ hindsight provides a servicable degree of foresight, we can't predict the future but we can get a sense of range of possibilities
⁃ pareto participates in revolt ag enlightenment in 19, 20 c
⁃ he argues that humans aren't rational wherein marx was heir of enlightenement and saw humans as perfectible, class conflict encreased human potential of freedom but pareto talked about circulation of elites instead of class struggle, he said that this circulation had no positive consequences for the people
⁃ he said humans are impelled to act by non-rational forces: sentiment=instinct (cultural factor or value) and Ideology moves us: religion as product of sentiments and human needs, its constant and fundamental regardless of forms it assumes
⁃ religions of socialism and humanitarianism is growing while personal god religion is in decline (pro-Nietzschean)
⁃ "treatise on sociology" of 4 volumes, first deals with logico-experimental thinking and non-logical-exp thinking and action
⁃ logico-experimental means that there are few areas in human conduct that confirms to it, scientist in laboratory is guided by strict rules in laboratory to achieve a goal; economic man, homo economic, capitalist entrepreneur is at least logico-experimental in self-interested way and is guided by certain rational rules
⁃ his aim is to propose that sentiment is determining factor in human conduct
⁃ his key concepts are: sentiment, residue, derivation
⁃ sentiment has causal priority for most part but not always
⁃ creates a pater of action, verbal or non-verbal
⁃ derivation is ideology (roughly) "ideology is like breath ..." it blinds us to certain truths, equivalent to ruling ideology in Marx which leads to false consciousness
⁃ also equivalent to Max Webbers "legitimation" formula for authority and power, how do rulers seem to deserve to rule and claim legitimacy for themselves, they do it with formula ie divine right of kings, or will of the people under constitution (president)
⁃ Mosca's political formule to claim legitimacy to ur position
⁃ sentiment is fundamentally ambiguous
⁃ Pragmatists rebunked concept of instict (?): instintualists vs behaviorists
⁃ instict is mechanism that tells organism how to behave in specific circumstances, so humans don't have it and certain animals like bears and tigers don't have it too
⁃ impulse and capacity, animals come into the world without knowledge of behavior how to hunt, but they come into the world with potential to become, if they are raised in captivity they won't know how to hunt
⁃ what about sexual instinct, not instinct but impulse, humans are perennially sexual, not time limits governing behavior, but for some animals its estro(us)cycle
⁃ is there such thing as maternal instict (?) not really, not everybody has it and to different degrees
⁃ only 7.000 yrs bcs when people began to practice agriculture in neolithinc revolution and they settled down and attached to territory
⁃ attachment to territory is not bio but due to economic, cultural
⁃ instict is waste-basket term, it doesn't explain anything
⁃ pareto does something misleading when he uses sentiment as instinct
⁃ two forms of residue
⁃ one is instinct for combination 31, qualities such as inventiveness originality
⁃ second is instinct is for persistence of agrigates, repeating patterns of behavior (unoriginal behavior)
⁃ most people show little talent and originality - instinct for combination - Elite - superiority of 2 out of 20, while other 18 persist in certain patters over and over again
⁃ elite, grade people on score of 0-10 :D
⁃ 6 classes or types of residue, 6th one is sex residue on page 279 ff;
⁃ 281, sentiment in thinking and theory of derivations
⁃ Pareto is positivist, materialist and functionalist, every institution performs a function and hence it exists
⁃ Malinovski's "magic, science and religion" even thought natives Trobrianders practice magic, they are scientific in their behavior (agriculture or deep sea fishing) they won't go out in a cloudy day to fish and they know how to build boats, but they realize that unexpected things happen and people die, so they carry a canoe magician, it fulfills the function of lowering their anxiety
⁃ they also do lagoon fishing, very safe and boring, and in that case they used no magicians
⁃ Pareto with his blanket generalization is not adressing sociological questions
⁃ section Society, Elites, and Force
⁃ elite is not a sociological concept
⁃ some pikpockets are elite even (they can score 9 our 10), if they always succeed in picking pockets, eliteness is superiority in any area, its not yet governing elite, not yet in sociological realsm
⁃ all those who are elite are not necessarily in government (doctors can't be politians at the same time)
⁃ governing elite consists of very small minority of total population and among those there is preponderance of class one residues (instinct for combination) and preponderance of class 2 residues (persistence of aggregates) in masses
⁃ its not classes, where there is class consciousness and defence of their own itnerests
⁃ class implise recognition of collective interest, solidarity and consciousness where as elite theory implies mass, masses are atomized, they are torn from class context and they are vulnerable to demagogue and tyrant as there is a way of appealing to those people, u can control the masses with certain kinds of derivations by appealing to certain kinds of sentiments
⁃ revolutions are great religious tides, upward thrusts of lower classes strong in class 2 residues
⁃ to gain power u need to rely on power, force - lion tactic, but once u establish urself u become more like a fox, u become vulnerable to new lions, u need to allow for circulation of elites, lower classes are more physical eager to use force, so clever governing elite with even invite cooptation, if u use force against new emerging leaders, others may be offended and revolt, so its smart to invite the new elites, it beheads the masses, it renders them incompetent, as they now lack leaders (!) the mass can't do anything worthwhile without leadership
⁃ if circulation ceases, the elite collapses sweeping off the whole country
⁃ humanitariasnims is a desease, if elites don't use force it degrades and deserves to be overthrown
⁃ since governing elite is small, it is strenghtened by influx of class one residues and mass is weakened by loss of it, even thought masses have many class one in proportion to the whole number its small, so masses remain leaderless
⁃ soc296 social change seminar course
⁃ after the brake
⁃ Mosca is political liberal, he tries to debunk the rousseunian marxian fantasy, he saw some aspect of marxian outlook which are utopian, such as that there will be society without class and without ruling class
⁃ he is more sociological and more liberal politically
⁃ he rejects social darwinism and racial theories
⁃ social darwinism is survival of the fittest, he is there because he deserves to be there, it justifies the position of successful people, others are losers
⁃ social darwinism ingonres social/cultural conditions that allow people to achieve success "positions deja prises" = positions are already occupied, u have poor parents with no network for instance
⁃ social hierarchy is justified in darwining terms, but it simply does not apply
⁃ Morsca recognized that
⁃ he uses social structure, social types and social forces terms
⁃ its not struggle for survival but preeminence, struggle for wealth, powe and prestige and control over means of controlling others (means of production and control of the means of violence, administration) Trotsky - state is those who successfully claim religimate use of most effective form coercive force and have monopoly over it
⁃ Mosca cites Saint Simone who had influence over him
⁃ we need proper ruling elite possessing proper qualities at a particular for good leadership, need for new elites and new hierarchy
⁃ marx said that all history was history of class struggle, Mosca agrees with it but he rejects the vision of future state of classless society, marx was a little bit of evolutionist
⁃ Marx believed that class society rests on certain conditions, Mosca and Pareto saw this vision as utopian
⁃ Mosca's theory rests on the fact that ruling group in any society is organized minority d urles over unorganized majority, atomized masses
⁃ Mosca allows that pressure of discontent masses influence the ruling class
⁃ translating private troubles into public issues
⁃ organized minority is also strong by controlling strategic resources in society
⁃ there is no way to eliminate positions deja prises, some people will always have cultural, family, networks advantages
⁃ although organized minority has superior might and can repel any offence, they use it as last resort, his point is similar to marx and webber, generally ruling group stabilizes its rule by making it acceptable to masses by means of political formula (ideology), its not a trick and not something superficial, it has to resonate with fundamental values and sentiments of people thats why nationalism succeeds often
⁃ Fussel historian,
⁃ concentrate on Aristotle and MOntesque
⁃ Aristotle - decent society has to prevent polarization
⁃ class conflict had positve results in widening freedoms of lower classes (marx believed it too as did MOntesque)
⁃ mixed gov't , check's and balances and large middle class
⁃ and "balance of social forces", corporate interests, ethnic/cultural itnerests
⁃ in sociol-economic sphereu need dynamic equilibrium of social forces of approx same size (concern with Huge corporations)
⁃ juridical defence concept - civil rights and freedoms of press, assembly and right to trial by jury
⁃ he believed in unviersal sufferage but it wil never eliminate well organized ruling minorities
⁃ parlamentarism has defects but they can't be abolished bcs of BAD consequences
⁃ no autonomous social forces in USSR as in NAzi germany, no autonomous organizations to check the pwoer of the state
⁃ withotu all that tyranny and totalitarianism will result genocidally
⁃ Michel's classic work (student of max webber) "political parties" (!), he wants to demonstrate the iron law of olygarchy (its a metaphor, not a real law, but just a powerful tendency)
⁃ even in the most democratic party (as in germany "social-demo party") olygarchical tendency
⁃ August Bebbel leader of soc-demo party said "the party is me" he didn't like criticism
⁃ Rousseau recognized that price of liberty is eternal vigilance (keep an eye on ur elected leaders)
⁃ Michels said that demo requires organization of some kind of organizatio d leadership and organization almost inevitable leads to oligarchy
⁃ growth of complexity and demographical size requires some kind of functional coordinator, organizator such as when u play alone or two violisits, and with an orchestra u definitely need a leader, the structure of organization and growth of number of participants imposed structural needs for organization
⁃ symphany orchestra requires a CONDUCTOR, it doesn't work without it
⁃ Rousevelt was reelected 4 times and died in office, was he an olygarch bcs he got reelected?
⁃ the very people whom we choose to be our servants tend to transform ouselves into our masters