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Rethinking the Concepts of Class and Status-Group in a World-System Perspective

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Rethinking the Concepts of Class and Status-Group in a World-System Perspective
Author(s)Arrighi, Giovanni; Hopkins, Terence K.; Wallerstein, Immanuel
AbstractIn his conclusion to Book I of The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith defined the three classes of civilized society as “those who live by rent, those who live by wages, and those who live by profit.” He argued that the interests of the first two classes coincided with the general interest of society, while the interest of the third was generally opposed. In this article, the authors contrast Smith’s analytical framework with Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. Particularly, the authors analyze two shifts of focus: a shift away from state-defined economic spaces to a world economic space on one hand, and a shift away from the marketplace to the workplace on the other.
IssueNo3
Pages283-304
ArticleAccess to Article
SourceReview
VolumeNo6
PubDateWinter 1983
ISBN_ISSN0147-9032


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