Social stratification in Alain Touraine’s sociological theory

Abstract

The article deals with the development of the theory of post-industrial society’s social stratification. Today it is difficult to present stratification research in the form of a harmonious ordered sequence. The social stratification theory of the famous French sociologist Alain Touraine does not fit any of the usual classical directions. He revises economic determinism and puts accents on the sphere of knowledge and culture. Touraine tries to overcome the long-standing traditions of structuralism through the analysis of social action and social relations when analyzing the social stratification system. The modern «programmable society» is characterized by departure from the economic struggle and economic decisions, which have lost the autonomy and the central place that they used to have in the previous societies. Touraine’s vision of the modern society’s social structure differs from the vision of other post-industrialism theorists, especially from the ideas of American sociology, in particular, those presented in D. Bell’s works. The author of the action theory focuses on the French model of society and takes into account the historical and cultural characteristics of its development. Touraine noted the significant changes which occurred in the stratification system of modern society and the nature of its main social conflict. It is the change in the power and the forms of social domination under the influence of new factors and social processes. The French sociologist made a significant contribution to the fact that the sociological explanation of the modern social stratification system is transformed. He described the main characteristics of the post-industrial society’s class structure, the main trends of its development, offered the ways of using some categories necessary for the description of the modern post-industrial society’s stratification system.