Invention of the Modern World (7): Caste, class and social mobility

Duration: 44 mins 21 secs
Share this media item:
Embed this media item:


About this item
Image inherited from collection
Description: The curious English social structure over the centuries - open yet hierarchical
 
Created: 2011-06-06 13:18
Collection: Lectures: The Invention of the Modern World (Wang Gouwei Lectures, 2011) Alan Macfarlane
Publisher: University of Cambridge
Copyright: Prof Alan Macfarlane
Language: eng (English)
Keywords: Invention; Modern; World; social class; hierarchy;
 
Abstract:
The tendency of most societies is for wealth differences to turn into legal and ritual differences, what Tocqueville calls ‘caste’. England is the great exception. Its peculiar statuses of aristocrat, gentleman, yeoman, labourer were found nowhere else in the world. They were part of a hierarchical, class, society which developed from Anglo-Saxon times. Meanwhile all other Eurasian societies moved towards ‘caste’. This hierarchy-with-mobility is an essential basis for modernity.
Available Formats
Format Quality Bitrate Size
MPEG-4 Video 480x360    1.84 Mbits/sec 613.16 MB View Download
Flash Video 320x240    504.42 kbits/sec 163.85 MB View Download
iPod Video 480x360    505.2 kbits/sec 164.10 MB View Download
QuickTime (for download) 320x240    230.27 kbits/sec 74.80 MB View Download
QuickTime (for streaming) 480x360    445.78 kbits/sec 144.80 MB View Download
MP3 44100 Hz 125.03 kbits/sec 40.42 MB Listen Download
RealAudio 95.85 kbits/sec 30.99 MB View Download Stream
RealMedia 736.49 kbits/sec 239.24 MB View Download Stream
Windows Media Video (for download) 441.41 kbits/sec 143.38 MB View Download
Windows Media Video (for streaming) 186.63 kbits/sec 60.62 MB View Download Stream
Auto * (Allows browser to choose a format it supports)