Robin M. Williams

Some Further Comments on Chronic Controversies

of common interests. These appear, however, to be epiphenomena grounded in socialization and control processes. Social control, we have said, whether through socialization or through differing access to societys rewards, is basic to any level of societal integration. Conflict thus becomes a rebellion against coercion, and viewed this way consensus becomes more a group-imposed phenomenon than the basic aspect of social existence. In other words, consensus is derived from coercion. From toilet-training to taxes and takehome pay, it is coercion which maintains society and its subdivisions, and it is conflict which changes them. It is perplexing, albeit somewhat tangential, that many of -those who place great emphasis upon socialization and boundary maintenance in the social system also find it possible to argue that society is held together primarily by an inherent consensus of the constituent parts. How did American social theorists fail to link the conception of social man with a coercion theory of social integration? At this point the problem becomes one in the sociology of knowledge; the social history of -the theorists is involved. The accusation has been made that in consensus theories we are actually viewing social organization in terms of American idealism, rather than social realism. Be that as it may, our major concern in this brief commentary has been to point out some difficulties in current synthesizing attempts and to introduce to the discussion of consensus and coercion the sociological understanding of socialization and control. To the present author it appears that coercion theory comes closer to accounting for social organization in its various manifestations. Coercion, conflict, and change do seem, on balance, to be more basic societal attributes than consensus and equilibrium.

Racial Inequality: A Political-Economic Analysis.Michael Reich

associated with farmworkers can still be found, but that the farm labor market is changing too rapidly to justify calls for sweeping legislative changes. The farm labor market is very complex. Some farmworkers still shift from farm to farm with the help of farm labor contractors or public and private employment services. But many farmers are discovering that it is more profitable to recruit, train, and keep professional farmworkers than to rely on a casual and migrant work force. The most important research that needs to be done is to discover why some farmers voluntarily changed their labor-management systems and to examine how government can encourage more to do so.