Distributing Status : The Evolution of State Honours in Western Europe

How awards, decorations, and medals bestow social standing. How awards, decorations, and medals bestow social standing. Cover Contents Tables and Figures Acknowledgments Illustrations Introduction PART ONE: BOURGEOISIE, ARISTOCRACY, AND CULTURAL POWER 1 Rise of the Bourgeoisie 2 Persistence of the Old Order 3 Cultural Power PART TWO: STATE, WAR, AND COLLECTIVE POWER 4 Theoretical Considerations 5 Conditions for Collective Action in Medieval Europe 6 Conditions for Collective Action in Early Modern and Modern Europe 7 Collective-Action Problems and the Honours of States PART THREE: SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND DISCIPLINARY POWER 8 The Middle Ages 9 Discipline in Early Modern and Modern Europe 10 Disciplinary Functions of State Honours PART FOUR: STATUS STRUCTURES AND STATUS POWER 11 Honours and Existing Status Structures 12 Status Struggles 13 Status Consequences of State Honours State Honours in Comparative Perspective: A Global Analysis Conclusion: Toward an Explanation of Modern State Honours Epilogue: The Endless Spiral of Honours APPENDICES A: Was There a Rise of the Bourgeoisie or Middle Class? B: Characteristics of Members of the Legion of Honour, the Order of Leopold, and the Order of the British Empire C: Cross-Tabulations of Characteristics of Honours and Social-Political Characteristics of States and Societies Sampled in the Comparative Analysis Notes References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z "Honorific rewards are all about status and illustrate status processes in a way that few other social phenomena do. Why do we have so many honorific awards and prizes? Although they are a major feature of modern societies, they have received little scholarly attention. Samuel Clark argues that answering this question requires a separate historical analysis of different awards and prizes. He presents a comprehensive explanation of the origins and evolution of state honours in the British Isles, France, and the Low Countries. Examining cultural, social, and political changes that led to the massive growth in state honours and shaped their characteristics, Distributing Status also demonstrates their functions as instruments of cultural power, collective power, disciplinary power, and status power. Clark supports his conclusions with a cross-cultural statistical analysis of twenty societies. Lucid and logical, Distributing Status explicates an important historical change in Western Europe while at the same time contributing to several bodies of sociological literature, including evolutionary theory, theories of collective action, writings on discipline in modern societies, and studies of status processes."-- Provided by publisher