Micro-Macro Link and Social Stratification Theory

John H. Goldthorpe, Social Mobility and Rational Choice Theory

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between micro-macro link and social stratification theory through examining the research style of John H. Goldthorpe, one of the representative researchers on social stratification, and the way he identifies and formulates issues. After clarifying the meaning and framework of micro-macro link in sociology, I argue that, until the end of the cold war, to empirically test Marxist and Industrialist theories by analyzing quantitative data had been the most important issue for Goldthorpe. Therefore, his argument was based on macro-sociology and contained no micro-macro link. However, the post cold-war period witnessed a decrease in the explanatory power of both Marxist and Industrialist theories. In place of the two schools of theories, Goldthorpe needed a new theory to construct a narrative that explains the micro processes of social mobility. According to Goldthorpe, rational choice theory is the most promising for explaining social stratification and mobility because, although it assumes the existence of abstract and anonymous individuals, it is where rational choice theory's advantage and effectiveness in explaining macro phenomena lies.