Despite the demonstrable importance of small scale capitalism in contemporary industrial societies, sociologists still generally ignore its economic, social and ideological significance. However, it is now possible to bring together the main elements of a sociology of petit capitalism. Four areas are examined: the class analysis of the owners of small capital; the sociology of entrepreneurship; social relations in the enterprise; and the links between small capital and the wider society.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ahrne, G. and E.O. Wright (1983) `Classes in the United States and Sweden: A Comparison'Acta Sociologica26.3/4: 211-235.
2.
Anthony, D. (1983) `Japan', in Storey D.J. (ed.) The Small Firm: An International Survey, London: Croom Helm.
3.
Bannock, G. (1981) The Economics of Small Firms: Return From the Wilderness, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
4.
Bannock, G. (1985) `New Buisiness Formation, Unemployment and the Role of Small Business in Economic Growth', paper presented to 30th Annual World Conference of the International Council for Small Business, Montreal, June 1985.
5.
Baron, J. and W. Bielby (1984) `The Organization of Work in a Segmented Economy', American Sociological Review, 49: 454-473.
6.
Batstone, E.V. (1969) Aspects of Stratification in a Community Context: A Study of Class Attitudes and the `Size Effect', unpublished Ph.D., University of Wales.
7.
Bechhofer, F. and B. Elliott (1976) `Persistence and Change: The Petit Bourgeois in Industrial Society', European Journal of Sociology, XVII: 74-99.
8.
Bechhofer, F. and B. Elliott (1981) `Petty Property: the Survival of a Moral Economy', in Bechhofer, F. and B. Elliott (eds.) The Petite Bourgeoisie: Comparative Studies of the Uneasy Stratum, London: Macmillan.
9.
Bechhofer, F., B. Elliott, M. Rushworth and R. Bland (1974) `The Petit Bourgeois in the Class Structure: the Case of the Small Shopkeepers', in Parkin F. (ed.) Social Analysis of Class Structure, London: Tavistock.
10.
Berger, S. and M. Piore (1980) Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial Societies, Cambridge University Press.
11.
Binks, M. and J. Coyne (1983) The Birth of Enterprise, Hobart Paper 98, London: IEA.
12.
Blackburn, R. and M. Mann (1979) The Working Class in the Labour Market, London: Macmillan.
13.
Boissevain, J. (1984) `Small Entrepreneurs in Contemporary Europe', in Ward R. and R. Jenkins (eds.) Ethnic Communities in Business, Cambridge University Press.
14.
Bollard A. (1983) Small Beginnings: New Roles for British Businesses, London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
15.
Bolton Report (1971) Small Firms — Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms, London, Cmnd. 4811: HMSO.
16.
Bonnett, K. (1982) `Classes, Class Fractions and Monetarism', in Robbins D.et al (eds.) Rethinking Social Inequality, Aldershot: Gower.
17.
Carchedi, G. (1977) On the Economic Identification of Social Classes, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
18.
Cornforth, C. (1983) `Some Factors Affecting the Success or Failure of Worker Co-operatives: A Review of Empirical Research in the U.K.', Economic and Industrial Democracy, 4, 2: 163-188.
19.
Curran, J. (1980) `The Political World of the Small Firm Worker', Sociological Review, 28: 75-103.
20.
Curran, J. (1981) `Class Imagery, Work Environment and Community: Some Further Findings and a Brief Comment', British Journal of Sociology, XXXII: 111-126.
21.
Curran, J. and J. Stanworth (1979a) `Worker Involvement and Social Relations in the Small Firm', Sociological Review, 27: 317-342.
22.
Curran, J. and J. Stanworth (1979b) `Self Selection and the Small Firm Worker — a Critique and an Alternative View', Sociology, 13: 427-444.
23.
Curran, J. and J. Stanworth (1981) `Size of Workplace and Attitudes to Industrial Relations in the Printing and Electronics Industries', British Journal of Industrial Relations, XIX: 14-25.
24.
Curran, J. and J. Stanworth (1983) `Franchising in the Modern Economy — Towards a Theoretical Understanding', International Small Business Journal, 2: 8-26.
25.
Curran, J. and J. Stanworth (1984) `Small Business Research in Britain', in C. Levicki (ed.), Small Business Theory and Policy, London: Croom Helm.
26.
Curran, J., J. Stanworth and D. Watkins (1986) (eds.) The Survival of the Small Firm, Vols. I and II, Aldershot: Gower.
27.
Davis, M. (1984) `The Political Economy of Late-Imperial America'New Left Review, 143: 6-38.
28.
Edwards, R. (1979) Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century, London: Heinemann.
29.
Elliott, B. and D. McCrone (1982) `The Social World of Petty Property' in Hollowell, P. (ed.) Property and Social Relations, London: Heinemann.
30.
Feige, E.L. and R.T. McGee (1982) `Tax Revenue Losses and the Unobserved Economy in the U.K.', Journal of Economic Affairs, 2: 164-172.
31.
Gill, J. (1985) Factors Affecting the Survival and Growth of the Smaller Company, Aldershot, Gower.
32.
Goffee, R. and R. Scase (1982) ` “Fraternalism” and “Paternalism” as Employer Strategies in Small Firms', in G. Dayet al (eds.), Diversity and Decomposition in the Labour Market, Aldershot: Gower.
33.
Goffee, R. and R. Scase (1983) `Business Ownership and Women's Subordination: a Preliminary Study of Female Proprietors', Sociological Review, 31: 625-648.
34.
Goffee R. and R. Scase (1985a) Women in Charge, the Experience of Female Entrepreneurs, London: Allen and Unwin.
35.
Goffee R. and R. Scase (1985b) `Proprietorial Control in Family Firms: Some Functions of “Quasi-organic” Management Systems', Journal of Management Studies, 22: 53-68.
36.
Goldthorpe, J. H.et al (1968) The Affluent Worker: Industrial Attitudes and Behaviour, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Granovetter, M. (1984) `Small is Bountiful: Labour Markets and Establishment Size', American Sociological Review, 49: 323-334.
38.
Hodson, R. (1984) `Companies, Industries and the Measurement of Economic Segmentation', American Sociological Review, 49: 335-348.
39.
Holmwood, J. and A. Stewart (1983) `The Role of Contradiction in Modern Theories of Social Stratification', Sociology, 17: 234-254.
40.
Ingham, G. (1970) Size of Industrial Organisation and Worker Behaviour, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
41.
Jones, T. and D. McEvoy (1986) `Ehnic Enterprise: The Popular Image', in Curran J.et al (eds.) The Survival of the Small Firm, Vol. I, Aldershot: Gower.
42.
Kreckel, R. (1980) `Unequal Opportunity Structure and Labour Market Segmentation', Sociology, 14: 525-550.
43.
Laclau, E. (1977) Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory, London: NLB.
44.
Laclau, E. and C. Mouffe (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, London: Verso.
45.
Lipset, S. (1960) Political Man, London: Heinemann.
46.
Lockwood, D. (1966) `Sources of Variation in Working Class Images of Society', Sociological Review, 14: 249-267.
47.
MacLennon, E. (1984) `Women and Employment Legislation in Small Firms', Paper presented to National Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Trent Polytechnic, September, 1984.
48.
Manpower Services Commission (1985) Labour Market Quarterly Report, February.
49.
Marx, T.G. (1980) `Distribution Efficiency in Franchising', MSU Business Topics, 28: 5-14.
50.
Miller, S.M. (1975) `Notes on Neo-Capitalism', Theory and Society, 2: 1-35.
51.
Mills, C.W. (1951) White Collar: the American Middle Classes, New York: Oxford University Press.
52.
Murray, F. (1983) `The Decentralization of Production - The Decline of the Mass Collective Worker', Capital and Class, 19: 74-99.
53.
Newby, H. (1975) `The Deferential Dialectic', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17: 139-164.
54.
Newby, H. (1977) `Paternalism and Capitalism', in R. Scase (ed.) Industrial Society: Class, Cleavage and Control, London: Allen and Unwin.
55.
Newby, H. (1982) The State of Research into Social Stratification in Britain: A Report Commissioned by the SSRC', London: SSRC.
56.
O'Higgins, M. (1980) Measuring the Black Economy, London: Outer Circle Policy Unit.
57.
Pahl, R.E. (1984) Divisions of Labour, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
58.
Parkin, F. (1967) `Working Class Conservatives: A Theory of Political Deviance', British Journal of Sociology, XVIII: 280-290.
59.
Poulantzas, N. (1974) Fascism and Dictatorship, London: NLB.
60.
Rainnie, A. (1983) Industrial Relations in Small Businesses: the Case of the Clothing Industry in North East England, unpublished Ph.D., Newcastle Polytechnic.
61.
Rainnie, A. (1984) `Combined and Uneven Development in the Clothing Industry: the Effects of Competition on Accumulation', Capital and Class, 22: 141-156.
62.
Rainnie, A. (1985a) `Small Firms - Big Problems: The Political Economy of Small Business', Capital and Class, 35: 140-168.
63.
Rainnie, A. (1985b) `Is Small Beautiful?, Industrial Relations in Small Clothing Firms'. Sociology, 19: 213-224.
64.
Report of the Census of Production, 1980, (1983), London: HMSO.
65.
Rothwell, R. (1984) `The Role of Small Firms in the Emergence of New Technology', Omega, 12: 19-29.
66.
Rubin, P.H. (1978) `The Theory of the Firm and the Structure of the Franchise Contract', Journal of Law and Economics, 21: 223-233.
67.
Scase, R. (1982) `The Petty Bourgeoisie and Modern Capitalism: A Consideration of Recent Theories', in A. Giddens and G. Mackenzie (Eds.) Social Class and the Division of Labour, Cambridge University Press.
68.
Scase, R. and R. Goffee (1980) The Real World of the Small Business Owner, London: Croom Helm.
69.
Scase, R. and R. Goffee (1981) ` “Traditional” Petty Bourgeois Attitudes: the Case of the Self-Employed Craftsman', Sociological Review, 29: 729-747.
70.
Scase, R. and R. Goffee (1982a) The Entrepreneurial Middle Class, London: Croom Helm.
71.
Scott, M. and A. Rainnie (1982) `Beyond Bolton - Industrial Relations in the Small Firm', in Stanworth, J.et al. (eds.) Perspectives on a Decade of Small Business Research: Bolton Ten Years On, Aldershot: Gower.
72.
Stanworth, J. and J. Curran (1973) Management Motivation in the Smaller Business, Epping: Gower.
73.
Stanworth, J., J. Curran and J. Hough (1984) `The Franchised Small Enterprise: Formal and Operational Dimensions of Independence', in Lewis J.et al (eds.) Success and Failure in Small Business, Aldershot: Gower.
74.
Stephenson, G., C. Brotherton, G. Delafield and M. Skinner (1983) `Size of Organisation, Attitudes to Work and Job Satisfaction', Industrial Relations Journal, 14: 28-40.
75.
Stolzenberg, R.M. (1978) `Bringing the Boss Back In: Employer Size, Employee Schooling and Socio-Economic Achievement', American Sociological Review, 43: 813-828.
76.
Thompson, J.H. and D.R. Leyden (1983) `The United States of America', in Storey D.J. (ed.) The Small Firm: An International Survey, London: Croom Helm.
77.
Ward, R. and R. Jenkins (1984) (eds) Ethnic Communities in Business, Cambridge University Press.
78.
Weber, M. (1965) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, London: Unwin University Books.
79.
Weiss, L. (1984) `The Italian State and Small Business', European Journal of Sociology, XXV: 214-241.
80.
Wright, E.O. (1978) Class, Crisis and the State, London: NLB.
