Abstract

Within a social structure based on achievement, individuals have the opportunity to aspire higher positions - notwithstanding the reality of the inequality by class. Starting from public opinion-research in Flanders on the justice of the income distribution, we investigate how this idea of greater equality fits in an imaginary order which switches persons from positions but paradoxically enough preserves class structure. The theoretical clarification of these findings is inspired by the still rather unknown René Girard, his thesis on the mimetic character of desire clarifies the reported paradoxes in a consistent way as aspirations which compare themselves with higher and distance from lower positions. Envy and jealousy therefore largely influence class-relations.

How to Cite:

Kochuyt, T., (1997) “De afgunstige aspiratie naar grotere gelijkheid: over de reële en imaginaire orde van de klassensamenleving”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 18(1-2), 267–287. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86419