THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS

[With Debate between John Cummings and Thorstein Veblen on the “Theory of the Leisure”]

In the late 19th century, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions established that the economic life of a modern society is based upon the social stratification of tribal and feudal societies, rather than upon merit, that is to say, upon social and economic utility. Thorstein Veblen's anthropological examples indicate that many economic behaviours of contemporary society derive from corresponding tribal-society behaviors, wherein men and women practiced the division of labour according to their status group; high-status people practiced hunting and warfare, which are economically unproductive occupations, whilst low-status people practiced farming and manufacturing, which are economically productive occupations.