Hierarchy

Hierarchy \ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē also ˈhi(-ə)r-ˌär-\ comes form the Middle English ierarchie meaning rank or order of holy beings(1). Traditionally, the word has been associated with the church, taking its roots in religious practices. Throughout the centuries, the definition has morphed in to a more general meaning: the idea that every person or thing can be placed in a ranked or graded series. While the definition of hierarchy has moved away from the church to encompass everyday civilians and objects, its meaning is equally (perhaps even more) dominant in the different societies of today’s world. A ranking system dictates many of the decisions that one makes, from choosing what college to attend to calling someone instead of sending a text.

In 14th century BC(2) , the concept of hierarchies existed heavily in the church, however, there was not a term designated for these echelons. At the apex of the hierarchy stood God, followed by his 9 angles in descending order. It was not until 1880 that the term ‘hierarchy’ was first cited by the OED in reference to celestial hierarchy, which is a division of angles ranked from lowest to highest: angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim(3) . Ever since its coinage, hierarchy has been a keyword in every culture across the world.

A couple centuries later, the meaning of the term shifted from deities to the church’s elite. Within the group of officials, clergymen were ranked creating a subordinate and an authority at each level of the hierarchy; however, even he lowest ranked clergymen had a significant power over the common people. As quoted by the Spanish writer and journalist Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), “We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides(4)”, this is a reflection of a time when the church acted as the government and dictated the affairs of the territory. Covert corruption and violence often occurred amongst the church’s top ranks but could not be confronted given the high status that the clergymen had due to the authority that they possessed. This is a prime example of a hierarchy in affect; a person in the lower ranks (common people) is subordinate to the person/people above him, and thus, powerless. He is left at the discretion of the people in the authoritarian rank (church officials).

As the church started to lose its political power, the affiliation of religion with hierarchy was also getting lost. The definition broadened into the modern (modern in the sense that it is apart of today’s ideological systems, but it was developed centuries ago) understanding and usage of the concept; instead of being applied to clergymen, the term hierarchy is used to refer to the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing(5) . This sense of the term plays a massive role in recent decades. Racial, gender, and sexual discrimination are due to the hierarchical ideologies that society has about these different categories. Caucasians have been placed higher than African Americans throughout history; males have been seen as dominant over females; and heterosexuals are placed higher in rank than homo/bisexuals. Feminists, Marxist, anarchists, communist, and critical theorists have been very critical of the impacts of these social hierarchies. People of these movements “view hierarchy in terms of values and power that it arbitrarily assigns to one group over the other and that it promotes and stabilizes oppression(6)” . Furthermore, hierarchies are present in the business world, in the Army, in mathematics, in biology, and linguistics. For example, the Chomsky Hierarchy of formal language consists of different sets of rules that dictate sentence structure and phrases.

The analysis that we have done in this course has made the existence of hierarchies very evident. As discussed in class, school systems are molded by hierarchies. The principal is higher ranked than the teacher, and the teacher is a higher status than the students. Everyone is aware of the power in affect and his or her position in the hierarchy and is unlikely to challenge it. Essentially there is nothing stopping the students from overthrowing the teacher and taking over the classroom, but because of the pecking order and the consequences of assuming a higher position, no body attempts to step outside of his or her “designated role”. Furthermore, we have heavily discussed the fascinating issue of the virtual vs. the real. In the first week of class we talked about the hierarchy between mediums: turning in an essay on actual paper seemed to be taken more seriously than writing in a blog. To further this investigation of mediums, the exploration of Second Life revealed that hierarchies also exist in virtual games. Avatars with unique clothing that the user either paid for or created them self was “cooler” and more interesting than an avatar hat wore the default clothing. Also, many users ranked his or her Second Life better than his or her real life. Additionally, the AmericanSingles dating service that was investigated by classmates exposed hierarchies based on ideologies. All of the people in the advertisements were white, heterosexual couples. The site is only promoting love matches for Caucasians, making it appear that the site puts this ethnicity at the top of the hierarchy. When asked, “whom you are seeking” one can only check male or female, and does not have the option to select both. This uncovers that AmericanSingles is placing heterosexuality above homosexuality, and homosexuality over bisexuality.


While the subjects of the system have morphed overtime (religious references --> every day people and objects), hierarchies have been in existence for many centuries. Virtually every decision that one makes is based on a hierarchal latter that is constructed from his or her ideologies. Some believe that hierarchies are necessary in order for society to function as a free society, “the fact, in short, is that freedom, to be meaningful in an organized society must consist of an amalgam of hierarchy of freedoms and restraints”(7)  (Samuel Hendel). While others feel that social hierarchies do not allow a society to be free because it oppresses the subordinate groups but this situation is unable to change because “The bureaucracy is a circle from which one cannot escape. Its hierarchy is a hierarchy of knowledge. The top entrusts the understanding of detail to the lower levels, whilst the lower levels credit the top with understanding of the general, and so all are mutually deceived.”(8) (Karl Marx). Whatever side one identifies with, there is no denying that hierarchy proves to be a keyword in society.

(1) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy
(2) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy
(3) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celestial hierarch
(4) http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/hierarchy/ 

(5) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy 

(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy
(7)http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_fact-in_short-is_that_freedom-to_be/219185.html
(8) http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/hierarchy