CIS - Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

• This is the first time that this work has been translated into Spanish.
• It is one of the first texts on social stratification in the history of Sociology.

The CIS has translated for the first time into Spanish the most recognized work by John Millar 'The origin of the distinction of ranks', which has been translated by the Professor of Sociology at the UNED, Ramón Cotarelo.

This book should be considered one of the first social stratification texts in history, which should be included in the bibliography of Sociology.

'The origin of the distinction of ranks' is not a study only about social classes, but about hierarchies, about the positions of authority and obedience in societies, a broader concept that also includes the power relations of men over women , of parents over children, of chiefs over tribes, of lords over servants, of sovereigns over vassals. John Millar was also a pioneer in the application of an economistic vision to the evolution of institutions, writing a classic book of which Werner Sombart said that it is one of the best and most complete works of Sociology.

This work by John Millar dates from 1779, three years after the appearance of 'The Wealth of Nations' by his teacher Adam Smith.