Favor-seeking replaces merit in untrustworthy but mobile societies

Evidence

By contrast, in a politically and economically untrustworthy world which is not lacking in scope for social mobility, and where /e pouvoir de la faveur prevails over justice and merit, the sole remaining merit is in fact that of seeking /a faveur from those above, extorting it out of one’s equals, and distributing part of its fruits — the smallest possible part . (Franchetti 1974: 27) — to a select group of those below. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2154

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines le pouvoir de la faveur as a distributive logic that converts distrust plus mobility into patronage and extraction — the middle rung of mafia hierarchy formation.