Introduction to Sociology: Class

 

We shall examine three key approaches to class.

 

Marxism

- Karl Marx and Eric O. Wright

a) In a capitalist society, there are two major social groups: the ruling class of capitalists and the subordinated class of proletariat. The power of the ruling class comes from its ownership and control of the means of production. The capitalists exploit and oppress the proletariat, the workers, by reducing their wages. This is the basic conflict of interest between the two classes.

b) Importantly, the various institutions of society, such as the legal and political systems, are instruments of the capitalists, and serve to further their interests.

e.g., respect law and order, obey authority, the ethic of hard work, ‘success comes to those who take risks’, equal rights for all, ‘free market’ and freedom.

This contributes to the ruling class ideology, and it produces false class consciousness. The proletariat accept the status quo as normal and natural, and are unaware of the true nature of exploitation and oppression. The conflict of interest between the classes is disguised, and a degree of stability prevails.

c) Yet, the workers will gain class consciousness and class solidarity, recognise their mutual shared interests, and unite to overthrow the ruling class through collective action. Each crisis and economic instability will produce greater consciousness; greater education and awareness of exploitation will reveal the extent of oppression; the emergence of a revolutionary army will guide the masses; and greater poverty and inequality will result in greater transparency of oppression and domination. In effect, the workers become a ‘class-for-itself’ rather than ‘class-in-itself’.

 

Weberian

- Max Weber and John Goldthorpe

a) Weber sees class in economic terms, but defines class in a different way. A person’s class situation relates to their market situation (not ownership and control of means of production).

e.g., professionals, administrators and managers, clerical workers, inspectors and supervisors, and skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manual

In effect, class is defined by occupation and these have different market values. For instance, mangers, administrators and professionals receive high salaries because the demand for their services is high. Their economic situation directly affects their chances of quality of life (e.g., good housing).

b) Weber distinguishes four class groupings: the propertied upper class, the propertyless white-collar workers; the petty bourgeoisie and the manual working class.

The market value of the skills of the propertyless workers varies, and the resulting differences produce different social classes. Here, other factors other than ownership and non-ownership of property matter.

c) For Weber, there is no evidence of class divide into pauperised working class and the affluent elite. Instead, workers were becoming affluent, middle class, and they were expanding. This is often referred to as the ‘middling of class system’.

d) Weber rejected that social and political revolution would be inevitable. There are other bases of political action other than class. Collective action need not be class-based, and political power can come from other forms of collective action, such as occupation interests, ethnic and religious groups and lifestyles. This refers to status group, and is made up of individuals who share similar social honour.

 

Bourdievian

- Pierre Bourdieu and Mike Savage

a) Unlike Marxist and Weberian sociologists, Bourdieu attaches much more importance to the cultural aspects of class as he does to economic aspects. While there is a correlation between culture and lifestyle and class differences, culture and lifestyle are not products of economic differences.

b) Bourdieu identifies four main sources of capital (or power) in society:

i) ‘Economic capital’ consists of material goods (shares, property and income). This form of wealth can be easily transmitted from parents to children through gifts and inheritance.

ii) ‘Cultural capital’ takes on different forms:

- education qualifications; knowledge and understanding of arts (music, drama and cinema); and lifestyles and consumption associated with different ways of living (healthy, organic diet, exotic and rare/game meat, and heavy and traditional food).

Different social groups have different cultural capitals. For instance, teachers possess high cultural capital (knowledge of arts, education qualifications and taste for refined food and fashion). Factory workers possess low cultural capital (taste for fish ‘n chips, little education – left school with little or no qualifications – and watch popular programmes).

Cultural capital cannot be passed on from one generation to the next; nevertheless through early socialisation children come to acquire cultural tastes and capital.

iii) ‘Social capital’ consists of social connections, people who can offer assistance and help. Middle class groups are likely to have a wider and dispersed network than the local-based networks of working class.

iv) ‘Symbolic capital’ refers to status and reputation as well as respect and honour.

c) Classes can be distinguished according to different amount of each capital. Groups (e.g., famous football players) may have high economic capital, but lack cultural capital; other groups (e.g., teachers) may have low economic capital, but possess a large amount of cultural capital; a few groups (aristocratic families) have both high economic and cultural capitals; and the rest (factory workers) have low economic and cultural capitals.

d) Rather than struggling for economic resources, individuals will accept class differences and build up a strong sense of belonging to their own class group. Or they may be confused by their identities since they possess different amounts of varying capitals; i.e., they may not have a strong class identity. Consequently, there will be little impulse for class-based struggle and resistance.