Class: Key Concept in Sociology

Stephen Edgell demonstrates the importance of the concept of class in sociology. He does so by tracing the development of the concept of class from the classic works of Marx and Weber to the more recent contributions of the neo-Marxist Wright and the neo-Weberian Goldthorpe, and by describing the class structures of contemporary Britain and America. In addition to surveying the relevant literature on class, Edgell explains how to operationalize this concept and analyzes class and social mobility, inequality, and politics in Britain and America, concluding with a discussion of the possibility of a classless society. The book is distinctive in that it advances the view that there is a convergence in Marxist and Weberian approaches to class while simultaneously providing a critique of these perspectives. It also assesses the thesis of American exceptionalism within the context of Britain and America.

Stephen Edgell is Reader in Sociology at the University of Salford.