Class

Class is not only amongst the oldest and most controversial of all concepts in social science, but a topic which has fascinated, amused, incensed and galvanized the general public, too. But what exactly is a ‘class’? How do sociologists study and measure it, and how does it correspond to everyday understandings of social difference? Is it now dead or dying in today’s globalized and media-saturated world, or is it entering a new phase of significance on the world stage?

This book seeks to explore these questions in an accessible and lively manner, taking readers through the key theoretical traditions in class research, the major controversies that have shaken the field and the continuing effects of class difference, class struggle and class inequality across a range of domains.

The book will appeal to students and scholars in sociology, social policy, geography, education, cultural studies and health sciences.

Will Atkinson is Lecturer in Social Research at the University of Bristol.

1. Introduction
Part I: Class Concepts
2. Class as Exploitation
3. Class as Life Chances
4. Class as Misrecognition
5. Intersections
Part II: Class Struggles
6. Social (Im)mobility
7. Educational Reproduction
8. Health, Life and Death
9. Politics and Identity
Coda
References