Definitions of social classes reflect a number of
sociological perspectives, informed by
anthropology,
economics,
psychology and
sociology. The major perspectives historically have been
Marxism and
structural functionalism. The common stratum model of class divides society into a simple hierarchy of
working class,
middle class and
upper class. Within academia, two broad schools of definitions emerge: those aligned with 20th-century sociological stratum models of
class society and those aligned with the 19th-century
historical materialist economic models of the
Marxists and
anarchists. Another distinction can be drawn between analytical concepts of social class, such as the Marxist and Weberian traditions, as well as the more empirical traditions such as
socioeconomic status approach, which notes the correlation of income, education and wealth with social outcomes without necessarily implying a particular theory of social structure.
Marxist For Marx, class is a combination of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, a class shares a common
relationship to the
means of production. The class society itself is understood as the aggregated phenomenon to the "interlinked movement", which generates the quasi-objective concept of capital. Subjectively, the members will necessarily have some perception ("
class consciousness") of their similarity and common interest. Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of one's own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically. These class relations are reproduced through time. In
Marxist theory, the
class structure of the
capitalist mode of production is characterized by the conflict between two main classes: the
bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the
means of production and the much larger
proletariat (or "working class") who must sell their own labour power (
wage labour). This is the fundamental economic structure of work and property, a state of inequality that is normalized and
reproduced through cultural ideology. For Marxists, every person in the process of production has separate social relationships and issues. Along with this, every person is placed into different groups that have similar interests and values that can differ drastically from group to group. Class is special in that does not relate to specifically to a singular person, but to a specific role. Furthermore, "in countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed, a new class of petty bourgeois has been formed". Marx makes the argument that, as the bourgeoisie reach a point of wealth accumulation, they hold enough power as the dominant class to shape political institutions and society according to their own interests. Marx then goes on to claim that the non-elite class, owing to their large numbers, have the power to overthrow the elite and create an equal society. In
The Communist Manifesto, Marx himself argued that it was the goal of the proletariat itself to displace the capitalist system with
socialism, changing the social relationships underpinning the class system and then developing into a future
communist society in which: "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all". This would mark the beginning of a
classless society in which human needs rather than profit would be motive for production. In a society with democratic control and
production for use, there would be no class, no state and no need for financial and banking institutions and money. These theorists have taken this binary class system and expanded it to include contradictory class locations, the idea that a person can be employed in many different class locations that fall between the two classes of proletariat and bourgeoisie.
Erik Olin Wright stated that class definitions are more diverse and elaborate through identifying with multiple classes, having familial ties with people in different a class, or having a temporary leadership role. Weber views class as a group of people who have common goals and opportunities that are available to them. This means that what separates each class from each other is their value in the marketplace through their own goods and services. This creates a divide between the classes through the assets that they have such as property and expertise. conducted by
BBC Lab UK developed in collaboration with academic experts and slated to be published in the journal
Sociology were published online. The results released were based on a survey of 160,000 residents of the
United Kingdom most of whom lived in
England and described themselves as "
white". Class was defined and measured according to the amount and kind of economic, cultural and social resources reported.
Economic capital was defined as
income and
assets;
cultural capital as amount and type of cultural interests and activities; and
social capital as the quantity and
social status of their
friends,
family and personal and business contacts. is the social class composed of those who are
rich, well-born, powerful, or a combination of those. They usually wield the greatest political power. In some countries, wealth alone is sufficient to allow entry into the upper class. In others, only people who are born or marry into certain aristocratic bloodlines are considered members of the upper class and those who gain great wealth through commercial activity are looked down upon by the aristocracy as
nouveau riche. In the United Kingdom, for example, the upper classes consist of the aristocracy and royalty, with wealth playing a less important role in class status. Many aristocratic peerages or titles come with seats attached to them, where the titleholder (e.g., Earl of Bristol) and their family act as custodians of the house but are not the owners. Maintaining these estates often requires significant expenditures, so wealth is typically necessary. Many aristocratic peerages and their homes are part of larger estates, owned and managed by the titleholder, with income generated from the land, rents, or other sources of wealth; however, in the United States where there is no aristocracy or royalty, the upper class status exclusive of Americans of ancestral wealth or patricians of European ancestry is referred to in the media as the extremely wealthy, the so-called "super-rich", though there is some tendency even in the United States for those with old family wealth to look down on those who have accrued their money through business, the struggle between
new money and
old money. The upper class is generally contained within the richest one or two percent of the population. Members of the upper class are often born into it and are distinguished by immense wealth which is passed from generation to generation in the form of estates. Based on some new social and political theories, the upper class consists of the most wealthy decile group in society, holding nearly 87% of the whole society's wealth.
Middle class See also:
Middle-class squeeze The middle class is the group of people with jobs that pay significantly more than the
poverty line. Examples of these types of jobs are factory workers, salespeople, teachers, cooks and nurses. There is a new trend by some scholars which assumes that the size of the middle class in every society is the same. For example, in paradox of interest theory, the middle class are those who are in 6th–9th decile groups, holding nearly 12% of the whole society's wealth. The middle class is the most contested of the three categories, the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the lower and upper classes. One example of the contest of this term is that in the United States "middle class" is applied very broadly and includes people who would elsewhere be considered
working class. Middle-class workers are sometimes called "
white-collar workers". Theorists such as
Ralf Dahrendorf have noted the tendency toward an enlarged middle class in modern Western societies, particularly in relation to the necessity of an educated work force in technological economies. Perspectives concerning
globalization and
neocolonialism, such as
dependency theory, suggest this is due to the shift of low-level labour to
developing nations and the
Third World.
Lower class , often lives in urban areas with low-quality
civil services The lower class (occasionally described as the working class) are those employed in low-paying
wage jobs with very little economic security. The term "lower class" also refers to persons with low income. The working class is sometimes separated into those who are employed but lacking financial security (the "
working poor") and an
underclass—those who are long-term
unemployed and/or
homeless, especially those receiving
welfare from the
state. The latter is today considered analogous to the Marxist term "
lumpenproletariat". However, during the time of Marx's writing the lumpenproletariat referred to those in dire poverty; such as the homeless. Members of the working class are sometimes called
blue-collar workers. ==Consequences of class position==