What Has Happened To Social Class?

Question 1

Deference?

Answer 1

The belief of a higher class being better than others

They should be respected because of their social position

Question 2

How can you measure social class

Answer 2

Subjective - individually doing it

Objective- referring to our occupation, education, possessions and wealth

Question 3

The registrar generals index

Answer 3

• used until 2001
• uses occupation as the basis of differentiation
• still used by advertisers, to target certain groups

Question 4

Problems with The registrar generals index

Answer 4

Does not take into account peoples income/job security =======

Has been amended to take job security and promotion opportunities
NS-SEC

Question 5

BBC Social Class survey

Answer 5

🔥 7 classes 
🔥 bbc sees the traditional way of liking at wealth, occupation and education as simplistic 
💩 class has 3 dimensions; economic, social and cultural factors

Question 6

Will Hutton - 30-30-40 thesis

Answer 6

Social inequality, low wages, low skill and high unemployment = clear divide + economically unstable society

30% = unemployed, low paid, insecure work 
30% = some job security and quality of life 
40% = privileged workers and regular employment

Question 7

What is the upper class?

Answer 7

Live of unearned income, eg from land rent; live off inherited wealth

Question 8

What does Adonis and Pollard say about the upper class?

Answer 8

There is an emerging “super class” = elite
: mangers and professionals
; financially linked to london
; has traditions from public schools and oxbridge elites of the past
“Fat cats” = multi million ages + large financial bonus packages

Question 9

What is the middle class?

Answer 9

💭 professional work eg law medicine
💭 qualifications needed

Well paid

Good conditions

Question 10

What does Mills say about the middle class?

2 divides

Answer 10

1⃣ higher professional; high earnings, self employed/ employed by large companies
2⃣ lower professional; public sector, limited high earnings eg teachers

Question 11

What does Braverman say about the middle class?

Answer 11

💡 lower professionals have become like the working class eg vulnerable to redundancy

💡 lost skills due to technology
Eg tradesman lost their skills to machines

Question 12

What is Proletarianisation?

Answer 12

❤️ middle class becoming working class 
Braverman; reasonable pace for routine white collar workers eg nurses 
; loss of social/economic advantages= growth of proletarianisation 
; loss of control + autonomy eg uni lectures are low paid with short term contracts

Question 13

Evaluation of proletarianisation?

Answer 13

❌ lockwood and goldthrope - different meanings = hard to measure
❌ clark and hoffman - there is a growth in causal/routine workers who spend their working day on the phonee

Question 14

What is the working class?

Answer 14

Manual work

- there used to be a big difference between professional workers and manual workers — has eroded

Question 15

What is embourgeoisement?

Answer 15

Working class jobs that let them be middle class 
✔️ affluent worker thesis by Galbraith 

❌ Goldthrope and Lockwood - they work longer hours and have a different attitude 
❌ redundancy and unemployment is a working class concern = the gap of working and middle class jobs is widening 
💭 Goldthrope, working class has fragmented into a new

Question 16

What is the underclass?

Answer 16

Unemployment and benefit dependent

💩 Giddens, they face massive deprivation and social inequality

Question 17

What does Postmodernists say?

CLASS IS A GRAND NARRATIVE

Answer 17

👀 class concepts are not meaningfull anymore = fragmented society 
😱 identity is consumptions 
😱 people construct their identity through consumerism of the mass media 
😱 popular culture, where traditional elite activities are not accessed by the working class eg. Playing an instrument

Question 18

What do the Postmodernists say about the super rich?

Answer 18

Only thing that differentiates the classes

As these elite groups can only be obtained if you have money

Question 19

What does Pakulski and Waters say about the death of social class?

Answer 19

😐 social class is losing significance 
😐 new clevages shape peoples beliefs rather than social class 
😐 20th century stratification is doen to cultural differences 
❤️ stratification is fragmented and fluid

Question 20

How has social class died?

Answer 20

1⃣ educational qualifications shape our status
2⃣ organisations owning property rather than individual
3⃣ wider wealth distribution
4⃣ globalisation has reduced class inequality within countries
5⃣ growth of ethnic and religion issues

Question 21

What are the indicators of class?

Answer 21

Cultural differences that separate the classes