Savage, Mike; Warde, Alan; Ward, Kevin (2003). Urban Sociology, Capitalism and Modernity (2nded.). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333971604. But it’s the last two groups – “traditional working class” and “precariat” – that have suffered most both in relative and absolute terms. The “precariat” are those whose lives are characterised by unstable, low-earning jobs, who cannot afford to make long-term plans, and whose social connection to those at the very top has grown weaker as the elite class ceases to use public services.

The extensiveness of the ‘Great British Class Survey’ is staggering, but not without its limitations: most notably that the ‘precariat’ accounts for 15% of the overall population, but less than 1% of the survey. Meanwhile, the richest and most ‘elite’ participants were incredibly over-represented, including a disproportionate number of CEOs (evidently, the prospect of seeing how ‘well-off’ you are is less attractive to those at the bottom), thus any discussion of the ‘precariat’ is likely to be one in which the ‘precariat’ do not convincingly participate. Nonetheless, Savage’s work remains a groundbreaking research piece as well as a passionate call to action, one which succeeds triumphantly in reasserting the importance of class in modern Britain. The feverish but very public debate that Social Class in the 21st Century will provoke, both in Oxford and across the country, is incontrovertible proof that class is still a powerful concept in British society. Although this method has the benefit of being familiar and widely understood, it has not kept pace with changes in society. The categories are based on the occupational groupings of the head of the household or chief income earners. For Marx, what distinguishes one type of society from another is its mode of production (i.e., the nature of its technology and division of labour), and each mode of production engenders a distinctive class system in which one class controls and directs the process of production while another class is, or other classes are, the direct producers and providers of services to the dominant class. The relations between the classes are antagonistic because they are in conflict over the appropriation of what is produced, and in certain periods, when the mode of production itself is changing as a result of developments in technology and in the utilization of labour, such conflicts become extreme and a new class challenges the dominance of the existing rulers of society. The dominant class, according to Marx, controls not only material production but also the production of ideas; it thus establishes a particular cultural style and a dominant political doctrine, and its control over society is consolidated in a particular type of political system. Rising classes that gain strength and influence as a result of changes in the mode of production generate political doctrines and movements in opposition to the ruling class. Social Class in the 21st Century is a book with beautifully broad scoping commentary, revealing a glimpse into the nature of society, and opening significantly more questions than attempts were ever made to provide answers. The upper class in modern capitalist societies is often distinguished by the possession of largely inherited wealth. The ownership of large amounts of property and the income derived from it confer many advantages upon the members of the upper class. They are able to develop a distinctive style of life based on extensive cultural pursuits and leisure activities, to exert a considerable influence on economic policy and political decisions, and to procure for their children a superior education and economic opportunities that help to perpetuate family wealth.

Savage: I think it is important. In the old-fashioned terms of working class and middle class, it is less important, because those terms aren’t so powerful. But if you think about the Brexit vote, a lot of the people who voted to leave the EU, didn’t like the idea of an elite running things. They didn’t like the idea of the EU as a kind of elite institution. And so they were reacting against a feeling that the elite class is aloof and well off and doesn’t understand us. So that kind of populist politics reflects the fact that we’ve seen this class polarisation against the elites. Savage, Mike (2010). Identities and Social Change in Britain since 1940: The Politics of Method. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199587650. Today’s households are more complex and diverse, and definitions of professions and what constitutes a ‘high-earning career’ have changed significantly so that there is no longer a direct correlation between traditional professions and income levels. The term ‘social class’ first appeared in the 19 th century as a way of classifying the social differences in Britain following the Industrial Revolution. Cultural capital: The type and range of interests you pursue: from visiting stately homes to attending rave parties.

review: There’s a striking paradox here – as inequality has increased, as the top and bottom social classes’ pull away from each other, the actual awareness, the actual consciousness of class, of inequality, has declined. Why do you think this is? Lorraine goes on to say that such people are “quite often fat, aren’t they? And then they wonder why.” The rough/respectable divide retains a powerful hold on working-class relationships and self-awareness, and is exploited by politicians in election after election, while the new elite gets on with consolidating its hoard of economic, cultural and social capital. Savage, Mike; Miles, Andrew (1994). The Remaking of the British Working Class, 1840–1940. London: Routledge.Paul Wakeling ( @pbjwakeling) is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education at the University of York. Precariat(15%) – The poorest and most deprived social group. They tend to mix socially with people like them and don’t have a broad range of cultural interests. More than 80% rent their home. Class distinctions in England have always been the matter for higher feeling than national honour, the matter of feverish but very private debate”, wrote Evelyn Waugh. In the 1950s, talk of class was off-limits in polite society, yet now this discussion has moved resolutely into the public domain. In 2011, more than 300,000 people volunteered to find out the ‘class’ in which they belonged by taking part in the BBC’s ‘Great British Class Survey’, the results of which provide the majority of data for Mike Savage and his team of sociological experts’ fascinating book. In a meticulous breakdown of the financial, geographical and social strata of the participants, Savage and his collaborators argue that class differences are alive and well in modern Britain and that they are are linked not only to people’s financial standing, but the interests and relationships of their broader everyday lives as well.

Halford, Susan; Savage, Mike; Witz, Anne (eds.) (1997). Gender, Careers and Organizations: Current Developments in Banking, Nursing and Local Government. London: Macmillan.

Abstract

A protester holding a placard at a demonstration against economic inequality in Toronto, Canada, on October 17, 2011. (more) So, it is the case that education has acted to create the same class inequalities, rather than erode them.