Re-animating Class: Employing Marx, Weber and Durkheim as Adversaries to the “Death of Class” Hypothesis

• In Event: 586 - Regular Session. Social Theory

Abstract

The recent “global financial crisis” combined with the continuing growth in income inequality between those at the top and bottom of the social hierarchy have spurred a renewed interest in class-based issues. The BBC’s 2011 Great British Class Survey, which represents the largest survey ever on social class in the UK, is testament to the resurgence of class in mainstream discussions. Many citizens have engaged in political movements which question the capitalist mode of production, revealing how a select few have immensely benefited from the crisis as some have slipped further into poverty. The resurgence of class politics speaks to an earlier theory developed by Weber that during periods of economic transformation, “class situation” is pushed to the foreground as stratification based upon status recedes. Increasing cognizance of class, however, is in contradiction to those who argue that, at least contemporarily, divergent identities have reduced the impact of class position on individual social sentiments. In this paper I employ the classic texts of the canonical theorists in sociology, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, to counter the claim that class-based identities are endangered and dying. Through a reading of the founding thinkers I demonstrate that the concept of class remains as a significant feature in society and continues to be influential in structuring subjectivities.

Author

• Edward Haddon, University of British Columbia