Class Inequality and Class Identity in Contemporary Latin America: A Comparative Study of Argentina and Chile (2009)

• In Event: Trayectorias del neoliberalismo y su impacto en la clase trabajadora latinoamericana

Abstract

Since the 1990s, scholars increasingly argue that class is an outdated category of social analysis. The argument is that class explanations of inequality, group formation and conflict became irrelevant. In Latin America, the stance first appeared in propositions about the “end of work” and the prevalence of social exclusion under Neoliberalism. More recently, the argument was that economic growth and greater chances of occupational mobility led to the weakening of traditional working class identities and the “mesocratization” of society. These perspectives seem to neglect the fact that in spite of sustained economic growth in the past decade, Latin America is still the most unequal region in the world.
This paper argues that class is still the most relevant factor to explain the patterns of social inequality and group formation in Latin America. The general objective of the paper is to analyze how class identity is shaped by both objective class position and class trajectories (i.e. intra and intergenerational trajectories). We compare the cases of Argentina and Chile based on a Marxist class schema proposed by Erik Olin Wright (1997). In doing so, we seek to fulfill two specific objectives: i. to develop a micro analysis of the individual determinants of class identity; and ii. to develop a macro analysis of class formations and relate these formations to the political and economic trajectory of neoliberalism in both countries. The paper uses data from survey studies applied in 2009 to probability samples each country as part of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP).

Authors

• Rodolfo G Elbert, Instituto Gino Germani - Universidad de Buenos Aires

• Pablo Pérez-Ahumada, University of California/San Diego