Class in the post-industrial society

Author: (USA) Wright (Wright/E.O.) / Chen Xinxiang et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: Class and stratification in contemporary society are issues of widespread concern both domestically and internationally. This book is the result of a 20-year investigation, analysis, and research conducted by the authors and numerous researchers. It combines theoretical discussions on the concept of class with empirical investigations and comparisons of class and its derivatives in developed capitalist societies. The main focus is on four key issues: class structure and its changes, the permeability of class boundaries, the relationship between class and gender, and class consciousness, all of which are empirically studied. Class in the Post-Industrial Society is a model that integrates theoretical discussions on the concept of class with a series of extensive comparative empirical investigations of class and its branches in developed capitalist societies. What ties the topics together is not a single compelling phenomenon with a universal explanatory object, but rather a universal explanatory factor. This work explores four broad themes: class structure and its changes, the permeability of class boundaries, the relationship between class and gender, and class consciousness. Specific empirical studies include diverse topics such as gender-based division of household labor, gender differences in managerial power, friendship networks within class structures, the expansion of the self-employed class in the United States over the past 20 years, and class consciousness between public and private sector employment. Furthermore, the book evaluates the research findings in two aspects: confirming certain expectations of the Marxist class analysis tradition and presenting challenging unexpected discoveries.