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334 CHAPTER 12 Class and Other Social Characteristics In฀any฀democracy,฀the฀behavior฀of฀the฀voting฀public฀may฀be฀studied฀as individuals฀or฀as฀members฀of ฀groups.฀Among฀all฀possible฀social฀g roupings ,฀none฀has฀r eceived฀more฀notice฀than฀social฀c lass.฀This฀is฀because, first ฀the฀concept฀is฀e xhaustive,฀excluding฀no฀one.฀Every฀voter฀holds฀a place฀in฀the฀nation ’s฀c lass฀st ructure.฀That฀plac e฀may฀not฀be฀e xalted; rather,฀it฀may฀be฀lowly฀or฀“lower,”฀that฀is,฀of฀lower฀status฀than฀someone else฀in฀the฀social฀hierarchy,฀who฀may฀be฀“upper”฀class.฀All฀citizens,฀once฀located ฀on฀the฀class฀spectrum,฀compose฀the฀country’s฀entire฀social฀structure. Second,฀the฀class฀concept฀can฀be฀applied฀to฀any฀society.฀Scholars฀of฀social stratification฀ ell฀us฀that฀all฀societies฀are฀layered฀from฀top฀to฀bottom,฀with the฀different฀layers฀receiving฀different฀amounts฀of฀valued฀goods. If฀we฀examine฀different฀nations฀at฀different฀historical฀periods,฀it฀may appear฀that฀these฀st rata฀are฀complex฀and฀dissimilar .฀One฀c ountry฀is made฀up฀of ฀aristocrats,฀the฀bourgeoisie,฀and฀peasants.฀Another฀social structure฀is฀defined฀ y฀captains฀of ฀industry,฀merchants,฀and฀workers. While฀these฀g roups฀appear฀di verse,฀each฀pursues฀ec onomic฀interests. Varying฀success฀in฀pursuit฀of ฀these฀ec onomic฀interests฀puts฀them฀at competing฀rungs฀of฀the฀social฀ladder.฀While฀different฀in฀name,฀some฀of these฀groups฀may฀in฀fact฀form฀a฀common฀class.฀It฀is฀this฀notion฀of฀an฀underlying ฀shared฀structural฀interest฀that฀makes฀the฀class฀concept฀a฀powerful ฀one฀for฀investigating฀social฀hierarchies฀generally. The฀idea฀of฀class฀attracts฀researchers฀from฀many฀disciplines฀because it฀intersects฀with฀society,฀economics,฀and฀politics.฀Social฀classes฀are฀generally ฀conceived฀to฀be฀guided฀by฀economic฀goals,฀to฀be฀achieved฀through Class฀and฀Other฀Social฀Characteristics ★ 335 the฀political฀system.฀When฀one฀social฀class฀has฀fewer฀valued฀goods฀than another,฀it฀may฀engage฀in฀political฀actions฀to฀further฀a฀redistribution฀of those฀goods.฀The฀quest฀for฀this฀redistribution฀may฀lead฀to฀revolution,฀as in฀the฀Marxist฀scenario฀where฀the฀workers฀violently฀overthrow฀the฀exploiting ฀capitalist฀bosses.฀But฀one฀does฀not฀have฀to฀be฀a฀Marxist฀or฀a฀revolutionary ฀to฀see฀that฀a฀very฀unequal฀distribution฀of฀goods฀and฀services between฀rulers฀and฀ruled฀could฀bring฀about฀great฀pressure฀for฀political change.฀Elites,฀under฀incr easing฀challenge,฀grow฀more฀defensive.฀The masses,฀in฀response,฀become฀more฀alienated฀from฀the฀system.฀Conflic ensues,฀followed฀by฀repression,฀or฀perhaps฀reform,฀as฀new฀leaders฀less distant฀from฀the฀people฀take฀power. A฀political฀drama฀such฀as฀this,฀based฀on฀different฀European฀theories of฀social฀change,฀does฀not฀easily฀fit฀the American฀story.฀That฀does฀not mean฀that฀“class฀politics”฀has฀not฀been฀a฀common฀feature฀of฀political฀life in฀the฀United฀States.฀From฀the฀founding฀of฀the฀Republic,฀there฀was฀concern ,฀expressed฀in฀Federalist฀No.฀10,฀over฀classes฀as฀“the฀most฀common and฀durable฀source฀of฀faction.”฀In฀the฀era฀of฀Andrew฀Jackson,฀members of฀the฀upper฀cr ust฀worried฀over฀the฀rise฀of฀populist฀rule.฀Before฀World War฀I฀there฀was฀widespread,฀class-inspired,฀socialist฀organizing฀among the฀U.S.฀labor฀movement.฀This฀activity฀intensified฀in฀the 1930s,฀after฀the Great฀Depression,฀with฀the฀labor฀masses฀moving฀to฀the฀political฀left. Social฀class฀we฀consider฀separately฀from฀other฀social฀characteristics partly฀because฀it฀is฀surrounded฀by฀its฀own฀controversy,฀and฀partly฀because it฀is฀not฀nec essarily฀a฀strictly฀structural฀factor.฀While฀sociologists฀readily acknowledge฀that฀societies฀are฀riddled฀with฀status฀differences,฀they฀dispute ฀its฀meaning.฀Is฀class฀an฀objective฀category฀of฀analysis,฀where฀one฀is฀a member฀by฀virtue฀of,฀say,฀an฀occupation?฀Or฀is฀c lass฀something฀subjective ,฀requiring฀the฀conscious฀choice฀of฀membership?฀For฀example,฀is฀Jill฀a member฀of฀the฀working฀class฀simply฀because฀she฀works฀on฀the฀assembly line฀at฀Ford,฀or฀only฀because฀she฀dec lares฀herself฀a฀member?฀The฀latt er implies฀that฀Jill฀“identifie ”฀with฀the฀working฀class,฀much฀like฀the฀member of฀any฀group฀(as฀discussed฀in฀the฀last฀chapter).฀How฀one฀conceives฀of฀social ฀class,฀then,฀depends฀on฀whether฀one฀treats฀it฀as฀merely฀another฀social group.฀As฀shall฀be฀shown,฀class฀is฀sometimes฀best฀treated฀as฀a฀group฀phenomenon ,฀and฀sometimes฀as฀an฀analytic฀construct฀indicating฀place฀in฀the social฀structure,฀much฀like฀any฀other฀social฀characteristic. Unlike฀membership฀in฀a฀group,฀the฀possession฀of฀a฀social฀characteristic —for฀example,฀college฀education,฀middle฀age—normally฀indicates place฀in฀a฀sc heme฀of฀sociological฀categories,฀rather฀than฀psychological [3.138...

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