Social class

In sociology, Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures.

There are various ways to divide classes. The working class do hard work for others. Where money is used, they are paid for it, but they seldom have much money. Where money is used little, as in feudalism, or not at all, as in the Inca Empire there are still classes.

Historians usually see two other groups - people who are rich or have a lot of influence, called the upper class, and all the remaining people who are in between, called the middle class.

Not all societies have social classes. Scientists have found no proof for hierarchical power structures during the Stone Age.Gowdy, John (2006) "Hunter-gatherers and the mythology of the market," in Richard B. Lee and Richard H. Daly (eds.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers, pp.391-394. New York: Cambridge University Press

Determinants of class
In societies where classes exist, one's class is determined largely by:
 occupation
 education and qualifications
 income, personal, household and per capita
 wealth, including the ownership of land, property, means of production,  et cetera
 family background.

In the United Kingdom there are upper class, middle class, working class and underclass people.

Related pages
Bohemianism
Caste
Constitution
Constitutional economics
Class struggle
Clergy
Household income in the United States
Social status
Social structure
Working class
Upper class

References

Further reading
 Marx, Karl & Engels, Frederick; The Communist Manifesto, (1848). (The key statement of class conflict as the driver of historical change).
 Savage, Mike; Class Analysis and Social Transformation (London: Open University Press, 2000). 
 Sennett, Richard & Cobb, Jonathan;  The Hidden Injuries of Class, (Vintage, 1972) (classic study of the subjective experience of class).
 Wlkowitz, Daniel J.; Working with Class: Social Workers and the Politics of Middle-Class Identity (University of North Carolina Press, 1999).  
 "Class, Status and Party", Max Weber, in e.g. Gerth, Hans and C. Wright Mills, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, (Oxford University Press, 1958). (Weber's key statement of the multiple nature of stratification).
 Wright, Erik Olin; Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Other websites
Class Action: 
 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/IL06Ag01.html  Dargin, Justin, The Birth of Russia's New Energy Class. The Asia Times (Dec. 6, 2007)
Dictionary of the history of ideas:  Class
Charles Dunoyer And The Theory Of Industrialism and Comte And Dunoyer After The 1830 Revolution: The Impact Of Their Ideas  in The Radical Liberalism Of Charles Comte And Charles Dunoyer  by David M. Hart.
Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis (PDF) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Classical Liberal Roots of the Marxist Doctrine of Classes  (PDF document), Classical Liberal Roots of Marxist Class Analysis  (MP3 audio file), lecture by Ralph Raico.
Rethinking Cultural and Economic Capital  - Jan Rupp