Social class

{{politics}}
{{cquote|Basically, it's a right old mess. Toffs at the top, plebs at the bottom, and me in the middle making a fat pile of cash out of both of them.|||Mr. Blackadder, ''Blackadder the Third'' (1987)}}
{{cquote|There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.|||Warren Buffett (2006)<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning] by Ben Stein (Nov. 26, 2006) ''The New York Times''.</ref>}}

'''Social classes''' are demographic groups within a society, in some sort of ranked hierarchy, with those in higher classes exerting greater [[economics|economic]] or [[political]] influence, and enjoying greater privileges than those in lower classes.

==Class systems==
Historically, class systems in many countries were rigid [[elitism| élitist]] hierarchies, such as the [[feudalism |feudal system]] in Europe and [[caste]] systems in many parts of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]].  Under such systems, people of the lower classes generally had relatively few [[civil rights]] and usually no hope of achieving greater wealth or status.

In modern [[capitalism|capitalist]] societies, social forces define class much less rigidly, and there are greater opportunities for social mobility when [[economic inequality]] is not extreme. For example, people from working-class backgrounds may occasionally take up traditionally middle-class careers. Meanwhile, [[communism| communist]] countries have endeavoured (theoretically, at least) to get rid of class systems altogether.  Nevertheless, class divisions continue in both capitalist and communist societies.

==Class and politics==
A lot of [[left-wing]] politics and analysis focuses heavily on class issues, especially since [[Karl Marx]] {{lived|1818|1883}} put pen to paper. Marx saw classes as bound by common economic interests and "class struggle"<ref>{{wpa | class struggle}} </ref> as a defining factor throughout human history.  [[Socialism]] ultimately aims to destroy the class system, and socialist movements appeal strongly to working-class interests and promote "class consciousness", as do [[trade union]]s. The hammer-and-sickle emblem of the [[Soviet Union]] and emblematic derivatives (such as that of the [[North Korea|Workers' Party of Korea]]) represent the combination of workers of both agriculture and industry.

However, there is also a strong tradition of working-class [[conservatism]], backing parties such as the U.S. [[Republican Party|Republican]]s, as demonstrated, for example, in the [[Joe the Plumber]] interlude during the [[2008 U.S. Presidential Election]] campaigns. When workers support such parties, it raises a number of questions that intrigue the theorists of social class no end, ''viz.'':

# Whether conservative parties truly serve the interests of their working-class supporters. This remains a disputed issue, especially among left-wing critics of these movements, with workers voting and left-wingers stating that the workers are voting against their own interests.<ref>[http://cwsworkshop.org/pdfs/WIWS/4Racism_Rise_of_Right.PDF A Gingrich-era example]</ref><ref>[http://archive.truthout.org/the-us-elections-outrage-misguided65202 A 2010 example] from [[Noam Chomsky]]</ref>
# What exactly ''are'' the "interests of the working class"? One will often get vastly different answers to that question from workers and from theoreticians; theoreticians often state that such interests consist of "empowerment", the adoption of "liberatory dialectics", ''etc.'', while workers may regard their own goals as "better wages and shorter working hours and nobody bossing you about",<ref>George Orwell, ''The Road to Wigan Pier''</ref> or dispute that the "working class" has any unique common interests at all.
# Assuming agreement on what the "interests of the working class" are, whether or not workers should consider factors such as other people when advancing such interests. The belief that they should is often termed "[[false consciousness]]". A common example is when workers consider that all people, including non-workers, have certain constitutional rights, such as the right not to be disseized without due process, which tends to slow down the pace at which the "interests of the working class" are advanced.<ref>Hence, one sees [[Thom Hartmann]] singing the praises of constitutional rights, [[Double standard|until the Bad Guys start asserting theirs]], at which point he starts calling for the wholesale abolition of [[judicial review]].</ref>

Far-right movements such as [[fascism]] and [[Nazism]] appealed strongly to working-class communities in the 1920s and 1930s, and many [[Neo-Nazism|Neo-Nazi]] and [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] subcultures continue to recruit working-class supporters.

None of this should be surprising, however, given that working classes form the largest section ("the masses") in any society{{cn}}, and so can be a powerful political factor in [[democracy | societies with universal suffrage]] and/or with [[mass media]].  Naturally, movements from all sides of the [[political spectrum]] aim to win working-class voters and supporters. Promising to "create [[job]]s" and to stop [[Undocumented immigration|immigrant]]s and/or [[globalization | globalizers]] and/or [[discrimination | uppity types with different physical characteristics]] from stealing jobs usually does the trick, unless some pinko internationalist has already corrupted the hearts and minds of the proletariat with rosy visions of universal worker solidarity.

==Class and Culture==

Although class is largely defined by occupation, education and income, the divisions are not purely economic: they are partly cultural too, with different lifestyles, interests, behaviours, dialects and subcultures being associated with different classes.  These class differences have a marked impact on the spending habits, and thus are among the factors, along with age, gender and income, 
considered by [[corporation]]s and [[Advertising|advertisers]] when assessing their target markets.

This cultural aspect of class may be one reason why the class system is still perpetuated in societies where (theoretically at least) equal opportunities are available.  Class divisions may also be perpetuated in part by attitudes and values within classes, such as peer pressure and the [[work ethic]], which compel people to follow conventional expectations rather than seeking their own fortune.

==Class structure==

There are any number of different theoretical models and schematics for defining or understanding social classes in modern societies, but most of them share some common features, being loosely divided into upper, middle and lower classes.  A loose breakdown looks something like this:

===Upper class===

The upper class is usually known as the "[[ruling class]]" in post-[[Marxist]] discourse.  In pre-capitalist societies, the upper class was made up of hereditary aristocracy, but aristocrats are largely irrelevant or non-existent in modern societies.  Marxist doctrine sees the upper classes as the "owners of the means of production"; in common, contemporary parlance, upper classes are made up of the wealthier segments of society, such as corporate executives and "fat cats", often from privileged backgrounds.

===Middle class===

The middle class is more affluent than the working class, but less wealthy than the upper class.  University education is common, and "white collar" jobs are most usual, though these cover a wide array of roles and incomes, including professional, clerical, academic, retail and service jobs.

The middle class and is often subdivided into an upper and lower subset.  The upper middle class tend towards professions such as law or medicine, to bureaucratic positions, civil service, or middle management levels of administration.  The lower middle class, or "''petit bourgeoisie''" as Marx would have it, include office workers, shopkeepers, salesmen and some skilled trades.

===Working class===
The '''working class''' is usually thought of as the lowest [[social class]] of people in societies that care about class structure. Often, they are labeled "lower class" to reflect this, the others being the comfortable middle class and the upper class. Historically, the rough definition of "working class", give or take at various times and in various places, has been those who worked for others as opposed to being self-employed, and whose livelihood depended upon their next paycheck coming through; this would include many people employed in manufacturing, agriculture, and (today) the service industry. Another traditional definition, most commonly heard in the UK, is that the working class is those who "work standing up."

Another term for the working class, used often in [[socialism|socialist]] literature, is "proletariat". The term, derived from the [[Latin]] word for "wage earner", was popularized by [[Karl Marx]], and it refers to people that are owners of labor power, but have no other [[capital]] to speak of.<ref>http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/s28f99.htm Marx on Social Class</ref> It also can be used as a generic term for the lowest class in a given community.<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/PROLETARIAT</ref>

In the United States, the term "lower-middle class" is sometimes used as a synonym for "working class", including both the traditional working class as well as small business owners and family farmers who have some capital, but are dwarfed in such by the upper classes.

===People in rags===
Followers of the various derivatives of Marxism will often describe the working class as the ''second'' lowest class, the real lowest being a "benefits class" or "underclass", which comprises the poor that other classes don't feel empathy for.<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/UNDERCLASS</ref> Marx described this class as the ''lumpenproletariat'' or "rag workers".

Marx considered the class to include "swindlers, confidence tricksters, [[Prostitution|brothel-keepers]], rag-and-bone merchants, beggars, and other flotsam of society."<ref>Karl Marx, ''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon''.</ref> Since these people tend to be selfish 
libertarians
 criminals and gangsters with no class consciousness, he regarded them as completely useless for revolutionary purposes except as means to an end. Later theorists disagreed on this point; thinking that some use might be got out of the lumpenproletarians after all, they have included among their number the permanently unemployable and those who [[Racism|lost the Skin Color Lottery]].

==See also==
*[[Caste]]
*[[Class War]] (British [[ancom]] organization)
*[[Conspicuous consumption]]
*[[Passing]]
*[[Ruling class]]
*[[Social Darwinism]]
*[[Poverty]]

==References==
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[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Social justice]]
[[Category:Socialism]]

Categories: Culture, Economics, Political terms, Sociology, Social justice, Socialism