Introduction

Class analysis is concerned with the patterning of inequality and its consequences on the lives of those who experience it. As we shall see, ‘class’ is a slippery concept, with disagreements about its precise meaning. Where there is agreement is that ‘class’ is a question of advantage and disadvantage – about who gets what, and how. Whether we see this in terms of money, property, occupational position, cultural assets or power and influence, the significance of class resources is in how they give those who possess them greater control over the external forces that affect us all, and open doors that might otherwise be closed. One aim of class analysis is to see how such inequalities persist and endure – over lifetimes and between generations. The question is: if we start off as unequal, are these disadvantages likely to accumulate and be reinforced? Are these disadvantages maintained over our lifetimes or from one generation to the next? However, we must also recognise that the passage of time (such as the life-course transitions associated with ageing, cohort changes from one generation to the next and the longer-term socio-economic changes associated with the shift from industrial to post-industrial societies) makes the question of how class inequalities endure a complicated one to answer. What does class inequality mean in an affluent, rapidly changing society?

Over the past two decades, there has been a strong reaction against the continued relevance of class in understanding post-industrial societies. The coming of a ‘late’ phase of modernity was characterised by swift and crucial socio-economic transformations. These included the restructuring of economies away from the manual sectors towards the service sectors, the expansion of educational and labour-market opportunities, and the rising significance of affluent, consumption-based lifestyles as the arena in which people's desires and hopes are fulfilled. It is sometimes argued that, as a result, post-industrial societies have become increasingly open, that is, more individualistic, more differentiated and more meritocratic, and that this openness undermines the basis of class inequalities. Supporters of the anti-class brigade argue that such social change has resulted in a radical transformation of societal dynamics so that ‘class’ is now an obsolete tool for social analysis since, it is argued, we now live in a ‘capitalism without classes’ (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2002: 205).