inequality and class
feminism
Feminist as a theory do not research too much into class as they focus on gender however..
Liberal feminists look at it through the workplace , women and men from working class are both exploited
Dworkin (Radical Feminist) - women form a gender class , it is below working class as they are heavily opressed as a group
Marxist feminists – highlight the inequality women face at working class from capitalism – Dunscome and Marsden triple shift
criticisms
A lot of early feminism was written by middle class women – they did not look at the position of working class women
Feminists look at intersectionality – which puts class under the umbrella of inequality – Age , Gender , Class , Ethnicity
Feminists highlight that inequality happens for both sexes in the working class , however women are far more likely to face inequality
postmodernism
Class is something that is structured around modernity , postmodernists reject the idea of class
Postmodernists see instead social groups
A Postmodernist society is seen as a group of individuals who are a 'state of being'
Pakulski and Waters (1996) discuss that class is pointless
Postmodernists suggest that inequality is divided into different aspects such as economic , power and prestige - similar to Weberian
critisms
Statistical evidence shows that class is evident when discussing inequality
Although the lines may be blurred there are classes , Working class have distinct characteristics
Inequality happens to classes
It is very theoretical , there isn't much evidence behind it
new right
Class division is natural and just a process of society
See society as meritocratic , the best people get to live in the upper class because they’ve worked hard
Inequality is justified as it is a tool to pressure members of society into working harder similar to functionalist
saunders
(1984) class positions depends on the amount of resilience an individual has
It also relies on how much someone relies on the state for support
Someone who has private healthcare , a good income and doesn’t require any support can be seen as higher class
The underclass and working class are of a lower class because they rely heavily on state intervention
Saunders (2010) later says that there is social mobility and those who are poorer it is their own fault for their inequality as they do not work hard enough and rely on this consumption cleavage
Charles Murray - underclass
1996) suggests that the poorest members of society who face inequality is warranted
His idea of the underclass is often debated amongst sociologists
This class is based on reliance and support from the government (Benefits)
These people have different values from the rest of society (Parsons Value Consensus)
Underclass are criminals and don't want to work so deserve the inequality that they face
criticisms
Consumer Cleavage is a difficult theory to use as often working class have support from government to subsidies working – IE working childcare credits
New right blames the poor for poverty – a lot of social factors
Statistical evidence is hard to identify the underclass with shared norms and values
It implies that all crime and negative attitudes in society are a result of poverty