An Empirical Study of Social Class Awareness

The Subjective Meaning of Social Class Identification in the United States

“…A wide inability to associate occupations with classes or a broad divergence in views of the class location of various occupations would seriously undercut the importance of class as an element in the public's consciousness. This would, of course, be consistent with the prominent argument that class is of little significance or relevance to most Americans (e.g., Rosenberg, 1953;Case, 1955;Haer, 1957;Wilensky, 1966;Nisbet, 1970;Bell, 1973). However, the data in this study do not support such an argument.…”

“…meaning for many or most Americans (e.g., Case, 1955;Haer, 1957). Such critics have contended that the common reliance on closedended class identification items "puts words in the respondent's mouth" and thus masks widespread confusion about and disinterest in class (e.g., Gross, 1953;Haer, 1957).…”

“…Such critics have contended that the common reliance on closedended class identification items "puts words in the respondent's mouth" and thus masks widespread confusion about and disinterest in class (e.g., Gross, 1953;Haer, 1957). The importance of this issue is underscored by the increasing prominence of the more general view that social class is of dwindling significance in advanced industrial societies (e.g., Rosenberg, 1953;Wilensky, 1966;Nisbet, 1970;Bell, 1973).…”

Can Class Analysis Be Salvaged?

“…Although one can find, then, a great many sociologists who remain convinced that contemporary identities are strongly shaped by aggregate affiliations (e.g., Marshall et al 1988), the prevailing post-Marxist position is that conventional classes now have a rather weak hold over workers. For example, Emmison and Western (1990) report that only 7% of all Australians regard their social class as a "very important" identity, while other commentators (e.g., Saunders 1989) have stressed that open-ended queries about class identification tend to yield numerous confused responses, refusals to answer, and even explicit denials of the very existence of classes (Evans 1995;Evans 1992;Nisbet 1959;Kahl and Davis 1955;Haer 1957;Gross 1953). This evidence has led many sociologists to conclude that "class is now a passive rather than active identity" (Bradley 1996, p. 72) and that the system of production is not, therefore, any longer the principal locus of identity formation.…”

Class Consciousness and Political Attitudes among Athenians*

“…Overall the literature suggests that the higher the class the greater the likelihood of class awareness (Haer, 1957;Wilensky, 1966;Lowis, 1971). Concerning the relationship between awareness and attitudes, Converse (1958) found that there was a stronger relationship between social status and either political attitudes (e. g., government guaranteeing jobs or providing medical aid) or voting among people who were aware of social class than among those who were classified as unaware.…”