Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis (Studies in Marxism and Social Theory) - Softcover

Wright, Erik Olin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521556465 ISBN 13: 9780521556460

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Class Counts constitutes one of the few attempts to use systematically the concept of class from the Marxist tradition of social theory in quantitative research. The research in the book covers a wide range of topics, including the class character of friendship patterns, class mobility, the sexual division of labor in housework, gender differences in managerial authority, and class consciousness. What unites the topics is not a preoccupation with a common object of explanation, but rather a common explanatory factor: class.

About this title

Book Description

The research in this study covers a wide range of topics, including the class character of friendship patterns, class mobility, the sexual division of labor in housework, gender differences in managerial authority, and class consciousness. They are united by a common explanatory factor: class.

Review

"This book reports on the single most important sociological research project of the last decade....It offers interesting empirical evidence, analyzed competently and making those data speak to the most abstract theoretical issues. It is a great way to introduce students in sociology to the way to use empirical research to examine the great traditions of sociology and at the same time address vital contemporary issues. Scholars working on social stratification, mobility, inequalities, gender, race will take this work as their point of departure for the next decade." Professor Ivan Szelenyi, University of California, Los Angeles

"In this important and innovative study, Erik Olin Wright presents a challenging theoretical and empirical cross-national analysis of class relations and class consciousness. In a systematic and rigorous fashion, Wright explores the social dynamics of class position, class formation, class mobility, and class consciousness and relates them to the world of work, gender relations, race, family and friendship patterns. This study will be a key reference point in future discussion of competing approaches to class analysis and the place of class in contemporary societies." Professor Bob Jessop, Lancaster University

"In recent years it has become fashionable to question the usefulness of class analysis. Class Counts is Erik Wright's clear and convincing answer to the skeptics. Wright shows how class analysis makes sense of the inequalities that divide postindustrial society." Professor Michael Hout, University of California, Berkeley

"By any standard, this book represents a considerable achievement. There can be no doubt that it will become a standard text for researchers and teachers alike." Ira Katznelson, Contemporary Sociology

"A review cannot do justice to the depth and variety of material covered....Class Counts demonstrates once again that Wright is a versatile and imaginative analyst of data. One learns a lot about making sensible research decisions by reading the methodological appendices attached to twelve of the chapters in this book. Wright also shows impressive intellectual honesty." Tom Mayer, American Political Science Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521556465
• ISBN 13: 9780521556460
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 616