Class structure and conflict in the managerial phase II

Formulating the Matthew Principle: on the role of the middle classes in the welfare state

“…One of the results of the rise in interest in the middle classes during the 1970s was an intense effort by sociologists associated with a sometimes bewildering number of approaches to explain the emergence of this stratum, its true nature, and, in particular, the boundaries between it and other, more traditional social classes (Carchedi, 1975;Crompton & Jones, 1984;Ehrenreich & Ehrenreich, 1979;Goldthorpe, 1980). While claims by orthodox Marxists such as Becker (1973) or Oppenheimer (1985) that deny the very existence of the middle classes as a separate social class are uncommon today, the question of who the middle classes really are has never truly been resolved. Nevertheless, contemporary observers, whether originating from Marxist or Weberian perspectives, tend to converge on the view that the middle classes consist of salaried professionals, academics and managers in the civil service and private and nonprofit sectors.…”