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economic factors are as important as economic factor, he divided classes not only by
the ownership of means of production, but from the differences in peoples economic
situation such as skills and qualifications which determine the occupation of an
individual. In other words, there were many social classes comprised by people in
different occupations (Kirby, 2000:641). This view has been widely agreed by many
sociologists and defining class by occupation has been broadly used.
In the past decades, there are several changes in Britain that are related to the issue of
classes. First, one of the most dramatic changes is the occupational transition. Ken
Roberts comments that there was more than half of the manufacturing work which
existed in 1970s have disappeared (Roberts, 2001:65). One of the reasons for such
decline is because the new technology has increased the productivity, thus, less
workers is needed in order to produce the same quantity of output. Apart from the
decay of manufacturing industry, there was a notable growth in the tertiary sector,
mainly comes from the development of consumer services in leisure industry. With such
changes, it has led a decline in manual jobs, which is the core of proletarian working
class. Fulcher (2007:801) suggested that there would be an increase in middle class by
stating the remaining manual workers are able to enjoy the income and job security
that brings them closer to the middle class. The merging of middle class and the
manual working class is known as Embourgeoisement.
Secondly, the change in education is also a factor related to class. Britain started to
provide free education in 1970, and only by 1980, it has made compulsory. However,
before 1944, the education system was still divided by social class. Browne (1998:293)
explains that the free and compulsory schools provided by the state were only
elementary and only with a basic curriculum for the working-class children, leading to
working-class jobs in future. On the other hand, with a fee-paying secondary education
for middle-class children, this would lead them to a middle-class job later. After 1944,
the introduction of tripartite system, all children can receive secondary education to
develop their abilities equally, leading them all to enter the middle class after graduate.
As a result, there would have an expansion in middle class, making middle class
becomes the largest population in class structure while the upper and working class
only takes up a small proportion.
In todays Britain, there are two main opinions over the debate of whether class still
exists. Postmodernists, Pakulski and Waters (1996) hold the idea of class is dead, they
believe that classes are dissolving and it has been obsolete to consider classes as an
important matter. They do not insist that inequalities are disappearing, but do argue
that there are new division that are arising which can surpass the class differences.
According to them, we are now living in a status-conventional society where
stratification is on the basis of cultural differences and status rather than economic
inequality, the symbolic value becomes an important factor in shaping stratification. For
example, people emphasis more on the style of their house in order to show their
personalities and status rather than the value of the house.
Pakulski suggested that the idea of stratification is now based on the lifestyle,
aesthetics and information flows, people are more independent in their values and
behaviour, they can change their preferences and identification freely, their behaviours
can no longer be predicted from their class background. More importantly, people can
Reference List
1. Beck U. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage Publication
Ltd
2. Browne, K. 1998. An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press
3. Crompton, R. 1998. Class and Stratification. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press
4. Fulcher, J. 2007. Sociology. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. Haralambos, M. et al. 2004. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 6th edn. London:
Collins Educational
6. Kirby, M. et al. 2000. Sociology in Perspective. Oxford: Heinemann Educational
7. Moore, S. et al. 2002. Sociology for A2. London: Collins Educational
8. Pakulski, J. et al. 1995. The Death of Class. London: Sage Publication Ltd
9. Roberts, K. 2001. Class in Modern Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan