The Contemporaneity of Class Relations

Abstract

'Class' is a fiendishly complex and dynamic concept. This is of course true for those working with and through class explicitly, but perhaps even more so for those of us working on social issues in general. We often hear talk of 'the' working class, 'the' middle classes, or indeed 'the' capitalist class, which can give the impression that they are pre-determined, even static, categories; or that their very nature is something inherited, passed down from one generation to the next, and that perhaps they come with certain guarantees – particularly in relation to political identity and electoral politics.