Class, Social

The concept of class is one of the most important and most controversial in social sciences. It is important because classes have been traditionally considered a key to the study of social inequalities and social and political behavior. It is highly controversial because different definitions and contrasting perspectives on the role and impact of class have been proposed. In everyday language, class refers to social groupings based on similar occupational conditions that have the same access to economic, social, and political resources. It is also assumed that experiencing analogous social inequalities favors the formation of a specific cultural identity and influences social and political behavior. However, in scientific language, classes are to be considered a “modern” phenomenon. This means that whereas social inequalities have always been present in human history, the specific inequalities based on class require two conditions: the equality of citizens before the law and the development of ...