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Dealignment: Class in Britain and Class in British Sociology Since 1945

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  • Ken Roberts

    (Law and Social Justice Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK)

Abstract

This paper sets changes in Britain’s class structure since 1945 alongside the parallel sociological controversies about class. Since the 1970s, the class scheme developed by John Goldthorpe and colleagues for initial use in their study of social mobility in Britain has become sociology’s standard template for thinking about and researching class. Versions have been adopted by the UK government and the European Union as their official socio-economic classifications. This paper does not dispute that the Goldthorpe scheme is still the best available for classifying by occupation, or that occupation remains our best single indicator of class, or that a constant class scheme must be used if the purpose is to measure trends over time in rates of relative inter-generational mobility. Despite these merits, it is argued that the sociological gaze has been weakened by failing to represent changes over time in the class structure itself and, therefore, how class is experienced in lay people’s lives. There has been a relative neglect of absolute social mobility flows (which have changed over time), and a pre-occupation with the inter-generational and a relative neglect of intra-career mobilities and immobilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ken Roberts, 2020. "Dealignment: Class in Britain and Class in British Sociology Since 1945," Societies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:10:y:2020:i:4:p:79-:d:428197
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jenkins, Stephen P., 2015. "The income distribution in the UK: a picture of advantage and disadvantage," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103980, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. David Rose, 1998. "Once more Unto the Breach: In Defence of Class Analysis Yet Again," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 12(4), pages 755-767, December.
    3. Geoff Payne, 1987. "Mobility and Social Class," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Employment and Opportunity, chapter 8, pages 189-192, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Hazel Conley, 2002. "A State of Insecurity: Temporary Work in the Public Services," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(4), pages 725-737, December.
    5. Bukodi, Erzsébet & Goldthorpe, John H. & Waller, Lorraine & Kuha, Jouni, 2015. "The mobility problem in Britain: new findings from the analysis of birth cohort data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60249, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Robert M. Blackburn, 1998. "A New System of Classes: But What are they and Do We Need Them?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 12(4), pages 735-741, December.
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