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Through a brief examination of neo-Marxist and neo-Weberian arguments it is demonstrated that the class nature of the new middle class has yet to be established. The paper goes on to show that as well as differences arising out of material conditions (i.e. class differences), inequalities based on expectations of entitlement or norms are also significant in capitalist society. Weber's treatment of status has not encouraged an adequate understanding of the concept, and an alternative is outlined. The paper then argues that the differences between the so-called new middle class and the working class are reasonably understood on a number of criteria as differences between status groups which form part of a single class. Not only does this approach remove a number of difficulties from accounts of the salariat, it also helps explain the different political alignments of social collectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we review the empirical legacy that developed out of the theoretical and methodological agendas of class analysis and comparative methods of the 1970s and 1980s. Our review is restricted to studies that examine the variants in the class structures of the developed capitalist democracies. The paper is organized into four main sections. In part one. we examine variations in the organization of capital; part two takes up the still little-studied resurgence of the petite bourgeoisie and small capital; in part three, we review studies that have examined national variations in the size and composition of the new middle class; and part four reviews the postindustial and gendered nature of the working class. Our conclusion highlights important labor market developments of the 1980s that have largely been missed by conventional class models and comments on their significance for the future of empirical research in class analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on social reproduction focuses predominantly on the working class. Middle-class social reproduction is not as widely studied and is often assumed to be a structurally determined process lacking human agency. Using in-depth interviews with 41 college seniors, I demonstrate that middle-class social reproduction arises out of the interplay between agency and structure, specifically, from individuals’ activation and negotiation of structural advantages. My analysis centers around the themes often invoked to illustrate working-class reproduction: resistance and contestation; the importance of the peer group; and familial structural resources—or the lack thereof. I discuss how these themes are reflected in middle-class social reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]