CLASS STRUCTURATION AND ACHIEVEMENT.

The article examines process of class structuration and focuses on common experience in the stratification process. Until recently, research on social class paid little attention to the process of class structuration, i.e., the social process by which economic or political categories are transformed into socially structured forms. Agreement has not been reached concerning the conditions to be fulfilled before a social class can be regarded as a fully structured form. Basic or slightly expanded models of the stratification process have been used to evaluate the position of various categories distinguished on the basis of sexual, racial, or ethnic characteristics. In general, these analyses have shown that the stratification processes differ between the groups considered, and that the categorical characteristics have both additive and interactive effects. A similar approach has never been used to evaluate the intergenerational relevance of distinctions based on the socio-technical aspects of the work activity.