| Unit name | Social Class in Contemporary Society |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPAIM0018 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Will Atkinson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The nature, causes and consequences of divisions between groups and types of humans has long exercised those engaged in social thought. Social class, in particular, has not only held a special place in sociological thinking since the discipline’s inception, but fascinated, amused, incensed and galvanised the general public – as anything more than a glance at a newspaper or past and present television programmes will testify. But what exactly is a class? How do sociologists study and measure class, and how does it correspond to the everyday language of ‘working class’, ‘chavs’ or ‘middle England’? Is class now dead or irrelevant given the migratory flows, cultural cosmopolitanism and ethno-religious clashes intensified by globalisation, or is it in fact entering a new age of significance on the world stage? This unit aims to explore these questions by: (i) grappling with the key theoretical traditions in class analysis and their allied concepts, including their classical roots and development through the twentieth century; (ii) critically engaging with the contemporary challenges to class analysis from those who claim that the concept has been replaced by other key divisions such as gender and ethnicity or killed off by the social changes of the last quarter century; and (iii) examining the empirical consequences of social class divisions, centring specifically on four areas of social life (social mobility, education, health and politics and culture). Unit Aims: To present the latest theoretical and empirical developments in the study of class To explain the relevance of class as a sociological concept To explore the social location of class in relation to other principles of social division
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to: 1.Demonstrate a critical understanding of the major contemporary theoretical perspectives on class 2.Evaluate the key current challenges to the concept of class 3.Critically assess the empirical impact of class on a range of outcomes
Teaching will be delivered through a one-hour lecture plus a one-hour seminar per group.
Formative Assessment: Students will be given the option of submitting a 1000-1500 word essay on a title of their choice (agreed with the tutor).
Summative Assessment (100%): will be by an extended essay of 3500-4000 words, in which students will be required to show an in-depth understanding and integration of key aspects of the unit.
Both types of assessment are explicitly linked to the objectives of the learning outcomes, and the presentation topics and essay titles set by the tutor will address one or more of the broad concerns of the unit identified in the learning outcomes.
Atkinson, W. (2010) Class, Individualization and Late Modernity. Basingstoke: Macmillan Bottero, W. (2005) Stratification. London: Routledge. Crompton, R. (2008) Class and Stratification (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press. Payne, G. (2005) Social Divisions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Roberts, K. (2001) Class in Modern Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Wright, E. O. (2005) Approaches to Class Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
