Originally published in 1964, this book analyses the unique type of social stratification which is more akin to a social class system in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. Liberia, established in 1847 has no history of rule by a colonial power and is of perculiar sociological interest, having been governed until the first half of the twentieth century by a minority group of immigrants from America and their descendants. The bulk of the population, however, is made up of members of about 20 tribes, between whom and the American descendants a caste-like social system has developed.

New information technologies have, to an unprecedented degree, come to reshape human relations, identities and communities both online and offline. As Internet narratives including online fiction, poetry and films reflect and represent ambivalent politics in China, the Chinese state wishes to enable the formidable soft power of this new medium whilst at the same time handling the ideological uncertainties it inevitably entails. This book investigates the ways in which class, gender, ethnicity and ethics are reconfigured, complicated and enriched by the closely intertwined online and offline realities in China. It combs through a wide range of theories on Internet culture, intellectual history, and literary, film, and cultural studies, and explores a variety of online cultural materials, including digitized spoofing, microblog fictions, micro-films, online fictions, web dramas, photographs, flash mobs, popular literature and films. These materials have played an important role in shaping the contemporary cultural scene, but have so far received little critical attention. Here, the authors demonstrate how Chinese Internet culture has provided a means to intervene in the otherwise monolithic narratives of identity and community. Offering an important contribution to the rapidly growing field of Internet studies, this book will also be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese culture, literary and film studies, media and communication studies, and Chinese society.

Based on comparative surveys, the author presents a study of social transformation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Focusing on Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Slovakia, the author provides information relating to social structure, mobility, inequality, lifestyle and economic stratification. Applying the Erikson-Goldthorpe classification of class positions, Domanski effectively presents fully comparable data to enable political comparisons to be made with other countries, especially those with firmly established free market economies. As such, "On the Verge of Convergence" seeks to provide a clearer understanding of the on-going process of social transformation within developing capitalist societies.

On the 14th June 2017, a fire engulfed a tower block in West London, seventy-two people lost their lives and hundreds of others were left displaced and traumatised. The Grenfell Tower fire is the epicentre of a long history of violence enacted by government and corporations. On its second anniversary activists, artists and academics come together to respond, remember and recover the disaster. The Grenfell Tower fire illustrates Britain's symbolic order; the continued logic of colonialism, the disposability of working class lives, the marketisation of social provision and global austerity politics, and the negligence and malfeasance of multinational contractors. Exploring these topics and more, the contributors construct critical analysis from legal, cultural, media, community and government responses to the fire, asking whether, without remedy for multifaceted power and violence, we will ever really be 'after' Grenfell? With poetry by Ben Okri and Tony Walsh, and photographs by Parveen Ali, Sam Boal and Yolanthe Fawehinmi. With contributions from Phil Scraton, Daniel Renwick, Nadine El-Enany, Sarah Keenan, Gracie Mae Bradley and The Radical Housing Network.

First published in 1997, this book revolves around a textual analysis of the Weberian thesis that 'classes', 'status groups' and 'parties' are phenomena of the distribution of power within a 'community'. An internal reconstruction of Weber's own ideas on what is called social stratification in contemporary sociological discourse is undertaken. The reason for this reconstruction inheres in the fact that Weber's thought (especially in the field of social stratification) has been modified and misappropriated to such an extent that Weber himself is usually lost in the commentaries. Moreover, this reconstruction is crucial because the secondary literature does not contain a single account teasing out the analytic structure underlying Weber's statements on the nature of social inequality in various societies. It is the principal intention of the book, then, to retrieve the essential form and significance of Weber's ideas on social stratification.

This is a powerful and original survey of German social democracy breaks new ground in covering the movement's full span, from its origins after the French Revolution, to the present day. Stefan Berger looks beyond narrow party political history to relate Social Democracy to other working class identities in the period and sets the German experience within its wider European context. This timely book considers both the background and long-term perspective on the current rethinking of Social Democratic ideas and values, not only in Germany but also in France, Britain and elsewhere.

This impressive work, set to become the standard history on the subject, offers a definitive survey of peasant society in Russia, from the consolidation of serfdom and tsarist autocracy in the 17th century through to the destruction of the peasant's traditional world under Stalin. Over three-quarters of Russian society were peasants in these years, and David Moon explores all aspects of their life xxx; including the rural economy, peasant households, village communities xxx; and their political role, including protest against the landowning elites. In the process he presents a fresh perspective on the history of Russia itself. A big book in every way xxx; and compellingly readable.

The city of Liverpool had frequently been prone to industrial unrest for most of its recent history, but it was the dawn of Thatcher and the sanctioning of neoliberal economic strategies which made Liverpool a nucleus of resistance against the encroaching tide of right-wing politics and sweeping de-industrialisation. This critique explores six case studies which will illustrate how elements of a highly politicised local working-class fought against the rapid rise in forced redundancies and industrial closures. Some of their responses included strikes, factory occupations, the organisation and politicisation of the unemployed, consent to radical left-wing municipal politics, as well as tacit endorsement a period of violent civil unrest. This critique concludes that in the range, intensity and use of innovative tactics deployed during these conflicts, Liverpool was distinctive. -- .

Economists regularly promote Capitalism as the greatest system ever to grace the planet. With the same breath, they implore us to leave the job of understanding the magical powers of the market to the "experts." Despite the efforts of these mainstream commentators to convince us otherwise, many of us have begun to question why this system has produced such vast inequality and wanton disregard for its own environmental destruction. This book offers answers to exactly these questions on their own terms: in the form of a radical economic theory.

Noted for their haunting melodies and enigmatic lyrics, Bauls have been portrayed as spiritually enlightened troubadours traveling around the countryside in West Bengal in India and in Bangladesh. As emblems of Bengali culture, Bauls have long been a subject of scholarly debates which center on their esoteric practices, and middle class imaginaries of the category Baul. Adding to this literature, the intimate ethnography presented in this book recounts the life stories of members from a single family, shining light on their past and present tribulations bound up with being poor and of a lowly caste. It shows that taking up the Baul path is a means of softening the stigma of their lower caste identity in that religious practice, where women play a key role, renders the body pure. The path is also a source of monetary income in that begging is considered part of their vocation. For women, the Baul path has the added implication of lessening constraints of gender. While the book describes a family of singers, it also portrays the wider society in which they live, showing how their lives connect and interlace with other villagers, a theme not previously explored in literature on Bauls. A novel approach to the study of women, the body and religion, this book will be of interest to undergraduates and graduates in the field of the anthropology. In addition, it will appeal to students of everyday religious lives as experienced by the poor, through case studies in South Asia. The book provides further evidence that renunciation in South Asia is not a uniform path, despite claims to the contrary. There is also a special interest in Bauls among those familiar with the Bengali speaking region. While this book speaks to that interest, its wider appeal lies in the light it sheds on religion, the body, life histories, and poverty.

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929), the controversial American economist and social critic, argues that economics is essentially a study of the economic aspects of human culture, which are in a constant state of flux. In his best-known work, "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899), Veblen appropriated Darwin's theory of evolution to analyse the modern industrial system. While industry itself demanded diligence, efficiency, and co-operation, businessmen in opposition to engineers and industrialists were only interested in making money and displaying their wealth in what Veblen coined 'conspicuous consumption'. Veblen's keen analysis of the psychological bases of American social and economic institutions laid the foundation for the school of institutional economics.

First published in 1989, this is the second of three volumes exploring the changing notions of patriotism in British life from the thirteenth century to the late twentieth century and constitutes an attempt to come to terms with the power of the national idea through a historically informed critique. This volume examines how national identity has competed with alternative, more personal forms of belonging - such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism and Nonconformism - as well looking at femininity in relation to the state. Contemporary British society's capacity to create outsiders is discussed and the introductory essay shows how this may shape our misunderstanding of earlier phases of national development.

First published in 1975, this volume aims to direct attention at a number of aspects of the lives and occupations of village labourers in the nineteenth-century that have been little examined by historians outside of agriculture. Some of the factors examined include the labourer's gender, whether they lived in 'closed' or 'open' villages and what they worked at during the different seasons of the year. The author examines a range of occupations that have previously been ignored as too local to show up in national statistics or too short-lived to rank as occupations at all as well as sources of 'secondary' income. The analysis of all of these factors in related to the seasonal cycle of field labour and harvests. The central focus is on the cottage economy and the manifold contrivances by which labouring families attempted to keep themselves afloat.

First published in 1985, this book presents the first detailed account of the relationship between the farmworkers, trades unionism, and political and social radicalism. Rural radicalism, one of the most important new features of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century politics, was particularly strong in Norfolk and as such provides the focus for this study. The author shows the how relationship between 'master and man' and 'man' and 'work' was changing in the period from the 1870s to the 1920s - ending with the great strike of 1923. The main themes are the shifts from religion to politics, from Liberalism to Labour, and in more general terms from local to national consciousness. The book shows men at work and the ways in which politics meshed - or failed to mesh - together. Based on detailed local research and on many hours of recorded interviews, it enables the voice of the labourer to be heard, and a real sense of hope, fear and aspiration to come through.

Tracing the evolution of state military institutions from the seventh through the twelfth centuries, this book challenges much of the received wisdom of Western scholarship on the origins and early development of warriors in Japan. This prelude to the rise of the samurai, who were to become the masters of Japan's medieval and early modern eras, was initiated when the imperial court turned for its police and military protection to hired swords--professional mercenaries largely drawn from the elites of provincial society. By the middle of the tenth century, this provincial military order had been handed a virtual monopoly of Japan's martial resources. Yet it was not until near the end of the twelfth century that these warriors took the first significant steps toward asserting their independence from imperial court control. Why did they not do so earlier? Why did they remain obedient to a court without any other military sources for nearly 300 years? Why did the court put itself in the potentially (and indeed, ultimately) precarious situation of contracting for its military needs with private warriors? These and related questions are the focus of the author's study. Most of the few Western treatments see the origins of the samurai in the incompetence and inactivity of the imperial court that forced residents in the provinces to take up arms themselves. According to this view, a warrior class was spontaneously generated just as one had been in Europe a few centuries earlier, and the Japanese court was doomed to eventually perish by the sword because of its failure to live by it. Instead, the author argues that it was largely court activism that put swords in the hands of rural elites, thatcourt military policy, from the very beginning of the imperial state era, followed a long-term pattern of increasing reliance on the martial skills of the gentry. This policy reflected the court's desire for maximum efficiency in its military institutions, and the policy's success is shown by the court retaining to itself for centuries the exclusive right to sanction the use of coercive force.

Across Europe concern is rising over the disintegration of social relations and the growing number of people who are being socially excluded. social Exclustoin in European Cities, the first major study of this topic, provides a definition of social exclusion and looks at both the processes which cause it and the dimensions of the problem throughout Europe. The experiences of people living in areas or neighbourhoods with low rates of social integration are considered, illuminating the human impact of exclusion where it is most visible. Finally the contributors evaluate the various policy and community initiatives which are currently confronting the problem in a wide sample of European Cities on a variety of levels, from inform individual actions to supra-national European Union policy, and suggest new ways in which social exclusion could be tackled. With most large cities experiencing some degree of social exclusion, this is an important volume for all those working in the areas of regional policy, town planning, housing management, social work, community development, sociology, political science and urban studies.

The various contributions in this book, originally published in 1971, discuss many aspects of the complex subject of history and class consciousness, and the themes that are dealt with are all inter-related. The papers range from history and sociology, through political theory and philosophy, to art criticism and literary criticism. Georg Lukacs' classic work History and Class Consciousness, is discussed in several of the essays, and the volume is prefaced by a letter from Georg Lukacs to Istvan Meszaros.

Contents:
1. Japanese Working Class Lives 2. Getting There and Getting In 3. Shintani Metals 4. Shintani Metals 5. Paths to Shintanir 6. Paths to Shintani 7. Paths from Shintani 8. After Hours 9. After Hours 10. Private Time 11. Conclusion

In this valuable study, conducted within the theoretical context associated with the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Derek Wynne looks at how the 'new middle class' of the late twentieth century goes about constructing and defending its social identity.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203031334

Much of the existing research on parental involvement and higher education choice examines the difference between the working class and the middle class, but little literature looks at different factions within the social classes. This book discusses higher education choice in China, particularly through the examination of social issues such as social stratification, parental involvement, and gender and educational inequality. Drawing from an empirical study based on Bourdieu's theory, the book explores both inter-class and intra-class differences in China, providing an insight into how social class differences influence a number of issues, including: educational equality the role parents, especially mothers, play in higher education decision-making the relationship between traditional cultural norms gendered relationships within Chinese families. The sociology of higher education choices are derived through feedback from various sources, including both parents and students themselves. The book will be key reading for postgraduates and researchers in the fields of sociology, sociology of education, Chinese studies and Asian studies.

In the Introduction, the editor gives an historical overview of the tradition of the political involvement of intellectuals in these countries, especially in the 19th Century. The chapters which follow describe the typical political and social attitude of Central European intellectuals, including writers, poets, artists, and scientists.

Focusing on the working-class experience of gentrification, this book re-examines the enduring relationship between class and the urban. Class is so clearly articulated in the urban, from the housing crisis to the London Riots to the evocation of housing estates as the emblem of 'Broken Britain'. Gentrification is often presented to a moral and market antidote to such urban ills: deeply institutionalised as regeneration and targeted at areas which have suffered from disinvestment or are defined by 'lack'. Gentrification is no longer a peripheral neighbourhood process: it is policy; it is widespread; it is everyday. Yet comparative to this depth and breadth, we know little about what it is like to live with gentrification at the everyday level. Sociological studies have focused on lifestyles of the middle classes and the working-class experience is either omitted or they are assumed to be victims. Hitherto, this is all that has been offered. This book engages with these issues and reconnects class and the urban through an ethnographically detailed analysis of a neighbourhood undergoing gentrification which historicises class formation, critiques policy processes and offers a new sociological insight into gentrification from the perspective of working-class residents. This ethnography of everyday working-class neighbourhood life in the UK serves to challenge denigrated depictions which are used to justify the use of gentrification-based restructuring. By exploring the relationship between urban processes and working-class communities via gentrification, it reveals the 'hidden rewards' as well as the 'hidden injuries' of class in post-industrial neighbourhoods. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive 'sociology of gentrification', revealing not only how gentrification leads to the displacement of the working class in physical terms but how it is actively used within urban policy to culturally displace the working-class subject and traditional

Television and film not only entertain and reflect social change, they may also participate and influence these changes -- the recent success of The Full Monty and Billy Elliot show popular British comedy based on such painful social transformations.

Looking at Class brings together film and television practitioners with academic students of cultural and economic change to examine the media representation of the British working class in the twentieth century -- a time of decline for the manual working class when a complex service-based economy emerged. The book covers a large range of genres from documentaries to soaps and shows that complex cultural transitions can be communicated clearly in prose as well as in screen drama.

This collection of readings has been complied on the assumption that for an adequate explanation of the success and failure, the strengths and weaknesses, of democracy, it is necessary to resort to both class and elite theories and to strive for the future development of the extant beginnings of a synthesis between them. For this purpose, it presents the most central and intellectually outstanding readings that illustrate the manner in which the two theories have analyzed democracy, as well as democratization, in various parts of the world.

The author analyzes the nature of child-rearing in eighteenth-century Poland and its linkage to the reform movements that swept the country after the first partition in 1772. She finds that family behavior cannot be separated from politics in Polish society: in fact, education and child-rearing were major issues in the reform movement of the 1770s. Lorence-Kot shows where Poland lagged behind Western Europe, and how various reformers proposed to advance Polish society through new methods of raising children in the upper classes. The resistant attitudes of Polish parents are examined in detail, as are their attitudes toward their children, corporal punishment, schooling, and other child-related issues. The author explores the push for a wholesale adoption of French models of child-care and education, as well as the later reforms which met with the modern demands of European society.