ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter the difficulty in prioritising both careers to the same extent was examined, in this chapter it is probably the peculiar British obsession with class (Cannadine 1998) that has made me wish to reflect more on what the pursuit of a career means for partners in dual career households. Rather than critique approaches to class, in this chapter I highlight what it is to be a manager or professional in terms of status and success, with particular reference to the pursuit of a career and in the following chapter with the purchase of residential property. The traditional Marxian approach to class is based upon the labour process, and how workers relate to capital (and the bourgeoisie). Managers and professionals arguably are already outside the ‘working class’ as their careers place them as members/potential members of the bourgeoisie, so they are bound up in efforts to step out of the category of worker, and into the category of capitalist. Thus for careerists there is a ‘middle-class’ angst of working/ career/status, as well as an interaction with ideals of consumption (Butler 1995: 3).
