ABSTRACT
A story from the Li'l Abner comic strips from the late 1940s will help to set the stage for the discussion of the concept of class structure. For some theoretical and empirical purposes, this simple image of the class structure may be sufficient. This chapter explores the basic differences between the class structures of feudalism and capitalism, then an analysis which revolved entirely around the relationship between capitalists and workers might be adequate. However, for many of the things the author wants to study with class analysis, need a more nuanced set of categories. In particular, the author needs concepts which allow for two kinds of analyses: first, the analysis of the variation across time and place in the class structures of concrete capitalist societies, and second, the analysis of the ways individual lives are affected by their location within the class structure.
