ABSTRACT
In previous chapters we have argued that the ‘demise of social class’ is a thesis not well supported by the evidence from the British survey of class structure and class consciousness. Sectionalism associated with possible sectoral cleavages is relatively unimportant when set alongside class phenomena, in particular the persistence of class identities, and the unequal class mobility chances associated with unchanging ‘social fluidity’ over the past half-century or so. To the extent that our respondents are instrumental in their attitudes to class organizations and privatized in their life-styles—and our evidence suggests that such claims must be qualified in important respects—then these are hardly novel developments somehow to be attributed to recent changes in the economic or social structure of this country. Studies undertaken by historians suggest that sectionalism, privatism, and instrumentalism are longstanding characteristics of British working-class life, yet have not prevented working-class organizations from pursuing class as well as sectional objectives. This suggests that class action is but partly a function of the ‘social consciousness’ of class members. Specific outcomes depend also upon the attributes of the organizations that represent class interests in the economic and political spheres. Class analysis should be extended to embrace this institutional level.
