ABSTRACT

First Published in 1995. The study of the middle classes actually poses a variety of interesting challenges. Traditionally, the social scientific gaze has been directed either downwards, to the working classes, the poor and the dispossessed, or upwards, to the wealthy and powerful. For all these reasons, a collection of original papers on various aspects of the British middle classes seems an important venture that will cast valuable light on the course of social change in Britain more generally. This book is designed to bring together a series of accessible, high-quality research papers on various aspects of the British middle classes.

part |12 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|12 pages

Marking out the middle class(es)

part 1|24 pages

Orientations

chapter 2|11 pages

Class analysis and social research

chapter 3|11 pages

The debate over the middle classes

part 2|55 pages

Class, gender and ethnicity

part 5|34 pages

Consumption and the middle classes

part 6|37 pages

Politics and the middle classes

part 7|46 pages

Conclusions