Social Strata in the Class Structure of Socialist Society (An Attempt at Theoretical Construction and Empirical Investigation)

The class-based approach is the critical principle in the Marxist analysis of social life. Class relations are the dominant element in social structure. Classes, in turn, have their own intraclass structure, whose fundamental element is the social stratum. Strata may be identified by means of criteria that reflect the objective, dialectical interconnection between strata and class characteristics. In this process class indicators serve as the general and stratum indicators as the particular. These propositions are accepted by virtually all sociologists whose work has appeared in print or who have spoken at any of the three All-Union conferences on the social structure of Soviet society.