ABSTRACT

This chapter examines how social classes are structured by the changing forms in which knowledge is organised within societies dominated by capitalist social relations. It then shows the interrelationships between three issues normally kept separate such as: the changing relations between mental and manual labour, the analysis of social classes and the nature of 'organic intellectuals'. Many analyses in the sociology of class clearly indicate the possibility of reconciliation, implicit or explicit, between Marxist and Weberian approaches. The more empirical Marxist studies become, the more people attain a 'rapprochement with social enquiry conducted in a more strictly academic style and context'. The chapter considers the distinctions drawn by Marx between the formal and the real subsumption of labour. It is erroneous to suggest that the nature of educational credentials perfectly mirrors the requirements of the capitalist economy.