ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the patterns in a range of European countries using available economic and social data to show how these patterns are changing. It considers some interpretations of major social divisions. 'Stratification' is a metaphorical term which refers to the hierarchical ordering of social relationships. Nationalism, ethnic conflicts and new social movements seem to have replaced class antagonism and workers' struggles at the centre of the political stage, creating a need for more complex models of social stratification. Armed with a concept of stratification which includes economic, social and cultural aspects, it is necessary to specify the measures of social difference which will allow us to define the various social strata. The way in which economic resources are allocated throughout society in the form of wealth and income is a basic indicator of the extent of social as well as economic inequality. The 'capitalist class' is the smallest but the most powerful of the categories.
