ABSTRACT
In the 1990s the British Tory party talked of 'the classless society', and New Labour of being the party of the middle class, the country and 'the people'. The use of social class as the basis for a general conceptual framework through which to analyse society and social change has been the subject of detailed debate and discussion for over a century. This chapter outlines the social changes have clearly contributed to a disruption of established forms of social solidarism which held groups and social classes together. These changes have inevitable complications for social cohesion across generations and for established relationships between men and women. In these ways class relationships can be seen to continue in changing contexts and with changed contents. The chapter argues that in pubs, restaurants and television studios in ways which will challenge and undermine the very idea of a 'classless society'.
