ABSTRACT
The explanations and rationalizations that are brought to bear in local disputes very often have wider implications. In areas like Selton Town and Vermount where neighborhood culture is seen to be very much a matter of class, disputes offer a sure index to the course of class debate and to the ingredients of class ideology. Two interclass disputes-one between employer and employee, the other between party group leader and party group member-which show private and political patronage at work are also analyzed. Along with the intraclass disputes, these second two disputes illustrate the major principles of disputation between people of unequal power in the neighborhood. Middle class residents of Selton Town and Vermount often mention the limitations they impose on those with whom they will mix. Positions maintained through wealth and power or through formal education and proper socialization: These are the major terms in which residents challenge or legitimize class relations.
