ABSTRACT
An essential question in the study of social inequality is where to place the primary emphasis–class, status, power, race, ethnicity, gender or religion–and the measurement of equality is largely dependent on the choice of the ‘focal variable’ (Sen 1992: 1–2). A recurrent debate in the social sciences has, in particular, revolved around the choice between class and political power, which is roughly paralleled by a second debate that centres on whether inequalities are created and sustained principally within the economic structure, or whether the nature of inequality is determined in the political structure (Grabb 1984: 7). More recently, in what is dubbed a ‘cultural turn’ in the research on social inequality and class, the primary emphasis has shifted towards culture.
