Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to make a contribution in this direction by examining a specific section of white-collar employees and specifying a basis for their identification as part of a new middle class. It examines the inadequacy of orthodox Marxist approaches to the class structure as well as sociological alternatives to them by an examination of social theory in both Germany and Britain. The treatment of white-collar workers in the class structure is inadequate leads, to a reexamination of the works of Marx. The book examines the parallel growth and importance of new middle-class workers in the state sector in the context of changing state structures and policies. It explores the opposing theories surrounding white-collar unionism, maintaining that they have imported from stratification theory inappropriate models of social class.