Foundations+of+a+neo-Weberian+Class+Analysis

//Richard Breen, “Foundations of a neo-Weberian Class Analysis,” in Erik Ohlin Wright, ed.,// Approaches to Class Analysis //(Cambridge University Press: 2005), chap. 2.// - The main question is how we can define class and why we do it, with a focus on Weberian understanding. (PS: I did not see a big difference between Weberian and Neo-Weberian understandings. It looks like Neo-Weberian is just newer –efe) - **//Life chances//**: the chances an individual has for sharing in the socially created economic or cultural goods that typically exists in any given society (quoted by Breen from Giddens) - Weber says “market distributes life chances according to the resources that individuals bring to it”. o Proprety owners vs non-owners o Skills o Other assets - Economic class and social class are not the same. Social class is the aggregration of economic class. - Four classes in Weber o Dominant entrepreneurial and propertied groups o Petty bourgeoisie o Workers with formal credentials o Workers with only labor force to offer - Weber does not address class conflict. He uses classes ti examine o Relation between class position and life chances o Class position as a determinant of the individual’s conditions of actions o Class conscious behavior (the one above is un-conscious) - Goldthrope worked to develop a class schema. o People who own means of production vs. those who do not. o People working under a contract vs. those who work without one - Another distinction (the one on figure 1) o Asset specificity o Monitoring difficulty
 * Main point:** Goldthrope class schema (p.16) is important class analysis tool based on Weberian understanding and dimensions of work (Figure 1 on p.15)
 * Conclusion:** Breen talks about operationalization of class understanding based on Weberian theories. So actually, the article is only figure 1 and table 1. I was surprised to see the impacts of Weberian understanding and classification in several other readings.