First published in 1975. How do men come to perceive and evaluate a world in which marked inequalities of class and status exist? This book considers the nature of class images and their underlying work and community structures. Beginning with the argument that the perception of society varies according to type of work and community milieux, it first considers the social imagery of working-class professions and their sources of variation, and then examines some of the methodological problems of the study of class imagery. The nature of proletarian traditionalism and radicalism in then contemporary Britain is discussed in conclusion. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

"I recommend a book by Professor Williams, it is really worth a read, it's called White Working Class." -- Vice President Joe Biden on Pod Save America An Amazon Best Business and Leadership book of 2017 Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite—journalists, managers, and establishment politicians--are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, described as having "something approaching rock star status" by the New York Times, explains why so much of the elite's analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in class cluelessness. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor"--but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality. Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities--just with more money. While white working-class motivations are often dismissed as racist or xenophobic, Williams shows that they have their own class consciousness. White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters.

In an important contribution to a perennial debate, Dr Savage argues that over-concentration on national labour movements has ignored the variety of local political strategies developed by working-class movements; these variations show that working-class politics develops on the basis of different types of solidarity rooted in various forms of local social structure. Such mutations are not a recent development, testifying to the decline of class politics, but have been an enduring feature of capitalist societies. In a detailed case study of Preston, Lancashire, Dr Savage shows how the strategies and strengths of the various political parties changed between 1880 and 1940, as workplace solidarities gave way to neighbourhood-based ones, and as changing gender relations in the textile industry facilitated the organisation of women. Its sophisticated use of sociological theory and detailed empirical analysis distinguish The Dynamics of Working-Class Politics as one of the more important essays in historical sociology published in past years.

REVISED AND UPDATED WITH A NEW PREFACE Today’s working class is a sleeping giant. And as Tamara Draut makes abundantly clear, it is just now waking up to its untapped political power. Sleeping Giant is the first major examination of the new working class and the role it will play in our economic and political future. Blending moving individual narratives, historical background, and sophisticated analysis, Draut forcefully argues that this newly energized class is far along in the process of changing America for the better. Draut examines the legacy of exclusion based on race and gender that contributes to the invisibility of the new working class, despite their entwinement in everyone’s day-to-day life. No longer confined to the assembly line, today’s working class watches our children and cares for our parents. They park our cars, screen our luggage, clean our offices, and cook and serve our meals. They are us. With “Fight for $15” minimum-wage protests popping up throughout the country (and in some places winning) and economic inequality being recognized as one of the defining issues of our time, today’s working class will soon become impossible to ignore and foolish to dismiss. Sleeping Giant is the first book to tell the story of this extraordinary transformation in full and inspiring detail.

In the second edition of his essential book—which incorporates vital new information and new material on immigration, race, gender, and the social crisis following 2008—Michael Zweig warns that by allowing the working class to disappear into categories of "middle class" or "consumers," we also allow those with the dominant power, capitalists, to vanish among the rich. Economic relations then appear as comparisons of income or lifestyle rather than as what they truly are—contests of power, at work and in the larger society.

First published in 1981, The British Business Elite is a study of the attitudes to class, status and power of top businessmen in Great Britain, based upon first-hand interviews with chairmen, chief executives and other directors of Britain’s largest industrial, banking and insurance companies: men of genuine wealth and power. Dr Fidler produces important empirical data in a field of study which has been plagued with problems of access; a field in which much of the theory has been based on assumptions. The book includes a careful examination of the background and career of those interviewed; a discussion of the way in which businessmen see the objectives of their companies, particularly relevant to the long-standing debate over the ownership and control of corporations; their views of class and status and of the power of businessmen in Britain. Finally, Dr Fidler considers the implications of the research for future theory and investigation.

A classic introductory text for students. Major sociological theories are clearly explained and it is shown how they can illuminate contemporary social problems.