Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The second edition of this successful book has been extensively revised and updated. It now incorporates the considerable range of further contributions to debates in class and stratification which have emerged since the first edition of this book was published in 1993. While many of these have asserted that 'class is dead', Crompton argues that class is very much alive. Thus 'postmodern' theories of 'post-class' societies are critically examined, as are the most recent contributions of quantitative sociological approaches such as those of Goldthorpe and Wright. It is argued that despite their theoretical differences, the work of these two authors has been undergoing a process of convergence in recent years.

One feature which belies the 'death' of class is the contemporary increase in the extent of social and material inequality. This topic, therefore, is explored at some length, as are other areas including gender and the feminization of the middle classes, the significance of recent changes in work and employment, consumption and citizenship.

The author's major aim remains that of the first edition - to provide an accessible introduction to this complex topic for undergraduate students. Despite the recent volume of apparently conflicting theoretical and methodological statements on the subject by different authors, Crompton nevertheless concludes that the way ahead lies in a better understanding and use of the range of both concepts and methods within the field, rather than the creation of 'new' theories, or the adoption of a single view of 'class' and 'class analysis' .

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction to the Second Edition
• Introduction to the First Edition
• Part I Explaining Inequality
• Introduction
• Social Order and Theories of Social Differentiation
• Stratification and the Debate on Social Class
• The Growing Critique of 'Class Analysis'
• Concluding Summary
• Part II The Classic Inheritance and its Development
• Introduction
• Marx
• Weber
• Class and Sociology after the Second World War
• Culture, Class and History
• Once Again, the Indivisibility of Structure and Action
• Social Class, Urban Sociology and the Turn to 'Realism'
• Conclusions
• Part III Measuring the 'Class Structure': Goldthorpe and Wright
• Introduction
• Occupations
• Conclusions
• Part IV Problems of Class Analysis
• Introduction
• Changes in the Structure of Work and Employment
• The Expansion of Women's Employment
• Class, Politics, and Action
• Gender and Class
• Are Social Classes Dying?
• Converging Approaches
• Conclusion
• Part V Farewell to Social Class?
• Introduction
• Bringing Status Back In
• Recent Social Theory
• Farewell to Class Societies?
• Discussion and Conclusions
• Part VI Lifestyle, Consumption Categories and Consciousness Communities
• Introduction
• Consumption-sector Cleavages
• Culture, Class and Occupation
• From 'Abstract Labour' to 'Customer Care'
• Summary and Conclusions
• Part VII Citizenship, Entitlements and the 'Underclass'
• Introduction
• T H Marshall and the Development of the Concept of Citizenship
• Women and Citizenship
• Race and Citizenship
• Social Citizenship and the 'Underclass'
• Conclusion
• 8 Retrospect and Prospect
• Introduction
• Social Mobility
• Social Polarization
• Conclusions
• References
• Index

Author notes provided by Syndetics