The Debate on Classes (Verso Classics) - Softcover

Wright, Erik Olin Olin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1859842801 ISBN 13: 9781859842805

Publisher: Verso Books, 1998

Synopsis

Erik Olin Wright's Classes was hailed on publication by the American Journal of Sociology as "almost certain to be the most important book on social classes" of the eighties. Wright presented a bold attempt -- through the subtle use of the tools of analytical Marxism -- to resolve some of the longstanding problems in contemporary class theory. The Debate on Classes brings together major critics of Wright's work to assess the adequacy of his theory. From differing perspectives, they deploy a range of empirical data - from studies undertaken in a number of countries - and they address questions as varied as the concept of 'contradictory class locations', the continuing coherence of Marxist approaches to class, the relation between stratification and social development, as well as the contentious roles of gender and ethnicity in generating inequality, and the central problem of the import of 'consciousness' and the concrete political activity on class composition. Also included are Wright's own spirited responses and reformulations in the light of these criticisms, thereby presenting the reader with an open, scholarly discussion in which intellectual collaboration develops an understanding of the impact of class on the wider terrain of culture and politics.

About this title

Review

Praise for Classes: "The most impressive book on class I have read in some years." - Michael Mann, Contemporary Sociology "An empirically supported reformulation of class theory that achieves exemplary standards of critique, complexity and clarity." - Claus Offe "Erik Olin Wright's Classes is almost certain to be the most important book on social classes this decade ... the book presents a major breakthrough in the conceptualization of class relations ... and it will be required reading for all macro-sociologists." - American Journal of Sociology

About the Author

Erik Olin Wright is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His other publications include Classes, Class, Crisis and the State (1978), Interrogating Inequality: Essays on Class and Analysis, Socialism and Marxism (1994), Classes (Verso classic 1997) and, with Andrew Levine and Elliott Sober, Reconstructing Marxism: Essays on Explanation and the Theory of History (1992).

Edition details

• Publisher: Verso Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1859842801
• ISBN 13: 9781859842805
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 368