Redrawing the class map

the long version

The question of how social stratification should be conceptualized in modern societies is a key question in sociology. The author shows that although Western European workforces remain decidedly stratified with respect to life chances, service sector expansion and occupational upgrading have profoundly altered the nature of stratification. Therefore, a new analytical framework is needed to grasp today's class structure. This is the aim of Redrawing the Class Map. It develops a novel class schema and presents a rich array of empirical findings about class differences in working conditions, gender relations, and party preferences. Moreover, the book offers new insight into class inequalities in the integration into institutions sucha as the welfare state, the trade union movement and the political system in contemporary Britain, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Written from a comparative perspective, the book makes a major contribution towards understanding employment stratification in Western Europe.