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Social Class in the 21st Century (Pelican Introduction) Mass Market Paperback – 5 Nov 2015

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Mike Savage (Author)
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Mike Savage (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 28 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Pelican (5 Nov. 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0241004225
  • ISBN-13: 978-0241004227
  • Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 2.3 x 18 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 11,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

This endlessly fascinating study... is indispensable if you want to understand modern Britain (Rod Liddle Sunday Times)

A fascinating read, going deep into the interplay between wealth, culture and society, and making the strong case that traditional class divisions don't really help us to understand these forces any more . . . anybody in the UK discussing class henceforth will need to get this down of the shelf (Hugo Rifkind Times)

Convincing and fascinating . . . this book marshals impressive evidence to show how inequality is increasing. (Robert Colvile Telegraph)

There's something for everybody here . . . it will start many conversations (Evening Standard)

About the Author

Mike Savage is Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. He has written this book in collaboration with the team of sociology experts behind the Gret British Class Survey: Niall Cunningham, Fiona Devine, Sam Friedman, Daniel Laurison, Lisa Mckenzie, Andrew Miles, Helene Snee and Paul Wakeling.

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Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsGreat charts; mixed conclusions
By Amazon Customer on 15 Nov. 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Social Class in the 21st Century is a bargain at £6.49 (on kindle). It is packed full of data from the Great British Class Survey. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions, you can love the charts and tables.

(My favourite was figure 8.4 which showed individuals' wealth, depending on how far they live from the city of London - a tide of money rippling out.)

Mike's main point is that class is alive and kicking in Britain. At one end, the 'precariat' eek out a tough existence on low pay or benefits; at the other, an ordinary elite - wealthy, but not the super rich, have good jobs and expensive houses, mainly living in west London or its commuter belt. And folk in various shades in the middle.

His term precariat is a helpful neologism: descriptive rather than pejorative. Mike also makes the point that the steep precipice from the top to the bottom means people who start near the summit are much more likely to make it.

But I had three beefs with the book:

1. Mike mentioned but did not explain the main reason for the change in class structure: Globalisation. British class is now a small part played in a global drama. Globally, people are getting wealthier. The rich in London are the world's rich. Stoke's precariat are precarious because they compete for work with people across the world.

2. Mike takes Bourdieu too literally so seems to misunderstand cultural capital. The point Bourdieu makes in 'Distinction' is that what is called 'good taste' is arbitrary not essential: 'taste' is just what the Bourgeoise happen to admire. Mike and the team found out what different folk happen to like doing for fun in Britain. And then used that to determine class status. Which is the wrong way round.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsPreaching to the choir?
By therealus TOP 1000 REVIEWER on 19 Jan. 2016
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
People of my generation were born into a world of presumed certainties and emerging opportunities. We knew that if we secured a certain kind of employment it would deliver a job for life, that if anything went wrong the welfare state would look after us, and that there were three classes – working, middle and upper – and that to a large extent the one you were born into would determine the path your life would follow. Mostly these certainties were, of course, illusory or misconceived. The jobs for life turned out to be nothing of the sort, and nowadays few if any people have that illusion. (Back in the early nineties I recognised that things were changing so fast that aspiring to a specific role as my next move was futile, as the role would likely soon be disappearing.) The welfare state is not now the unquestioning provider of succour in times of need that it used to be, and has been known on too many occasions to deny help not only to those who possibly don’t really need it but also, too often, to those who really do. But although the three-class landscape turns out to have been oversimplistic, it remains the case that the class you’re born into has a massive say in which class you’ll die in.

Mike Savage, in Social Class in the 21st Century, gives an account of this world, largely by means of interpreting the findings of the Great British Class Survey. Through this means the old tripartite class system, and the six-layer one I learnt in Sociology in the mid-seventies, is replaced by a seven-layered classification. Where you belong within this structure is determined by three types of capital: economic, social and cultural. Economic capital speaks for itself; social capital is in simple terms the kinds of people you know; cultural capital encapsulates your interests and pastimes.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsVery interesting but not entirely convincing
By Amazon Customer on 11 Feb. 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
A very useful introduction to Bourdieu's ideas about social class and makes it clear that the old ideas of manual working, middle and upper class are no longer particularly helpful as descriptors of twenty-first century societies. On the other hand having defined some interesting ways of treating the great mass of us somewhere in the middle of the socio=economic hierarchy we are left behind and the authors concentrate on the very very wealthy at the top of the tree and the precariat who are scraping a living at the bottom. These two groups are bleeding obvious and not analytically terribly interesting compared with the gradations in the middle. The authors also do not make a very convincing case for the importance of social and cultural capital. It is worth noting that most of those who indulge in high culture are pretty well off but some not so wealthy people do go to opera from time to time (indeed opera seems to be the main criterion of high culture, I wonder whether that is the authors' preferred relaxation). But many poor people do pay just as much, probably more often, to attend premier league football matches and while there actually bump into some very wealthy people. All of which leads to the question of how helpful the sociological ideas of class are. As a non-Marxist I find the Marxian derived
definitions based on the ways people obtain enough resources to live on are the most useful; From the top are those who don't need to work unless they want to because they own sufficient assets, through those who have regular, usually secure long term employment, to those with erratic employment and finally those for whom paid employment is very intermittent for various reasons.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsFull of Clichees and a Failed Attempt to Broaden Descriptions of Class

The book is full of clichees, that one would not be used to from a leading academic. It has a very narrow-minded feel, showing interviews with people as a matter of examples. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Sascha Grillo
3.0 out of 5 starsA few omissions

Despite an attempt at accessibility through the use of a mountaineering analogy, this book is as dry as dust. Read more

Published 3 months ago by charlie
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very insightful

Published 5 months ago by Teresa Mohamudally
5.0 out of 5 starswhat makes class differences in the UK - and why they are widening

This s a fascinating look at the data behind the BBC class survey, and a very informative development which looks at what makes for class differences in the UK today - wealth,... Read more

Published 5 months ago by markr
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great read and a good size for carrying on the commute to work

Published 6 months ago by Q
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Fine.

Published 6 months ago by Mr Michael H Atkinson
5.0 out of 5 starsEssential for an understanding social class in this century. ...

Essential for an understanding social class in this century. The authors follow the results from a BBC consultations coming to this book with corrections to margins of errors. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Richard Mangas
4.0 out of 5 starsFascinating academic study of class

Much to my delight, this book is much more scholarly than I had expected. It's not a quick read, but really delves into all the complexities of social class today in the UK. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Susan B. Hanley
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

excellent exploration of the current definitions and implications of social strata

Published 9 months ago by a saleh
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recommended, probably my best read if 2015

The positive reviews say everything i would say, no point in repeating. This is a book that merits close study and repeat reading. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Jrussel

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