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This textbook provides a lively and penetrating exploration of the concept of class and its relevance for understanding a wide range of issues in contemporary society. The book presents a sophisticated account of the theoretical foundations in an accessible and engaging manner. It then explores class using cross-national comparative data on topics such as social mobility, housework, friendship patterns, class structure and class consciousness. This Student Edition of Class Counts thus combines Wright's sophisticated account of central and enduring questions in social theory with practical analyses of detailed social problems.
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Class Counts, Student Edition Erik Olin Wright CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Class Counts: Student Edition This book provides students with a lively and penetrating exploration of the concept of class and its relevance for understanding a wide range of issues in contemporary society. What unites the topics is not a preoccupation with a common object of explanation, but rather a common explanatory factor: class. Three broad themes are explored: class structure, class and gender, and class consciousness. Speci®c empirical studies include such diverse topics as class variations in the gender division of labor in housework; friendship networks across class boundaries; transformations of the American class structure since 1960; and cross-national variations in class structure and class consciousness. The author evaluates these studies in terms of how they con®rm certain expectations within the Marxist tradition of class analysis and how they pose challenging surprises. This Student Edition of Class Counts thus combines Erik Olin Wright's sophisticated account of central and enduring questions in social theory with detailed empirical analyses of social issues. Erik Olin Wright is Vilas Research Professor and C. Wright Mills Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the author of eight books, most recently Reconstructing Marxism (with Elliott Sober and Andrew Levin, 1992), Interrogating Inequality (1995), and Class Counts (1997). This page intentionally left blank Studies in Marxism and Social Theory Edited by g. a. cohen, jon elster and john roemer The series is jointly published by the Cambridge University Press and the Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, as part of the joint publishing agreement established in 1977 between the Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. The books in the series are intended to exemplify a new paradigm in the study of Marxist social theory. They will not be dogmatic or purely exegetical in approach. Rather, they will examine and develop the theory pioneered by Marx, in the light of the intervening history, and with the tools of non-Marxist social science and philosophy. It is hoped that Marxist thought will thereby be freed from the increasingly discredited methods and presuppositions which are still widely regarded as essential to it, and that what is true and important in Marxism will be more ®rmly established. Also in the series j o n e ls t e r Making Sense of Marx ada m p rzewo rski Capitalism and Social Democracy j o h n r o e m e r (ed.) Analytical Marxism jon elster an d k arl m o en e (eds.) Alternatives to Capitalism m i c h a e l t a y l o r (ed.) Rationality and Revolution don ald l. donman History, Power, Ideology dav id sch weickart Against Capitalism philippe van parijs Marxism Recycled john torr ance Karl Marx's Theory of Ideas g. a. coh en Self-ownership, Freedom, and Equality e r i k o li n w r i g h t Class Counts This page intentionally left blank Class Counts Student Edition Erik Olin Wright Maison des Sciences de l'Homme PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL