The concept of class in Economy and Society

A social class makes up the totality of those class situation within which individuals and generational mobility is easy and typical (Weber, 1978:302)

Weber defines class situation probabilistically in the following all two familiar way: class situation means the typical probability of procuring goods, gaining a position in life, and finding inner satisfaction.

A probabilitz which derives from the relative control over goods and skills and their income-producing uses within a given economic order. What Weber meant by a concept of social class is made up of the totalitz of those class situation, the boundry of which is said to be given by those class situations within which social mobility is easy and typical as in likely probable.

For Weber social mobility not only takes place between social classes but also within a social class as well and he actualy seems to suggest that the degree of mobiity within a social class defines the boundaries of this concept. According to Weber then, a social class is not a class at all unless mobility takes place within its borders and crucially this type of social mobility does not there fore undermine the existence of social classes, but rather defines what these classes are. Scot in 1994 pointed out that a promising future for class analysis can be achieved only if we go back to very theoretical measure to demographic process (Scott 1996a:127-31).

Ref:
-Smith, K., Operationalizing Weber's concept of class situation, Buckinghamshire Chiltans Univ College, ken.smith@bcuc.ac.uk

-"the promising future of class analysis" (in David Lee and Turner 1996) Conflict about Class, Essesx, Pearson Education
-Goldthorp and Marshal, Essay, Social mobility and class structure in Modern Britain, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992
-Atkins, P., 2003, Galileo's finger: The ten great ideas of science, Oxford Univ Press