Class, Political Economy, and Institutionalism: Toward a Rapprochement?

Abstract

Institutionalists are often troubled by the kind of class analysis employed by orthodox Marxists because it overlooks the many and varied institutional factors present in modern labor markets. By the same token, heterodox economists of all stripes find it difficult to teach social class to modern students who see themselves as members of a ubiquitous middle class. Two recent books, Michael Zweig's The Working Majority and Baiman et al.'s Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism (PECC) highlight some key institutional features of US social classes and the important implications that follow from a broadly heterodox analysis of class. The important empirical, historical, and institutional analysis contained in these works should redeem class analysis for institutionalists and provide a rich background for students. Zweig's book presents a modern interpretation of the class structure of the United States. His main contribution is the comprehensive empirical analysis that he employs in delineating the US class structure. Key to his analysis is his definition of social class: Class is about the power some people have over the lives of others, and the powerless-