Rational Choice Marxism and Social Class Boundaries

Abstract

Rational Choice Marxism (RCM) is an increasingly influential strand of thought in an increasingly post-Marxist world. Part of its interest is the attempt of some thinkers to move beyond the exegetical debates that have often passed for Marxist social science. This article attempts an assessment of how fruitful this shift of focus has been in one area where there is significant overlap with the interests of more mainstream social scientists, the conceptualization of social class boundaries. The conclusions are mainly negative and it is pointed out that rational choice discussions of class need not necessarily take an explicitly Marxist form. The article ends with a construal of a relatively familiar sociological class schema in terms that should be congenial to rational choice theorists.