Structure, Consciousness and Action: A Sociological Profile of the British Middle Class

Abstract

Discussion of class, of 'class interests' and 'class conflict' is currently a major preoccupation not only of academic writers in sociology and politics but also of many journalists and politicians. Reading the articles in llewspapers and weekly journals it is hard to recall how only a few years ago the use of class analysis was derided, the concept dismissed by many as archaic and inappropriate in any consideration of Britain in the sixtics. The last three or four years have seen a remarkable change. Quite suddenly we find that alongside the neoMarxian focus on class conflict there has appeared a remarkable willingness to talk of 'class' among those who oppose and disparage Marxism. The language of class has acquired a new legitimacy and we now find M.P.s like John Gorst scorning the sensibilities of fellow parliamentarians who 'talk of socio-economic groups, or B, CI and C2 consumer categories, and ... blush when you mention middle class. They can't call a spade a spade any more. . . '1 Gorst and a number of other politicians on the right have tried to overcome the traditional reticence of many non-manual workers to specify and make public their 'class' interests, and in so doing they have given many current political debates a new sharpness. It appears to these mobilizers of opinion that the time has come to arouse the consciousness of the 'middle class', to declare opposition to the blue collar unions and to Labour governments; to stake the claims of the self-employed, the professionals, the managers and others with white collars to (as they see it) a fairer share of the goods and resources in society. Ariicles in print and on radio and television broadcast the message that 'the middle class' or 'middle classes' have had enough. For instance in a recent newspaper piece we find the assertion that: