The Class Structure of Metropolitan Adelaide

Abstract

This article offers an empirical class map of the Adelaide metropolitan area, replicating the original version of the class schema developed in the USA by Erik Wright. This schema sets out ways of constituting unambiguous and contradictory class locations by measuring aspects of the social relations of production. The resultant class map emphasises the complexity of modern class structures. It examines some problematic relationships between . class and occupation, class and gender, and class in the public and private sectors. The argument is that Wright's schema is more successful as a theory of authority relations than as a property- based theory of exploitation.