Definition

Noun: A category of people within a society who share a similar socioeconomic position. This position is typically defined by a combination of factors including wealth, income, education, occupation, and social status.

Usage and Examples

The term "social class" is used to describe and analyze the hierarchical stratification of a society. * Sociologists often study the effects of social class on life outcomes. * Mobility between social classes can be difficult in some societies. * The novel explores the tensions between different social classes in 19th-century England.

Advanced Usage

• "Class consciousness": Awareness of one's own social class and its interests, often in relation to other classes.
  • The labor movement helped to develop a strong sense of class consciousness among workers.
• In academic discourse, "social class" is a key concept in theories by thinkers like Karl Marx (who focused on relationship to the means of production) and Max Weber (who emphasized status and power in addition to economic factors).

Variants and Related Words

• Class (n.): A common shortened form of "social class".
  • She comes from a middle-class background.
• Class system (n.): The structured hierarchy of social classes in a society.
• Classless (adj.): Describing a society without distinct social classes.
  • The ideology promoted a supposedly classless society.

Synonyms

• Socioeconomic class: A more formal term emphasizing the economic and social components.
• Stratum (plural: strata): A layer or level within a hierarchical system (often used in sociological contexts).
• Caste: Refers to a rigid, hereditary social system, most associated with traditional Indian society.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Upper class: The social class with the highest status and wealth.
• Middle class: The social class between the upper and working classes, typically comprising business and professional people.
• Working class: The social class consisting of people who are employed for wages, especially in manual or industrial work.
• Class struggle/conflict: The tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes.
• Class mobility: The ability to move up or down the social class hierarchy.

Noun

1. people having the same social, economic, or educational status
   • the working class
   • an emerging professional class