In the 1960s and 1970s the study of history and sociology was heavily influenced by Marxism and theories of class. But the collapse of Communism and significant changes in culture and society threw the study of class into crisis. Its most basic premises were called into question.
More recently accelerating globalisation, proliferating multinational corporations and unbridled free-market capitalism have given the study of class a new significance and caused historians and sociologists to revisit the debate.
This book looks at the changes that caused the crisis in the study of class and shows how new, vibrant theories have appeared that will drive forward our understanding of history and sociology.
Introduction. PART 1: CLASSICAL FOUNDATIONS. 1. The Making of Class. 2. Class and Class Consciousness. PART 2: CULTURE AGAINST SOCIETY. 3. The Cultural Turn. 4. From Social to Cultural History. 5. The Language of Class. PART 3: FOREGROUNDING OTHERS. 6. Foregrounding Gender. 7. Foregrounding Race. 8. Class and Beyond. Conclusion.
Biography
Dennis Dworkin is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada. He is the author of Cultural Marxism in Postwar Britain (1997) and coedited and contributed to Views Beyond the Border Country: Raymond Williams and Cultural Politics (Routledge, 1992)
"Once a master category of historical and social analysis, the concept of class has been in trouble for some time now. In a book remarkable for its focus and clarity, its reach and breadth of learning, Dworkin provides an unsurpassed commentary on current debates ... and demonstrates why class still matters."
Professor Jim Epstein, Vanderbilt University, USA
