Global InformationSocial class in the United Kingdom information
The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, which continues to affect British society today.[1][2] British society, like its European neighbours and most societies in world history, was traditionally (before the Industrial Revolution) divided hierarchically within a system that involved the hereditary transmission of occupation, social status and political influence.[3] Since the advent of industrialisation, this system has been in a constant state of revision, and new factors other than birth (for example, education) are now a greater part of creating identity in Britain.
Although the country's definitions of social class vary and are highly controversial, most are influenced by factors of wealth, occupation, and education. Until the Life Peerages Act 1958, the Parliament of the United Kingdom was organised on a class basis, with the House of Lords representing the hereditary upper class and the House of Commons representing everybody else. The British monarch is usually viewed as being at the top of the social class structure.
British society has experienced significant change since the Second World War, including an expansion of higher education and home ownership, a shift towards a service-dominated economy, mass immigration, a changing role for women and a more individualistic culture. These changes have had a considerable impact on the social landscape.[4] However, claims that the UK has become a classless society have frequently been met with scepticism.[5][6][7] Research has shown that social status in the United Kingdom is influenced by, although separate from, social class.[8]
This change in terminology corresponded to a general decrease in significance ascribed to hereditary characteristics, and increase in the significance of wealth and income as indicators of position in the social hierarchy.[9][10]
The "class system" in the United Kingdom is widely studied in academia but no definition of the word class is universally agreed to. Some scholars may adopt the Marxist view of class where persons are classified by their relationship to means of production, as owners or as workers, which is the most important factor in that person's social rank. Alternatively, Max Weber developed a three-component theory of stratification under which "a person’s power can be shown in the social order through their status, in the economic order through their class, and in the political order through their party.[11] The biggest current study of social class in the United Kingdom is the Great British Class Survey.[12] Besides these academic models, there are myriad popular explanations of class in Britain. In the work Class, Jilly Cooper quotes a shopkeeper on the subject of bacon: "When a woman asks for back I call her 'madam'; when she asks for streaky I call her 'dear'."[13]
- ^ Harriet Harman: Social class is still most important divide in Britain. www.telegraph.co.uk, 9 September 2008
- ^ Biressi, Anita; Nunn, Heather (2013). Class and Contemporary British Culture. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230240568.
- ^ Boundless. "Boundless Sociology - Simple Book Publishing". www.boundless.com. Retrieved 30 March 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Changing Social Class Identities in Post-War Britain: Perspectives from Mass-Observation by Mike Savage". Sociological Research Online. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "US". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ "Fabian Society on Cash and the Classless society". fabians.org.uk. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ "To Sir, with love from all the grovellers". www.theguardian.com. 31 December 2000. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ Chan, Tak Wing; Goldthorpe, John (2004). "Is There a Status Order in Contemporary British Society?" (PDF). European Sociological Review. 20 (5): 383–401. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.454.5199. doi:10.1093/esr/jch033. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ Kuper, Adam, ed. (2004). "Class, Social". The social science encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-415-32096-2.
- ^ Penney, Robert (2003). "Class, social". In Christensen, Karen; Levinson, David (eds.). Encyclopedia of community: from the village to the virtual world. Vol. 1. SAGE. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7619-2598-9.
- ^ Hurst, Charles E. (2007). Social Inequality Forms, Causes, and Consequences Sixth Edition. Allyn and Bacon Boston, MA. ISBN 0-205-48436-0. p 202
- ^ "BBC - Lab Uk". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ Cloake, Felicity (8 March 2012). "How to cook the perfect bacon sandwich". The Guardian. London.