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What are you Worth?: Why Class is an Embarrassing Subject

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  • Andrew Sayer

Abstract

The paper attempts to explain the unease and evasion that sociologists commonly encounter when asking lay people about class. It is argued that these responses derive from varying degrees of awareness of the morally problematic nature of class. This has been obscured by contemporary sociology's tendency to explain behaviour by reference to interests and power or custom and to overlook lay moral sentiments. That the responses are reasonable is shown by an analysis of a) the injustice of class, b) its effect in distorting moral sentiments, and c) the injuries caused by class. Combinations of self-justification with acknowledgement of undeserved advantages and disadvantages result in ambivalence and embarrassment about class, though this may not preclude class pride. The analysis of these moral sentiments is then developed further in relation to studies of the struggles of the social field, in the work of Bourdieu and others, commenting on his shift from a hermeneutics of suspicion to a hermeneutics of sympathy in The Weight of the World. It is argued that what is at stake in these struggles is not only differences in material wealth and recognition but differences in ability to realise commitments and valued ways of living.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Sayer, 2002. "What are you Worth?: Why Class is an Embarrassing Subject," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 7(3), pages 19-35, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:7:y:2002:i:3:p:19-35
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.738
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
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    1. Paul Watt, 2006. "Respectability, Roughness and ‘Race’: Neighbourhood Place Images and the Making of Working‐Class Social Distinctions in London," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 776-797, December.
    2. Andrew Leyshon & Dawn Burton & David Knights & Catrina Alferoff & Paola Signoretta, 2004. "Towards an Ecology of Retail Financial Services: Understanding the Persistence of Door-to-Door Credit and Insurance Providers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(4), pages 625-645, April.
    3. Stacey Pope, 2015. "‘It's Just Such a Class Thing’: Rivalry and Class Distinction between Female Fans of Men's Football and Rugby Union," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(2), pages 145-158, May.
    4. Bouzarovski, Stefan & Simcock, Neil, 2017. "Spatializing energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 640-648.
    5. Jo Forster & Margaret Petrie & Jim Crowther, 2018. "Deindustrialisation, Community, and Adult Education: The North East England Experience," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Lydia Lochhead & Michelle Addison & John Cavener & Steph Scott & William McGovern, 2024. "Exploring the Impact of Stigma on Health and Wellbeing: Insights from Mothers with Lived Experience Accessing Recovery Services," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-12, September.

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