Weberian class inequality

• Weber

  Two class system is outdated.

  • Differences in class, status, and party cause inequality due to the direct effect on life chances.
  • Class is your market position.
  • Status is the degree of honour or prestige attached to social groups. These social groups use status symbols to announce their common membership.
  • Party is the exercise of power by pressure groups, political parties, and trade unions. Economic wealth doesn't confer power but can impact it.
• Marxists criticise Weber for making it too complicated. Capitalism uses the divide and rule strategy to stop rebellion.
• Barron and Norris- Weberian 


  Labour market is divided into two sectors.

  • Primary sector has well-paid jobs and security. Secondary sector has poor pay, insecurity, and no ladder of promotion.
  • People with low levels of class, status, and party are more likely to end up in secondary, such as zero hour contracts and gig work.
  • Inequality is caused by the existence of a dual labour market.
• Functionalists such as Davis and Moore criticise Barron and Norris for not acknowledging that primary sector jobs require role allocation theory to find the most talented people.
• Parkin Neo Weberian 


  Exclusion strategy and social clousure is used by the upper class who are anxious to protect their privilege. Private schools give children cultural and social contacts which allow them better life chance that working class children do not get.
• King and Smith 


  Jack Wills crowd used clothing that was only sold at elite social events to maintain social grouping and exclude the lower classes from their privilege.
• Marxists criticise Parkin's exclusion theory as it fails to explain which groups end up with power to exclude as it lacks structural analysis.
• Hutton - Weberian


  Britain is dividing in a 40/30/30 society. Bottom 30% are unemployed and disadvantaged. Middle 30% are in structurally insecure forms of employment and are marginalised. 40% have secure jobs that are covered by trade unions and are privileged.
• Feminists such as Walby would criticise Hutton as the theory lacks an emphasis on gender and ethnicity, who are more likely to be within the 30% categories.