Class Struggles

Once a master category of historical and social analysis, the concept of class has been in trouble for some time. This book provides a commentary on related debates and demonstrates why class matters. "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 The topic of class has been central to historical debate for decades. But although the concept continues to be fundamentally important, its role has changed dramatically. During the 1960s and 1970s, class was the central organizing principle of the new social history; the working class was particularly dominant. Today investigation into other classes, particularly the middle classes, has grown in breadth and depth; contemporary historians work within an atmosphere of interdisciplinary discussion; and the class dynamic is often considered among other facets of identity, such as gender, race and ethnicity. Dennis Dworkin explores the new scholarship and theoretical debates that have led to this transformation, examining not only historians’ findings and conclusions but also the historical sources that produced them, incorporating both specialized studies and the latest historiographical discussions. This comprehensive new introduction gives a clear and concise overview of past and current perspectives, explaining why class was, and still is, important. Dennis Dworkin is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nevada. He is the author of Cultural Marxism in Postwar Britain (Duke University Press, 1997) and coedited and contributed to Views Beyond the Border Country: Raymond Williams and Cultural Politics (Routledge, 1992). 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.