Group of the Middle Classes in Modern Britain - Coursework Example

Critically assess how far the concept of a single "middle has been replaced by a much broader group of the "middle es" in modern Britain Introduction: Any critical analysis of the classes in society needs a proper understanding of the existing classes in society and the members of society that make up the class. In keeping with this scheme of things, in critically analysing the concept of the “middle class” in Britain it is necessary to understand the concept of the middle class and those segments of the British society that are likely to constitute the middle class. Only then would it be possible to address the issue of any change that has taken place in the British middle class. Definition of Middle Class: It is much easier to define those that do not form the middle class than it is to define the middle class. The middle class as the name suggests is a class of society, whose members neither belongs to the upper class nor the class. This definition is the easiest, but is so vague that it hardly means anything. Turning back the pages of history the middle class initially constituted the members of society that were concerned with the trade functions in townships, with the upper class being the nobility and landed gentry the lower class the peasants that worked on the lands. A clear distinction based not so much on the wealth of the members of society. The gradual erosion of the nobility and industrialisation causing a new set of workers, besides those employed on the lands, necessarily meant changes in the classification and these tended to be based on the professional aspect of the individual. The element of earning capacity was slowly creeping in to the definition of the middle class in Britain. In the United States of America class distinction has always been based on the earnings of the individual and this has been reflected in a lesser manner in Britain, where the experience of nobility, gentry and peasantry has still not totally faded away. Industrialisation only increased the size of the segments of society that fell under the various professional categories that were considered middle class and did not remove the merging of the end of the spectrum with the other classes of society. (Loftus, D. 2001. The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class). To ease the difficulty in defining the middle class in these modern times, it would be useful to look at the manner in which Max Webber and Karl Marx viewed this class of society. The common ground for both Webber and Marx is their agreement that wealth and economic advantage form the basis of the classes in society. A group of people that share a similar economic status with respect to occupation, income and ownership of wealth may be considered as belonging to a class of society, according to Webber. These economic factors are related to the level of education of the individual and have a bearing on the social status, level of influence and power that the individual wields in society and the life chances. Therefore the middle class may be considered as a class in society wherein all the members have a similar economic status as a result of their occupation, income and ownership of wealth. (Bottomore, T. 1993. POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY A classic study of modern politics. Pp.1-27.). Let us next examine what segments of society fall into the middle class category and thus get a better picture of what the present day British middle class reflects. Characteristics of the Middle Class: The middle represents a class of society separate from the upper class and the working class that do not indulge in any manual labour. This means that professionals, white collared employees, medium and small business owners, retail and other non-routine employees make up the middle class. This distinction is based on type of labour involved and leads to wide disparities in the class as a whole. The characteristics of the middle class in comparison with the working class include higher education, better working conditions, higher earnings, and careers in place of jobs, higher aspirations for their children, larger housing and better living conditions. In comparison with the upper class these characteristics are supposed to present a lower dimension and yet there are many in the middle class that tend to have better characteristics than the upper class or are in a worse off state than the working class causing a distinction in the middle class to upper middle class for those who compare well with the upper class and lower middle class that is closer to the working class. The middle strata with minimal population then turn out to be representative of the middle class, if it truly exists. Similarities of the Middle Class: The similarity of the middle class lies in the fact that their working environment is more fulfilling and does not involve manual labour. The inclusion of medium and small business owners in this class means that these elements of the middle class have some form of ownership. All other similarities of the middle class are gradually waning to make them more similar to either the upper class or more likely with the upward mobile working class. Marx and Weber on the Middle Class: For Marx there were only two classes in society and they were the entrepreneurs or bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. To Marx the middle class constituted the petit bourgeoisie and was not important in the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat as he predicted that in as capitalism grew the petit bourgeoisie would gradually shrink and fall into the working class. To Marx capitalism represents an exploitive system wherein wide disparities in the power levels would be inevitable, with some segments gaining more at the expense of the other segments of society. Thus struggle in a capitalistic society just cannot be avoided. This struggle is historical and will go on. Again for Marx for the proper evolution of civil society, the development of capitalism is a necessary evil. It is from the class struggle that happens in capitalism can a civil society emerge, wherein all individuals have equal ownership and are equally empowered. (Bottomore, T. 1993. Political Sociology. A classic study of modern politics. Pp. 1-27). Weber on the other hand believed that classes in society were more complex, as it consisted of several constituents. To Weber class was a result of inequalities that came from the working of capitalist system and the market place. Status was the result of comparison individuals made of one another and were based on these judgments. Finally party, which is the reflection of the shared interests of the individuals. To Weber these three elements of social class were distinct, but to Marx class by itself looked after all these three aspects. Weber did concede that in the modern capitalistic society class was more significant than status. Unlike Marx who proposed only two classes of society with the middle class gradually fading out in a capitalistic society, Weber proposed four classes subdividing the middle class and thus laid the first step to the impression of the ever expanding middle class. The four classes of Weber were the upper class that owned properties and consisted of the privileged class that came by birth, inheritance and education, the middle classes constituting individuals employed to run the business establishments of the capitalists and the high ranking state employees and teachers, the petit bourgeoisie comprising of small business owners and the manual working class that sell their labour to eke out their living. (Faulks, K. POLITICAL SOCIOLGY. 1999. A Critical Introduction. Pp. 32-50). Relevance of Marx or Weber to the British Middle Class: On one hand we have Marx proposing the gradual demise of the middle class in a capitalistic society and on the other hand we have Weber expanding the middle class by creating two constituents for it. By examining the state of society in Britain today it would be possible to decide whether the middle class in Britain today is being replaced by a broader group or not. The collapse of the Soviet has seen developments all round the world wherein capitalism is becoming the preferred system of society. The professionals and the white-collar workers form a significant portion of the middle class not just in Britain, but also all over the world as a part of the growing capitalistic societies. These two segments of society are experiencing bad times. A report published in 2004 shows that 3.8 million people constituting 14% of the professionals in Britain had earnings that pushed them below the poverty line. The earnings of this class of people were as low as 114 pounds per week. This group include teachers, nurses, managers, social workers, solicitors, musicians and other with social standing, but limited educational background. A far cry from the middle class proposed by Weber. (Ward, D. 2004. Middle-class professionals are Britains hidden poor) This feature is not unique to Britain alone. In America, the bulwark of capitalism, in today’s environment, despite the fact that both husband and wife remain employed, many middle class families are finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet with the prices sky-rocketing. Does this mean a new class of society is emerging? The answer is yes, but it does not mean that the middle class is expanding. Rather to the contrary and more in keeping with Marx the middle class is coalescing into the working class. (Dugas, C. 2003. Middle class barely treads water). Another issue is the advent of technology leading to the loss of white-collar jobs and thus having an impact on the middle class. The advances in technology have caused deskilling and proletarialization, which has led to the possibility of downsizing in organisations, wherein less skill is necessary to have the job done or repetitive functions, can easily be managed with less staff. Deskilling is the use of new machinery and new techniques to simplify tasks. The advent of computers has made the skills of a secretary no longer relevant, with managers capable of doing this function on the computer. Proletarialization brings about a reduction in the status of white-collared workers in an office wherein simple repetitive and routine tasks are taken care of. An example of this is the Photostat machine that allows for any number of copies to be made in place of stencil or typewritten copies. Typists are slowly becoming redundant and such workers without additional abilities slowly drift into the working class. The Marxian prophesies of the coalescing of the middle class into the working class coming true in this capitalistic world. Conclusion: In the light of the experience of many individuals in the middle class and in the working place, the middle class in Britain is not expanding but rather getting reduced as the expansion of the middle class is taking place in such that many of them may now be considered more as working class than middle class. The world is becoming differentiated into haves and have-nots and so is the case in Britain. There is no middle road. Either one has and belongs to the upper class or one does not have and one belongs to the working class of society. The views of Marx of society evolving into two classes the upper class and the working class have more relevance today in the British capitalistic society. Literary References Bottomore, T. 1993. POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY. A classic study of modern politics. Second Edition. Pluto Press. London. Pp. 1-27. Dugas, C. 2003. ‘Middle class barely treads water’. Money. USA TODAY. [Online]. Available at http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2003-09-14-middle-cover_x.htm. Faulks, K. 1999, POLITICAL SOCIOLGY. A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. Pp 32-50 Loftus, D. 2001, ‘The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class’. Social History. Society and Culture. bbc.co.uk. [Online]. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/society/middle_classes_01.shtml. Ward, D. 2004, ‘Middle-class professionals are Britains hidden poor’. The Guardian. Guardian Unlimited. [Online]. Available at http://society.guardian.co.uk/socialexclusion/story/0,11499,1269185,00.html Read More