Summary for Chapter 6 in the Power and Everyday Practice - Admission/Application Essay Example

Power and Everyday Practice Task Introduction This article gives a summary of chapter 6 of the book “power and everyday practice”. Chapter six of this book gives and introduction to the sociological concept of class and illustrates how as a social relation, a class may have profound connection to every aspect of daily life. The chapter begins by giving a description of the economic crisis that occurred in 2008 which brought adverse effects like, a plunge in stock values, failure in financial institutions, and rise in levels of unemployment, personal bankruptcies and mortgage failures.

Principles of free market capitalism that had for so long shaped the economy were posing a serious challenge. BodyThe chapter reviews the work of a prominent sociologist Max Weber who has been influential in shaping the study of class within sociology. The chapter distinguishes between the concepts of class as it has been developed in both the Weberian and the Marxist traditions of sociology and then focuses on Marx’s writing in greater detail. This suggests that his work provides a greater insight the profound ways in which class relation are fundamentally connected to the social organization of power.

The chapter aims to contribute to understanding of the broader framework of relations ruling constructed by Dorothy smith. According to this article the return of class runs against the currents of sociological thinking. The profound economic, political and social of the latter half of the 20th century led to the belief that class may be unequal to the task of explaining present reality. Even though working class movements were predominant in the early and the mid -20th century, other kinds of social movements were more likely to reflect the conditions of inequality and social conflicts of the late 20th century, as class relations faded.

Authors try to draw attention to the need to understand how capitalist societies may have changed as compared to the early years of industrial capitalism. There exists a common understanding of class as a position within a socioeconomic hierarchy. Ones class position is taken to mean ones income level. Conclusion Conclusively, this chapter explores class and power in terms of wage labor and the normalization of conditions and alienation through the everyday experience of going to work. It also illustrates ways in which Marx’s approach to class analysis may help in understanding connections between class, power and the set of political institutions that encompass governments and their agencies.

ReferenceBrock, D. R., Thomas, M. P., & Raby, R. (2012). Power and everyday practices. Toronto: Nelson Education.