Solution
David answered on
Dec 22 2021
pg. 1
How is Class imagined?
From the sociological perspective class or social class is imagined as “a group of
individuals who occupy a similar position in the economic system of production” (“What is
social class?”, n.d.). But only to imagine class as a group of people having similar degree of
wealth possession, societal influence, and status can be considered as a na
ow approach as
studies have found that “Social class reflects more than the material conditions of people’s lives”
(Kraus, Piff, & Keltner, 2011). And though there has always been a debate encircling the issue
that whether class is a scientific construct or does it really exists, “A host of early studies, both
qualitative and quantitative, established that most people believe social classes exist, and most
are able to place themselves in a class” (Evans & Kelley, 1992).
Social class is often imagined to be comprised of several different complex components
and the objective indicators of socioeconomic status used by researchers to measure social class
often “refers to the material conditions of life that an individual enjoys” (Kraus, Piff, &
Keltner, n.d.), and judging from this point of view, social class can be imagined as the power and
accessibility and the degree of scopes and opportunities that a group of individuals enjoy more in
comparison to some other groups of people dwelling in the society. But to imagine or measure
class on the basis of objective socioeconomic status can pose some serious problems and this is
evident in the fact that it is never easy to determine that how the measures of level of education,
the degree of family wealth, etc combine to capitulate a single measure of social class (Kraus,
Piff, & Keltner, n.d.). Such problems relating to the objective analysis of the concept of class has
paved the way for the emergence of a new kind of approach towards imagining class and
defining it more appropriately and this approach is formulated from the subjective perspective.
Interestingly enough “Recent research studying the influences of social class upon health
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outcomes suggests that class included rank vis-à-vis others in the social hierarchy” (Kraus, Piff,
& Keltner, n.d.). It has been found that subjective socioeconomic status assesses social class rank
“relative to other members of the same university, community, or country” (Kraus, Piff, &
Keltner, n.d.), and due to such assessment the perceived place of an individual within the social
hierarchy can be understood and properly analyzed. Moreover, many sociologists argue that “the
subjective side of class is more important, arguing that a class only exists if people recognize that
they are same and share interests and goals in common, in which case class is a state of
(collective) mind” (“Topic 3: Social Class and Cultural Identity”, n.d.). So, from this angle it can
e said that a particular social class is often imagined as an organization within which people live
and share same interests, pursue common goals, and are more inclined towards collectivism
although having some specific individualistic notions and thought pattern.
The conceptual basis of class is based upon the stratification of social classes. There are five
oad divisions of social class that include the upper class or the elite, the upper middle class, the
lower middle class, the working class, and the poor (“What is social class?”, n.d.). Upper class is
concretely imagined to be composed of institutional leaders, head of multinational corporations
and other foundations, owners of lands and stocks and other assets, etc, whereas, upper middle
class theoretically is composed of individuals having both high income and higher degree of
social prestige, and such individuals are usually engineers, accountants, lawyers, architects, etc
(“What is social class?”, n.d.). Lower middle class is imagined to be an institution composed of
individuals who provide support for professionals and...