Class, Politics, and Social Theory: The Possibilities in Marxist Analysis

This paper addresses one of the most important and widely-debated concepts in social theory — class, particularly its contemporary political significance. Even within Marxist and Marxist-influenced analysis, where class is placed at the center of social, political and economic change, its conceptualization has remained a source of considerable confusion. The paper, therefore, briefly evaluates some influential Marxist attempts to provide a coherent Marxist definition of classes in contemporary capitalist societies. It goes on to argue for a nonessentialist understanding of class and class politics that draws primarily on Marxist political economy, concluding with a discussion of the continuing theoretical and political value of class theory and Marxist analysis.