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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/29756
Title: | The Elusive Concept of Class |
Authors: | Borgia Holteng, Adalgisa Diana |
Advisor: | Pawluch, Dorothy |
Department: | Sociology |
Keywords: | concept of class |
Publication Date: | 2024 |
Abstract: | The concept of class has always been central in sociological theory and has generated endless debate. The aim of this dissertation is to explore an issue that I maintain has not received sufficient attention in sociological literature, namely, the competing understandings of class that underpin these debates. In this dissertation I conduct an in-depth analysis of four prominent theorists of class to show that class has been conceptualized in different and often contradictory ways. I focus on four key traditions: classical Marxism, Althusser's structuralism, Laclau's postmodernism, and Bourdieu's constructive or generic structuralism. I raise the question of whether the competing understandings of class in these theoretical traditions indicate a move towards abandoning the notion of class formations in sociological theorizing or whether they signify a movement towards a more complex, sophisticated, and encompasing understanding of class. After a deep-dive into understandings of class in the four traditions I have identified, I conclude by arguing that the latter is the case. That is, I argue that the shifts in the understandings of class represented in the work of Karl Marx, Louis Althusser, Ernesto Laclau and Pierre Bourdieu unveil a path towards a notion of class that can usefully guide and provide much needed coherence to the future discussions of class in sociology. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/29756 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Borgia Holteng_Adalgisa_D_202403_PhD.pdf | 907.38 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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