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Even though it is a truism that English society is organized along strict class lines, the meaning of the word class is far from evident. While some sociological approaches try to pin down the phenomenon to economics only, scholars of culture should acknowledge that it has a multiplicity of facets. After discussing the ways the stratification of society has been conceptualized and how it has developed from the eighteenth century onwards, the seminar studies the cultural determinants and manifestations of class, from ancestry to education, from language to manners, from clothing to patterns of recreation. We will furthermore look at intersections between class on the one hand and location, gender, ethnicity and religion on the other. In a last step, the situation in England is compared to the USA, a country that is sometimes overhastily described as a classless – albeit unequal – society.
A detailed seminar programme will be provided on DuePublico. |
