Social Class in Europe: New Inequalities in the Old World

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Over the last ten years the issue of Europe has been placed at the centre of major political conflicts, revealing profound splits in society. These splits are represented in terms of an opposition between those countries on the losing and those on the winning sides of globalisation. Inequalities beyond those nations are critically absent from the debate. Based on major European statistical surveys, the new research in this work presents a map of social classes inspired by Pierre Bourdieus sociology. It reveals the common features of the working class, the intermediate class and the privileged class in Europe. National features combine with social inequalities, through an account of the social distance between specific groups in nations in the north and in the countries of the south and east of Europe. The book ends with a reflection on the conditions that would be required for the emergence of a Europe-wide social movement.

Reviews

Three sociologists analyse the European social structure, looking at the implications of the economic and political integration that has taken shape on the continent. Their approach provides new opportunities for the study of inequalities. The book seeks to provide an overview of inequalities between socioeconomic groups with regard to working conditions, income, education, cultural practices and international mobility. In doing so, it establishes itself as a highly valuable resource on account of the large number of statistics it provides. The abundance of studies cited across a wide range of fields and the concrete illustrations of the phenomena described also make it a useful reference work for all those interested in matters of social classes and inequalities in Europe. -- Milan Bouchet-Valat * booksandideas.net *
If you are interested in the future of socioeconomic inequality, class structure and political mobilization in Europe, you should read this book. Cdric Hugre, Etienne Penissat and Alexis Spire develop an innovative and powerful empirical-quantivative and conceptual-analytical framework in order to offer a transnational perspective on social class in Europe. I very much hope that this work will be followed by sociologists, economists and social scientists and of all stripes and others. A must-read! -- Thomas Piketty
Bringing the social theories of Pierre Bourdieu to bear on a trove of survey data, Social Class in Europe draws a bold and bright map of class structure, division and condition across the continent. It demonstrates how European unification has splintered the lower classes while solidifying the domination of the economic and cultural bourgeoisie. By documenting social polarization both within cities and countries as well as across regions (North/South, East/West), it provides an essential key to understand the class struggles and political strife roiling Europe in the 21st century. -- Loc Wacquant, author of Urban Outcasts: A Comparative sociology of Advanced Marginality and Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity.
A highly sophisticated and original attempt to combine a class analysis of Europe with a political critique of the institutions of the European Union. An important step forward for the left developing a European strategy. * Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne *

Author Bio

Cdric Hugre, sociologist, studies social and educational inequalities in France and in Europe. He has coauthored Sociologie des classes populaires, a book that offers an overview of the scholars that created the working class category in France.Etienne Pnissat, sociologist, works on social classes and trade unionism. He has edited several books published by Agone, including Rprimer et domestiquer, Stratgies patronales and Porte-parole, militants et mobilisations.Alexis Spire, sociologist, works on inequalities and tax compliance. He has published eight books, four of them single authored, including Etrangers la carte and Rsistance limpt, attachement lEtat, about social classes and taxation policies.