Subjective social class has a bad name, but predicts life chances well. An empirical attempt at rehabilitation
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24 Nov 2021
16:00-17:30, Clay Room, Nuffield College
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University of Lausanne
Abstract: Over the last decades, the study of subjective class has become dormant and been eclipsed by research on objective class. The recurrent mismatch between individuals’ perception of their own class and researchers’ assessment of the same individuals’ class has brought subjective class into disrepute. Today, it is common wisdom among sociologists that self-reports of social class are poor measures of objective class. Our talk questions this common wisdom. Based on two rounds of the International Social Survey Programme 2009 and 2019, we show that indicators of subjective class explain more variance in life chances – economic opportunities as measured with income and wealth – than do various indicators of objective class for a large array of countries. Subjective class notably outperforms objective class in predicting household income, suggesting that individuals determine their class based on their household’s economic situation.
The Sociology Seminar Series for Hilary Term is convened by Bess Bukodi and Colin Mills For more information about this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact sociology.secretary@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.