Social Class in Europe. Étienne Penissat
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SOCIAL CLASS IN EUROPE
SOCIAL CLASS
IN EUROPE
NEW INEQUALITIES IN THE OLD WORLD
CÉDRIC HUGRÉE, ETIENNE PENISSAT
AND ALEXIS SPIRE
TRANSLATED BY RACHEL GOMME
WITH EUNICE SANYA PELINI
First published in English by Verso 2020
First published as Les Classes sociales en Europe. Tableaudes nouvelles inégalités sur le vieux continent © Editions Agone 2017 Translation © Rachel Gomme with Eunice Sanya Pelini 2020
All rights reserved
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
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Verso
UK: 6 Meard Street, London W1F 0EG
US: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Verso is the imprint of New Left Books ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-628-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-627-5 (LIBRARY)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-630-5 (UK EBK)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78873-629-9 (US EBK)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Control Number:
2020932681
Typeset in Minion by Hewer Text (UK) Ltd, Edinburgh
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
Contents
List of maps
List of graphs
List of tables
List of abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Considering Europe through the lens of social class
Transcending the clichés of national difference
Portrait of a social group in competition throughout Europe
The map of the working class in Europe
Shared vulnerability in the European labour market
Income and consumption: the working class split in two
2. Delusions of Grandeur and Social Realities: The Middle Class
Material comfort and cultural aspirations
The paradoxes of the political role of the middle class
3. Beyond the 1 Per Cent: The Plural Domination of the European Dominant Class
The economic ascendancy of the dominant class
The three forms of cultural distinction of the dominant class
From social to political dominance
4. Dominance and Exclusion: The Interplay between Social Class and Nation
At the bottom of the European social space
The hegemony of the dominant class of the North and West
Circulation between classes and nations
5. Are Classes Mobilised at the European Level?
Class in conflict in and with the European Union
Class antagonism contained within national borders
An embryonic European social movement and its limitations
Conclusion
Appendix 1. Secondary Use of Four European Surveys
Appendix 2. Construction of Social Classes at European Level Using the ESEG Classification
Appendix 3. ESEG Classification (Detailed Level) and Social Class
Appendix 4. Constructing a European Social Class Space
Notes
Index
1. The working class in European countries
2. The middle class in European countries