Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how social class plays a role in terms of, not birth, but of money earned, educational level, type of employment, public prominence, and similar elements, any or all of which also can be seen as helping individuals build and maintain a personal identity. It evaluates how social class continues to have a strong influence on society and serves as a means for the individual to gain a social identity and a personal one, as well. Through a literature review, it draws on the theories of the likes of Karl Marx and Max Weber on the social divide and democracy.

From the Paper:

"Weber found that a social class is a group with a similar market situation and thus similar life chances. This fits with the idea that a social class is marked by economic level, employment, educational level, and the like. Weber makes this point when he identifies a market situation as something like flute players or stained glass window maker. Unions and professional associations are also organizations the members of which are identified so as to be members of the same class by at probably at least three dimensions, those being educational level, type of employment, and economic level to an extent. We gain our identity through these different dimensions, so while we may believe that we are above social class, we actually accept and acquiesce in the idea of social class when it is considered in this manner."

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