AMST 219
Understanding Social Class Fall 2018
Division II Difference, Power, and Equity
This is not the current course catalog

Politicians and pundits often bill the United States as a classless society, owing to its lack of a feudal past. Since the 1950s, most Americans–including many whom sociologists would deem wealthy or poor–have come to describe themselves as “middle class.” But this may be changing. Bernie Sanders’ strident calls to reign in Wall Street greed remain enormously popular. And since the election of President Trump, journalists have rediscovered a group they call “the white working-class” while books such as Hillbilly Elegy and White Trash have moved to the top of the best seller lists. So, what is class and how does it shape our lives today? This course is designed to introduce students to the study of social class in an interdisciplinary fashion. We will use memoir and works of fiction to better grasp the life experiences and worldviews of people on different rungs of the economic ladder. Then we will delve into the ways that major theorists, such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Pierre Bourdieu have defined social class in terms of work life, social standing in a community, and bundles of “tastes” or consumption preferences. We will turn to historians to make sense of the patterns by which class inequality developed in tandem with racial oppression in the United States, and to the competing arguments of sociologists attempting to explain the growing wealth gap. Finally, we will look to activists and social workers to see how individuals and groups work to bridge the class divide in attempts to mitigate poverty and challenge inequalities. Throughout, participants will be encouraged to use assigned materials as prompts to think critically about how class shapes their own lives.