Transclasses: A Theory of Social Non-reproduction

by Chantal Jaquet

How people become "class traitors"

One is not born a worker or a boss. Social reproduction is not an iron law; it admits of exceptions that must be accounted for in order to measure its scope.

This book aims to understand the passage from one social class to another and to forge a method of approaching these particular cases which remain a blind spot in the theory of social reproduction. It analyzes the political, economic, social, familial and singular causes that contribute to non-reproduction, and their effects on the constitution of individuals transiting from one class to another.

At the crossroads of collective history and intimate history, Chantal Jaquet identifies class locations, the interplay of affects and encounters, and the role of sexual and racial differences. She invites us to break out of disciplinary isolation in order to grasp singularity at the crossroads of philosophy, sociology, psychology and literature.

This requires deconstruction of the concepts of social and personal identity, in favour of a concepts like complexion and the criss-crossing determinations. Through the figure of the transclass, it is thus the whole human condition that is illuminated in a new light.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2023

About the author

Chantal Jacquet is a French philosopher. She is currently a professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne where she leads an international research seminar on Spinoza and where she directs the Center for the History of Modern Philosophies at the Sorbonne

Reviews

[Hans Buijze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nb dit is geen review van dit boek maar van een boek van Lenette Schuyt dat Transklasse heet en dat zijn inspiratie vond in het boek van Jaquet. Het boek van Schuyt wordt niet vermeld in goodreads, vandaar.
Waarom zoveel moeite? Omdat ik zo diep diep onder de indruk ben van dit boek. Te lezen voor elke sociale stijger en voor allen die belangstelling hebben voor sociale stijgers en hoe deze groep mensen bepaald is door dit fenomeen. Heel veel gedragingen zijn terug te voeren: omgaan met anderen, met kennis, geld, jezelf moeten bewijzen, schaamte, etc. Ik vond het onthullend en verhelderend en ook nog eens goed geschreven, persoonlijk en met humor.

[David Toms · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I've read a book on social class theory that has been so illuminating and provided a new language to talk about an old topic, especially a language designed to discuss the topic of social mobility in the new century, which takes account of how to do so intersectionally.

[Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the least useful books I’ve read, unfortunately. Trying to explain upward social mobility from first principles just ends up being pretentious filler: did you know people are inspired by people they know? Did you know people who move up can feel emotions like shame and that they don’t truly belong? Do you know rich people have different social mores?

Yes it’s interesting to ponder the question that if your environment reinforces your place in the world why people move, but the way Paquet goes about it is excruciating. Almost all the examples are from literature which she handwaves away as it reflecting real life. But it hardly seem substantive evidence of anything even if Annie Ernaux’s fiction is mostly autobiographical.

This honestly feels like an interesting proposal that the author couldn’t then substantiate with anything but kept writing anyway.

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