New Class Society: Goodbye American Dream?

by Robert Perrucci, Earl Wysong

Perrucci (sociology, Purdue U.) and Wysong (sociology, Indiana U. Kokomo) analyze the structure of the "new" class system in the United States, which in their view is characterized by a melding of organization structures, resources, and class interests among predominantly affluent Americans; a one-sided class war against workers; and a growing polarization of classes. The analysis rests on a distributional model that retains the focus on occupational structure central to production models of class but also incorporates considerations of organization membership and the distributional processes of income, pensions, and taxes controlled by organizations. Their treatment is guided by three that class structure has intergenerational permanence, that there is no middle class ("either you have stable, secure resources over time, or you do not"), and that classes have conflicting interests. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction

449 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2002

Reviews

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important but difficult read (difficult in its truth)

[Chunchun · Rating 4 out of 5]

这样的题目总是吸睛，内容也算是有理有据，认为新经济时代以制造业为生的中产阶层受到重创，精英与富人阶层则通过财政、教育、文化、信息产业或手段巩固本阶层利益。但是总感觉过于悲观于中产阶层的命运，现实中处境更糟的还是穷人阶层，这对社会稳定发展造成很多潜在威胁。我所在的Davis以治安良好而著称，总人口才六七万，过去一周发生八起抢劫事件，所以只盯着中产阶层不会根本上实现美国梦，只会持续加深贫富阶层隔阂。

[ASC Library]

305.509 Wys

[Amy Paget · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard author Robert Perrucci speak about the 'double-diamond U. S. class system at the recent Diversity Summit. As a result she briefly engaged the author in conversation and then requested his book through Interlibrary Loan. Perrucci and Wysong hold a very pessimistic view on any potential for 'upward mobility' in the United States...and as such their findings fly in the face of conventional wisdom. A hard book to read, but worth attempting for anyone wishing to engage in public policy debates.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Class warfare has been waging long before any of us started occupying.