Boiling class down to feelings or to its effects is unsatisfactory

What is class and what role does it play, if any, in the US in the 21st century?

These are two questions raised in a recent book titled Class Matters compiled by a handful of New York Times journalists and other commentators. Is class an issue of status or education, or is it even relevant, the editors wonder in the introduction... We can safely dismiss right-wing claims that class does not exist. Halliburton’s access to the highest levels of political power and billions in profits that enrich its owners, while 750,000 people live on the streets every day is but one example that puts that lie to rest...

In left US academic circles it is common to refer to the basic trinity of race, class and gender (some add sexuality, ability, nationality) that governs social life. While this is useful for explaining why people live their lives the way they do and the choices they make or are forced to make, these categories are often equated as “identities” that have similar causes and effects.

Class is sometimes reduced to its effects – income, education, status or attitudes. The term, “classist,” has even been invented to describe the prejudices of middle- and upper-class people against the poor. In a society that usually pretends class isn’t real and that all experience is individual, the reintroduction of some version of class, no matter how thin, is a dramatic improvement. Still, boiling class down to feelings or to its effects is unsatisfactory for Marxists. politicalaffairs.net