Redrawing the Class Map: Stratification and Institutions in Britain, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland

267 Pages·2006·1.148 MB·English

by  Daniel Oesch (auth.)

Redrawing the Class Map
Stratification and Institutions in Britain,
Germany, Sweden and Switzerland
Daniel Oesch
Redrawing the Class Map
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Redrawing the Class Map
Stratification and Institutions in Britain,
Germany, Sweden and Switzerland
Daniel Oesch
Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde von der Philosophischen Fakultät der
Universität Zürich im Wintersemester 2004/05 auf Antrag von Herrn Prof.
Dr. Hanspeter Kriesi und Herrn Prof. Dr Walter Müller als Dissertation
angenommen.
© Daniel Oesch 2006
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-1-349-54045-7
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author
of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
First published 2006 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-54045-7 ISBN 978-0-230-50459-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230504592
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oesch, Daniel, 1975–
Redrawing the class map : stratification and institutions in Britain,
Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland / Daniel Oesch.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social classes–Europe–Cross-cultural studies. I. Title.
HN380.Z9S6457 2006
305.5(cid:2)12094–dc22
2005056367
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
To Joanna
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Contents
List of Tables ix
List of Figures xii
Preface xiv
Introduction 1
Part I Labour Market Trends and the Theory of a 9
New Class Schema
1 Class Theorists and the Debate about the End of Class 11
2 Three Labour Market Trends and their Impact on the 27
Employment Structure
3 Women, the Manual/Non-Manual Divide and the 40
Working Class
4 Horizontal Divisions within the Middle Class 51
5 The Construction Logic of a New Class Schema 59
Part II An Empirical Analysis of Employment Stratification 73
6 Operationalization of the New Class Schema 75
7 The Class Structure of Britain, Germany, Sweden and 85
Switzerland
8 The Distribution of Advantage within the Class Schema: 94
Work Income and Promotion Prospects
9 Structural Divisions within the Class Schema: Firm Size, 107
Public Sector Employment and Party Support
10 Collapsed Versions of the Detailed Class Schema 124
Part III Class and the Concept of Institutional Embeddedness 135
11 Introducing Institutions: the Concept of Institutional 137
Embeddedness
12 Class Differences in Pension System Integration 144
13 Class Differences in Trade Union Membership 160
14 Class Differences in Political Citizenship and Electoral 179
Participation
15 Cumulative Differences in Institutional Embeddedness 197
Concluding Summary 209
vii
viii Contents
Statistical Annexe 222
Notes 232
References 239
Index 254
List of Tables
1.1 The Wright class schema based on exploitation 15
1.2 The size of the working class according to the Wright 16
class schema
1.3 The expanded Erikson and Goldthorpe class schema 23
5.1 The dimensions at the basis of the three different work 64
logics of wage-earners
5.2 The detailed 17-class schema (and collapsed 8-class) based 68
on four different work logics
6.1 Data sets and sample size 76
6.2 Operationalization of the class schema 79
6.3 Britain 1999 (BHPS): Most frequent professions in each class 82
(ISCO-4-digit level)
7.1 Britain 1999: Total distribution across classes in %; 88
in parentheses: women’s share within each class in %
7.2 Germany 2000: Total distribution across classes in %; in 88
parentheses: women’s share within each class in %
7.3 Sweden 2000: Total distribution across classes in %; 89
in parentheses: women’s share within each class in %
7.4 Switzerland 1999: Total distribution across classes in %; 89
in parentheses: women’s share within each class in %
8.1 Britain 1999: Median gross work income per month 96
8.2 Germany 2000: Median gross work income per month 96
8.3 Sweden 2000: Median gross work income per month 96
8.4 Switzerland 1999: Median gross work income per month 96
8.5 Britain 1999: Relative differences in earnings 99
8.6 Germany 2000: Relative differences in earnings 99
8.7 Sweden 2000: Relative differences in earnings 99
8.8 Switzerland 1999: Relative differences in earnings 99
8.9 Britain 1999: Promotion opportunities in current job 104
8.10 Germany 2000: Can improve career through further 104
education
8.11 Sweden 2000: Has some chances of promotion 104
8.12 Switzerland 1999: Has some chances of promotion 104
9.1 Britain 1999: Individuals working in a large company 108
(>100) as multiple of individuals working in a small
company (<25)
9.2 Germany 2000: Individuals working in a large company 108
(>100) as multiple of individuals working in a small
company (<20)
ix