The American Perception of Class,

Author

Weber Cannon; Lynn ; Vanneman; Reeve

Year

1987

Publisher

Temple University Press

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

25-Feb-2026

Keywords

Sociology ; Political Science

Description

Conventional wisdom tells us that Americans are not class conscious. America’s workers seem to lack the desire for class struggle that motivates socialist movements around the world. France and Italy have large Communist parties that capture much of the working-class vote; Austria, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries have worker-based Social Democratic parties; England and Australia have Labour parties that have won elections and governed during some if not most of the post-World War II period. Throughout Europe, workers’ unions have sought not an accommodation to industrial capitalism but its replacement by a system of collective ownership. Working-class revolutions were fought...