social class decline essay plan

1. Essay
Explore the argument that there has been
a decline in the significance of class
in contemporary Britain
Marie Langlais

2. The introduction

3. The introduction
• 1. Catch phrase (e.g. quote, data, historical fact,
etc.): To catch the reader’s attention.
• 2. Interest of the essay: To show why it is
relevant to study this particular topic.
• 3. Question: To structure your essay, which is the
answer to the question you formulated (only
you).

4. 1. Catch phrase
• In 1996, John Prescott MP (and then deputy
leader of the Labour Party) claimed « we are all
middle-class now », at a time where the working-
class suffered and still suffers today from a great
identity crisis.

5. 2. Interest of the essay
• If there are indeed less class conflicts as those we could
have seen in the 19th century, social cleavages are still
present within British society. Thus, studying social
classes in contemporary capitalist societies is still
relevant today.
• According to Mike Savage, « the idea of class continues to
have a role in showing the interconnectedness of various
social processes » within modern British society.
• (...) However, we have to reconsider the nature of social
classes today, in order to be able to conclude if there is
effectively a decline in the significance of class today.

6. 3. Question
• Is Great Britain heading towards a ‘classless
society’ nowadays?

7. The body

8. The body
• 1. The changing definition of class.
• 2. The impact of social mobility on the
weakening significance of class.
• 3. The declining class awareness and class
consciousness.
• 4. A British class system more and more based
on race and ethnicity.

9. 1. The changing
definition of class
• A social class is, along with age, ethnicity and
gender, a major form of social stratification2. It can
be defined as a a group of people sharing the same
social capital (e.g. networks), economic capital (e.g.
wealth, ownership of property and income),
educational status (e.g. level of education and
knowledge), but it also includes notions of power
and prestige (also called ‘symbolic capital’), or even
patterns of behaviour and attitudes, according to
Ivan Reid.

10. 1. The changing
definition of class
• There has been a historical mutability of classes and
of the interactions between classes within British
society. Consequently, it is less easy to identify
ourselves to a specific social class nowadays.
• (...) The notion of ‘class’ has indeed become almost
ambiguous and the definition of social class is
continually evolving (...) especially since Margaret
Thatcher’s era, who notably claimed in September
1987: « there is no such thing as society.There are
individual men and women, and there are families ».

11. 2. The impact of social mobility on the
weakening significance of class
• In 1990, John Major (Conservative Party) declared
in The Guardian that Britain « needed a ‘classless
society’ », by abolishing the class distinctions raging
in the country, through more social mobility. Social
mobility can be mainly considered as a change in
status between one individual and his previous
family generation.
• Indeed, it is essential to focus on social mobility to
understand the declining significance of the
working-class for instance. Social mobility can be
upward or downward.

12. 2. The impact of social mobility on the
weakening significance of class
• (...) Thus, if there has been more social mobility
between classes since the 1950s, there is still a clear
hierarchy in Great Britain, separating the people
and with a superior elite at the top, ruling the
country and the economy, like in France or in Italy
for instance. Maybe British society can’t be
considered anymore as a ‘class society’, but more as
a three-layered hierarchical society, due to the
divides between the underclass, the over class and
in the middle, seen as « a new and growing anxious
class » (also called ‘middle England’), as described by
Tony Blair (New Labour) in the 1990s.

13. 3. The declining class awareness and
class consciousness
• As Gordon Marshall argued in 1988, there has been a dramatic
decline in the class awareness and in the class consciousness (i.e.
class identity, class opposition, class totality and class alternatives),
however, social and economic disparities have been rising in Great
Britain since the 1970s.
• (...) There is no real ‘class struggle’ nowadays, as we saw in the 19th
century when they was a clear opposition between the working-
class and the upper class of British society. Indeed, since WWII,
phenomenons of globalisation, post Fordism, new technologies,
disorganised capitalism, etc., have progressively enhanced social
changes and redefined the position and reduced the consciousness
of the British working-class, such as the growing individualism of
modern cultures. These phenomenons have also led to the
shrinkage of the unskilled workers. All these factors have
undoubtedly contributed to the decomposition of the working-
class.

14. 3. The declining class awareness and
class consciousness
• Even politically, the influence and the implication of
the working-class at various levels of party politics
has been progressively limited, in a political sphere
more and more oriented towards the issues and
the concerns of the middle-class.
• (...) Nonetheless, the working-class has not
disappeared. It seems that Great Britain moved
from a conception of social class close to Karl
Marx’s theories (about the two classes at war),
towards a society mainly based upon a liberal
conception of prestige or status.

15. 4. A British class system more and
more based on race and ethnicity
• The class system in Britain is more based on racial and
ethnic minorities today. Indeed, Indian, Pakistani and Afro-
Caribbean communities seem to be more marginalised than
the white workers. Instead of a traditional white working-
class that was previously present in British industrial regions
(e.g.Yorkshire, Lancashire), there has been the emergence of
a new underclass of poor and unemployed black or South-
Asian individuals in the United Kingdom
• Consequently, there are still sharp divisions and inequalities
in Great Britain, but from a very different vision on
contemporary social structure.

16. The conclusion

17. The conclusion
• 1. Answer to your question:Yes, no, or even
both.
• 2. Briefly sum up your main arguments but avoid
details.
• 3. If you can (not compulsory), try to ‘enlarge’
the topic to a wider problem or to a similar
issue (e.g. the question of Britishness today, or
the representation of classes in popular culture,
or the current politics of austerity that target
the working and middle classes, etc.)

18. 1. Answer
• We can conclude that nowadays, most people
still see Britain as a ‘class-bound society’, like
most contemporary societies, where inequalities
of power and wealth are still present, according
to David Cannadine. To achieve a ‘classless
society’ would mean no more distinct barriers
between individuals and their social status, but
also no conflicts of interest, a vision which
seems a bit utopian.

19. 2. Sum up
• Nevertheless, it seems that there is actually a
decline in the significance of the notion of class
in modern Britain (1), replaced by the
enlargement of a wide middle class (or middle
classes) (2), and also due to the end of the
traditional white proletariat, now surpassed by a
diversity of ethnic and poorer minorities (3)
within the multiculturalist British society.

20. Some tips

21. Some tips
• Never forget the question of your essay, to
always respect the subject and write relevant
arguments.
• Imagine that you are talking to someone who
knows absolutely nothing about the topic. Thus,
you must explain with accurate arguments and
examples, show that you know what you are
talking about and try to be really convincing.

22. Some tips
• Never write an example without an argument.
An example is an illustration, not an idea.
• Avoid to write ‘I’ (e.g. I think, I believe, etc).
• Be precise and concise, think about the reader’s
comfort, and avoid complicated and long
sentences.

23. Thank you for listening !