Working Class Theories Analysis Training

Objectives:
• Define class and class analysis in sociological terms.
• Explain the historical emergence of class theories.
• Identify key classical theorists and their contributions.
• Distinguish between objective and subjective class dimensions.

Topics:
• Introduction to class and social stratification
• Historical context: Industrial Revolution and class formation
• Karl Marx: class conflict and modes of production
• Max Weber: class, status, and party
• Emile Durkheim: division of labour and social solidarity
• Objective vs. subjective class: indicators and identity
• Overview of class in South African history
• Key terminology and conceptual framework

Objectives:
• Explain Marx's theory of class and exploitation.
• Analyse the concept of class consciousness and false consciousness.
• Evaluate neo-Marxist contributions (e.g., Gramsci, Lukács).
• Apply Marxist concepts to contemporary work contexts.

Topics:
• Marx: bourgeoisie, proletariat, and surplus value
• Class consciousness, class struggle, and revolution
• Alienation and commodity fetishism
• Gramsci: hegemony and ideological control
• Lukács: reification and class consciousness
• Neo-Marxism: Poulantzas, Wright, and contradictory class locations
• Critique and relevance of Marxist class analysis today
• Case study: labour relations in South Africa

Objectives:
• Differentiate Weber's multidimensional approach from Marx.
• Explain class, status, and party as distinct dimensions.
• Analyse social closure and market situation.
• Apply Weberian concepts to occupational stratification.

Topics:
• Weber: class situation, market capacity, and life chances
• Status groups and social honour
• Parties and power distribution
• Social closure: exclusion and usurpation
• Neo-Weberian approaches: Goldthorpe class schema
• Occupational prestige and socio-economic indexes
• Comparing Weber and Marx on class
• Application: class and inequality in modern South Africa

Objectives:
• Explain the functionalist view of stratification (Davis-Moore).
• Critically evaluate the functionalist perspective.
• Contrast conflict theory with functionalism.
• Analyse how each theory explains inequality.

Topics:
• Davis-Moore hypothesis: stratification as functional necessity
• Critique of functionalism: Tumin and others
• Conflict theory: Dahrendorf and class conflict
• Lenski's synthesis: power and privilege
• Symbolic interactionism and class as lived experience
• Intersectionality: class, race, and gender
• South African debates: race-class nexus
• Summary: strengths and weaknesses of each perspective

Objectives:
• Describe contemporary class structures in post-industrial societies.
• Analyse the impact of globalisation on class formation.
• Evaluate theories of the middle class and precariat.
• Apply class analysis to informal economy and labour flexibility.

Topics:
• Post-industrial society: knowledge economy and service class
• The middle class: boundaries and internal divisions
• The precariat: insecurity and new class fractions
• Globalisation: transnational capitalist class, global labour
• Class in the Global South: informal economy and casualisation
• Bourdieu: capital forms (economic, cultural, social, symbolic)
• Class reproduction and education
• Case study: class dynamics in post-apartheid South Africa

Objectives:
• Explain the cultural turn in class analysis.
• Analyse class as a cultural and identity construct.
• Evaluate theories of class consciousness and class cultures.
• Discuss class and consumption patterns.

Topics:
• Cultural class analysis: Bourdieu's distinction
• Class habitus and taste
• Working-class culture and resistance
• Middle-class values and lifestyle
• Class identity and self-placement
• Intersectionality: race, class, and gender identities
• Media representation of class
• South African class cultures: townships, suburbs, and rural areas

Objectives:
• Apply class theories to analyse real-world social issues.
• Synthesise different theoretical perspectives.
• Critically evaluate the relevance of class analysis in contemporary South Africa.
• Develop a class analysis framework for workplace or policy contexts.

Topics:
• Review of key theories and concepts
• Applying class analysis to inequality, poverty, and unemployment
• Class and social mobility: opportunities and barriers
• Policy implications: labour, housing, education, health
• Class and social movements: trade unions, community organisations
• Final group presentations: case study analysis
• Course evaluation and reflection
• Action planning for applying class analysis in professional roles