Critically Analyze the Following Claim: ‘Class Is No Longer Relevant in Australia in the Twenty-First Century.’
Critically analyze the following claim: ‘Class is no longer relevant in Australia in the twenty-first century.’
The relevance of social class in Australia has been disputed as to whether it still exists. There are a lot of arguments and opinions on this issue but class inequality is evidently still in force in twenty first Australia. Contemporary Australian society discriminates the difference of social classes through economic status, education and geographic location. The power struggle in social class is analyzed in theorist Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” where the Bourgeois (ruling class) and the Proletarians (working class) are discussed as to how classes are shaped in societies which can then be applied in twenty first century Australia. Bill Martin’s “Class” discusses the distinction between working and middle class in Australia today compared to a generation ago in accordance to materials, geographic location and employment.
In Australia, economic status, employment and property ownership refers to what the person earns and owns which are very important factors in determining social classes. A person’s economic status is determined by their employment and employment in Australia is classified in white and blue collar workers. The white collar workers fall into the ruling class category where they obtain degrees, maintain high wage and use their skills/knowledge from the degree to obtain an office job wearing white dress shirts (which is where the word white collar is derived from). Whereas the blue collar workers fall into the low-middle class category, where the workers are employed as tradesmen or laborers as they have physical work with standard wage which don’t require high qualifications. These two main tiers of collars are implemented in twenty first Australia which is a fundamental aspect of determining social class as the white collar workers have wealth putting them in power of the working class which verifies that there is underlying
The relevance of social class in Australia has been disputed as to whether it still exists. There are a lot of arguments and opinions on this issue but class inequality is evidently still in force in twenty first Australia. Contemporary Australian society discriminates the difference of social classes through economic status, education and geographic location. The power struggle in social class is analyzed in theorist Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” where the Bourgeois (ruling class) and the Proletarians (working class) are discussed as to how classes are shaped in societies which can then be applied in twenty first century Australia. Bill Martin’s “Class” discusses the distinction between working and middle class in Australia today compared to a generation ago in accordance to materials, geographic location and employment.
In Australia, economic status, employment and property ownership refers to what the person earns and owns which are very important factors in determining social classes. A person’s economic status is determined by their employment and employment in Australia is classified in white and blue collar workers. The white collar workers fall into the ruling class category where they obtain degrees, maintain high wage and use their skills/knowledge from the degree to obtain an office job wearing white dress shirts (which is where the word white collar is derived from). Whereas the blue collar workers fall into the low-middle class category, where the workers are employed as tradesmen or laborers as they have physical work with standard wage which don’t require high qualifications. These two main tiers of collars are implemented in twenty first Australia which is a fundamental aspect of determining social class as the white collar workers have wealth putting them in power of the working class which verifies that there is underlying
Cited: Henslin, James M. Global Stratification, “Essentials of Sociology: A-Down-To-Earth Approach Eighth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2009. 170-95. Print. Kemeny, J. Capitalism- the Australian way, Arena (Melbourne) 1978. No.51, 94-103. Print. Marcus, Caroline. “Welcome to Bludgetown, Western Sydney.” The Daily Telegraph 10 Jun. 2012. Print. Martin, B. Class, in P. Beilharz and T. Hogan (eds.) “Sociology: Place, Time and Division”, South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006. pp. 402-405. Print. Marx, Karl - Engels, Friedrich. The Communist Manifesto. United Kingdom: Penguin Books, 2002. Print. McCamish, Thornton. “Whatever happened to the classless society.” The Age 16 Aug. 2009. Print. Weber, M. The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism, Unwin Hyman Limited London- 1985. Print.