The twofold class concept: Traditional limitations and new perspectives of class research

Discussions about the alleged "death of class" and "individualization" indicate the need for an in-depth analysis of the assumptions underlying the class concept. The authors focus on the distinction between two aspects of the class concept following Weber's theory of causality. As a concept "devoid of meaning," class refers to probabilistic influences of the occupational world on human behaviour in social relationships outside work. As a concept of "meaningful" human behaviour, class refers to the typical conduct of occupational groups at work. Following John H. Goldthorpe's call for the complementarity of statistics and hermeneutics, the authors argue that the measurement of class- and domain-specific causal attributions can help to test hypotheses on the microstructures of unequal life courses. This view makes intelligible the class-related differences in behaviour within and away from the work environment and the consequences of differential attributions of cause and effect for inequality.