In the light of the economic, political and social significance of the middle class for South Africa’s emerging democracy, we critically examine contrasting conceptualisa-tions of social class. We compare four rival approaches to empirical estimation of class: an occupational skill measure, a...

In an attempt to understand youth-related antisocial behaviour, UK social policy has typically sought answers from the edge; investigating the motivations of young people perpetrating deviant behaviour or exploring the experiences of victims. Equally polarised and sensationalist narratives are...

Whilst widening participation to higher education was approaching New Labour's target of 50% of 18-30s (for women at least), it was presented as a professionalisation of the proletariat but in reality and in hindsight it can be seen to have disguised a proletarianisation of the professions - for...

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate microlending outcomes among Latin American non-governmental organizations (NGOs), specifically microfinance institutions (MFIs). While there is a growing movement of non-profit ventures channeling small loans to the poor worldwide,...

In closed social systems the social position of an individual is determined by the social position of the family into which he or she was born, whereas in open social systems mobility from one social class to another is possible. This paper concerns the relationship between the class position an...

Britain is an unequal country, more so than many other industrial countries and more so than a generation ago. This is manifest in many ways - most obviously in the gap between those who are well off and those who are less well off. But inequalities in people's economic positions are also...