Module: Society and Justice
Lecture 3 – Class
Lecture structure
Sociology and class
To look at how sociology has highlighted the injustice of class
Marxism: a normative sociological theory – to put forward a different aim
which in their view will make society be more just.
Arguing for the continued importance of class and the injustices it causes –
there is this idea which is often floated about in sociological work that class is
dead, that we no longer have a class system as we did in the past. But a lot of
sociological work suggests that that is nonsense – class is still having an
impact on people’s lives and their outcome.
Crimes of the powerful – crimes committed by different elite groups who have
power in society.
Corporate crimes
State crimes
War as crime and war crimes – e.g. soldiers who engage in war crimes
such as not treating prisoners in a humane way.
The emergence of class
There is a hierarchy within our economic system. It’s based on how rich
people are and how much economic power they have over others.
There have long been ways of categorising people. Example: Feudalism
system as seen in Tibet Serfs had to work for the elites. The Serfs were not
able to just stop working for the landowners; they didn’t earn a salary and
were not allowed to vote. It was a form of slavery.
The emergence of social classes specifically are largely associated with the
emergence of Industrialisation (mass producing products e.g. food, clothes) in
economies (Punch , 2013: 150)
Lecture 3 – Class
Lecture structure
Sociology and class
To look at how sociology has highlighted the injustice of class
Marxism: a normative sociological theory – to put forward a different aim
which in their view will make society be more just.
Arguing for the continued importance of class and the injustices it causes –
there is this idea which is often floated about in sociological work that class is
dead, that we no longer have a class system as we did in the past. But a lot of
sociological work suggests that that is nonsense – class is still having an
impact on people’s lives and their outcome.
Crimes of the powerful – crimes committed by different elite groups who have
power in society.
Corporate crimes
State crimes
War as crime and war crimes – e.g. soldiers who engage in war crimes
such as not treating prisoners in a humane way.
The emergence of class
There is a hierarchy within our economic system. It’s based on how rich
people are and how much economic power they have over others.
There have long been ways of categorising people. Example: Feudalism
system as seen in Tibet Serfs had to work for the elites. The Serfs were not
able to just stop working for the landowners; they didn’t earn a salary and
were not allowed to vote. It was a form of slavery.
The emergence of social classes specifically are largely associated with the
emergence of Industrialisation (mass producing products e.g. food, clothes) in
economies (Punch , 2013: 150)
