From occupational to existential class

How to analyze class structure in hybrid societies (The case of Serbia)

Bibliographic Data

ID5609293
AuthorsPredrag Cvetičanin (0000-0002-1597-7469, Faculty of Arts University of Niš Niš Serbia, corresponding author), Inga Tomić‐koludrović (0000-0003-1465-0365, Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar Split Croatia), Mirko Petrić (0000-0002-0604-5352, Department of Sociology University of Zadar Zadar Croatia), Željka Zdravković (0000-0001-8925-4290, Department of Sociology University of Zadar Zadar Croatia), Adrian Leguina (0000-0002-9229-2033, School of Social Sciences and Humanities Loughborough University Loughborough UK)
Year2021
Volume72
Issue4
Pages946-973
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-4446.12858
PMID34331460
OpenAlexW3169455026
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited37

In this article, we propose a model to analyze the class structure of hybrid post-socialist societies in South-East Europe (SEE), using the case of Serbia. We argue that, in such hybrid societies, social inequalities are generated by several mechanisms of similar strength: exploitative market mechanisms (based on economic capital) and different types of social closure mechanisms (based on political and social capital). Their influences are intertwined and cannot be analytically isolated or reduced to a common foundation. Therefore, occupational class analysis in these societies can have only limited explanatory power. In an attempt to overcome these challenges, we were forced to modify the instruments of several established approaches to class analysis. These modifications included (1) a reconceptualization of Bourdieusian notions of political, social, and cultural capital, (2) a different operationalization of social space, (3) identification of specific mechanisms of generating social inequalities, (4) paying attention to both practical and discursive classifications of lifestyles in the establishment of symbolic boundaries, and (5) relying on differential association analysis for identifying class boundaries. Our analysis's final result is a model that enables studying general social inequality, that is, generalized social advantage/disadvantage, in SEE post-socialist societies

Class (philosophy · Class analysis · Closure (psychology · Cultural capital · Economics · Epistemology · Existentialism · Habitus · Inequality · Operationalization · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social capital · Social class · Social inequality · Social science · Social stratification · Sociology · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks

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