Property Bureaucracy & Culture - Middle Class Formation in Contemporary Britain (Paperback, 1st Paperback Ed)

This study places the British middle classes in their historical and regional contexts in order to explain how they exercise a powerful impact in British society. It develops a theoretical perspective on the middle classes, criticizing theories of "the service class", and draws upon the works of Ohlin-Wright and Bourdieu to develop a theoretical realist perspective which is sensitive to the variety of ways in which middle class formation takes place. It argues that the British middle class have been split between a cohesive and well-established professional middle class, and an insecure and marginal managerial and self-employed middle class. This text argues that recent changes in economic restructuring have enabled the professional middle class to consolidate its position of dominance. The managerial middle class are however becoming more marginal and insecure. The book explores the implications of this position by analyzing processes of social and spatial mobility, cultural practices and political mobilization.