is irish society based on clas

Class, as conceived by Marx, is defined in terms of economic resources and interests, and for the majority of men, occupation is the best indicator of these. The main distinction in Marxism falls between those who own the means of production and those who sell their labour. Property, income and the source of income are the result of the class structure. Income and property belong to the realm of distribution and consumption. The social relations of consumers determine the use of products, and these social relations themselves rest on the conflict of classes (Macionis & Plummer, 1998).

Inequality is not difference. To say that people are unequal is to say that some are disadvantaged relative to others; inequality is disadvantage in a social context. The main inequalities in society are class, gender, race and inequalities in income and wealth. According to Spicker (1995), the main model used for discussions of class and gender is stratification, where people are ranked in groups, set at different levels.

According to Tovey & Share (2000:131) “All known societies ar

Having noted the distinction between absolute and relative social mobility, we can now relate this to the change in Ireland’s occupational structure. When examining our occupational structure it is necessary to consider the argument regarding social ascription versus social achievement and which argument gives a clearer indication of Irish society.

It would appear that, since social destinations are so closely related to social origins, the middle classes have perfected the process of passing on their ‘achieved status’ from one generation to the next. The reproduction of achieved status in an apparently meritocratic society seems to have replaced the inherited privileges of an ascriptive society (1995:478).

It is also necessary to also examine how women have experienced the issue of inequality. Women have always been restricted in one form or another, and the case is no different in Ireland when it comes to the workforce. Women generally tend to be found in a fairly limited range of occupations, such as the professional and managerial, white-collar industries, and the semi-skilled manual sector. They are generally restricted from the manual and technical sector as well as the agricultural sector, which further excludes them from the inheritance of property. Due to this exclusion women are at considerable risk of experiencing downward social mobility. Women are likely to change class through marriage, though not by much. For women it seems that the only way possible to break free from these limited sectors, is to attain educational credentials. However, as we noted earlier, this is not always feasible due to the expenses involved. Breen and Whelan essentially arrive at the conclusion that, the class of the family into which one is born determines ones life’s chances and not one’s gender as might have been perceived (1996).

Some topics in this essay:
Breen Whelan, Crompton Absolute, Tovey Share, , Macionis Plummer, According Cullen, Department Education, Leaving Certificate, According Spicker, class inequality, Research Institute, social mobility, occupational structure, breen whelan, irish society, educational attainment, link class, tovey share, strong link, relative social mobility, family background, based class inequality, tovey share 2000, change occupational structure, strong link class,