This document discusses classism and social class. It defines classism as the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class and differential treatment and oppression of subordinated groups. It also discusses internalized classism, class privilege, and the class continuum ranging from ruling class to poor/low-income. Family income, education levels, language use, food, possessions and world views are some of the factors that vary across social classes.

1. Classism

2. Class
 a large group of people who occupy a
similar economic position in the wider
society based on income, wealth, property
ownership, education, skills, or authority in
the economic sphere.
http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour.htm

3. Share of Total Income Received
By Top 5% and Bottom 40%

4. Class Identity
 A label for one category of class
experience, such as ruling class, owning
class, middle class, working class, poor

5. Classism
 The systematic assignment of
characteristics of worth and ability based
on social class.
 differential treatment
 systematic oppression of subordinated
groups

6. Internalized Classism
 the acceptance and justification of
classism by working class and poor
people.

7. Class Privilege
 tangible or intangible unearned
advantages of "higher" class status

8. Great Leaps Upward: Percent Chance of Moving
From Bottom to Top Income Quarter, 1960s and 1990s

9. Class Continuum
Dominants Ruling Class
Owning Class
“Have
Mores”
Mostly Dominants Middle Class “Haves”
Mostly Subordinates
Subordinates
Working Class
Poor/ Low-
Income “Have Nots”
(Class Action: Building Bridges, 2007)

10. POVERTY
MIDDLE
CLASS
WEALTH
EDUCATION
Valued and revered as
abstract but not as reality
Crucial for
climbing success
ladder and making
money
Necessary tradition for
making and maintaining
connections
MONEY To be used, spent To be managed To be conserved, invested
WORLD VIEW
Sees world in terms of local
setting
Sees world in
terms of national
setting
Sees world in terms of
international view
DRIVING FORCE
Survival, relationships,
entertainment
Work, achievement
Financial, political, social
connections
FAMILY
STRUCTURE
Tends to be matriarchal
Tends to be
patriarchal
Depends on who has money
POSSESSIONS People Things
One-of-a-kind objects,
legacies,
pedigrees
FOOD
Key question: Did you
have enough? Quantity
important
Key question: Did
you like it? Quality
important
Key question: Was it presented
well? Presentation important
LANGUAGE
Casual register.
Language is about survival.
Formal register.
Language is about
negotiation.
Formal register. Language is
about networking.

12.  Family Income 1991 Graduation
Rate
 Over $75,000
81.9
 $50,000-74,999 73.0
 $25,000-$49,999 62.1
 Under $25,000 52.3
 8 year graduation rates among 1992 12th graders with bachelor’s degree goals who
attended a 4 year institution.
 NCES (2005) First Generation Students in Post Secondary Education.
Social Class of Origin and
College Graduation Rate

13. Class Ally
 A person from the more privileged classes
whose attitudes and behaviors are anti-
classist, who is committed to increasing
his or her own understanding of the issues
related to classism, and is actively working
towards eliminating classism on many
levels.

14. Social Class Assumptions
 Social class is a collection of subcultures
arranged in a hierarchy of prestige.
 Social class of origin—where we came
from
 Current felt social class—what we think of
ourselves now
 Attributed social class—what others think
of us

15. Social Class Assumptions
 Social class contrast
 Economic capital
 Cultural capital
 Social capital
 Academic capital
Will Barratt, PhD (2006)

16. For more information on
Classism:
 www.inequality.org
 www.classism.org
 Understanding Class Cultures: An Activist
Perspective. By Betsy Leondar-Wright,
September 2003.
 Nickeled and Dimed: On Not Getting By in
America. By Barbara Ehrenreight
 www.morethanmoney.org
 www.classmatters.org