Re: question on class

Judy Diamondstone (diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu)
22 Oct 1999 17:04:47 -0000

A Can "working class" be seen in a
>cultural way as in having community, needs, dreams etc. or is it solely
>"false", "negative" or in opposition to the middleclass. Is "working class"
>simply an identity without content a product or construction of "civil
>society" or is there something more.

That's an excellent question! I wonder, however, if the notion of "false
consciousness" -- i.e., not-middle-class -- gets us anywhere. I've been
paying attention to similar questions in different literatures, which seem
motivated in part by a concern for complexity and for parsing out different
strata or time depths in sociocultural phenomena - like the distinction
between the situated social self and the "cultural" or enduring self; or the
autobiographical self, the discoursal self, the writing self.... I'm
inclined to see 'class' as positioning within a wider culture, a perspective
or bias towards certain content rather than other content available in the
wider culture. Reverting once again to Blake "anything that's possible to be
believed [seen, imagined] is a portion of the truth [that ever elusive
'true' consciounessness...]
Judy

Judith Diamondstone (732) 932-7496 Ext. 352
Graduate School of Education
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
10 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1183