Affluence and the Embourgeoisement of the Working Class: A Critical Look

Abstract

This paper evaluates the thesis that manual workers in advanced capitalist societies increasingly are adopting middle-class modes of thought and behavior, and that blue-collar prosperity is responsible for this process. A review of the literature reveals substantial differences in earnings, market situations, life styles, working conditions, and politics of manual and non-manual workers. Furthermore, advocates of the embourgeoisement thesis usually rely on economic variables to explain workers' political responses, but the literature indicates that social relationships and the nature of blue-collar work are more important determinants. Consequently, we conclude that the degree of working-class affluence and embourgeoisement has been exaggerated.