Social and Cultural Inequalities in Britain: A Relational Analysis

Over the past 30 years there have been very different views as to whether social class still matters in contemporary UK. Influential sociologists such as Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens have emphasised the 'end of class'. Other sociologists such as John Goldthorpe have emphasised the entrenched nature of class inequalities. There are also uncertainties as to whether social class still affects cultural tastes and practices, and over how class conscious we are today.

In the context of current worries about the possible entrenchment of social inequality linked to the recession, my Fellowship will pursue a distinctive approach which explores both the objective and subjective/ cultural dimensions of class and stratification. I will further unravel 'the paradox of class' (Savage 2000), where class inequalities appear more marked in their effects on health, educational attainment, and income, but appear relatively unimportant in terms of people's overt identities, cultural tastes and values. I will pursue my research which argues that these apparently different findings can be reconciled through a 'relational' approach to social stratification. Thus, although the content of people's activities and identities (e.g. whether people identify as middle or working class, or prefer heavy metal or classical music) may appear to be relatively independent of class, their form (e.g. the way that they appreciate music, or claim to belong to a social class) remains highly socially specific.

My Fellowship will pursue these ideas into a major research statement through three specific projects, each to lead to a major book, and each to last a year. The first two of these will take advantage of two very important but relatively under-used data sets which I have helped to generate.

1. The BBC's Great British Class Survey (2011) on which I and Fiona Devine were consultants. This has generated a remarkable 161,000 valid responses and offers a very detailed source of data for examining inequalities in cultural, social and economic domains. I will build on the initial report written for the BBC documenting striking class divisions in cultural and social, as well as economic capital, to examine the coherence of social class groups and whether alternative occupational categories might give a better fit on the detailed BBC data.

2. The qualitative study on the 1958 National Child Development Study. In 2008-09 I was involved in a project collecting 230 qualitative interviews with a sub sample of the NCDS. I will examine this data, and link it to the panel data in order to explore the kinds of identities which these respondents articulate, and how they are related to their life histories and social backgrounds.

3. Finally, I will write a major research monograph which will elaborate a relational approach to social stratification avoiding the reductionist tendencies of traditional approaches to social stratification. This conceptualises the class structure not in terms of fixed attributes, but in terms of the complex relationships between social, cultural and economic factors. This approach to social stratification draws on important currents in social science theory, notably field analysis, social network theory, and assemblage theory, and I expect a monograph drawing these themes together will have major interest.

In pursuing these projects I will also make distinctive methodological contributions. These will include using multiple correspondence analysis to elaborate mixed method research strategies where individual qualitative interview accounts can be linked to survey responses. I will also contribute to developing strategies for the archiving of digital data. Through holding user workshops and international seminars I will also ensure that this research has the maximum possible reach.

The BBC will be a major beneficiary of my work, drawing on, and extending, the excellent partnership we have developed as part of their Great British Class Survey (GBCS). This will involve (a) developing substantive findings about social class inequalities in the UK which are newsworthy and which they might want to promote in future broadcasts, (b) writing high profile scientific papers which they see as vital to establish the legitimacy of their web surveys and which they will take as evidence of the effectiveness of their education and public service missions, (c) developing specific methodological skills, using multiple correspondence analysis, in order to show how sample skews can be effectively controlled for.

Secondly, a wide range of non-academic organisations will be interested in how my findings shed light on social inequality and social mobility. These are areas of great policy and media interest, and my experience is that high quality academic research is prized by non-academic organisations (my research has featured in the Guardian, the Daily Mirror, and the Yorkshire Post). These bodies will include groups such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as well as related Government Departments (such as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Education and Skills). They will also include 'think tanks' such as the Institute of Public Policy Research.

Thirdly, it is likely that our GBCS findings exploring the specific effects of studying at particular universities will be of great interest to these universities, as well as to HEFCE. This will be the largest study of its kind, which will be able to distinguish how particular kinds of university attendance is correlated with economic, social and cultural profiles, and especially in the context of increasing student fees my findings are likely to have considerable coverage. Although I will only release findings which are of general interest and which do not promote or denigrate particular universities, it is still likely that they will generate considerable interest in the media, in policy circles, and amongst the universities themselves.

Finally, I will work with non academic audiences in the cultural sector, such as DCMS and the Arts Councils, to use the especially wide ranging questions on cultural practices and tastes to help them reflect on their policies. Here I will build on my already strong relationships with these bodies established through my role at CRESC.