Table Of ContentSocial Class in Europe
This timely volume introduces a new social class schema, the European
Socio-economic Classification (ESeC), which has been specifically developed
and tested for use in EU comparative research. Social Class in Europeaims
to introduce researchers to the new classification and its research potential.
Since socio-economic classifications are so widely used in official and
academic research, this collection is essential reading for all users of both
government and academic social classifications. While primarily aimed at
researchers who will be using the ESeC, the book’s contents will also have a
wider appeal as it is suitable for students taking substantive courses in
European studies or as a supplementary text for undergraduates studying the
EU, Sociology and Economics. Because of its inherent methodological
interest, the book should prove a valuable tool for undergraduate and
graduate courses that discuss how social scientists construct and validate
basic measures. It will also be required reading for policy makers and
analysts concerned with social inequality and social exclusion across Europe.
David Rose is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Institute for Social and
Economic Research, University of Essex. He was academic convener of both
the ESRC Review of Government Social Classifications, which led to the
creation of the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification, and of
the ESeC project, and has published widely on the topic of social class in the
UK, including Social Class in Modern Britain (with Gordon Marshall,
Howard Newby and Carolyn Vogler, 1988); Constructing Classes(ed. with
K. O’Reilly, 1997); A Researcher’s Guide to the National Statistics Socio-
economic Classification (ed. with David Pevalin, 2003); and The National
Statistics Socio-economic Classification: Origins, Development and Use
(with David Pevalin and Karen O’Reilly, 2005). He is an Academician of the
Social Sciences.
Eric Harrisonis Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Comparative Social
Surveys at City University London, UK. He was the assistant convener of the
ESeC project, but now works in the ESS coordination team. His principal
research interests lie in social stratification, social inequality and comparative
research methodology.
Routledge/European Sociological Association
Studies in European Societies
Series editors: Thomas P. Boje, Max Haller,
Martin Kohli and Alison Woodward
1 European Societies
Fusion or fission?
Edited by Thomas P. Boje, Bart van Steebergen and Sylvia Walby
2 The Myth of Generational Conflict
The family and state in ageing societies
Edited by Sara Arber and Claudine Attias-Donfut
3 The End of the Welfare State?
Responses to state retrenchment
Edited by Peter Taylor-Gooby and Stefan Svallfors
4 Will Europe Work?
Integration, employment and the social order
Edited by Martin Kohli and Mojca Novak
5 Inclusions and Exclusions in European Societies
Edited by Martin Kohli and Alison Woodward
6 Young Europeans, Work and Family
Futures in transition
Edited by Julia Brannen, Suzan Lewis, Ann Nilsen and Janet Smithsen
7 Autobiographies of Transformation
Lives in Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by Mike Keen and Janusz Mucha
8 Europe and Asia Beyond East and West
Edited by Gerard Delanty
9 Cultural Overstretch
Differences between old and new member states of the EU and Turkey
Edited by Jürgen Gerhards
10 Social Class in Europe
An introduction to the European Socio-economic Classification
Edited by David Rose and Eric Harrison
Forthcoming:
Internationalisation of Social Sciences in Central and Eastern Europe
The ‘catching up’ – a myth or a strategy?
Edited by Ilona Pálné Kovács and Dagmar Kutsar
Muslims in 21st Century Europe
Structural and cultural perspectives
Edited by Anna Triandafyllidou
Social Class in Europe
An introduction to the European
Socio-economic Classification
Edited by
David Rose
and
Eric Harrison
First published 2010
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2010 David Rose & Eric Harrison for selection and editorial material
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Social class in Europe: an introduction to the European Socio-economic
Classification / [edited by] David Rose, Eric Harrison.
p. cm. – (Routledge/ESA studies in European societies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social classes–Europe–Classification. 2. Social stratification–
Europe–Classification. 3. Europeans–Social conditions–Classification.
4. Europeans–Economic conditions–Classification. I. Rose, David, 1947
Feb. 17– II. Harrison, Eric, 1967–
HN380.Z9S676 2009
305.5072'04–dc22
2009014488
ISBN 0-203-93058-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–45801–3 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–93058–4 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–45801–6 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–93058–8 (ebk)
This book is dedicated with respect and affection to the
three sociologists who made our endeavours possible:
Robert Erikson
John H. Goldthorpe
and
David Lockwood
Contents
List of figures xv
List of tables xvii
Notes on contributors xxi
Acknowledgements xxv
List of abbreviations xxvii
PART I
Introducing the ESeC 1
1 The European Socio-economic Classification:
a prolegomenon 3
DAVID ROSE, ERIC HARRISON AND DAVID PEVALIN
Introduction 3
What is a ‘socio-economic classification’? 4
Why is an ESeC needed? 6
The importance of conceptual approaches 8
The ESeC classes explained 10
The ESeC classes described 14
The validation of ESeC 21
The contributions to this book 29
Conclusions 36
2 From derivation to validation: evidence from the UK
and beyond 39
ERIC HARRISON AND DAVID ROSE
From EGP to NS-SEC to ESeC 39
Measuring occupation cross-nationally using ISCO 41
Refining the classification: from eight to ten classes 43
ESeC in conditions of incomplete information 45
