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The specter of the rightist working class -- What drives 'unnatural' voting? -- A cross-pressured working class? -- The end of left and right? -- A decline of class voting? -- The working class and the welfare state -- Is working-class economic egalitarianism really that politically progressive? -- Economic populism, egalitarianism, and political progressiveness -- Conclusion : class is not dead - it has been buried alive

Hedendaagse westerse samenlevingen lijken nauwelijks nog vatbaar voor een sociologische analyse in termen van structuren en instituties en sociologen geloven amper nog dat zij intellectueel toegang hebben tot een 'onder' of 'achter' de cultuur verborgen 'echte' sociale werkelijkheid. Onder deze omstandigheden biedt de cultuursociologie, bij uitstek geschikt voor de analyse van de culturele discoursen die tot bloei zijn gekomen als reactie op de onttovering van de wereld, een wenkend perspectief. De meest in het oog springende van deze discoursen zijn opgetrokken rond idealen van persoonlijke a

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. "Marxism Lite": Modernity, Industrialism, and Culture -- Introduction -- Modernity as Industrialism -- Research Problem -- Approach -- Data -- Design of the Book -- Notes -- 2. What Is Actually a "Class"? Martin Lipset and "Working-Class" Authoritarianism -- Introduction -- What Is Actually a "Class"? -- Hypotheses -- Operationalization -- Results -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 3. What About Occupational Self-Direction? Melvin Kohn and "Working-Class" Authoritarianism -- Introduction -- Melvin Kohn: Theory and Research Findings -- Hypotheses -- Operationalization -- Results -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 4. Is Postmaterialism Really Different from Libertarianism? And Can It Be Explained Materialistically? -- Introduction -- What Does Inglehart's Postmaterialism Index Measure? -- Parental Affluence and Postmaterialism -- Measurement -- Results -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 5. Why Are There So Many Postmaterialists in Affluent Countries? An International Comparison -- Introduction -- Hypotheses -- Data and Measurement -- Results -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 6. Who Votes for Whom? And Why Exactly? Class, Cultural Capital, and Voting Behavior -- Introduction -- Methodological Progress and Theoretical Stagnation -- Class Voting and Cultural Voting in the Netherlands -- How Theoretical Complacency Can Produce Wrong Findings -- So, Once Again: Has There Been a Decline in Class Voting? -- Notes -- 7. Has There Really Been a Decline in Class Voting? Class Voting and Cultural Voting in Britain, 1974-1997 -- Introduction -- Operationalization -- Has the Relation between Class and Voting Decreased? -- But Has Class Voting Declined Too? -- The Decline in Class Voting and the Silent Revolution -- The Ironies of "Marxism Lite" -- Notes

Arguments for the declining political significance of social class are typically based on perceptions of a weakening relationship between class & voting behavior. Building on Seymour Martin Lipset's (1959, 1981) analysis of working-class authoritarianism, it is suggested here that the relationship between class & political values -- economic conservatism or liberalism, on the one hand, & noneconomic liberalism/conservatism or authoritarianism, on the other -- is too simplistic, & must be extended to include cultural factors. Here, the role of education in accounting for cultural & economic liberalism is investigated, considering education as an indicator of social class & cultural capital. Panel data for 711 Dutch respondents collected in 1997 support Lipset's contention that the working class is the most culturally conservative & economically liberal. A high level of education is accompanied by economic conservatism, but has culturally liberalizing effects. Whether this is an effect of social class, however, is debated, since cultural capital or participation affects these values as well. Implications for theories & research on class voting are considered. 7 Tables, 3 Figures, 87 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Arguments for the declining political significance of social class are typically based on perceptions of a weakening relationship between class & voting behavior. Building on Seymour Martin Lipset's (1959, 1981) analysis of working-class authoritarianism, it is suggested here that the relationship between class & political values -- economic conservatism or liberalism, on the one hand, & noneconomic liberalism/conservatism or authoritarianism, on the other -- is too simplistic, & must be extended to include cultural factors. Here, the role of education in accounting for cultural & economic liberalism is investigated, considering education as an indicator of social class & cultural capital. Panel data for 711 Dutch respondents collected in 1997 support Lipset's contention that the working class is the most culturally conservative & economically liberal. A high level of education is accompanied by economic conservatism, but has culturally liberalizing effects. Whether this is an effect of social class, however, is debated, since cultural capital or participation affects these values as well. Implications for theories & research on class voting are considered. 7 Tables, 3 Figures, 87 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

A theoretical discussion of available research findings yields the conclusion that whereas 'economic' conservatism-progressiveness can be explained by class, 'cultural' conservatism-progressiveness cannot. It is demonstrated why a rejection of the latter part of this thesis implies a neglect of the distinction between the description of political differences between occupational groupings on the one hand and the explanation of political values from class differences on the other. After a discussion of the intellectual origins of the theoretical problems which have been established in this article, research into i) the one- or two-dimensionality of political values, ii) the role of economic interests, and iii) processes of self-selection regarding educational and occupational choice is indicated as an important means to help and solve them.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 The Specter of the Rightist Working Class -- 2 What Drives "Unnatural" Voting? A Cultural Explanation for Voting Behavior -- 3 A Cross-Pressured Working Class? Class Voting, Cultural Voting, and Issue Salience -- 4 The End of Left and Right? The Transformation of Political Culture (1945-1998) -- 5 A Decline of Class Voting? Class Voting and Cultural Voting in the Postwar Era (1956-1990) -- 6 The Working Class and the Welfare State: Judgments on the Rights and Obligations of the Unemployed -- 7 Is Working-Class Economic Egalitarianism Really that Politically Progressive? Economic Populism, Egalitarianism, and Political Progressiveness -- 8 Conclusion Class Is Not Dead-It Has Been Buried Alive -- Appendix 1 -- Appendix 2 -- References -- About the Authors -- Index

Religions of Modernity' challenges the social-scientific orthodoxy that modernization inevitably erodes the sacred, and documents - in rich empirical detail - how modernity spawns its own religious meanings by relocating the sacred to the self and the domain of digital technology.

The commentary on 'workplace spirituality' is deeply polarized. Among advocates, the integration of spirituality and work is hailed as the ultimate cure-all for the problems facing the modern work organization. Conversely, critics see it as yet another form of capitalist appropriation. This article advances a neo-Durkheimian cultural sociological analysis of these polarized responses. Proponents espouse a schema of purification, which holds that once the moral pollutions of bureaucracy and rationalization are excised from the workplace, the spheres of spirituality and work will be integrated, which will lead to the sacralization of the latter by the former. This is assumed to end the compartmentalization of workers' professional lives and to imbue their workplaces with ethicality and existential meaning. By contrast, critics espouse a schema of pollution, which holds that any attempt to integrate spirituality and work is doomed to failure under capitalist conditions, for it will result in workers' spiritual lives suffering from alienation, instrumentalization, and commodification, and their work being oppressive, manipulative, and inhuman. We conclude with a reflection on the implications our analysis holds for future research on 'workplace spirituality'.