La clase media clasifica a las personas en la sociedad: Resultados de una investigación empírica basada en juegos

Abstract

Two contrasting points of view, namely, the categorization of social differences among individuals in society and the subjective representations about social categories, have been the target of a long-standing theoretical controversy. We examine the classification of members of society as developed mainly by people that belong in middle classes. Using the results of a research project based on classification games by means of focal groups we analyze common subjective representations in social life. We argue that the chosen categories get structured following principles that are consistent with a categorization of social classes. We were able to tell the difference between hierarchical categories from those qualitatively different and multidimensional ones. We were also able to identify a diversity of social middle strata that fall between the extremes of the distribution, in which the educational level and cultural assets play a central role, even if not exclusive. The inclusion by participants of the notion of a normative "must be" in their classifications is an indication that these classifications are not just cognitive, but they bear important consequences in the moral justification of social order.