家族か個人か

階層単位とジェンダー

抄録

Theoretical development in class and stratification research has been stagnant. One reason for this is the decline of class-related political issues and a reduction in class differences in various aspects. Another, possibly more important, reason seems to be the expansion of female labor participation. The noticiable emergence of double-income families raises the question of unit of class or stratification : i.e. Is it the family or individuals that constitute the class or stratification?
At first glance, the individualistic solution appears to be more appropriate, but this solution entails new difficulties. It leaves out the many non-working housewives who make up more than one third of married women. The problem is not only one of famale class location. The SSM research data show that the husband' s class identification is also affected by the spouse' s occupation as is the wife' s. This means that the traditional collectivistic conceptualization of class or stratification is also questionable.
To date, the issue of 'family or individuals' has presupposed that the class concept should satisfy the following conditions : i.e. uniqueness of concept, generality, consistency, uniqueness of individual' s class location, stability, and fundamentality. The contemporary family and female working conditions, however, would seem to imply that the traditional conditions of class concept must be abandoned.