Abstract
From the beginning of modern class conceptualization, “class” has meant an agent which should play an important role in historical and political social change. However, this property of class cannot be derived from its ordinary definition as “any group of people based on the common economic interests in the market”. For, mutual interests rather than conflicts are likely to emerge in the market, because various economic agents meet with each other in order to enhance their interests by joint productions,
What has been conceived as “class conflicts” in sociological literatures are “political conflicts” based on politically and legally differentiated estate systems. In the pre-modern estate system, economic activities were subjugated to political system, and hence it was very likely that any attempt of pursuing economic interests should have been simultaneously political.
The modern stratification system is characterized by the (gradual) abolition of the estate system and the establishment of free economic system. But this does not necessarily entail the abolition of poverty, the persistence of which seems to have been the main reason.for so-called “class struggles” in modern era.
Until the late 1970's, most industrialized societies have succeeded to virtually abolish the poverty, and so the “class conflicts”. It does not mean, however, the end of stratification system. The hierarchies in incomes, prestiges, or educational attainments are preserved. But, because the opportunity for. “basic goods” have become equally enjoyed, the hierarchy cannot be uni-dimensional. The current and the late-modern stratification system must be the multidimensional and individualistic, and has no basis for “class” as an agent.
