| Summary: | The thesis is a study of certain aspects of the evolution of the working-class in capitalist society. It argues that any attempt to theorize developments in this area must incorporate elements from both Marxian and Weberian perspectives on class structure, class consciousness and class action. The thesis argues that a 'materialist' approach to the study of class structure, specifically to the study of changes in the structure of class relations, is indispensable. However, the central argument of the thesis is that it is necessary to go beyond the classical position between capital-and labour examined by Marx to consider newly emerging conflicts of interest within these two major class divisions. Our central hypothesis is that variation by industrial sector membership is an independent factor, as well as relations to the means of production in the conventional 'Marxian' sense (viz wage-labourer/capitalist), in determining the means of political consciousness and action. The thesis also considers the importance of the structure of social inequality, and therefore the changing character of work and community relations, as a mediating influence between class structure, class consciousness and class action. The hypothesis is examined within the context of an empirical study, based on a sample survey of male respondents located within a Welsh urban-industrial area.
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