This conference, organized by the Center for Studies in Social Change (OSC), calls into question the current concept of “class” in the contemporary social sciences. It will bring together specialists from a wide range of thematics, theoretical and methodological backgrounds. With a broad international lens, the conference will draw on the comparison of various national contexts.We will examine the explanatory power of the different existing theoretical models and their renewal, in several different contexts. The conference will focus specifically on the relationships between changes in the wealth distribution (the soar in high-income, the increased importance of heritage) and contemporary transformations of class boundaries and class relations.

Argument

Do we still live in class societies? Is the classical approach to social inequalities, political divisions and lifestyles still relevant?

Do we still live inside class societies? Is the classical approach to social inequalities, political cleavages or lifestyles still relevant?

This conference, organized over two full days at the initiative of the Center for Studies in Social Change (OSC), calls into question the current concept of “class” in the contemporary social sciences. It will bring together specialists from a wide range of thematics, theoretical and methodological backgrounds. With a broad international lens, the conference will draw on the comparison of various national contexts (including United States, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Argentina).

Throughout the contributions, we will examine the explanatory power of the different existing theoretical models and their renewal, in contexts that are often disconnected from the European and North-American framework in which these theories were initiated and developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Attention will be paid both to the generating mechanisms of class relations and their inclusion in various domains of social life: politics, lifestyles, and geography, especially within urban areas and large metropolises. The conference will focus specifically on the relationships between changes in the wealth distribution (the soar in high-income, the increased importance of heritage) and contemporary transformations of class boundaries and class relations. Emphasis will also be placed on the articulation between the division of society into classes and social mobility trajectories. Two cross-cutting questions will be central to these inquiries: what sort of theories of social class are relevant for the 21st century? How can micro (ethnographic, qualitative) and macro-social (quantitative, structural) approaches be used in a complementary way?

The format of the conference (about fifteen speakers) will allow time for open discussion between the speakers and all conference participants. Papers will be presented in English.

Papers will be presented in English.

Scientific Coordination

Philippe Coulangeon and Marco Oberti.

Website: http://www.sciencespo.fr/osc/en/content/inequalities-and-social-class

Please register: bernard.corminboeuf@sciencespo.fr

Programme

Thursday 29 June 2017

09:00 - 09:30 Welcome coffee

09:30 - 10:00 Introduction by Philippe COULANGEON and Marco OBERTI

Are social classes still relevant (for analysing social change)?

• 10:00 - 10:45 Geoffrey WODTKE, Assistant Professor, Toronto University, Canada Classes in the 21st Century: Death, Decomposition, or Resurrection?
• 10:45 - 11:30 Daniel OESCH, Professeur associé, Université de Lausanne, Suisse The new tripolar space and class voting in Western Europe
• 11:30 - 12:15 Louis CHAUVEL, Professeur de sociologie, Université du Luxembourg, « Repatrimonialisation »: the new role of wealth in the definition of social class systems

12:15 - 14:15 Lunch

Social mobility

• 14:15 - 15:00 Carlos Antonio COSTA RIBEIRO, Professeur de sociologie, Université d'Etat de Rio de Janeiro, (UERJ), Brésil Class mobility in Brazil: 1973 to 2014
• 15:00 - 15:45 Pedro LOPEZ-ROLDAN, Associate Professor, Université autonome de Barcelone (UAB), Espagne, Sandra Isabel FACHELLI OLIVA, Université autonome de Barcelone (UAB), Espagne,
  Stratification and social mobility compared : Argentina and Spain
• 15:45 - 16:30 Louis-André VALLET, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po OSC, Intergenerational mobility and social fluidity in France over birth cohorts and across age: the role of education

16:30 - 17:00 Coffee break

•  17:00 - 17:45 Yasmine SIBLOT, Professeure des universités en sociologie, Université Paris 8, Marie CARTIER, Maître de conférences, Université de Nantes,
  The France of the « Little-Middles » :exploring the fragile frontier between the working and middles

19:30 Dinner Le Procope (limited to Speakers)

Friday 30 June 2017

09:00 - 09:30 Welcome Coffee

Social classes and lifestyles

• 09:30 - 10:15 AgnèS VAN ZANTEN, Directrice de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po OSC, Ylva BERGSTRÖM, Associate Professor, Université d’Uppsala, Sweden, Mikael PALME, Senior Lecturer, Université d'Uppsala, Sweden,
  The educational practices of upper-class families in France and Sweden
• 10:15 - 11:00 Johannes HJELLBREKKE, Professor, University of Bergen, Norway Social class and social capital

11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break

Social classes in India and China

• 11:30 - 12:15 Matthieu FERRY, Maître de conférences, ENS Cachan, Jules NAUDET, Chargé de recherche CNRS, Centre d'Études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (CEIAS, EHESS), Olivier ROUEFF, Chargé de recherche CNRS, Université Paris 8
  In search of the Indian social space. A multidimensional portrait of social stratification in India

• 12:15 - 13:00  Jean-Louis ROCCA, Professeur, Sciences Po, CERI, Production and reproduction of social classes in market capitalist China

13:00 - 14:30 Lunch

 Social classes in big metropolis: Paris and London

• 14:30 - 15:15 Edmond PRETECEILLE, Directeur de recherche émérite CNRS, Sciences Po OSC, The urban dimension of social class transformations in the Paris metropolis
• 15:15 - 16:00 Mike SAVAGE, Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, Social class and inequality in contemporary London

16:00 - 16:30 Closing address

Scientific and Organization Committee

• Philippe COULANGEON, directeur de recherche au CNRS, Sciences Po OSC
• Marco OBERTI, professeur des universités, directeur de l’OSC
• Bernard CORMINBOEUF, ingénieur de recherche CNRS, chargé de la communication de l’OSC
• Marie FERRAZZINI, secrétaire générale de l’OSC
• Sylvie LESUR, assistante de direction de l’OSC

Registration required: bernard.corminboeuf@sciencespo.fr