Renewing Class Analysis in Studies of the Workplace: A Comparison of Working-class and Middle-class Women's Aspirations and Identities

A renewed class analysis has shown the importance of cultured emotions and identity in conceptualizing and understanding how class is lived. However, proponents of the new sociology of class rarely explore these issues in an occupational setting. This article argues that the insights developed in the new cultural approaches to class can be used fruitfully to analyse contemporary experiences of work. Using a comparative study of women working in working-class and middle-class occupations, the article illustrates the implicit and emotional dimensions of the classed experience of work through a study of the women's aspirations and their class identities. Rather than equating class with economic resources and constraints, the article shows how class 'thinking and feelings' (Reay, 2005) also shape the experiences of work.