Social Class in Europe

Mapping the class divisions that run throughout Europe

Over the last ten years - especially with the 'no' votes in the French and Dutch referendums in 2010, and the victory for Brexit in 2016 - the issue of Europe has been placed at the centre of major political conflicts. Each of these crises has revealed profound splits in society, which are represented in terms of an opposition between those countries on the losing and those on the winning sides of globalisation. Inequalities beyond those between nations are critically absent from the debate.

Based on major European statistical surveys, the new research in this work presents a map of social classes inspired by Pierre Bourdieu's sociology. It reveals the common features of the working class, the intermediate class and the privileged class in Europe. National features combine with social inequalities, through an account of the social distance between specific groups in nations in the North and in the countries of the South and East of Europe. The book ends with a reflection on the conditions that would be required for the emergence of a Europe-wide social movement.“If you are interested in the future of socioeconomic inequality, class structure and political mobilization in Europe, you should read this book. Cédric Hugrée, Etienne Penissat and Alexis Spire develop an innovative and powerful empirical-quantivative and conceptual-analytical framework in order to offer a transnational perspective on social class in Europe. I very much hope that this work will be followed by sociologists, economists and social scientists and of all stripes and others. A must-read!”
—Thomas Piketty

“Bringing the social theories of Pierre Bourdieu to bear on a trove of survey data, Social Class in Europe draws a bold and bright map of class structure, division and condition across the continent. It demonstrates how European unification has splintered the lower classes while solidifying the domination of the economic and cultural bourgeoisie. By documenting social polarization both within cities and countries as well as across regions (North/South, East/West), it provides an essential key to understand the class struggles and political strife roiling Europe in the 21st century.”
—Loïc Wacquant, author of Urban Outcasts: A Comparative sociology of Advanced Marginality and Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity.

“A highly sophisticated and original attempt to combine a class analysis of Europe with a political critique of the institutions of the European Union. An important step forward for the left developing a European strategy.”
—Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, CologneCédric Hugrée, sociologist, studies social and educational inequalities in France and in Europe. He has written Sociologie des classes populaires (with Ph. Alonzo in 2010), a book that offers an overview of the scholars that created the "working class" category in France.

Etienne Pénissat, sociologist, works on social classes and trade unionism. He has edited several books published by Agone, including Réprimer et domestiquer. Stratégies patronales (2013) et Porte-parole, militants et organisations (2015).

Alexis Spire, sociologist, works on inequalities and tax compliance. He has published 8 books, four of them single authored, including Etrangers à la carte, (Grasset, 2005) and Résistance à l'impôt, attachement à l'Etat, (Seuil, 2018) about social classes and taxation policies.