THE IMPLICATIONS OF INTERGENERATIONAL CLASS MOBILITY FOR CLASS THEORY- A COMMENT ON WESTERN

Focusing on the relative permeability of particular class boundaries ( defined by Wright's class schema) Western's (1994) analysis does not d raw out the most critical implications of mobility patterns for class theory - namely, whether classes actually exist as relatively cohesive social entities with common life experiences. Wright's ''class system '' is not even remotely marked by intergenerational social closure, no r are presumed class advantages commonly transmitted across generation s. The lack of intergenerational class structuration undermines a key tenet of class theory.