CLASS-CONSCIOUSNESS AND POLITICS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Mann's typology of class consciousness is the point of departure for a n examination of the relationship between class consciousness and poli tical attitudes in the United States and Sweden. Results from a Rasch latent trait analysis demonstrate that American workers are more class conscious than other citizens. Slight increases in the class consciou sness of American workers in the 1980s cast doubt on claims about the decline of working-class consciousness in postindustrial society. Clas s consciousness in Sweden in 1980 is, however, still much higher than working-class consciousness in the United States in either 1980 or 199 1. Whereas Swedish workers make connections between questions about cl ass and questions about politics, American workers fail to make these inferences. Class consciousness among contemporary American workers is best conceptualized as a stable, but centrist phenomenon with few con nections to other political attitudes. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.