What is Labor, Work, and Class?

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Reading Response 13
Summary
In the preface of the book (The Making of the English Working Class), the author explores the term class and seeks to explain its meaning. In this regard, he intimates that class is a historical phenomenon that unifies disparate events that seem to be unconnected, both in experience and the conscious (Thompson 9). In addition, the author explains how class comes into being, how one belongs to a particular class, and the impact of doing so. In a word, the author seeks to correct misplaced notion people have had about class.
Analysis of the Reading
To many keen observers, the question of how classes, especially social and working classes, came into being must have popped up in their minds at one point in time. This is what Thompson tries to unravel in his book. According to him, class is a historical phenomenon that keeps evolving, with each successive class being a modification of the previous one. This, in essence, means that a social class that existed in the 20th century cannot bear similar characteristics to a class in the present. In connection to this, the author claims that the only way to understand class is by looking at it as a social and cultural formation that forms over a considerable historical period (Thompson 11). Further, the author intimates that class is a historical relationship, and each class has distinctive characteristics. As such, it would be futile to try and bring two different classes into a single relationship (Thompson 9). Trying to do so would only create friction and commotion because each class has its own interests and identity. To many, this is known as class consciousness, which manifest...