Cultural Representations of Social Class Social class can be divided in several ways. After reading Chapter 8 and discovering more about the USA social class divisions. Write a 500 or more word essay

Cultural representations of social class      

Name: University:Date: IntroductionSocial classes have existed in the society for a long time. Social classes are arrangements if individual people in the society based on their economic or cultural positions. Nowadays, the main social classifications include the lower, middle and upper class.Ways in which culture related to social class impact identity and pride within specific social classesFrom the hierarchical point of view in the society, the upper class constitutes a group of individuals at the top of the hierarchy, while the lower class is represented at the bottom. The upper class is said to be endowed with plenty of material wealth and affluence. They exercise and enjoy power due to the access of enough resources and positions of influence in the society. Upper class people do not engage in much work so as to earn a living as they regularly depend on inheritance and earnings from investments (Conley & Lareau 58). Upper class people enjoys political influence because their voices influenced by material possessions. This makes them to be regarded as the influencers in policy making as their needs are responded to faster than to those of lower class. They own a lot of properties and business establishments thus making them to control a larger portion if income earned from these investments. They also own secluded estates characterized by palatial mansions, expensive vehicles and control over large coffers of wealth. Middle social class is categorized into two. Namely; upper middle class and lower middle class. Most people identify themselves in the middle social class. Factors that are a major measuring yardstick are said to be education, income and occupation (Conley & Lareau 59). Here, education determines the kind of occupation they participate in and the amount of income they will consequently receive. Upper middle class are known to be highly educated and hold key professional positions. They enjoy the above average income and form part of policy makers.Lower middle class rank below the upper middle class hierarchically. They are semi-skilled professionals and do non-manual roles like sales workers, military officers, or office staff. They require more than high school trainings so as to secure occupation. They work under supervision and enjoys less autonomy in their workplace. They do more than one job to supplement their income for a living. They majorly concentrate on social economic changes like effects of inflation, taxation and layoffs (Conley & Lareau 60). Lower class are individuals who occupy the bottom level of social-economic hierarchy. They have limited access to education, work skills, low wages, irregular employment or unemployed at all. They may not be able to access better living standards because they are poor. They do manual jobs and are usually associated with sources of social problems in the society like theft Transitioning from one class to the otherThis is not a common phenomenon of moving from one social class to the other since most people remain in one social class where they were born and brought up. This happens due to socialization which acts as a partitioning between the various social classes. There are no opportunities which facilitates socialization of individuals between the social classes (Levine 102). The rich in the upper class lead a different lifestyle from the lower social class.

Conclusion Social classes distinguishes the level of individuals pride and identity in the society. The upper class enjoys power influence and material possessions and are able to influence public policy formulation. Middle social class enjoy average income and constitutes the people who normally runs the economy, whereas the lower social class are unemployed or have unstable employment. This makes shifting from one class to another difficult. 

 References1.    Conley, Dalton and Lareau, Annette. Social Class: how does it work? New York: Rusell Sage Foundation, 2008. Print.2.    Levine, Rhonda. Social Class and Stratification: Classic Statement and Theoretical Debates. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Print.