Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
October 31, 2024
Summary:
While social class has received renewed attention as a driver of political conflict in Western democracies, little is known about when political differences by classes emerge and consolidate. Are they a direct consequence of individuals’ economic prospects and daily experiences on the job, or are they driven by a sorting process responding to family origin and earlier formative experiences? This study applies a life course approach to identify the impact of (future) social classes during early adulthood, in the transition to employment, and the transition to the main class of destination. These longitudinal analyses using British and Swiss panel data allow for adjudicating the stage(s) at which political preferences become more marked across social classes. The results indicate that differences by (future) class are apparent early in life, and that they consolidate during employment. This research advances current and historical debates about social class as a relevant milieu of political socialisation and public opinion formation.
Published in
West European Politics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2024.2415845
ISSN
1402382
Subjects
Notes
Online Early
Open Access
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
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