This broad assessment is the basis for Kingston's conclusion that classes do not exist in America in any meaningful way."--BOOK JACKET.

An alternative to the right-wing paradigm which has hijacked discussions of class, this book focuses on the specific ways in which class inequalities manifest themselves in Britain and exposes the hollowness if politicians' rhetoric over the classless society.

This study presents three ideal-typic models for analyzing inequality in kin-based, non-stratified societies that are commonly described as bands, tribes or ranked societies (but not chiefdoms). Each model discusses the organization of inequality associated with a particular way of validating marriages. The book is a serious and complex attempt to understand the bases and dynamics of inequality in classless societies. It offers a sophisticated argument for the position that there is a culturally-structured basis for women's universal subordination. An important strength of Collier's theoretical interpretation is that it makes the case for universality of subordination without slipping into biological reductionism.

"Professor Paul H. Mattingly's The Classless Profession: American Schoolmen of the Nineteenth Century is unquestionably a major contribution to the history of American education. It rests on a thorough command of the scholarship of the field and on a shrewd and original analysis of a great body of primary materials, many of which have not previously been carefully exploited." — Merle Curti, University of Wisconsin, Pulitzer Prize Winner "Mattingly's study should be read by everyone interested in the development of the public schools and of the teaching profession, and especially by those whose criticism of today's schools derives from a belief that things were much better in the 1870s than the 1970s." — Albert Shanker, United Federation of Teachers "Mattingly's book is superlative in its exploration of the distinctive cultural qualities of the teaching profession." — Joseph Kett, Review of American History "What remains solid and permanently useful. . .is his intellectual history of early leaders - the best such study to date." — David Tyack, Journal of American History Mattingly is at his best describing the variegated experiences of early teachers as they sought to transform teaching from a haphazard, seasonal occupation to a developing profession. He explores the dynamics of career choice for teachers with subtlety and insight." — Julia C. Wrigley, American Education Research Journal The Classless Profession traces the history of the special pride teachers took in the depoliticized image of their work. This image of a classless profession, one which preferred no class ideology not advanced any social group over another, necessitated costs which teachers then and since have often ignored. In an effort to describe the process of constructing this profession - its images, behavioral routines and institutional structures - this study also assesses the historical forces which actually have favored certain social groups and certain educational ideologies over others. This eye-opening work is unique in that it features interdisciplinary methodology which draws on sociological, demographical, and historical methodologies and delineates career-line analyses of several generations of schoolmen. It should prove vital reading to all those involved in the profession as well as the process of education - i.e. teachers, sociologists, social and educational historians, school planners and educational policy-makers, unionists and administrators alike.

Why has mainstream British film been so unrepresentative of the changes in British society over the past twenty years? Classless looks at the erasure of key issues of class and class struggle in recent British film as well as the flattening out of the rich variety of English social types into the bland middle-mass of Love Actually. By analysing a number of key films and emergent genres the ideological character of the Major years on into the false dawn of Blairism and Cool Brittania will be elaborated, and it will be argued that even works that are ostensibly subversive, such as Danny Boyle's Trainspotting serve to promote the underlying myths of neo-liberalism. The films under discussion will range from Steven Frear's The Queen to Jonathon Glazer's Sexy Beast The book will also consider popular genres such as the recent Football Hooligan films along with more recondite works by a handful of auteurs.