Challenges of society in the second half of the twentieth century and class analysis: the concept of E.O. Wright

This article is devoted to the work of American scientist Eric Olin Wright. The relevance of the article is due to the changes in the system of social stratification occurring in modern societies, as well as numerous attempts by scientists to develop relevant approaches to the study of social structure. The American sociologist studied the problems of transformation of the class structure, which is reflected in a large number of his scientific publications. His vision of the system of social stratification of modern societies is original and based on a lot of factual material. Wright was interested not only in American society, he participated in international comparative studies, and also visited Russia and Ukraine to study the social structure. The article discusses the main provisions of E.O. Wright's class theory. The American sociologist consistently moves in his analysis from the categories of "class" and "exploitation" to the study of new middle classes and to the creation of his own holistic theory of contradictory class positions. The author of the article has made an attempt to trace the research logic of the famous American sociologist, as well as to show his success in carrying out an accurate and detailed revision of various class theories, and taking into account his own empirical research to build one of the most popular class theories in modern science.