Some Correlates of Class Consciousness Among Textile Workers

Data from an earlier study of textile workers are used to construct an index of class consciousness. The index is based on the Marxist assumption that class-conscious workers tend to perceive the class structure in dichotomous terms, the criteria of class placement in economic terms, class relationships as antagonistic, classes as cohesive entities, and the class system as neither desirable nor inevitable. Investigation of the relationships between index scores and certain presumed antecedents and consequences of class consciousness yield both expected and unexpected results. In view of the findings, the relevance of the class-consciousness concept for American workers seems to merit re-examination.