Are Social Classes in America Becoming More Rigid?

T HE subject of social class has received considerable attention during the past decade. Yet, much of the research has attempted to show that American social classes have become relatively static and well-defined. Implicitly or explicitly, most sociologists have taken for granted an increasing solidification of class lines in the United States during the past half-century.1 Among the factors which have been cited as contributing to this condition are the closing of the frontier, the decreased flow of immigration, the possible slow-down of industrial expansion, and the apparently decreasing fertility differentials among the various social classes. These act to restrict mobility and as such make for greater rigidity in the class system. This assumption of increased class solidification possibly has had other determinants. Research in small communities with clearly defined prestige or class structures convinced many that urban social systems exhibit a similar pattern. Secondly, structural-functional analysis has served as the frame of reference for a number of class studies. Inasmuch as this theory emphasizes staticism and integration, the historical effects of social change, disorganization, and conflicting values on the class structure have largely passed unnoticed.