Is the Concept of Class War Still Valid THE CONCEPT OF CLASS WAR STILL VALID?

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             A third meaning of class reflects structures of material inequalities. Thus in modern societies, unequally rewarded groups are often termed classes, and this reflects the competition for resources in capitalist market societies. As a result classes may correspond to income groups, consider the Registrar General's 'social class' groupings for example. Occupational groupings are some of the most useful indicators of patterns of material advantage and disadvantage in modern societies. .
             Classes are not used only to describe differing levels of material inequality, the term is also used to identify actual or potential social forces, or social actors, which have the capacity to transform society. Marx was a major proponent of this view, seeing class struggle as the major motive force in human history. .
             The use of the single word 'class' therefore may describe legal or traditional rankings, social prestige or material inequalities, as well as revolutionary or conservative social forces. It is here that we encounter one of the major stumbling blocks in this debate, that it is not possible to define and isolate a definition of class which is universally accepted as being the 'correct' definition from a sociological perspective.
             A major point of conflict between the theoretical approaches of Marx and Weber concerns the question of class action. Although Mark's writings on this point are ambiguous, it is difficult to dispute the fact that he viewed class conflict as the major motor of social change. Weber on the other hand, saw class conflict as contingent, that is as highly likely to occur, but by no means inevitable. He did certainly not view class as the only or even major force of societal transformation. The foundings of the debate as to the 'declining significance of class are therefore well established in the roots of sociological theory. .
             One of the main sources of empirical evidence for arguments concerning the declining significance of class in late twentieth century industrial societies, has been the changes in the structure of work as employment, as well as the kinds of persons engaged in it.