Klaus Eder offers a new perspective on the status of class in modernity. He outlines a cultural conception of class as the basis for understanding contemporary societies. His model re-evaluates the role of the middle classes and links class to social theories of power and cultural capital.

Klaus Eder has written extensively on class, social movements and social structure. He is author of the New Politics of Class (SAGE 1993).

INTRODUCTION
CLASS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Bringing Classes Back into the Theory of Society
Culture as the Missing Link Between Class and Collective Action
PART ONE: MODERNIZING THE NOTION OF CLASS
Contradictions and Social Evolution
A Theory of the Role of Class in the Production of Modernity
Beyond Class as a Historical Subject
Towards a Theoretical Construction of Collective Actors
PART TWO: RECONNECTING CULTURE AND CLASS
Culture and Class
Bourdieüs Culturalist Refraction of the Traditional Theory of Class
The Cognitive Representations of Social Inequality
A Sociological Account of the Cultural Basis of Modern Class Society
PART THREE: THE THEORY OF NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A CHALLENGE TO CLASS THEORY?
A New Social Movement?
The Continuing Vitality of the Theory of the ¿New Social Movements¿
Counterculture Movements against Modernity
Nature as a New Field of Class Struggle?
PART FOUR: NEW CLASS CONFLICTS? THE THEORY OF MIDDLE CLASS RADICALISM
The ¿New Social Movements¿
Moral Crusades, Political Pressure Groups, or a Social Movement?
Does Social Class Matter in the Study of Social Movements?
A New Theory of Middle Class Radicalism
CONCLUSION: BEYOND TRADITIONAL CLASS THEORY
From the Crisis of Class Politics to the Critique of Class Politics
Reflecting the Role of ¿Crisis Discourses¿ in Modern Society