From ‘underclass’ to ‘overclass’?

It is nearly 30 years since US academic Charles Murray brought the concept of the ‘underclass’ to international prominence. But is it the emergence of a new ‘overclass’ that poses the main threat to social cohesion today?

Peter Beresford

UK Uncut protestors outside a branch of Barclays Bank (2011). The ‘overclass’ or ‘fat cats’ are linked to some of the most damaging developments in our society, such as the extreme risk-taking of the banking industry

Facundo Arrizabalaga/Rex Features

You will almost certainly have come across the term ‘underclass’ in your sociological studies and in the media. Here, Peter Beresford provides a useful discussion of its origin and how it is (mis)used to attribute particular social characteristics to the poorest and most vulnerable in society, entirely without evidence. His critical approach to the term could gain you useful marks for evaluation.

The article also introduces a concept that you have probably not met before, namely the ‘overclass’. Note carefully the major characteristics and attributes of this group, so that you can produce a knowledgeable and analytical discussion of them.