market situation

market situation

those aspects of the position of an individual or group within SOCIAL STRATIFICATION which are determined by market forces. It is one of three general dimensions of stratification seen as important by LOCKWOOD (1958 and 1966) and GOLDTHORPE and Lockwood (1968-69). For Marx, ownership or nonownership of the means of production were ultimately decisive in determining a person's overall class position. In Lockwood and Goldthorpe's analysis, strongly influenced by WEBER (see CLASS; CLASS, STATUS AND PARTY), three interrelated dimensions of social stratification must always be taken into account: WORK SITUATION, STATUS SITUATION and ‘market situation’. See also MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION.