מעמד בחברה הישראלית בת־ימינו: קווי יסוד למחקר עתידי

This programmatic paper, inspired by Marx, Gramsci and Bourdieu, presents a class analysis of Israeli society. We suggest that, since the rise of neoliberalism, two major class blocs have emerged in Israel. These are comprised of a ruling class, composed of rising global and local capitalists plus service professionals, and the popular classes. The latter group are characterized by their heterogeneity, within which we can distinguish a popular middle class, a skilled working class, and a marginal class.The new “service class," characterized by its contract with capital, has replaced the upper-middle class that had served the State. Part of this class holds direct contract with capital owners, playing a steering role in economic fields. Others serve capital ends while being employed in senior positions in public service or cultural realms (media, academia), and maintain a tacit contract with capital. The "new service class" forms relations of subordination with the popular classes, exercising capital's determining power over them. Yet, these relations do not completely deprive the subordinated of their voice and agency.The popular middle classes are characterized by "multiple stratification" on an ethno-national, professional, or gender basis; and in fierce competition for assets (economic, social, and cultural capital). Ashkenazis, Mizrahis, Arabs, and others are distributed unevenly along the popular classes. These ethnic distinctions might exist covertly through a distinct "self" and communal "common sense". Moreover, individuation plays a significant role in processes of class consolidation, paradoxically strengthening them