ENCOUNTERING SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES AT WORK: HOW “CLASS WORK” PERPETUATES INEQUALITY

Using a microsociological lens, we develop a theoretical framework that explains how social class distinctions are sustained within organizations. In particular, we intro- duce the concept of “class work” and explicate the cognitions and practices that members of different classes engage in when they come in contact with each other in cross-class encounters. We also elucidate how class work perpetuates inequality, as well as the consequences of class work on organizations and those at the lower end of the organizational hierarchy. By examining microlevel interactions and how they become institutionalized within organizations as prevailing rules and practices, we contribute to both institutional theory and the sociology of social class differences. We encourage future research on social class and discuss some of the challenges inher- ent in conducting it.

Several contemporary developments—includ- ing the financial crisis of 2008 (Rajan, 2010), the shrinking of the middle class (Leicht & Fitzger- ald, 2007), and the rise of the “new poor” in America (Cohen, 2010)— have reinjected the is- sue of social class differences and inequality (Stiglitz, 2012) into contemporary discourse. Within organization studies, however, social class has received only scant consideration (cf. Castilla & Benard, 2010; Dacin, Munir, & Tracey, 2010; Scully & Blake-Beard, 2006). While two re- cent exceptions report the consequences of class differences on individual behavior at work (Coté, 2011; Fiske & Markus, 2012), this work does not theorize about how organizational members interact in the face of these differ-

The authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript. We are grateful to our talented and fearless friend and colleague, Lindsey Pilver, for bringing us