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Economic practices and social class: an empirical assessment and an analytical attempt

Abstract

This article proposes a set of categories in order to understand the interplay between economic conditions and economic practices. Within this framework, the study assesses empirical data based on qualitative interviews. Two different publics were interviewed: one group composed by informal workers and a second group comprising white-collars and specialized self-employed workers. The categorization follows five axes: i. income structure; ii. internal differentiation of economic practices; iii. modes of prospection; iv. institutional rapports; and v. degree of autonomy. As it follows, we understand economic conditions as practical dynamic mediated by a specific social and temporal experience dependent on class trajectory rather than a static state of material conditions.

Keywords:
Economic conditions; Economic practices; Social inequality; Class trajectory

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