Name: middle

Description

1. Characteristics: Worthington is one of the wealthy Columbus suburbs, and David's family is among the property-owning residents in an elite part of the town. At age 28, he has around a year of college but has spent the past few years in unskilled jobs. David is African American, an unusual characteristic in the affluent parts of Worthington. Therefore, although David's family background would mark him as upper or at least upper-middle class, his present socioeconomic situation has working class elements. He seems to self-identify as a member of the middle class.

2. Links: If there were other descriptions up and running, we would probably want to link this description with descriptions of David's race and ethnicity, descriptions of class, race, and ethnicity elsewhere in the U.S., and others.

Note: There are several factors invoked in this class description, including geography, education, wealth, occupation, age, and ethnicity. Other class descriptions will probably employ different sets of factors in defining class, not only because societies differ in their class systems but also because analysts have their own ways of understanding class. The variation library will, in principle, allow both kinds of differences to emerge.