Class Theories, Inequalities and the Case of Malaysia

* Class analysis has received renewed attention after the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-2008 but many of the underlying class theories are derived from western, developed country contexts. These class theories would need to be critically evaluated, and potentially modified if they are to be relevant for understanding class inequalities in developing countries including Malaysia.

* Three dominant class theories are considered in this paper i.e., the theoretical modes of Marx, Weber and Bourdieu with a focus on their common features, namely, the construction of class with reference to economic capital in its national frame; the central relationship between the objective and subjective class domains; and the peripheral role of social mobility and the question of changing class locations.    

* The changing nature of global capitalism suggests that capital, and consequently class, cannot be enclosed within a national frame. Instead, class has to be understood as embedded in mobile, cross-border capital. This is particularly applicable for a small and open economy like Malaysia, with dependence on foreign capital and high foreign ownership of corporate equity; and draws on global culture as a form of elite cultural distinction.  Class inequalities need to be understood in terms of how capital operates and interacts across different economic scales in configuring class structures.

* The distinction of postcolonial national repertoire in many developing countries are driven by the impetus to create national unity to address the legacies of fragmented social groupings inherited from colonialism. The state forges national identities to the extent that other identities of class, race and gender have to take a backseat in the imagination of social boundaries and hierarchies. The case of Malaysia shows that the objective and subjective class domains is not as straightforward, and perhaps also not as persuasive, without accommodating competing racial and national repertoires shaped by its history of colonialism.

* The role of social mobility in dominant class theories should be given more weight. The case of Malaysia demonstrates that class positions and orientations depend on the types of social mobility and their interactions with one other, suggesting more complexed ways for social mobility to influence class formation and expressions. Social mobility has also resulted in the burgeoning of the middle class, a terminology that requires more unpacking to better understand class inequalities in Malaysia and the developing world.

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