An Ethnographic Study of Class in America
Hunter Hannula, Sydney Perry, Jalen Jordan

When first asked about class in America, many people respond with some degree of confusion, asking questions like, “You mean upper, middle, lower class?” and looking for some direction or conversational foothold. Indeed it seems that class in our country is not one dimensional, and it is a subject which people approach with some degree of trepidation. The common understanding of class in public discourse is focused around two main axes, money and social standing, with a larger emphasis being placed on the former over the latter.
In this photo essay, we aim to provide a sampling of opinions about class in our country through the perspectives of everyday people from many different backgrounds. From a homeless man and his brother to a wealthy lawyer on vacation, we surveyed six individuals with a brief series of questions about how they perceive the class of themselves and others, what factors determine a person’s class, and how they feel about people in different class groups overall. From this small sampling we uncovered a broad and diverse set of opinions and emotions, all of which are valuable in helping us understand the cultural construction of class we each participate in shaping.

What is class? What determines our class?
The most common answer one receives in response to these questions seems to be “money”, typically said with a degree of finality. Sometimes this is expressed as one’s income, sometimes it is one’s job, and sometimes its the total amount of money one has access to.
While finances are the most common answer as to what determines class, the other prevailing idea is that one’s outlook, attitude, beliefs, and kindness to others determines their true class.
Jorge (pictured above) told us that while money is important, it is not the main factor determining a person’s class. Jorge believes that money is best understood as a tool for creating change, and the energy one puts towards creating such positive change determines their class. Jorge’s opinions are echoed by Eric, the man seen carrying the sign in the first picture, as Eric and his group of friends all believed that class is determined by your attitude and outlook over anything else. This theory of class portrays a mindset in which one’s subjective morally driven qualities are the most important factor in deciding their value to society.
While money may be the most common way that people construct class, that does not mean that it is necessarily simple in nature. As stated previously, saying that money determines class is a veil for a more complex series of beliefs about how income, employment, total access to capital, and financial control over others shape class.
One of our interviewee’s, a 22 year old employee at a pizza restaurant named Gil, told us that while money determines your class, often people who believe they have money are not in the upper class. Gil believes that even those who make an above average income are still lower class because they do not have full control over their financial situation, and because their earnings are insignificant compared to the wealthiest group of people in America. In this understanding of class we see a new element added under the umbrella of “money”, that being power and influence. This connection reveals the tacit and ever-present connection between money and power, and if money determines one’s class then by extension so too must power.

How do factors besides money affect class?
While almost everyone we asked initially listed money as the main factor in class, as each conversation progressed we discovered that they all had some degree of understanding of how family, education, and environment factor in as well. When we first asked Amelia what she thought determined class, she only said money, yet a few moments later she stated with some hesitation that perhaps family and environment can be important as well. Similarly, when we asked Gil the same question he responded the same way, that money was the sole determining factor in class, yet he later pointed out that often age can factor in to what class group someone places themselves in.
It appears from our interviews that many are either hesitant to bring up this connection, or they do not directly correlate these factors with class unless they closely examine their own thoughts on the matter. There also appears to be some amount of discomfort for some people in acknowledging that perhaps factors outside of our control can be instrumental in determining something like class which we place such social value on.
This being said, some of the people we talked to also pointed out that one cannot always directly determine class based on family and environment alone, as often different people from the same family and upbringing can end up in wildly different class positions as time progresses. Sandy, a 57 year old lawyer from Connecticut said that her family is originally from Chile, and while she has a high income position as a lawyer, some other members of her family still live a very low income lifestyle.
Sandy identified herself as being upper class, and when asked how she felt about lower class people she said that she believes it is possible to be happy and live a good life while still being lower class, and thus she does not judge people based on their class alone. When we asked Amelia what she thought about the lower class, she mentioned that some people in the upper class seem to idealize what they perceive to be the lower class lifestyle.
Jorge stated that because class is determined by kindness and effort put in to help others, lower class people are those who are out of balance and out of touch with the needs of others. In this conception of class, the wealthiest people might be the lowest class, as many of them do not use their money and power to try and improve the world.

While those who believe themselves to be in the upper class often are hesitant when it comes to offering up opinions about the lower class, the opposite is not true from our experiences. Dan (seen above) told us he was a part of the lower-middle class, and when we asked him what he thought about the upper class he told us that he didn’t feel strongly positively or negatively bout it, but then proceeded to say that he hoped to one day be a part of it. This response was the most neutral out of all of the people we talked to when it came time to ask for their feelings about the upper class, and a fair few people spoke very passionately about the subject.
Of all of our interview subjects, Gil spoke the most about his feelings towards the upper class, often using expletives to describe how he felt about the wealthy taking from the poor. As previously mentioned Gil discussed with us the significant pay gap in America, and he spoke at length about the exploitation he saw from upper class people towards the people who work for them.
Whether you are passionate on the topic of class, or whether you don’t consider it much in your daily life, class still plays a role in our society and has an affect on each individual. Throughout the interviews we conducted we were able to catch a glimpse into how people of different backgrounds perceive class along with the different aspects that go into it’s definition. By learning about the connotations and defining factors that people perceive as upper, middle, and lower class we gain insight on what class really is and how it is interpreted by different individuals.

