The system of relative social rank as measured in terms of income, wealth, status, and/or power.
Class refers to relative social rank in terms of income, wealth, status, and/or power. Classism is the systematic oppression of poor and working people by those who control necessary resources (jobs, wages, education, housing, food, services, medicine, cultural definitions, and so on). Classism is held in place by a system of beliefs that ranks people according to economic status, “breeding,” job, and level of education. Discourses of classism present upper-class people as naturally smarter and more articulate than lower-class people. Upper-class people define what’s normal, acceptable, and intelligent. Their ideas, values, and culture form the canon of what is considered “high class” culture (think opera, golf, literature), as compared to “low class” or “popular” culture (think WWE, county fairs, reality television).
Classism: The institutional, cultural, and individual set of practices that assign differential value to people according to their socioeconomic status (SES). Classism ensures inequality between classes.