This sequence first of all invites us to highlight the multiple factors of structuring and hierarchization of social space in current French society which lead to the determination of social groups. The pupils should be able to understand that there is a multiplicity of criteria of social differentiation which tend to combine (sex, place of residence, position in the life cycle and composition of the household in particular). The socio-economic status of individuals, measured through their socio-professional category, their level of education and their level of income, strongly structures the social space. The nomenclature of the PCS is the institutional translation of this structuring of the social space.
Secondly, students should be able to identify and explain the main changes in the socio-professional structure in France since the second half of the 20th century. It will thus be a question of identifying and explaining the phenomenon of tertiarisation of the economy which relies largely on the rise in the level of qualification of the working people. Finally, the aim is to highlight two other major transformations in the socio-professional structure: the feminization of jobs and the development of salaried employment to the detriment of self-employment. These phenomena will have to be quantitatively measured and then explained.
The third section invites a broad and open reflection on the notion of social class. The theories of social class (of Marx and Weber) will first be presented, which will then make it possible to question the relevance of the notion of social class to account for the current French social space. It will therefore be necessary to consider the arguments leading to a questioning of the relevance of the concept of social class (reduction in the distance between social classes under the effect of averaging, increase in intra-class distances, in particular by taking into account social relations of gender or even multiplication of factors of individualization), but also the arguments allowing to show that the social classes have not completely disappeared (maintenance, even reinforcement, of certain social and economic inequalities; maintenance of differences in cultural practices).
