View source for Upper class

{{Short description|Social class}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

'''Upper class''' in modern societies is the [[social class]] composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the [[economic inequality|wealthiest]] members of [[class society]], and wield the greatest [[political power]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/08/rich-people-rule/|title=Rich people rule!|first=Larry|last=Bartels|date=8 April 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417061617/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/08/rich-people-rule/|archive-date=17 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> According to this view, the upper class is generally distinguished by immense wealth which is passed on from generation to generation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Akhbar-Williams |first=Tahira |author-link=Tahira Akhbar-Williams |chapter=Class Structure |editor=Smith, Jessie C. |title=Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture, Volume 1 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-313-35796-1 |page=322 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10rEGSIItjgC&pg=PA322 |access-date=29 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121144331/https://books.google.com/books?id=10rEGSIItjgC&pg=PA322 |archive-date=21 November 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to the 20th century, the emphasis was on ''[[aristocracy]]'', which emphasized generations of inherited [[nobility|noble status]], not just recent wealth.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Rothenberg |editor1-first=Paula S. |author1=Gregory Mantsios |author-link=Gregory Mantsios |chapter=Class in America – 2009 |title=Race, class, and gender in the United States: an integrated study |date=2010 |publisher=Worth Publishers |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4292-1788-0 |page=179 |edition=8th}}</ref>

Because the upper classes of a society may no longer rule the society in which they are living, they are often referred to as the [[Old money|old upper]] classes, and they are often culturally distinct from the [[nouveau riche|newly rich]] middle classes that tend to dominate public life in modern social democracies. According to the latter view held by the traditional upper classes, no amount of individual wealth or fame would make a person from an undistinguished background into a member of the upper class as one must be born into a family of that class and raised in a particular manner to understand and share upper class values, traditions, and cultural norms. The term is often used in conjunction with terms like [[upper-middle class]], [[middle class]], and [[working class]] as part of a model of [[social stratification]].

==Historical meaning==
[[File:Retrato de familia Fagoaga Arozqueta - Anónimo ca.1730.jpg|thumb|
Portrait of the family Fagoaga Arozqueta, about 1730. Painter unknown. The family was part of the upper class in Mexico City, New Spain.
]]
Historically in some cultures, members of an upper class often did not have to work for a living, as they were supported by earned or inherited investments (often [[real estate]]), although members of the upper class may have had less actual money than merchants.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1257,00.html |title=How should we define working class, middle class and upper class? |year=2011 |access-date=15 September 2018 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Guardian News and Media Limited]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915121855/https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1257,00.html |archive-date=15 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Upper-class status commonly derived from the social position of one's family and not from one's own achievements or wealth. Much of the population that composed the upper class consisted of aristocrats, ruling families, titled people, and [[ecclesiastical polity|religious hierarchs]]. These people were usually born into their status and historically there was not much movement across class boundaries.
[[File:Baile del Santiago antiguo.jpg|thumb|Ball in [[Captaincy General of Chile|colonial Chile]] by [[Pedro Subercaseaux]]. In [[Spanish Empire|Spain's American colonies]], the upper classes were made up of Europeans and [[Criollo people|American born Spaniards]] and were heavily influenced by European trends.]]  
In many countries, the term "upper class" was intimately associated with hereditary land ownership.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Julia A. |date=2000 |title=Land Ownership and Social Change in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2598603 |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=767–776 |doi=10.1111/1468-0289.00177 |jstor=2598603 |issn=0013-0117}}</ref> Political power was often in the hands of the landowners in many [[pre-industrial society|pre-industrial societies]] despite there being no legal barriers to land ownership for other social classes. Upper-class landowners in Europe were often also members of the titled [[nobility]], though not necessarily: the prevalence of titles of nobility varied widely from country to country. Some upper classes were almost entirely untitled, for example, the [[Szlachta]] of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Skwarczyński
| first = Paweł
| date = June 1956
| title = The Problem of Feudalism in Poland up to the Beginning of the 16th Century
| jstor = 4204744
| journal = [[The Slavonic and East European Review]]
| location = Salisbury House, Station Road, [[Cambridge]], [[Cambridgeshire|Cambridgeshire county]], [[England|ENGLAND]]
| publisher = [[Modern Humanities Research Association]]
| volume = 34
| issue = 83
| page = 302
| quote = In 1459 [[Ostroróg family|Ostroróg]] submitted a memorandum to the parliament (sejm), suggesting that the [[Voivodes of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|palatines, or provincial governors]], should be given the title of prince and their sons the titles of barons and counts. The title of count was suggested by him for a [[Castellans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|castellanus]]. But all these suggestions were not accepted.}}</ref>

==Great Britain and Ireland==
{{Main|Social structure of the United Kingdom#Upper class}}
[[File:Harrods 1909.jpg|thumb|The upmarket [[Harrods]] department store in London, 1909]]
In [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]], the "upper class" traditionally comprised the [[landed gentry]] and the [[aristocracy (class)|aristocracy]] of noble families with hereditary titles. The vast majority of post-medieval aristocratic families originated in the merchant class and were ennobled between the 14th and 19th centuries while intermarrying with the old nobility and gentry.<ref>{{cite book | first = Arnold | last = Toynbee | author-link = Arnold J. Toynbee | title = [[A Study of History]]: Abridgement of Vols I-X in one volume | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1960 }}</ref> Since the [[Second World War]], the term has come to encompass rich and powerful members of the managerial and professional classes as well.<ref name=Krummel2008 /> In the years since Irish independence in 1922 the upper class has all but vanished in the Republic of Ireland. Aristocratic titles within the Peerage of Ireland granted by the British monarch have no recognition in the Irish Constitution. Contemporary Ireland is generally perceived to have a two-tier social class system composed of working class and middle class (with the exception of a small number of wealthy billionaires).

==United States==
{{Main|American upper class|African-American upper class}}

[[File:Age of Innocence (1st ed dust jacket).jpg|thumb|First edition dust cover of [[Edith Wharton]]'s 1920 [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel ''[[The Age of Innocence]]'', a story set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s]]
The American upper class is a [[social group]] within the [[United States]] consisting of people who have the highest [[socioeconomic status|social rank]] primarily due to economic [[wealth]].<ref name="The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States">{{cite book |last=Beeghley|first=Leonard |year=2004 |title=The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States |publisher=Allyn and Bacon |location=Boston, MA |isbn=0-205-37558-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/upper-class |title=Upper class}}</ref>  The American upper class is estimated to constitute less than 1% of the population. By self-identification, according to this 2001–2012 Gallup Poll data, 98% of Americans identify with the five other class terms used, 48–50% identifying as "middle class".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/159029/americans-likely-say-belong-middle-class.aspx | title=Americans Most Likely to Say They Belong to the Middle Class | date=30 November 2012 | first=Andrew | last=Dugan | author-link=Andrew Dugan | publisher=Gallup | access-date=10 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311124400/http://www.gallup.com/poll/159029/americans-likely-say-belong-middle-class.aspx | archive-date=11 March 2016 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The main distinguishing feature of the upper class is its ability to derive enormous [[Income in the United States|incomes]] from [[Wealth in the United States|wealth]] through techniques such as money management and investing, rather than engaging in wage-labor salaried employment, although most upper-class individuals today will still hold some sort of employment, which differs from historical norms.<ref name="The American Class Structure">{{cite book | last = Gilbert | first = Dennis | year = 1998 | title = The American Class Structure | publisher = Wadsworth Publishing | location = New York | isbn = 0-534-50520-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/americanclassstr0000gilb_c7f2 }}</ref><ref name="Society in Focus">{{cite book | last1 = Thompson | first1 = William | author-link= William Thompson (sociologist) | first2 = Joseph | last2 = Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus | publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, Mass. | isbn = 0-205-41365-X}}</ref><ref name="Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships">{{cite book | last1 = Williams | first1 = Brian | author-link=Brian Williams | first2 = Stacey C. | last2 = Sawyer | author-link2= Stacey C. Sawyer | first3 = Carl M. | last3 = Wahlstrom | author-link3= Carl M. Wahlstrom | year = 2005 | title = Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships | publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, Mass. | isbn = 0-205-36674-0}}</ref> Successful [[entrepreneur]]s, [[CEO]]s, [[investment banker]]s, [[venture capitalist]]s, heir to fortunes, celebrities, and a few number of [[professional]]s, are considered members of this class by contemporary sociologists, such as [[James Henslin]] or [[Dennis Gilbert (sociologist)|Dennis Gilbert]].<ref name="The American Class Structure"/> There may be prestige differences between different upper-class households. An [[A-list]] actor, for example, might not be accorded as much prestige as a former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]],<ref name="Society in Focus"/> yet all members of this class are so influential and wealthy as to be considered members of the upper class.<ref name="The American Class Structure"/> At the pinnacle of U.S. wealth, 2004 saw a dramatic increase in the numbers of billionaires. According to ''[[Forbes Magazine]]'', there are now 374 U.S. billionaires. The growth in billionaires took a dramatic leap since the early 1980s, when the average net worth of the individuals on the Forbes 400 list was $400 million. Today{{When|date=April 2022}}, the average net worth is $2.8 billion.

{{Blockquote|Upper-class families... dominate corporate America and have a disproportionate influence over the nation's political, educational, religious, and other institutions. Of all social classes, members of the upper class also have a strong sense of solidarity and 'consciousness of kind' that stretches across the nation and even the globe.|William Thompson & Joseph Hickey, ''Society in Focus''|2005<ref name="Society in Focus"/>}}
Since the 1970s, [[income inequality in the United States]] has been increasing, with the top 1% (largely because of the top 0.1%) experiencing significantly larger gains in income than the rest of society.<ref name="Johnston, D. (29 March 2007). Income Gap Is Widening, Data Shows. ''The New York Times''">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/29tax.html?ex=1332820800&en=fb472e72466c34c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | last = Johnston | first = David Cay | author-link = David Cay Johnston | title = Income Gap is Widening, Data Shows | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = 20 June 2007 | date = 29 March 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071105051201/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/29tax.html?ex=1332820800&en=fb472e72466c34c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | archive-date = 5 November 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Thomas, E. & Gross, D. (23 July 2007). Taxing the Rich. ''Newsweek''.">{{cite journal | last1 = Thomas | first1 = E. | last2 = Gross | first2 = D. | date = 23 July 2007 | title = Taxing the Rich | journal = Newsweek }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/us/class/richest-are-leaving-even-the-rich-far-behind.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 5 June 2005|access-date = 2015-06-26|issn = 0362-4331|first = David Cay|last = Johnston|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161009151510/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/us/class/richest-are-leaving-even-the-rich-far-behind.html|archive-date = 9 October 2016|url-status = live}}</ref> [[Alan Greenspan]], former chair of the [[Federal Reserve System|Federal Reserve]], sees it as a problem for society, calling it a "very disturbing trend".<ref name="Pizzigati, S. (7 November 2005). Alan Greenspan, Egalitarian?. ''TomPaine.com''.">{{cite web | url = http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2005/11/07/alan_greenspan_egalitarian.php | last = Pizzigati | first = S. | date = 7 November 2005 | title = Alan Greenspan, Egalitarian? | publisher = TomPaine.com | access-date = 20 June 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154749/http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2005/11/07/alan_greenspan_egalitarian.php | archive-date = 30 September 2007 | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Greenspan, A. (28 August 1998). Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan. ''The Federal Reserve Board.''">{{cite web | url = http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/Speeches/1998/19980828.htm | last = Greenspan | first = Alan | date = 28 August 1998 | title = Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan | publisher = The Federal Reserve Board | access-date = 20 June 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070606121611/http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/1998/19980828.htm | archive-date = 6 June 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref>

According to the book ''[[Who Rules America?]]'' by [[William Domhoff]], the distribution of wealth in America is the primary highlight of the influence of the upper class. The top 1% of Americans own around 34% of the wealth in the U.S. while the bottom 80% own only approximately 16% of the wealth. This large disparity displays the unequal distribution of wealth in America in absolute terms.<ref>{{cite book | last = Domhoff |first= G. William | title = Who Rules America: Power, Politics, & Social Change|edition= 5th| publisher = McGraw-Hill | year = 2005 | location =New York | isbn = 0-07-287625-5}}</ref>

In 1998, [[Bob Herbert]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' referred to [[Plutocracy#United States|modern American plutocrats]] as "[[The Donor Class]]"<ref name="NYT-19980719">{{cite news |last=Herbert |first=Bob |title=The Donor Class |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/19/opinion/in-america-the-donor-class.html |date=19 July 1998 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311035419/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/19/opinion/in-america-the-donor-class.html |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20151010">{{cite news |last1=Confessore |first1=Nicholas |last2=Cohen |first2=Sarah |last3=Yourish |first3=Karen |title=The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/11/us/politics/2016-presidential-election-super-pac-donors.html |date=10 October 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310084809/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/11/us/politics/2016-presidential-election-super-pac-donors.html |archive-date=10 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> (list of top donors)<ref name="NYT-20151010-el">{{cite news |last1=Lichtblau |first1=Eric |last2=Confessore |first2=Nicholas |title=From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash - Top Donors List |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/us/politics/wealthy-families-presidential-candidates.html#donors-list |date=10 October 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310115335/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/us/politics/wealthy-families-presidential-candidates.html#donors-list |archive-date=10 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> and defined the class, for the first time,<ref name="CS-20141226">{{cite news |last=McCutcheon |first=Chuck |title=Why the 'donor class' matters, especially in the GOP presidential scrum |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2014/1226/Why-the-donor-class-matters-especially-in-the-GOP-presidential-scrum |date=26 December 2014 |work="[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |access-date=10 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311022143/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Politics-Voices/2014/1226/Why-the-donor-class-matters-especially-in-the-GOP-presidential-scrum |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> as "a tiny group – just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population – and it is not representative of the rest of the nation. But its money buys plenty of access."<ref name="NYT-19980719" />

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Aristocracy (class)]]
* [[Bildungsbürgertum]]
* [[Black elite]]
* [[Corporate class]]
* [[Debutante]]
* [[Donor Class]]
* [[Fat cat (term)]]
* [[Gentry]]
* [[Grand Burgher]] (German ''Großbürger'')
* [[High society (social class)]]
* [[International Debutante Ball]]
* [[Landed gentry]]
* [[Nobility]]
* [[Nouveau riche]]
* [[Old money]]
* [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)]]
* [[Social status]]
* [[Socialite]]
* [[High-net-worth individual]]
* [[Ultra high-net-worth individual]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist
|refs =
<ref name="Krummel2008">{{cite book |title = The Old Upper Class – Britain's Aristocracy |series = Akademische Schriftenreihe |first = Victoria |last = Krummel |author-link = Victoria Krummel |publisher = GRIN Verlag |year = 2008 |isbn = 978-3-638-74726-4 |page = 5 }}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Cousin, Bruno and Sébastien Chauvin (2021). "Is there a global super-bourgeoisie?" ''Sociology Compass'', vol. 15, issue 6, pp.&nbsp;1–15. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soc4.12883 online]
*{{cite encyclopaedia|encyclopedia=The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User's Guide to Sociological Language|article=Upper class|editor=Allan G. Johnson|editor-link=Allan G. Johnson|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|date=2000|isbn=978-0-631-21681-0}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sociology of Elites|volume=50|series=Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought| first = Michael | last = Hartmann|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2007|isbn=978-0-415-41197-4}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sociology of Southeast Asia: Transformations in a Developing Region| first = Victor T. | last = King|publisher=NIAS Press|year=2008|isbn=978-87-91114-60-1}}
* McKibbin, Ross.(2000) ''Classes and Cultures: England 1918-1951'' (2000) pp 1–43.
* Baraka, Magda. (1998). ''The Egyptian upper class between revolutions, 1919-1952''. ISBS.
* Scott, John. (1982). ''The upper classes: Property and privilege in Britain'' Macmillan Pub Ltd.

===United States===
{{Refbegin|40em}}
* Baltzell, E. Digby. ''Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a New Upper Class'' (1958).
* Brooks, David. ''Bobos in paradise: The new upper class and how they got there'' (2010) 
* Burt, Nathaniel. ''The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy'' (1999).
* Davis, Donald F. "The Price of Conspicious &#91;sic&#93; Production: The Detroit Elite and the Automobile Industry, 1900-1933." ''Journal of Social History'' 16.1 (1982): 21–46. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3786880 online]
* Farnum, Richard. "Prestige in the Ivy League: Democratization and discrimination at Penn and Columbia, 1890-1970." in Paul W. Kingston and Lionel S. Lewis, eds. ''The high-status track: Studies of elite schools and stratification'' (1990).
* Ghent, Jocelyn Maynard, and Frederic Cople Jaher. "The Chicago Business Elite: 1830–1930. A Collective Biography." ''Business History Review'' 50.3 (1976): 288–328. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3112998 online]
* Hood. Clifton. ''In Pursuit of Privilege: A History of New York City's Upper Class and the Making of a Metropolis'' (2016). Covers 1760–1970.
* Jaher, Frederic Cople, ed. ''The Rich, the Well Born, and the Powerful: Elites and Upper Classes in History'' (1973), essays by scholars
* Jaher, Frederick Cople. ''The Urban Establishment: Upper Strata in Boston, New York, Chicago, Charleston, and Los Angeles'' (1982).
* Jensen, Richard. "Family, Career, and Reform: Women Leaders of the Progressive Era." in Michael Gordon, ed., ''The American Family in Social-Historical Perspective,''(1973): 267–80.
* {{cite book|title=Rich People Things: Real-Life Secrets of the Predator Class|first = Chris | last = Lehmann|publisher=[[Haymarket Books]]|year=2011|isbn=9781608461523}}
* McConachie, Bruce A. "New York operagoing, 1825-50: creating an elite social ritual." ''American Music'' (1988): 181–192. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051548  online]
* {{cite book|title=Women of the Upper Class|first = Susan A. | last = Ostrander|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|year=1986|isbn=978-0-87722-475-4}}
* Story, Ronald. (1980) ''The forging of an aristocracy: Harvard & the Boston upper class, 1800-1870''
* Synnott, Marcia. ''The half-opened door: Discrimination and admissions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, 1900-1970'' (2010).
* Williams, Peter W. ''Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression'' (2016), especially in New York City
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Upper-class}}
*[https://money.cnn.com/2004/11/16/pf/millionaire_households/ Number of households with net-worths over one million dollars]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070106223104/http://www.expandglobal.com/General_info/education_and_income.htm Relationship between income and education] (archived 6 January 2007)
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548zx "The Aristocracy&nbsp;– how the ruling class survives"] on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s [[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)|''In Our Time'']] featuring [[David Cannadine]], [[Rosemary Sweet]] and [[Felipe Fernandez-Armesto]]

{{Social class}}{{Wealth|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upper Class}}
[[Category:Upper class| ]]
[[Category:Social classes]]
[[Category:High society (social class)]]