Overclass is a pejorative[1][2] term for the most powerful group in a social hierarchy. Users of the term generally imply excessive and unjust privilege and exploitation of the rest of society.[3][4][5]
The word is fairly recent, with the Oxford English Dictionary including it only in December 2004,[6] but it has been in use since at least 1995. Some writers compare it to the more familiar underclass:
See also
References
- ↑ The next American nation: the new nationalism and the fourth American revolution – Michael Lind – Google Books
- ↑ Fighting Poverty, Inequality and Injustice: A Manifesto Inspired by Peter ... - Google Books
- ↑ Chronicles – Rockford Institute – Google Books
- ↑ This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation – Barbara Ehrenreich – Google Books
- ↑ Delight of the Overclass! Demise of the Middleclass! - Jay T. Baldwin - Google Books
- ↑ Quarterly updates to OED Online
- ↑ Farewell to the Overclass 1996 Richard John Neuhaus
- ↑ Hawkins, Lee (February 26, 2009). "CNBC Special Report: The New Black Overclass". NBC News. NBCNews.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
- ↑ Rothkopf, David J. (2008). Superclass: the global power elite and the world they are making. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-27210-4.
Further reading
- Adler, Jerry (July 31, 1995). "The Rise of the Overclass; The Overclass 100". Newsweek. 126 (5): 32–46. – Newsweek cover story on "How the new elite scrambled up the merit ladder—and wants to stay there any way it can."
