In this essay I propose to discuss some aspects of the class structure of the "advanced societies' in the contemporary era. But I want to preface what I have to say about 'society in the 1980s' with a brief discussion of 'sociology in the 1960s". In the West we have passed from a period, in the 1950s and early 1960s, of apparently expanding prosperity and economic growth, to one fraught with economic ills and political perils. Some of the most influential ideas in sociology, and in the social sciences more generally, were penned during a time of seemingly stable economic development and political consensus. I do not want to say that all these ideas now have to be thrown into the dustbin, but I do think it important to learn some lessons from the shortcomings of sociological analysis at that period. For some of these shortcomings remain with us.