Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to elaborate the analysis of economic class within Burman’s ontological framework. To alleviate some shortcomings of Burman’s framework, I will make use of concepts presented by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Further, I will draw on Sally Haslanger’s notion of structural explanation to distinguish micro from macro-level explanations and situate the second kind of explanation within class analysis. I will, following some analytical Marxists, argue that there is a possible distinction to be made between metaphysical reduction and explanatory reduction, and that class analysis requires macro-level explanations. I will provide an outline account of how Burman’s framework can be modified to accommodate macro-level explanations.