Introduction: Social Class and Education in Globalizing Context

Within the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to issues of social class, reinvigorating a conversation that had waned by the close of the 20th century (Brantlinger, 2003; Burawoy, Chang, & Fei-yu Hsieh, 2010; Lareau, 2003; Massey & Denton, 1993; Patillo-McCoy, 2000; Reay, Crozier, & James, 2011; Torres, 2009; Walkerdine, Lucey, & Melody, 2001; Weis, 2004, 2008). Class has reemerged in two ways. First, there is greater recognition of class as a key signifier of positionality (Lareau, 2003; Reay et al., 2011; Vincent & Ball, 2006; Walkerdine et al., 2001; Weis, 2004, 2008) and second, there is deepening scholarly focus on entrenched and growing social and economic inequalities (Aron-Dine & Shapiro, 2006; Chauvel, 2010; Gilbert, 2003; Piketty & Saez, 2003, 2006; Sherman & Aron-Dine, 2007).