The author goes about this by building upon the existing literature on working-class social reproduction. He identifies three themes that encourage social class transfer among the generations; these include resistance and contestation; the peer group; and the structural location of the family (Kaufman, 2005, p. 251). Kaufman then applies these to the middle class in order to arrive at his findings.

Interestingly, the author finds that, while middle-class young people do engage in resistance and rejection, this occurs in a manner that promotes reproduction (Kaufman, p. 252). While the young often reject their parents' desires for their professional careers, they nonetheless proceed to choose careers that would ensure their remaining social position by also rejecting non-professional careers. For the author, this indicates a need to actively pursue a career within their social class, which indicates a more conscious choice than many researchers appear to account for.

Kaufman also finds that...
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