The class approach of Edward P. Thompson and it’s applicability to entrepreneurial studies

Abstract

The article develops the concept of class of Edward P. Thompson, problematizing its operability specifically for entrepreneurship studies in Brazil. The methodology of "linguistic contextualism" guided the building of the research through the concept of meaning: the mental process performed by the author in developing certain concepts. Thinking class as "event", as dynamic, allows: a) to differentiate it from the concept of group (substance); b) highlight its historical, diachronic aspect; c) define the role of dialectics in the content of the concept; d) to break with a priori definitions of what is defined as economic, political and ideological, problematizing how these elements effectively interact in reality. The importance of the concept of class for Brazilian Political Science is as great as the difficulty of operationalizing it; defining their potential, work done here, is an important task to guide those who wish to observe classes in reality