Summary: The authors* argue that debates within sociology over class and status,which are usually grounded in the classic debate between Marxian and Weberian views of class, miss out on a distinguishing feature of status in contemporary mass society: celebrity. As they put it:

Compared with other types of status, however, celebrity is status on speed. It confers honor in days, not generations; it decays over time, rather than accumulating; and it demands a constant supply of new recruits, rather than erecting barriers to entry.

*Charles Kurzman, Chelise Anderson, Clinton Key, Youn Ok Lee, Mairead Moloney, Alexis Silver, and Maria W. Van Ryn.