Abstract
The article is concerned with the concept of working class and its usage in a historical research. First part is devoted to the explanation of the original approach of Karl Marx and Max Weber.
Second part is concerned with the conditions of scepticism in relation to the category of working class. Third part deals with contemporary attempts to solve "cul-de-sac" of the postmodern historiography with its emphasis on discursive construction of reality.
There are recognized here three forms of analytical orientation: mikrohistorical, synthetical and mentalist.