53 SEVEN Class The idea of ‘class’ is used in three main ways. The first is the Marxist sense, which understands class in terms of relationship to the means of production. This includes the ‘bourgeoisie’, who own the means of production, and the ‘proletariat’, who work for them. Marx thought that, within time, only these two classes would be left. He was wrong about that, as he was about many things80, but that does not mean that his concept of class is not useful. People form classes depending on their relationship to the labour market: there is a difference
4 Class There is a clear polarisation in British society over access to jobs, job security and income inequality. The informational economy around knowledge and service sector skills has concentrated job opportunities and wealth in major cities, particularly London. The drastic wealth disparities in Western societies were also exposed during the global financial crisis of 2007–08. Occupy, the multi- platform, anti-inequality social movement, reiterated this point by declaring that ‘We are the 99%.’ The movement highlighted the concentrating of global
the country where the Industrial Revolution began – and, as E.P. Thompson chronicled, the English working class were made – the vertical class system that capitalism needs to function is in great shape. There has been a redistribution of wealth from the poorest upwards since 2010 ( ONS, 2021 ). The divisions between the rich and the poor both in the UK and in Europe have never been greater in modern times, and there is now a full body of work from academics studying economics, sociology, anthropology and urbanism, focusing on the elites and the ever-growing wealth
115 SEVEN Why class (still) matters Iain Ferguson Introduction Politics in the UK took an unexpected detour towards the end of 2009. Following 12 years during which the notion of class was effectively banished from official political discourse and poverty was presented as an issue of social exclusion rather than of income inequality, New Labour rediscovered class. The rediscovery began in November of that year with Chancellor Alistair Darling’s imposition of a windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses. It continued with a well-prepared, and much publicised, jibe by
35 TWO Class, poverty and inequality The previous chapter examined the development and expansion of neoliberal ideas. It then went on to look at the recent application of that group of policies – particularly changes to the welfare system and the reduction in the provision of public services – that have come to be known as ‘austerity’. This chapter explores the implications for social work practice of the various discourses that explain poverty. Class One of the main arguments put forward here is that any consideration or analysis of the causes of poverty
This book, the second title in the Rethinking Community Development series, starts from concern about increasing inequality worldwide and the re-emergence of community development in public policy debates.
It argues for the centrality of class analysis and its associated divisions of power to any discussion of the potential benefits of community development. It proposes that, without such an analysis, community development can simply mask the underlying causes of structural inequality. It may even exacerbate divisions between groups competing for dwindling public resources in the context of neoliberal globalisation.
Reflecting on their own contexts, a wide range of contributors from across the global north and south explore how an understanding of social class can offer ways forward in the face of increasing social polarisation. The book considers class as a dynamic and contested concept and examines its application in policies and practices past and present. These include local/global and rural/urban alliances, community organising, ecology, gender and education.
neoliberal policies, led up to the late 2000s, and mushroomed after the global financial crisis. Joshua Roose, a scholar of politics and religion, tersely summarizes, “There is a general consensus that key causal factors of contemporary global populism include the 2009 sovereign debt crisis and associated policies emphasizing austerity … securitisation… and mass migration.” 2 Put simply, frustration over class inequality, compounded by demographic shifts, is widely held to be the leading cause. I suspect most readers are familiar with some version of this answer, and we
141 Critical and Radical Social Work • vol 6 • no 2 • 141–57 • © Policy Press 2018 Print ISSN 2049 8608 • Online ISSN 2049 8675 • https://doi.org/10.1332/204986018X15321003074231 Acccepted for publication 04 June 2018 • First published online 17 August 2018 article SPECIAL ISSUE • Marx at 200 Marxism, class and women’s oppression Lindsey German, l.german@herts.ac.uk University of Hertfordshire, UK This article argues that the theories of Marxism are able to integrate issues of gender and race oppression in order to develop an inclusive theory of class that
Love them or hate them, most of us have an opinion about cars. If not the cars themselves, then it’s driver competence and behaviour that can offend us. And then there’s modification: alloy wheels, custom audio systems and bespoke paint jobs. For some, changing the look, feel and sound of a car says something about themselves, but for others, such enhancements signify a lack of taste, or even criminality.
In subtle and complex ways, cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. As a symbol of independence and freedom, the car projects status, class, taste and, significantly, embeds racialisation. Using fascinating research from drivers, including first-person accounts as well as exploring hip-hop music and car-related TV shows, Alam unpicks the ways in which identity is rehearsed, enhanced, interpreted.
1 PART 1 Contested concepts of class, past and present
