Class and Contemporary British Culture [electronic resource] /
Biressi, A.author.
Nunn, H.author.
How does culture articulate, frame, organise and produce stories about social class and class difference? What do these stories tell us about contemporary models of success, failure, struggle and aspiration? How have class-based labels been revived or newly-minted to categorise the insiders and outsiders of the new 'age of austerity'? Drawing on examples from the 1980s to the present day, Class and Contemporary British Culture, now in paperback and with a new Preface, investigates the changing landscape of class and reveals how it has become populated by a host of classed figures including Essex Man and Essex Girl, the 'sharp-elbowed middle class', the 'feral underclass', the 'white working class', the 'undeserving poor', 'selfish baby boomers' and others. Overall, the book argues that social class, although complicated and highly contested, remains a valid and fruitful route into understanding how contemporary British culture articulates social distinction and social difference and the significant costs and investments at stake for all involved.
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Introduction: beginning the work of class and culture -- Essex: class, aspiration and social mobility -- The revolting "underclass": "you know them when you see them" -- Top of the class: education, capital and choice -- The ones who got away: celebrity life stories of upward social mobility -- The upper classes: visibility, adaptability and change -- "Are you thinking what we're thinking?" : class, immigration and belonging -- Austerity Britain: back to the future -- Afterword: "we are all in this together".
How does culture articulate, frame, organise and produce stories about social class and class difference? What do these stories tell us about contemporary models of success, failure, struggle and aspiration? How have class-based labels been revived or newly-minted to categorise the insiders and outsiders of the new 'age of austerity'? Drawing on examples from the 1980s to the present day, Class and Contemporary British Culture, now in paperback and with a new Preface, investigates the changing landscape of class and reveals how it has become populated by a host of classed figures including Essex Man and Essex Girl, the 'sharp-elbowed middle class', the 'feral underclass', the 'white working class', the 'undeserving poor', 'selfish baby boomers' and others. Overall, the book argues that social class, although complicated and highly contested, remains a valid and fruitful route into understanding how contemporary British culture articulates social distinction and social difference and the significant costs and investments at stake for all involved.
Cultural studies.
Social structure.
Social inequality.
Communication.
Sociology.
Ethnology—Europe.
Cultural Studies.
Social Structure, Social Inequality.
Media Research.
Media Studies.
Sociology, general.
British Culture.