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E-book
Author Biressi, Anita, 1965-

Title Class and contemporary British culture / Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn
Published Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

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Description 1 online resource
Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION: BEGINNING THE WORK OF CLASS AND CULTURE -- 1. Class-work: Social Change and Class Critique after the 1980s -- 2. Class-work after 'the Death of Class' -- 3. Class and Contemporary British Culture: Outline -- PART II: ESSEX: CLASS, ASPIRATION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY -- 1. Essex, Conservatism and 'the New Sociology of Aspirations' -- 2. The Discovery of Essex Man -- 3. I've got loadsamoney! -- 4. Class, Taste and the Essex Girl -- PART III: THE REVOLTING 'UNDERCLASS': 'YOU KNOW THEM WHEN YOU SEE THEM' -- 1. The 2011 English Riots and the 'Feral Underclass' -- 2. The 1980s: 'The Underclass, so Long Prophesied, is Now Emerging' -- 3. The 1990s: from the 'Underclass' to the Socially Excluded -- 4. The 'Underclass' Returns: Lifestyle, Consumerism, Precariousness -- PART IV: TOP OF THE CLASS: EDUCATION, CAPITAL AND CHOICE -- 1. Inspiring the Uninspired -- 2. Sharp Elbows and the Competition for Resources -- 3. The Choice-directive or Choosing to Choose -- 4. The Parent-citizen and the Deployment of Capital -- 5. More Dream Schools -- 6. Poor Choices -- PART V: THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY: CELEBRITY LIFE STORIES OF UPWARD SOCIAL MOBILITY -- 1. Celebrity Biography: Production and Consumption -- 2. Celebrities Working to Keep it Real -- 3. I Dreamed a Dream: Celebrity Origins -- 4. 'How did I get here from there?': Celebrity Endings -- PART VI: THE UPPER CLASSES: VISIBILITY, ADAPTABILITY AND CHANGE -- 1. The Business of Aristocracy -- 2. The Royal Family at Work -- 3. Upper Class Life-stylists: the Knowledge, the Gift and the Rules -- PART VII: 'ARE YOU THINKING WHAT WE'RE THINKING?' : CLASS, IMMIGRATION AND BELONGING -- 1. Borders, Belonging and 'Saloon bar' Britons -- 2. Hylton-Potts and the Cabbies' Manifesto -- 3. The 'Good Woman' from Rochdale -- 4. All White in Barking -- PART VIII: AUSTERITY BRITAIN: BACK TO THE FUTURE -- 1. In Times of Strife: the Myth of the 1970s Now -- 2. The Embattled Citizen: Keeping Calm and Carrying On -- 3. Past Times, Present Politics -- 4. 'The isle is full of noises': History Answers Back -- Afterword: 'We are all in this together'
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."
Summary 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 this book 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 'squeezed middle', 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
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-230) and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Social classes -- Great Britain.
Social classes in mass media.
Mass media -- Social aspects -- Great Britain
Popular culture -- Great Britain.
Social classes -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Social discrimination & inequality -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Popular culture -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
TV & society -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Social Classes.
Society.
Mass media -- Social aspects
Popular culture
Social classes
Social classes in mass media
Soziale Klasse
Massenmedien
Alltagskultur
Massenkultur
Social classes -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Social discrimination & equal treatment -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Popular culture -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Media studies: TV & society -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Society.
Great Britain
Großbritannien
Form Electronic book
Author Nunn, Heather
ISBN 9781137314130
1137314133