A Working Class woman is something to be.
Be Radical.
A working class woman is something to be - be radical, and stand proud of where you come from and who you are.
The Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class
Exceed Your Expectations
BillyNo Mates
Paul Cooper
Carla Henry
Cindy Sasha
The Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class
New Self published book by The Working Class Collective
Our Diary - The Mad yellow Book
In the first weeks of a growing global health crisis, like millions of people around the UK, ethnographer
and working class scholar Lisa Mckenzie found herself sitting at home alone, watching news reports on
the spread of COVID-19. Knowing from long experience that accounts of the pandemic would be certain
to be shaped and filtered by those with power and platforms, Lisa was determined to ensure that working
class people’s stories, voices and experiences would not go unheard.
When she put out a call for working class people in the UK to share their accounts of their daily lives
during the early days of the pandemic, responses came from all over. More than 40 people sent their
diaries to Lisa. Some accounts were traditional diary entries sent by email; others came via social media
status updates, text messages, or written longhand and posted; yet others were sets of images. Fearing
that the emotion and truth of these accounts of working class lives during the pandemic would all too
likely be lost in the editing and publishing process of academic research, Lisa decided to do it herself
instead. With thousands of people backing the book project through crowdfunding, and with the help of a
cooperative of storytellers, artists and allies, Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class was born out of
solidarity, and the conviction that working class people need to be in charge of telling their own stories.
This book, and the wider project, is a labour of love by the diarists, the cooperative, and the artists whose
images brought a rich additional dimension to the contributors’ words and experiences.
None of us really knew, during those first months of 2020, what impact COVID-19 and lockdowns would
have on our communities, families and society. What the accounts in Lockdown Diaries of the Working
Class show is that there was a sense that things can never, and should never be the same again.
Political leaders, celebrities and the self-styled experts in media all came in for acidic criticism; the diary
writers saw no connection between themselves and those who were constantly proclaiming their special
knowledge or important opinions, and throughout the diaries, the anger and lack of trust in our political,
economic and social systems are palpable. These accounts are as diverse as the people who
contributed them: full of humour and pain, loneliness and courage and community solidarity, love and
fear. Whatever official narratives are currently being “curated” in the usual quarters, and whatever is said
in future about working class people in Britain in 2020, this book will stand as testimony to the working
class people who wrote, drew and cared about the importance of telling our own stories.
Dont die sally
This is a citation of your published piece. Write a brief description to give a snapshot of your work. Make sure to specify the medium for publishing, such as an academic journal, book, essay or magazine. If your work only appears on certain pages, include that information so it’s easier for your readers to find.
Dont die Sally
9 th April
Working from home today my job as a complaint handler was a tough one today .. the
knock on affect this lockdown has is unbelievable, one man 92 has no Tv for a week I’ve
asked him what he’s been doing to keep himself entertained’ listened to the wireless ‘
he
said and what a load of shite it is .ive got to call him back Tuesday bless him
I’ve ate one of the grandkids Easter eggs ffs and my team have done a pub quiz via Skype
with alcohol of I’ll be a fat alcoholic when this is over
My granddaughter cycled past and shouted “don’t die sally “ she’s a fucker & I miss her so
The class politics of prejudice: Brexit and the land of no-hope and glory
Abstract
The debates relating to social class and whether it is still a useful concept in describing a lived reality of the British population has never been far away from media, political and academic dispute. Thatcher’s Britain throughout the 1980s attempted to dilute class meaning with what was called ‘a home owning democ-racy’ and thus end class collective politics through easily available credit for theworking class while simultaneously attacking trade union organization, recruit-ment and political action.During the late 1990s and into the noughties a ‘New Labour’ administration attempted to exacerbate the end of class politics through an agenda of a ‘culturaldistinction’ to class identity. Class struggle, class politics and class identity isembedded deep within the cultural norms practices, and history of British democ-racy. Consequently it is difficult if not impossible to prise class inequality in theUK away from and out of national, local and personal politics (Savage et al.2015: 393–8). This paper focuses upon the sense that class politics, and culturalclass distinction, within the UK had the biggest influence in determining aworking-class ‘Leave Vote’ in the 2016 referendum within the UK. This paperexplores accounts and narratives from working-class ‘leave’ voters though an eth-nographic study of the political and social viewpoints of working-class commun-ities of East London, and of ex-mining towns of Nottinghamshire. Framing intofuller context the anger and apathy of being ‘left out’, arguing that being ‘leftout’ has been part of working-class political narratives for over 30 years. Goingbeyond frustration and apathy, a significant part of the narrative of working peo-ple was of ‘not existing’, suggesting certain important linkages with ongoingdebates about new ways of conceptualizing class differences and class structures.
Theres Nothing too good for the working class
May 2017
Theres Nothing too Good for the working class
MAY 2017
THE SPIRIT OF BILLY CASPER
RED PEPPER JULY 2016
On theBritish Class System
September 2017
A Working Class Academic
A Sociologist
Published Work
Building better societies
Promoting social justice in a world falling apart
2017
What would it take to make society better? For the majority, conditions are getting worse and this will continue unless strong action is taken. This book offers a wide range of expert contributors outlining what might help to make better societies and which mechanisms, interventions and evidence are needed when we think about a better society.
The book looks at what is needed to prevent the proliferation of harm and the gradual collapse of civil society. It argues that social scientists need to cast aside their commitment to the established order and its ideological support systems, look ahead at the likely outcomes of various interventions and move to the forefront of informed political debate.
Providing practical steps and policy programmes, this is ideal for academics and students across a wide range of social science fields and those interested in social inequality.
Foxtrotting the Riot: Slow Rioting in Britain's Inner City
2013
In recent years there have been significant discussions and arguments raised relating to the position and behaviour of those who live in Britain's poorest neighbourhoods, however there has been little in the way of solutions put forward by any of the political Party's. August 2011 was a flashpoint in the history of these debates, the civil unrest which took place during that month has led to further and continuous on-going social and political debates relating to welfare, unemployment and a sense of disenfranchisement within specific neighbourhoods in the UK. This paper focuses upon a community in Nottingham, St Ann's, a council estate housing 15,000 people, who rely upon social housing and public services to as they say to 'keep their heads above water'. The families who rely upon public services, welfare benefits and social housing are the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Britain, and since 2010 are being subject to harsh cuts in their welfare benefits. They are also the most vulnerable to unemployment caused by shrinking the size of the public sector, as they were to the loss of the manufacturing industries in the early 1980s under the Thatcher Government. This paper examines the lives of those who live on this council estate; rely upon social housing, local services, and when the employment market shrinks welfare benefits. The paper addresses the key argument that there has been a significant change in representation of how council estates and working class people who live in them have been negatively re-branded and stigmatised over the last 30 years. Although the focus of the riots has centred around five days in August 2011, this paper introduces families, and individuals who have been part of this ethnographic research over an eight-year period. Thus arguing that the disturbances in 2011 were an unintended consequence of a significant neighbourhood and community decline over a generation, but which has been exacerbated since 2010 with the Coalition Government's austerity measures.
‘It’s not ideal’: Reconsidering ‘anger’ and ‘apathy’ in the Brexit vote among an invisible working class
2017
Media commentary has characterized the working class ‘leave’ voters in the UK’s EU referendum in terms of anger, apathy and frustration. There have been very few genuine attempts to document and interpret the meaning of the ‘leave’ vote among underprivileged voters who seemed to have voted for an outcome that harms their own interests. This article explores accounts and narratives from working class ‘leave’ voters through an ethnographic study of the political and social viewpoints of working class communities of East London and of ex-mining towns of Nottinghamshire. The article puts into fuller context the anger and apathy of being ‘left out’, arguing that being ‘left out’ has been part of working class political narratives for over 30 years. Going beyond frustration and apathy, a significant part of the narrative of working people was of ‘not existing’, suggesting certain important linkages with ongoing debates about new ways of conceptualizing class differences and class structures. The article shows how macro-stage political events such as a referendum about Europe can often be usefully illuminated by taking seriously the micro experiences on the ground.
