Class is increasingly viewed as again relevant to our understanding of British society, past and present. Complex approaches to class, class prejudice, meritocracy, and class boundaries are not remotely new. However, new political concerns over inequality and the emergence of the revolutionary 2013 Savage-Bourdieu model of class stratified in layers by types of capital has seemingly sparked a minor renaissance in sociological studies, political policy, and punditry.1
Within the last five years this emphasis has started to be reflected in discourse across the political spectrum, particularly as deprivation and merit have become greater points of concern. This has taken place mostly though sociological and political explorations of the British …show more content…
9 10 It is evident, however, from the recent work of Todd and the wider canon of Eric Hobsbawm and first hand accounts in Todd and Rose that the hugely influential factors of class status, class culture, and class perception were not at all absent in Britain during the period 1945-1997. 11 Class was merely underexplored.
The lack of secondary sources can be partly blamed on timescale. A later-day liberal assumption that class was effectively abolished following post-1945 reconstruction may have also contributed. However, a significant lack of interest has arguably meant that a vital component of Thompson 's classic schema for exploring transformation, roles, redundancy, and post-industrial marginalisation of groups has not been formed yet for the period. In particular, exploring attitudes towards any sort of attainment or worth by working-class people is needed for …show more content…
These sources will be gathered by using such resources as the Mass Observation Archive, initiatives such as the Archive of Working-Class Writing Online, and personal interview with still-living relevant individuals. As there is so little existing secondary material to draw upon, gathering first hand written or verbal evidence from individuals such as scientists, politicians, and (most importantly) the working-class recipients of policy will be vital. Thus, publications such as newspapers and non-fiction of the time will substitute. I will also rely on sources of broader social observation (such as the reports of the ONS) to establish a wider overview of the state of class in Britain between 1945 and
Within the last five years this emphasis has started to be reflected in discourse across the political spectrum, particularly as deprivation and merit have become greater points of concern. This has taken place mostly though sociological and political explorations of the British …show more content…
9 10 It is evident, however, from the recent work of Todd and the wider canon of Eric Hobsbawm and first hand accounts in Todd and Rose that the hugely influential factors of class status, class culture, and class perception were not at all absent in Britain during the period 1945-1997. 11 Class was merely underexplored.
The lack of secondary sources can be partly blamed on timescale. A later-day liberal assumption that class was effectively abolished following post-1945 reconstruction may have also contributed. However, a significant lack of interest has arguably meant that a vital component of Thompson 's classic schema for exploring transformation, roles, redundancy, and post-industrial marginalisation of groups has not been formed yet for the period. In particular, exploring attitudes towards any sort of attainment or worth by working-class people is needed for …show more content…
These sources will be gathered by using such resources as the Mass Observation Archive, initiatives such as the Archive of Working-Class Writing Online, and personal interview with still-living relevant individuals. As there is so little existing secondary material to draw upon, gathering first hand written or verbal evidence from individuals such as scientists, politicians, and (most importantly) the working-class recipients of policy will be vital. Thus, publications such as newspapers and non-fiction of the time will substitute. I will also rely on sources of broader social observation (such as the reports of the ONS) to establish a wider overview of the state of class in Britain between 1945 and