Class and Contemporary British Culture (eBook)

Anita Biressi is Reader in Media Cultures at the University of Roehampton, UK. Her research interests include news and tabloid journalism, reality television, class and popular culture, gender and political representation. She is the author of Crime, Fear and the Law (2001) and co-author of Reality TV: Realism and Revelation (2005).   Heather Nunn is Professor of Culture and Politics at the University of Roehampton, UK. Her research interests include political communication, formations of gender and class, documentary and images of childhood. She is the author of Thatcher, Politics and Fantasy (2002) and co-author of Reality TV: Realism and Revelation (2005).

PART I: INTRODUCTION: BEGINNING THE WORK OF CLASS AND CULTURE1. Class-work: Social Change and Class Critique after the 1980s2. Class-work after 'the Death of Class'3. Class and Contemporary British Culture: OutlinePART II: ESSEX: CLASS, ASPIRATION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY1. Essex, Conservatism and 'the New Sociology of Aspirations'2. The Discovery of Essex Man3. I've got loadsamoney!4. Class, Taste and the Essex GirlPART 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 Excluded4. The 'Underclass' Returns: Lifestyle, Consumerism, PrecariousnessPART IV: TOP OF THE CLASS: EDUCATION, CAPITAL AND CHOICE1. Inspiring the Uninspired2. Sharp Elbows and the Competition for Resources3. The Choice-directive or Choosing to Choose4. The Parent-citizen and the Deployment of Capital5. More Dream Schools6. Poor ChoicesPART V: THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY: CELEBRITY LIFE STORIES OF UPWARD SOCIAL MOBILITY 1. Celebrity Biography: Production and Consumption2. Celebrities Working to Keep it Real3. I Dreamed a Dream: Celebrity Origins4. 'How did I get here from there?': Celebrity EndingsPART VI: THE UPPER CLASSES: VISIBILITY, ADAPTABILITY AND CHANGE1. The Business of Aristocracy2. The Royal Family at Work3. Upper Class Life-stylists: the Knowledge, the Gift and the RulesPART VII: 'ARE YOU THINKING WHAT WE'RE THINKING?' : CLASS, IMMIGRATION AND BELONGING1. Borders, Belonging and 'Saloon bar' Britons2. Hylton-Potts and the Cabbies' Manifesto3. The 'Good Woman' from Rochdale4. All White in BarkingPART VIII: AUSTERITY BRITAIN: BACK TO THE FUTURE1. In Times of Strife: the Myth of the 1970s Now2. The Embattled Citizen: Keeping Calm and Carrying On3. Past Times, Present Politics4. 'The isle is full of noises': History Answers BackAfterword: 'We are all in this together'