Overview
- Looks at how images of class difference are circulated across various different media, and analyses their influence on the way we understand social distinction, social value and social progress
- Taps into a resurgence of academic interest in class and social mobility
- Explores popular television, documentary, autobiography, journalism and political commentary
- Investigates contemporary notions of the 'chav', the sinkestate tenant, the politically dispossessed, the underclass, the new middle class and the upperclass subject
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
"This richly evidenced, tightly argued and deeply self-reflexive book, while national in its initial focus, addresses a question of international importance: what happens to class in societies supposedly organised around market freedoms, but ever more unequal in their operations? Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn's answer, demonstrated in a series of brilliant analyses, is that class gets reshaped as a field of harsh cultural differentiation, hard-wired into a supposedly open and plural popular culture. If you care about the fate of society in neoliberal democracies such as Britain, you really must read this book. A wholly admirable piece of work." - Nick Couldry, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, and author of Why Voice Matters
"Class and Contemporary British Culture makes for imperative reading. It's a superb book, one I'd highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in (what's horribly wrong with) contemporary Britain." - David Marx Book Reviews
"Thisbook examines a range of issues relating to British culture and class with chapters focusing on social mobility, the underclass, education, celebrity culture, the upper classes, immigration and austerity. The chapter on the 'revolting underclass' is one of the most concise, well written and researched overviews of the 'underclass' available in scholarly literature." - LSE Review
"Class and Contemporary British Culture serves as an important indicator not just of how deeply engrained harmful class perceptions remain, but also of how far Britain needs to go before it can even pretend to call itself tolerant and democratic." - Elliot Murphy, Ceasefire
"An intellectual tour de force boasting of a rare combination of theoretical rigour and page-turning clarity, it sets out to answer key questions about the appearance and reality of class in modern British life." - Michael Pierse, Irish Left Review 1.2, Autumn 2013
'This is a highly accessible book and would be ideal for students or readers with little knowledge of class discourses.' - Stefanie Williamson, The Sociological Review "Biressi and Nunn's brilliant analysis of the binding centrality of class in Britain is historically rich, intellectually astute, finely detailed and deeply knowledgeable. This book offers a vital, compelling analysis of why dissecting the cultural is necessary for understanding the social and, as such, it is essential reading for anyone studying the complex reinforcement of class relations in contemporary life." - Sally Munt, University of Sussex, UK
"This richly evidenced, tightly argued and deeply self-reflexive book, while national in its initial focus, addresses a question of international importance: what happens to class in societies supposedly organised around market freedoms, but ever more unequal in their operations? Anita Biressi and Heather Nunn's answer, demonstrated in a series of brilliant analyses, is that class gets reshaped as a field of harsh cultural differentiation, hard-wired into a supposedly open and plural popular culture. If you care about the fate of society in neoliberal democracies such as Britain, you really must read this book. A wholly admirable piece of work." - Nick Couldry, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, and author of Why Voice Matters
"Class and Contemporary British Culture makes for imperative reading. It's a superb book, one I'd highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in (what's horribly wrong with) contemporary Britain." - David Marx Book Reviews
"This book examines a range of issues relating to British culture and class with chapters focusing on social mobility, the underclass, education, celebrity culture, the upper classes, immigration and austerity. The chapter on the 'revolting underclass' is one of the most concise, well written and researched overviews of the 'underclass' available in scholarly literature." - LSE Review
"Class and Contemporary British Culture serves as an important indicator not just of how deeply engrained harmful class perceptions remain, but also of how far Britain needs to go before it can even pretend to call itself tolerant and democratic." - Elliot Murphy, Ceasefire
"An intellectual tour de force boasting of a rare combination of theoretical rigour and page-turning clarity, it sets out to answer key questions about the appearance and reality of class in modern British life." - Michael Pierse, Irish Left Review 1.2, Autumn 2013
'This is a highly accessible book and would be ideal for students or readers with little knowledge of class discourses.' - Stefanie Williamson, The Sociological Review
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
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).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Class and Contemporary British Culture
Authors: Anita Biressi, Heather Nunn
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314130
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-230-24056-8Published: 23 April 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-137-57702-3Published: 23 April 2013
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-31413-0Published: 23 April 2013
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 244
Topics: Cultural Studies, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Media Research, Media Studies, Sociology, general, British Culture