This book updates our understanding of working-class fiction by focusing on its continued relevance to the social and intellectual contexts of the age of Trump and Brexit. The volume draws together new and established scholars in the field, whose intersectional analyses use postcolonial and feminist ideas, amongst others, to explore key theoretical approaches to working-class writing and discuss works by a range of authors, including Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, Jack Hilton, Mulk Raj Anand, Simon Blumenfeld, Pat Barker, Gordon Burn, and Zadie Smith. A key informing argument is not only that working-class writing shows 'working class' to be a diverse and dynamic rather than monolithic category, but also that a greater critical attention to class, and the working class in particular, extends both the methods and objects of literary studies. This collection will appeal to students, scholars and academics interested in working-class writing and the need to diversify the curriculum.

This cross-disciplinary book, situated on the periphery of culture, employs humour to better comprehend the arts, the outsider and exclusion, illuminating the ever-changing social landscape, the vagaries of taste and limits of political correctness. Each chapter deals with specific themes and approaches - from the construct of outsider and complexity of humour, to Outsider Art and spaces - using various theoretical and analytical methods. Paul Clements draws on humour, especially from visual arts and culture (and to a lesser extent literature, film, music and performance), as a tool of ridicule, amongst other discourses, employed by the powerful but also as a weapon to satirize them. These ambiguous representations vary depending on context, often assimilated then reinterpreted in a game of authenticity that is poignant in a world of facsimile and 'fake news'. The humour styles of a range of artists are highlighted to reveal the fluidity and diversity of meaning which challenges expectations and at its best offers resistance and, crucially, a voice for the marginal. This book will be of particular interest to scholars in art history, cultural studies, fine art, humour studies and visual culture.

Education forms a unique dimension of social status, with qualities that make it especially important to health. It influences health in ways that are varied, present at all stages of adult life, cumulative, self-amplifying, and uniformly positive. Educational attainment marks social status at the beginning of adulthood, functioning as the main bridge between the status of one generation and the next, and also as the main avenue of upward mobility. It precedes the other acquired social statuses and substantially influences them, including occupational status, earnings, and personal and household income and wealth. Education creates desirable outcomes because it trains individuals to acquire, evaluate, and use information. It teaches individuals to tap the power of knowledge. Education develops the learned effectiveness that enables self-direction toward any and all values sought, including health. For decades American health sciences has acted as if social status had little bearing on health. The ascendance of clinical medicine within a culture of individualism probably accounts for that omission. But research on chronic diseases over the last half of the twentieth century forced science to think differently about the causes of disease. Despite the institutional and cultural forces focusing medical research on distinctive proximate causes of specific diseases, researchers were forced to look over their shoulders, back toward more distant causes of many diseases. Some fully turned their orientation toward the social status of health, looking for the origins of that cascade of disease and disability flowing daily through clinics. Why is it that people with higher socioeconomic status have better health than lower status individuals? The authors, who are well recognized for their strength in survey research on a broad national scale, draw on findings and ideas from many sciences, including demography, economics, social psychology, and the health sciences. People who are well educated feel in control of their lives, which encourages and enables a healthy lifestyle. In addition, learned effectiveness, a practical end of that education, enables them to find work that is autonomous and creative, thereby promoting good health.

The transformation from Communist rule towards democratic development in Russia cannot be fully understood without taking the elites into full consideration. Elites and Democratic Development in Russia examines how elites support and challenge democracy and why they are crucial to Russian democracy in particular.
In this innovative volume, twelve respected scholars investigate how elites have affected the transition from Communist rule towards democratic development in Russia. They discuss how the elites' degree of integration on national and regional levels may constitute the main condition for the consolidation of the emerging political regime and interpret the complex post-communist elite patterns of behaviour and attitudes into a theoretical framework of elitist democracy.
This book will appeal to those interested in democratization, elites, post-Soviet Russia and post-communist studies.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203712757

Dividing Classes offers a first-hand ethnographic account to examine the relationship between social class structures and educational success. Instead of studying the historically marginalized lower classes, this book asserts the need to look beyond poor peoples' values of dominant groups to explain the reproduction of social class. Drawing on interviews with 31 administrators, principals, and teachers and 20 middle class mothers in a small Indian town in which the author lives, Ellen Brantlinger discovers the considerable power the middle class wields in determining school policy and practice to secure educational advantages for their children. With the insight gained from this perspective, the roots of increasingly conservative educational policy and the idea of class as an organising category in education are critically examined.

For nearly a century families have been out-migrating to suburbs and peri-urban areas. In this book, Johanna Lilius conceptualizes the relatively recent phenomenon of families choosing to live in the inner city. Drawing on a range of qualitative data, the book offers a holistic approach to simultaneously understanding changes within parenting practices and changes connected to city development. The book explains not only why families choose to stay in the inner city and how they use the city in their everyday lives, but also how families change the landscape of contemporary cities, and how the family is, and has been, perceived in urban planning and policy-making. The Nordic perspective provided by Lilius makes this book an important contribution in helping understand inner city change outside the Anglo-American context, and will appeal to an international audience.

A People's History of Classics explores the influence of the classical past on the lives of working-class people, whose voices have been almost completely excluded from previous histories of classical scholarship and pedagogy, in Britain and Ireland from the late 17th to the early 20th century. This volume challenges the prevailing scholarly and public assumption that the intimate link between the exclusive intellectual culture of British elites and the study of the ancient Greeks and Romans and their languages meant that working-class culture was a 'Classics-Free Zone'. Making use of diverse sources of information, both published and unpublished, in archives, museums and libraries across the United Kingdom and Ireland, Hall and Stead examine the working-class experience of classical culture from the Bill of Rights in 1689 to the outbreak of World War II. They analyse a huge volume of data, from individuals, groups, regions and activities, in a huge range of sources including memoirs, autobiographies, Trade Union collections, poetry, factory archives, artefacts and documents in regional museums. This allows a deeper understanding not only of the many examples of interaction with the Classics, but also what these cultural interactions signified to the working poor: from the promise of social advancement, to propaganda exploited by the elites, to covert and overt class war. A People's History of Classics offers a fascinating and insightful exploration of the many and varied engagements with Greece and Rome among the working classes in Britain and Ireland, and is a must-read not only for classicists, but also for students of British and Irish social, intellectual and political history in this period. Further, it brings new historical depth and perspectives to public debates around the future of classical education, and should be read by anyone with an interest in educational policy in Britain today.

The essays in this collection examine agrarian transformation in Latin America and the role in this of peasants, with particular reference to Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Brazil and Central America. Among the issues covered are the impact of globalization and neo-liberal economic policies.

Sweeping across African American history and culture in the shadow of slavery and ongoing racism, The Souls of Black Folk laid bare challenging issues sadly still relevant more than 100 years after its first publication. This collection of 14 essays is a cornerstone work of African-American literature. The author examines history and the social conditions of his era, balancing his observations with philosophical asides and autobiographical insights. He describes the central issue of the 20th century as "the problem of the color line" --a divide both visible and invisible, a veil between blacks and the white world that needs to be broken through before those on either side of it can truly know one another. He describes the tension arising from being both black and American as a dual consciousness, a unique identity which had long been a disadvantage but could conceivably become a source of strength. First published in 1903, this profoundly influential text is an acclamation of human rights, a condemnation of the systems that infringe upon them, and one of the most significant books to contribute to the cause of racial equality in US history. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Souls of Black Folk is both modern and readable.

"Cutting-edge."--Patrick Bond

"This fascinating book fills a vacuum that has weakened the believers in Marxist resistance in Africa."--Joseph Iranola Akinlaja, general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Nigeria

" An] excellent collection."--"Socialist Review"

"Read this for inspiration, for the sense that we are part of a world movement."--"Socialist Worker "(London)

"Grab this book. Highly recommended."--Tokumbo Oke, "Bookmarks"

This collection of essays and interviews studies class struggle and social empowerment on the African continent.

Employing Marxist theory to address the postcolonial problems of several different countries, experts analyze such issues as the renewal of Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt, debt relief, trade union movements, and strike action. Includes interviews with leading African socialists and activists.

With contributions from Leo Zeilig, David Seddon, Anne Alexander, Dave Renton, Ahmad Hussein, Jussi Vinnikka, Femi Aborisade, Miles Larmer, Austin Muneku, Peter Dwyer, Trevor Ngwane, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, and Azwell Banda.

Leo Zeilig coordinated the independent media center in Zimbabwe during the presidential elections of 2002 and, prior to this, worked as a lecturer at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal. He then worked for three years as a lecturer and researcher at Brunel University, moving later to the Center of Sociological Research at the University of Johannesburg. He has written on the struggle for democratic change, social movements, and student activism in sub-Saharan Africa. Zeilig is co-author of "The Congo: Plunder and Resistance 1880-2005."

Class Strategies and the Education Market examines the ways in which the middle classes maintain and improve their social advantages in and through education.
Drawing on an extensive series of interviews with parents and children, this book identifies key moments of decision making in the construction of the educational trajectories of middle class children. Stephen J. Ball organises his analysis around the key concepts of social closure, social capital, values and principles and risk, while bringing a broad range of up-to-date sociological theory to bear upon his subject. From this thorough analysis, valuable and thought-provoking insights emerge into the assiduous care and considerable effort and expenditure which goes into ensuring the educational success of the middle class child
The middle classes are a sociological enigma, presenting the social researcher with considerable analytic and theoretical difficulties. Class Strategies and the Education Market provides a set of working tools for class analysis and the examination of class practices. Above all, it offers new ways of thinking about class theory and the relationships between classes in late modern society.

Class Strategies and the Education Market examines the ways in which the middle classes maintain and improve their social advantages in and through education.
Drawing on an extensive series of interviews with parents and children, this book identifies key moments of decision making in the construction of the educational trajectories of middle class children. Stephen J. Ball organises his analysis around the key concepts of social closure, social capital, values and principles and risk, while bringing a broad range of up-to-date sociological theory to bear upon his subject. From this thorough analysis, valuable and thought-provoking insights emerge into the assiduous care and considerable effort and expenditure which goes into ensuring the educational success of the middle class child
The middle classes are a sociological enigma, presenting the social researcher with considerable analytic and theoretical difficulties. Class Strategies and the Education Market provides a set of working tools for class analysis and the examination of class practices. Above all, it offers new ways of thinking about class theory and the relationships between classes in late modern society.

Can a state empower its citizens by classifying them? Or do reservation policies reinforce the very categories they are meant to eradicate? Indian reservation policies on government jobs, legislative seats and university admissions for disadvantaged groups, like affirmative action policies elsewhere, are based on the premise that recognizing group distinctions in society is necessary to subvert these distinctions. Yet the official identification of eligible groups has unintended side-effects on identity politics. Bridging theories which emphasize the fluidity of identities and those which highlight the utility of group-based mobilizations and policies, this book exposes didactic enforcement of categorizations, while recognizing the social and political gains facilitated by group-based strategies.

eBook available with sample pages: 020340193X

First published in 1999, this much-needed volume powerfully re-evaluates attitudes to the 'deserving and 'undeserving' poor and aims to investigate social workers' attitudes and actions towards poverty issues, social service users who have needed financial help and to question whether learning about poverty is an integrated part of social work students' training and social workers' in-service training. Monica Dowling has experience of being a social work student and social worker, as well as a social work teacher and researcher. In an age when increasing numbers of undergraduate and postgraduate students are unemployed and living on benefits, Dowling reveals the true picture of the people who end up on the poverty line, reconnecting social work theory and practice.

The Rise of Professional Society lays out a stimulating and controversial framework for the study of British society, challenging accepted paradigms based on class analysis. Perkins argues that the non-capitalist 'professional class' represents a new principle of social organization based on trained expertise and meritocracy, a 'forgotten middle class' conveniently overlooked by classical social theorists.

The author of this stunning set of essays on politics and public policy makes crystal clear the meaning of the title. "The revolutionaries of contemporary America do not seek to redistribute privilege from those who have it to those who do not. These radicals wish to arrange a transfer of power from those elites who now exercise it to another elite, namely themselves, who do not. This aspiring elite is of the same race (white), the same class (upper middle and upper), and the same educational background (the best colleges and universities) as those they wish to displace."
Wildavsky's bracing work takes a close look at these elites, who probably make up little more than one percent of the population. He sees their common denominator as hostility toward the masses, anti-American attitudes, derision of authority, and a belief in participatory rather than representative politics. The author carries through these themes in a variety of essays on black-white racial relations, social work orientations and black militancy, the politics of budgetary reform, elite and mass trends in the political party system, and the substitution of bureaucratic for democratic modes of advancing the policy process. This work is, in short, vintage Wildavsky: tough minded, spirited, and plain-spoken political analysis.
In his new Introduction, Irving Louis Horowitz examines what has changed and what continues to be salient in Wildavsky's line of analysis. Essentially, the report card on The Revolt Against the Masses is that the situation described in these essays has changed somewhat in style but hardly at all in substance. The nuclear shield replaces the ABM treaty, and Afghanistan replaces Vietnam as centers of political gravity-but the same coalition of forces across party and economy still dominate the American political process. The justifiably famous essay on "The Two Presidencies" shows how persistent is the gap between the conflict over domestic priorities and the consensus on foreign policy-and why. This is, in short, a classic text that continues to merit careful study by all those interested in political life.
Aaron Wildavsky was, until his death in 1993, professor of political science and public policy at the University of California in Berkeley. He was also director of its Survey Research Center. He served as director of the Russell-Sage Foundation, was a president of the American Political Science Association, and held a number of visiting professorships during his lifetime. Most recently, Transaction has posthumously published Wildavsky's complete essays and papers in five volumes.
Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt distinguished university professor emeritus at Rutgers, The State University, and longtime friend and associate of Aaron Wildavsky.

French sociologist and anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu's relevance for studies of spatiality and mobility has received less attention than other aspects of his work. Here, Deborah Reed-Danahay argues that the concept of social space, central to Bourdieu's ideas, addresses the structured inequalities that prevail in spatial choices and practices. She provides an ethnographically informed interpretation of social space that demonstrates its potential for new directions in studies of mobility, immobility, and emplacement. This book traces the links between habitus and social space across the span of Bourdieu's writings, and places his work in dialogue with historical and contemporary approaches to mobility.

During the summer holidays of 2009 Corey dreams of nothing but hanging around with his friends while ordering as much Morley's as possible... until Jodie comes along. Meeting her makes Corey realise the changes that are happening within his beloved Lewisham Borough and, for the first time, thinking about what path his future takes. 'Corey Bovell is a master story-teller who oozes charisma, captivating his audience throughout. He is able to truly capture those moments he describes, drawing you in, even when he's just telling you about ordering his Chicken Burger N Chips. It's a deeply personal play and this comes through in both the writing and the performance... Kwame Asiedu's direction brings it to life with energy and emotion...I hope it gets a further run so more people are able to experience this.' Dress Circle Reviews 'For 75 breathless, high energy minutes, writer/performer Corey painted a vivid picture of life on the mean streets of Lewisham, with good friends, a loving family, and the best fried chicken in South London... Corey Bovell enacts that significance with brilliant effect and makes the story of "a good boy in a bad borough" powerful and telling... I loved the powerful performance.' London Pub Theatres

The last night of a dysfunctional relationship precedes its one-night stand beginnings in this bittersweet heartbreak comedy. Tender, awkward and painfully funny, 'I Lost My Virginity to Chopin's Nocturne in B-Flat Minor' probes the murky line between devotion and destruction in a modern relationship. 'Chopin' is a bittersweet comedy which focuses in on the disparity between classes and how much of your self identity you would comprise for someone you love. Its fresh look at 'privilege', challenges how this is defined by both gender and upbringing, highlighting darker elements of toxic masculinity and the unhealthy nature of a dependent relationship. The piece explores a modern relationship being pulled apart by the divides of the class system and treads a murky line between devotion and destruction. It explores the politics of both the middle class and the working class, pitting them against each other to interrogate privilege, the gender divide and stereotypes. ' a delightful slice of relationship hell' - Christopher Brett Bailey 'A terrific two-hander. I'd prescribe this show for a bit of short sharp relationship counseling. - THE SCOTSMAN, * * * * 'Sebastian Gardner is a truly gifted writer, and one you will want to keep an eye on if your interest is cutting edge theatre. His dialogue bounces back and forth with unabashed vigour and viewed as a whole, I Lost My Virginity To Chopin's Nocturne in B-Flat Minor is its own symphony of modern theatre, pulling together all of the elements required for a fascinating and intuitive character study. A searing insight into modern-day relationships. 'The heated and often distressing confrontation in Act I tells us more about our characters than any other dramatic device could ever hope to achieve. - Theatre Weekly, * * * * 'There is no point in this show during which you might be tempted to wonder off in thoughts to your own life - you are riveted to the situation unfolding in front of your eyes.' -SCOTSGAY, * * * * 'An honest, bitter, and endearing portrayal of modern relationships that throws away any pretence of romanticism to create an original work. A must-see during this year's fringe.' - Ed Fringe Review, * * * *

Award-winning artist, writer and broadcaster Scottee grew up around mould, mice and second-hand clothes. After a chance meeting with some posh kids, his mum teaching him to talk proper and him successfully persuading his parents to take him off free school meals Scottee knew he didn't want to be common. In Class, Scottee uncovers what it is to be embarrassed about where you're from, how you can pretend to be richer than you are and explores why we all get a thrill from watching how the other half live. This is a book for the middle class, those who didn't grow up in poverty. 'This work is essential. For you and the world.' Sofie Hagen 'Class is hard to watch, it's gruelling, it sticks to you, you can feel it after it is gone. But, so is growing up poor and the experience of poverty. Scottee has made something that doesn't let you off the hook, and nor should it.' Travis Alabanza

A town is in turmoil. A hospital is closing. And an MP is dead on the train tracks... Accident? Or opportunity? When a local hospital announces its closure, panic ensues. Healthcare Assistant Rhea is forced to look for work elsewhere. Local lad Aaron worries about his mum's treatment in the cancer unit. And Curtis just isn't sure where he's going to sleep. But when the three witness a horrific accident, a rare opportunity presents itself. As a dangerous decision triggers a wild chain of events, Rhea, Aaron and Curtis soon find themselves gathering power, influence and infamy - and inspiring a cohort of vigilante activists. What does it take to enact real change? And what would you sacrifice to keep it? WINNER: COMMON Award 2020 'Definitely worth seeing. Full of swagger and moral ambiguities.' - Lyn Gardner 'Amy Guyler's engagingly funny play The Nobodies reminds us that social discontent will have its expression...which offers hope that, even in the darkest times, the nobodies of the world can find ways to resist' British Theatre Guide 'Amy Guyler's script is genius, masterfully balancing stark political commentary with bold theatricality' A Younger Theatre

Dinomania 'Wildly inventive theatre company Kandinsky return with a head-spinningly smart show about Victorian fossil hunters...No-one else makes theatre quite like this.' Time Out Dinomania was originally commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, running from 19 February to 23 March 2019. 165 million years ago, an iguanodon is killed in the heart of a rainforest. Time passes, the rainforest becomes the South Downs, and every part of the iguanodon degrades and disappears - except one tooth. 197 years ago, in safe, affluent 1820s Sussex, a country doctor finds the tooth. But where does it fit in the story of an earth created by God just 6,000 years ago? Evening Standard 'Consistently smart and inventive.' The Stage 'Brilliant comic timing... I have rarely seen such an electric cast' A Younger Theatre 'This is such intelligent work from a seriously talented company' - Lyn Gardner for Stagedoor 'Sharply funny and exciting throughout' - The TLS 'For Kandinsky, this is yet another nuanced, reflective, and highly creative approach to theatre-making. Original and perceptive, this is storytelling at its best.' - Exeunt Trap Street 'Trap Street is an 80-minute show that melds an astonishing complexity of themes, a mastery of form and a deep, deep humanity ... another triumph for Kandinsky' Time Out This show premiered at New Diorama Theatre, running from 6 to 31 March 2018. It also ran at the Schaubuhne, Berlin from 5 to 7 April 2019 as part of the Festival of International New Drama (FIND) where the New York Times described it as: 'not only the highlight of the festival but one of the most ingenious pieces of new theater I have seen recently... The three-person cast deftly shifts between time periods in a mesmerizing single act that combines minimal stagecraft, improvised music and finely chiseled performances to create an anguished cry of moral outrage about neoliberal economic policies, gentrification and the erosion of the social security system.' It's 1961 and the concrete's just been poured for a brand new housing estate. It's beautiful, not because of the clean lines, indoor toilets and wide windows, but because the idea behind it is beautiful. This is the future, and it's for everyone. It's 2018 and the last tower of the estate is about to come down. The dream that saw it built has long since died and now the estate has to follow suit to make way for new buildings, based on new ideas. This is the future, whether you like it or not. 'Timely critique about the housing crisis is both angry and humane.' Evening Standard 'Compelling and intelligent' The Stage 'ferociously intelligent, poignant ... Trap Street effectively maps the process of British dreaming, and how that process is permanently written into the landscape itself.' Exeunt Kandinsky brings the company's trademark theatrical inventiveness to city life, exploring a community trying to find its way in a landscape shaped by power. TRAP STREET charts 50 years of changing attitudes to ownership and space in London, to ask what home means in 2018.

The image of the debauched French aristocrat of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is one that still has power over the international public imagination, from the unending fascination with the Marquis de Sade to the successes of the film Ridicule. Drawing on memoirs, letters, popular songs and pamphlets, and political treatises, The Enlightened and Depraved: Decadence, Radicalism, and the Early Modern French Nobility traces the origins of this powerful stereotype from between the reign of Louis XIV and the Terror of the French Revolution. The decadent and enlightened noble of early modern France, the libertine, was born in a push to transform the nobility from a warrior caste into an intelligentsia. Education itself had become a power through which the privileged could set themselves free from old social and religious restraints. However, by the late eighteenth century, the libertine noble was already falling under attack by changing attitudes toward gender, an emphasis on economic utility over courtly service, and ironically the very revolutionary forces that the enlightened nobility of the court and Paris helped awaken. In the end, the libertine nobility would not survive the French Revolution, but the basic idea of knowledge as a liberating force would endure in modernity, divorced from a single class.

First published in 1999, this volume examines the 'meanings' specific child protection cases involving the familial sexual abuse of adolescent girls hold for social workers. This is achieved through a qualitative analysis of a series of interviews with social workers regarding current or recent cases. The analysis reveals various influences on social workers' practice: the organisation and administrative structure of child protection, governmental requirements to interagency coordination, the abused girl, her family, and the skills and limitations of the social worker. The findings point to a series of tensions between social workers' perceptions of appropriate intervention practice on the one hand and organisational needs, the demands of the criminal justice system and client choice on the other. This leads to recommendations for improved in-service training, including joint training for social workers and police officers, and a review of the transitional procedures between child protection and adult services.

First published in 1998, this volume contains an edited selection of papers presented at the Fifth International Research Seminar on 'Issues in Social Security', held on 14-17 June 1997 in Sweden by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) in memory of Brian Abel-Smith. The chapters cover a wide range of subjects related to old age pension reform, family policy, employment, privatization of social security and health care. The authors form a body of well-established researchers and scholars of world-wide reputation as well as younger scientists, stemming from various continents, and representing a range of relevant disciplines. This volume is the fourth in a series on international studies of issues in social security. The series is initiated by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS). One of its aims is to confront different academic approaches with each other, and with public policy perspectives. Another is to give analytic reports of cross-nationally different approaches to the design and reform of welfare state programs.