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The Handbook of Class and Culture offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between class and culture in contemporary society. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the volume explores how class shapes cultural production, education, social policy, identity, representation, labour, technology and political life, while also demonstrating how cultural practices influence the experience and understanding of class.
Organised into seven thematic sections, the handbook moves from foundational theoretical perspectives to contemporary debates surrounding media representation, cultural industries, higher education, social policy, intersectionality and emerging futures. Contributors engage with major thinkers including Marx, Gramsci, Williams and Bourdieu while addressing pressing contemporary issues such as artificial intelligence, environmental crisis, social mobility, inequality, digital labour, political activism and the rise of authoritarian populism.
A central argument running throughout the volume is that class and culture cannot be understood as separate domains. Instead, class is lived, represented and contested through cultural forms, institutions and everyday practices, while culture itself is shaped by material inequalities and relations of power. Across a diverse range of case studies and theoretical approaches, the contributors examine how class becomes visible or invisible through language, media, education, policy, cultural participation and social identity.
The handbook pays particular attention to the intersections between class and gender, race, disability, sexuality and geography, demonstrating how multiple forms of inequality interact within contemporary societies. It also explores the continuing significance of class in shaping life chances, access to resources, cultural participation and political possibility at a time of growing economic inequality and social fragmentation.
Combining theoretical analysis with empirical research, this handbook will be of interest to researchers, postgraduate students and advanced undergraduates in sociology, cultural studies, education, media and communication studies, political economy, social policy and related fields. It will also be relevant to educators, policymakers, cultural practitioners and others seeking to understand the continuing role of class in contemporary social and cultural life.
Teresa Crew is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Bangor University, Wales, researching social class inequalities in higher education. A working-class student and now academic herself, she combines scholarly analysis with a commitment to challenging deficit narratives about working-class people in academia and beyond.
Deirdre O’Neill is a working-class academic and filmmaker.She is the co-ordinator of Inside Film and the principal editor of the Intellect Journal of Class and Culture.
Editors' Introduction
Dr Teresa Crew and Dr Deirdre O'Neill
Section One: Approaches to the Study of Class and Culture: Theoretical Perspectives
Section introduction: Alpesh
- Class and Culture in Marxism and Sociology Mike Wayne
- Karl Marx, Class and Culture Peter Hudis
- Class and the 1% Danny Dorling
- The Reification of De-Proletarianisation: Antonio Gramsci, Culture, and the Political Production of Class Robert Carley and Daniella Mascarenhas
- Class Boundaries, Mobilities and the New Petty Bourgeoisie: Competing Perspectives on White-Collar Workers and the Utility of Literary Approaches to Class Analysis Dan Evans
- Raymond Williams, Class, Culture and the Power of Agency: A Personal Reflection Sharon Clancy
- Bourdieu (title TBC) Andrew Smith
Section Two: Representing the Working Class
Section introduction: Yannis
- Gaza's Genocide, a Class Understanding Joseph Daher and Sai Engbert
- Young Workers' Support for Far-Right Politicians in South America: The Case of Milei's Relationship with Food Delivery Workers Marina Kabat
- Accent and Class Tony Crowley
- A Global Working Class Ronaldo Munck
- Class Transition in British and American Film and Television June Deery
- Making from our Common Wealth (Unlocking Imagination to Help us Dream) Rhiannon White
Section Three: Class and the Culture Industries
Section introduction: Beth Johnson
- As British as Finchley: The Representation of the Working Class in British Television Drama Stephen Baker
- Class and Museums Kenn Taylor
- Writing, Class and the Culture Industries in Ireland Michael Pierce
- 'Sink Estates': Social Housing, Regeneration and Media Stigmatisation Paul Watt
- Drama: A Class Normalising Trojan Horse? Dermot Daly
Section Four: Class and Education
Section introduction: Diane Reay
- You Don't Sound Like That in Real Life: AI, Working-Class Voice, and the Erasure of Emancipatory Friction Peter Shukie
- The Status of Knowledge in Post-92 UK Universities and the Perpetuation of Class Inequalities Andrew Branch
- Self-Preservation in the Neoliberal University: A Working-Class Perspective David Crighton
- 'Educate That You May Be Free': Working-Class Self-Emancipation and Political Education Paul O'Connell
- Class, Marxism and Struggle: A Political/Academic Autobiography Dave Hill
- Empowering Working-Class Students' Voices through Dialogue in HE Mabel Encinas
- Education, Physical Education, and White, Working-Class Males Andrew Scattergood
Section Five: Class and Social Policy
Section introduction: Lee Gregory
- Structure, Culture, Agency and Health Inequalities Graham Scambler
- The Evolution of Class and Work: From Industrial Revolution to Gig Economy Teresa Crew
- Council Estate Culture Sarah Attfield
- Recovering the Working-Class Labour Tradition: Citizenship and the Politics of Dispossession Nick Stevenson
- Undercurrent: Working-Class Women and the Irish Water Charges Movement Emma Penny
Section Six: Class and Intersection
Section introduction: Victoria Showunmi
- Social Class and Masculinity Craig Johnston, Richard Waller and Alex Blower
- Class and Disability Stella Chatzitheochari
- Class and Race Angela Charles
- Class and Sexuality Katie Beswick
- Mill and Universalist Liberalism Brian Elliott
- Women's Prison Interview (title TBC) Dee
Section Seven: Contemporary Trends and Thinking Forward
Section introduction: Jon Baldwin (TBC, please check with Dee)
- Artificial Intelligence and Class Alec Stubbs
- Class, Class Struggle and the Planetary Crisis: Towards a Revolutionary Ecosocialist Politics Emma River-Roberts, Calum McGeown and John Barry
- Working-Class Protest: Anger, Fear, and Possibility Jack Metzgar
- Social Mobility: The Costs of Moving Up Samantha Evans
- Money-Market Power: Working-Class Economics in the Impossible Triangle Steve Hall and Simon Winlow
Epilogue
Class and Utopia Andrew Milner