working class
Quick Summary
The working class comprises individuals who earn a living through manual labor and are not wealthy or powerful. Historically, this class contrasted with the upper class, consisting of manual laborers in manufacturing and extractive industries. However, with the expansion of the service sector, the definition has broadened to include low-paying, low-skilled jobs in areas like retail and food service.12
Key characteristics of the working class include relatively low living standards, limited access to higher education, and exclusion from significant decision-making processes. A shift from manufacturing to service industries has led to a decline in traditional manual labor jobs, creating a segment of chronically unemployed or underemployed individuals in some areas. Sociologists generally categorize modern societies into three main classes: upper, middle, and working (or lower).2
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United KingdomThe political situationSo too were working class and classes. Recent historical research indicates that the awareness of class identity was not simply the direct outcome of economic and social experience but was articulated in terms of public discourse, particularly in the political sphere. For example, claims to be middle-class were…
Read MoreSo too were working class and classes. Recent historical research indicates that the awareness of class identity was not simply the direct outcome of economic and social experience but was articulated in terms of public discourse, particularly in the political sphere. For example, claims to be middle-class were…
Read More- United KingdomEconomy and society
…antecedents, a distinct sense of working-class identity, based on manual work—especially in the manufacturing industry and mining—remained strong until about 1960. This was buttressed by a considerable degree of continuity in terms of residential community. After 1960 or so, the wholesale development of slum clearance and relocation to new residential…
Read More…antecedents, a distinct sense of working-class identity, based on manual work—especially in the manufacturing industry and mining—remained strong until about 1960. This was buttressed by a considerable degree of continuity in terms of residential community. After 1960 or so, the wholesale development of slum clearance and relocation to new residential…
Read More - United KingdomMass culture
…in the “rediscovery” of the working class, in which films, novels, plays, and academic works depicted working-class life with unparalleled realism and unparalleled sympathy (including the works of the Angry Young Men). The working class was therefore brought into the cultural mainstream. This was ironic at a time when working-class…
Read More…in the “rediscovery” of the working class, in which films, novels, plays, and academic works depicted working-class life with unparalleled realism and unparalleled sympathy (including the works of the Angry Young Men). The working class was therefore brought into the cultural mainstream. This was ironic at a time when working-class…
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