Working & Underclass

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The Traditional Working Class Subculture and Identity

The working class is a large group and refers to those people carrying out manual work. There are two broad categories of working-class; the traditional working class and the ‘new’ working class.

The traditional working class

The traditional working class are associated with traditional, or long established industries, such as mining, dock working, iron and steel, fishing and shipbuilding.
As many of these industries no longer exist within modern Britain, the traditional working class has all but disappeared.

Working class culture

The traditional working class culture and identity includes a number of factors, although, like the sub-group itself, these attitudes have virtually disappeared.
These factors include...

Features of working class culture

A close-knit community lifestyle; ‘looking out’ for each other and protecting one another.
Men are seen as the breadwinners, with women caring for men and children.
A strong sense of working-class identity and class solidarity (collectivism).

Features 2

The belief in ‘class struggle’, between ‘us’ (the workers) and ‘them’ (the bosses).
The consumption of popular culture with some elements of folk culture.
Present orientation, in contrast to the future orientation of the middle class; a focus on the here and now rather than planning for the future.

Features 3

Immediate gratification, in contrast to the delayed orientation of the middle class; enjoying pleasures today, rather than putting them off for later.
Fatalism, the acceptance of the situation they find themselves in, with very little hope of being able to change their lives.
Less commitment to education and the view that qualifications are often not necessary for work.

The ‘New’ Working Class

The new working class represent the largest working class group, with cultural features that include:

Comparison

A privatised, home-centred family lifestyle, often with little involvement with neighbours or the wider community.
The view of work as a way of earning money (instrumental), rather than a source of identity.

Identity

Little sense of class identity or loyalty (individualism, rather than the collectivism of the traditional working class).
Women are more likely to be in paid employment.

Influences

Consumption of popular culture.
An identity that is influenced by consumer goods, leisure activities and lifestyle, rather than work.

The Underclass Subculture and Identity

The underclass represent the poorest group in society and the group right at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Formation of attitudes

Attitudes towards the underclass are often influenced by the New Right view through the media, which tends to be applied to all members of the white working class rather than just the poor.
This is what Jones has called the ‘demonisation of the working class’ with the use of various derogatory labels such as ‘chav’.

New Right perspective

New Right writers (e.g. Charles Murray) view the underclass as consisting of:
- High levels of lone parenthood and family instability.
- Drunkenness and ‘yob culture’.
- Crime, benefit fraud and drug abuse.
- School exclusion and educational failure.
- Work-shy attitudes leading to unemployment and a greater dependence on the benefits system.

Marxist perspective

Many sociologists reject the New Right view of the underclass.
For example, Marxists argue that the underclass are more deprived and disadvantaged than other sections of the working class.
Marxists also see these stereotypes as a distortion of reality, designed to reinforce the dominant ideology and the normality of the middle-class.