The church of England and the working class in Birmingham, 1861-1905

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White working-class neighbourhoods:common themes and policy suggestions

What does it mean to be white and working class in modern Britain? The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s studies of traditionally white estates in Bradford, London, Coventry and Birmingham are part of a growing body of research into ‘white identities’. This paper: • identifies common findings from JRF research into traditionally white estates, in the context of other similar work; • suggests how issues of white identity can be better understood and makes recommendations for policy and practice. Key points: • Profound economic and social change has increased isolation and fear in traditionally white estates. Residents often claim that things were better in the past. • ‘Estatism’ refers to specific social dynamics associated with council estates and prejudice towards residents based on where they live. This can result in lowered self-esteem and reluctance to participate in community campaigns. • People on traditionally white estates often feel they are not listened to by outside agencies. Consultations can raise hopes but ultimately reinforce disengagement. Initiatives to ensure equality have become associated with political correctness (‘PC’). • White working-class people feel they are bound by values of hard work, reciprocity and support. They are frustrated by the closure and lack of access to community facilities. The social class system simultaneously disadvantages the working class while giving advantage to other classes. • There is a strong desire for allocation of resources to be fair, with a widespread perception that minorities are given preference. Blaming incomers for decline is common, with the target of blame differing between sites. Participants did not want to be considered racist and felt that labelling ideas as racist prevents discussion. Similarly, the term ‘PC’ can also be used to shut down debate. • Recommendations include community-twinning, new ways of accessing local authorities, involvement from the private sector in disadvantaged areas and local panels to define and develop the ‘Big Society’. Initiatives aimed solely at white working-class people are unlikely to be successful.

Female working class youth culture in a work situation

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The PCF and the question of intellectual workers : the crisis of social ideology

The aim of this thesis is to examine the approach of the Parti Communiste Francais (from 1956 to 1982) to the emergence of new strata of salaried `intellectual workers' (technicians, engineers, low to middle managers in industry and commerce, scientific researchers, teachers etc) parallelled by the gradual diminution of the traditional industrial working class which forms the core of the Party's support base. This examination is carried out in the context of the debate in France (initiated in the 1950s by social theorists of the Left) on the class membership and role of these strata. The reason for the emergence of such a debate is that in a society given to both a rapid evolution of its social structure and an increased polarisation between Left and Right, a precise knowledge of the objective and subjective determinations of new strata would enable parties to the Left to make proper distinctions between potential allies and adversaries. The thesis posits the view that the PCF has failed to make correct distinctions between its potential allies and adversaries and has thus pursued unsuccessful alliance strategies. The thesis contributes towards a scientifically-based understanding of one of the reasons governing the PCF's steady decline since the 1950s.

Pupil resistance to their schooling experience

The thesis explores the nature of pupil resistance; it investigates what constitutes it and how it can be explained. Various ethnic and national group, male and female working-class resistance if analysed in two secondary schools in Birmingham (England) and one school in Sydney (Australia). It focuses on the pupils’ experience of school. ‘Compressed ethnographies’ (Walford and Miller, 1991) were conducted in each school to examine pupil resistance. The research found that structural societal state factors, regional, community and formal, informal and physical characteristics of each school, together with the teachers and pupils characteristics and background all influence resistance. The class, gender, ethnic and national identity of each pupil shapes resistance. In all three schools that were involved with the research, girls were more likely to exhibit overt, collective forms of resistance, whereas lads were more likely to operate alone. Islander pupils in Sydney and African-Caribbean kids in Birmingham were more likely to display engaged forms of resistance. Girls tended to show more engaged forms compared to their male counterparts across all ethnic and national cultures. Resistance is complex and dynamic, the definition alters depending upon context. Dimensions of resistance are developed; including overt, covert; individual, collective; intentional, unintentional; engaged and detached forms. Resistance operates within a structure and agency framework, the pupils can shape their own schooling experience mediated within the structures of their school, community and society. Some pupils manage their resources and the structures better than others; how the pupil manages and operates within the structures influences their resistance response. Resistance is contradictory and can reinforce the status quo. To fully understand resistance, it must be contextualised.

The campaign to save Croxteth comprehensive: an ethnographic study of a protest movement

This thesis is based on ethnographic research carried out on a Liverpool protest movement which occurred between November, 1980 and July,1983. The protest movement was waged by residents of the working class community of Croxteth Liverpool who wished to retain their state secondary school, Croxteth Comprehensive. The Liverpool City Council voted in favour of closing Croxteth Comprehensive in January, 1981 because of its declining roles. Residents began theIr campaign as soon as they became aware of intentions to close the school at the end of the previous year. The campaIgn itself went through a number of different phases, distinguishable accordIng to the groups of people involved, the strategy and tactics they employed, the ways in which they justified their campaign, and the goals they pursued. In July of 1982 the organisation which led the protest, the Croxteth Community Action Committee, took illegal possession of the school buildings and ran a pilot summer school project. In September of 1982 they opened the school doors for all secondary pupils on the council estate and began running classes, with the help of volunteer teachers. The school was run successfully in this way for the entire 1982/83 school year. By the end of this period the school was officially reinstated by a new Labour Party majorIty on the city council. This thesis presents a comprehensive account of the entire campaign, from its beginning to end. The campaign is analysed in a number of ways: by situating the closure itself in the economic and political conditions of Liverpool in the 1980s, by examining the relation of Croxteth Comprehensive to its community, by describing the conditions in which different groups of people contributed to the campaign and the changes it went through in its use of tactics, and through a close examination of the activities which took place inside the school during its year of occupation. A number of levels of analysis are used in the study. To explain the closure and the early forms of resistance which developed to oppose it, the structural location of the local government of Liverpool in the late 1970s and early 1980s is described. To explain the relationship of the school to its community, the formation of a group of activists and their leaders, and the resources available to the protestors for pursuing their aims, a single-group model of social action is used. To analyse the establishment of social routines and schooling practices within the school during its occupation, action-theoretica1 models are drawn upon., The chapters of literature review and concept analysis with which this thesis begins link these different levels theoretIcalIy through a model of actIon and its conditions. The theoretical framework employed is reviewed in the last chapter. It is one which could be used to study any social movement, and has applications to other social phenomena as well. Lastly various issues within the sociology of education are examined in light of the events which took place in Croxteth Comprehensive, especially the theory of community education.

Political parties and trade unions in the post-communist Poland:class politics that have never a chance to happen

Trade unions in Poland have not built the stable and long-term relations with political parties as are observed in Western democracies. By analysing the historical and symbolic background of the transformation to a democratic civil society and free market economy, political preferences of working class, trade union membership rates, and public opinion polls, we argue that, in case of Poland, the initial links between political parties and trade unions weakened over time. Polish trade unions never had a chance to become a long-term intermediary between society and political parties, making the Polish case study a double exception from the traditional models.