BOOK REVIEW COLLAB- CHAVS: THE DEMONIZATION OF THE WORKING CLASS)

One of the great things about having a younger brother who is so close in age, is being able to really talk about current affairs and what's going on in the world. While I have just finished my undergraduate degree in Geography, my brother is about to begin his second year of his Criminology degree at Birmingham City University. But we constantly find that there are so many overlaps between what we do in our degrees and what we find the most interesting about studying them.  

I read Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones as reading preparation for one of my finals, to better understand how the cultural and political significance of 'chavs' has changed since the UK riots of 2011 and how this has changed perceptions of the welfare state. But the one thing which struck me the most was how certain disciplinary strands of the book intertwined so neatly together (notably of the importance of geography within debates pertinent to the studies of sociology and criminology). 

So after many months of nagging, my brother finally decided to sit down and give Chavs a read and to my utter relief, he said how much he has thoroughly enjoyed it. We both keep blogs, so we decided to collaborate on a book review. My brother Liam's blog can be found here.

Antonia's Review:

Owen Jones cleverly taps into an increasingly visible middle-class contempt towards working class people and the middle-class social constructions of so-called ‘chavs’, who are portrayed to be thick, violent, lazy and often, criminal. In doing so, he makes an important contribution to a revived national debate about class within geographical and sociological disciplines, although at times a slightly romanticised one.

Beneath the surface of these culturally and politically significant constructions, Jones paints a British society at the brink of a class war. He notes that discussions of class and wealth inequality have emerged at the fore of national debate, as they once did under Thatcher’s controversial attack on the country’s working classes. Geography is undoubtedly central to the wealth inequalities Jones talks about. There are certain communities which have doubtlessly been left behind, since the rapid decline of industrialisation in the UK and the economic issues which went with the country's shrinking manufacturing industries. 

At times, Jones appears to paint the working class as a single political bloc who share the same views. What he significantly overlooks however, is the ways in which ‘chavs’ are often bashed by working class neighbourhoods themselves and indeed, he fails to explore the links between the working class and those who express far-right populist views, an ever increasing proportion of society. 

But nonetheless, Jones makes some very important points about a society which is increasingly being segregated by class and wealth inequalities. He addresses the media’s pivotal role in positioning the likes of Karen Matthews, the mother who conspired in her own daughter’s kidnapping in the hope of pocketing the £50,000 reward money, as emblematic of the UK’s wider working class community. 

Of course, discussions of the poor are not a new development. The so-called 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor were often a political tussle of Victorian society. Yet, class hatred in modern Britain has never seemed so dangerous. It has been drilled into the very core of British society, since the advent of the 2011 UK Riots and the inception of Cameron's 'Broken Britain' discourses.

Little Britain, Shameless, Jeremy Kyle and 'chav-fighting' gym classes; this book moves in and out these important case studies to really question how and why do class, identity and culture intersect to create what he ultimately describes as Britain's impending 'Class War'. 

Liam's Review:

Chavs is a compelling exploration of the demonization of the working class, both past and present. Owen Jones starts his argument by bringing into account the abduction case of Shannon Matthews. The chapter reviewed the abduction of a working-class girl from the area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Owen Jones excellently compared the differences and similarities between this abduction case and the case of missing girl- Madeline McCann. 

They were both two missing, young and vulnerable girls. Yet, why did the mdia coverage and public outcry on both cases feel like worlds apart from one another?  Simply  put, it was because of their varying social class.  After Madeline was abducted from her luxury suite in Portugal, celebs such as Sir Richard Branson, JK Rowling and Simon Cowell rushed to her aid by donating money to her rescue fund. This sent a clear message; the life and safety of an abducted white middle class girl was far more significant and deserving of public attention than that of a working-class girl.

But where was the public outrage for Shannon Matthews?  Did she not deserve the same media frenzy that Madeline did? Where were the celebrities who scrambled to contribute to the Find Maddie campaign? This was emphasised further by the media's portrayal of the two cases such as the Mirror's headline – ‘Who took our Maddie?’ The language used in this headline is very emotive and powerful and it appears to suggest that Madeline is a public symbol, public property even. 

As Jones accurately highlights, it was in the public's interest to find and bring home safely the abducted Madeline McCann. Afterall, she represented 'their' middle class world. Shannon Matthews however, represented everything that the media has come to publicly condemn. Working class, Northern, benefit scrounging: the list went on and on. A simple Google search into the press coverage of the Shannon Matthews case is enough to tell you how little regard the mainstream media devoted to her case. 

One of the most notable headlines about the Shannon Matthews Case was predictably sourced in the Daily Mirror. Adorning the front page was a picture, not of the poor abducted schoolgirl from Dewsbury, but that of her 'chavvy' Mother in a grey tracksuit and the subheading of ''Kids get me benefits''. Karen Matthews had quickly became a caricature of so-called chavs and an emblem of the working classes. These were the people to laugh at, turn your noses up at and most importantly, to demonise. 

The press did not hone in on the significance and importance of this individual case, as a woman who wanted to stage the abduction of her child to claim the reward money of £50,000 whilst physically abusing her daughter in the process. Instead, the shocking case of Karen Matthews became an excuse to demonise her way of life and indeed, other working class communities assumed to be a mirror image of her unique actions and behaviours. 

Another point about the case which I view to be of particular interest, is that the reward money for the whereabouts of Shannon was significantly less than that was offered for the return of Madeline McCann, which summed up to millions with the financial help of big celebs such as JK Rowling and Simon Cowell. Taking all of this into account, I must return to my original point...

We all can agree that what Shannon Matthews' mother had done to her defenceless daughter was despicable and well-deserving of a lengthy custodial sentence as well as the immediate loss of her custodial rights over her daughter. But the fact remains that the cases of Shannon Matthews and Madeline McCann should have been treated with equal media coverage to generate equal public concern about their whereabouts, before the shocking events of Matthews' staged capture came to light. This is in terms of funding, media and police attention and our willingness to bring these two defenceless girls home safe regardless of their social status. 

Above all, the case of Madeline McCann and Shannon Matthews in the media echoes core principles from Victorian Society, such as the 1834 Poor Law Amendment act. Both cases were just as severe as each other with no outstanding principles over the other and should have been treated as such. Owen Jones excellently explains our shared view in the first chapter of his book.

Going further into the book, Owen Jones turns his attention to the political class and how unbalanced the political system is in this country. We are a country of democracy, freedom and libertarianism, however there are underlying features which still reminds us of the oppressive eras we oversaw throughout our history. Quite simply, the political class and establishment are out of touch with the British Public and they are out of touch with every day struggles and problems for our ‘working class communities’ in this country. How is it right that we live in a country where its representatives or MP’S are fitted into one category. That is typically – Male, White and Upper Class. However, despite the change in political landscape over the last couple of decades, it is not just politicians which should be targeted. The media, its conglomerates and journalists are mostly stemmed from the same background. So, to summarise, the politicians who represent us and the media and journalists who report on issues and attempt to ‘educate’ us on National and global affairs have no reconciliation with working class communities, their way of life and family structure. All they have in their arsenal are cheap caricatures which are actively used to demonise the working classes and paint them as- unemployed, lazy and benefit scrounging. Owen Jones again hits this nail on the head. He incorporates the Lumpenproletariat view devised by Karl Marx and the reconstruction of the underclass by Charles Murray. All which encompass an overwhelming view of demonization of the working class. To summarise once again, I argue that the current political establishment and media outlets are simply out of touch with every day life and this is illustrated by their reporting’s on what they mostly believe working class life is like. Furthermore, we see these inaccuracies in comedy shows such as Little Britain.

As much as I could go on with my analyse of so-called chavs and the demonization of the working class, I must remember that this a blog and not a thesis. I will finish however on a point that shows the coverage of Blue Collar Crimes vs White Collar Crimes. When the New Labour Government came into power, Tony Blair enforced the – Anti Social Behaviour order, which was imposed mainly on council estate areas, where it was believed that gang activity and violence was most dominant. However, what was never considered was the ideas that middle and upper-class groups are also capable of committing anti-social behaviour. Take foxhunting for example, it is an exclusive sport played by those who can afford and have the time to spend their days chasing through the countryside with a pack of dogs with the aim of mauling a fox to death, with no apparent benefit whatsoever. The practise of foxhunting in itself is a issue of mass controversy and is something to be discussed at another time, however the conduct of many fox hunters as shown by protestors and vigilantes shows behaviour of abuse, horse whipping, and attempting to run people over with the stampede of a horse. This shows a huge sense of self entitlement. Many of these people (the fox hunters) don’t wasn’t their faces to be shown on camera, which would prove their guilt, nor do they want anyone disrupting their day of upper class sport and exclusive activity. This type of crime in many ways is deemed anti-social behaviour. 

So why doesn’t the mass media ever turn their attention to these despicable acts of violence? Because it’s not as interesting, relevant or easy to sensationalise for a right-wing tabloid dedicated to populism and going to ‘war’ against a bunch of ‘working class yobs’ , of course. Again, I conducted a google search of ‘Anti-Social behaviour’ and all I found was images urban street gangs in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and London. gangs of ‘working class’ youths who wear masks, carry weapons, have a Pitbull type dog on a leash as in intimidation factor and consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs in the day time in the street. I am not arguing for a moment that we shouldn’t focus our attention on these very dangerous gangs, of course we should. They should be tackled and apprehended where appropriate, however there is a significant imbalance between media coverage of working class and upper class’s versions of anti-social behaviour. This is an issue of the establishment and the wider press which needs to be addressed. Owen Jones narrates this excellently in his chapter titled – Politicians vs chavs.

To summarise, Chavs by Owen Jones is an extremely relevant book which urgently addresses the imbalance of our society from the establishment at the top, to the working classes, shown at the bottom of our society’s pecking order. However, as a critique of the book, I would say that firstly Owen Jones mainly wrote about the demonization of the working class from a white perspective, not much was to be said of other races and nationalities and their struggles with the class wars. Lastly, I would mention that the political landscape is changing. You should not assume that working class communities are collectively left wing and Blairites or Corbynites, that there are increasingly groups who support Right Wing populism and are from working class backgrounds.