Full Description
Social class remains a fundamental presence in British life in the twenty-first century. It is woven into the very fabric of social and political discourse, undiminished by the end of mass industry; unaugmented despite the ascendancy of 'ordinary working people' and other substitute phrases. Absent from this landscape, however, is any compelling Marxist expression or analysis of class.
In Class Matters, Charles Umney brings Marxist analysis out of the 19th century textiles mill, and into the call centres, office blocks and fast food chains of modern Britain. He shows how core Marxist concepts are vital to understanding increasing pay inequality, decreasing job security, increasing routinisation and managerial control of the labour process.
Providing a critical analysis of competing perspectives, Umney argues that class must be understood as a dynamic and exploitative process integral to capitalism - rather than a descriptive categorisation - in order for us to better understand the gains capital has made at the expense of labour over the last four decades.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Rest of the Book
1. The 'Economy that Works for Everyone'
Platitudes
Class Since the Financial Crisis
Class and Classification in Academia
2. Alien Powers: Class in Marxist Thought
Conflict in the Workplace
Dependency and Discipline
Subordination of the Individual
Alien Powers and Loss of Control
Beyond Production
3. Changing Class Dynamics in Britain
Introduction
Inequality and the Balance of Class Power in Britain
Financialisation, Capital and Class Discipline
Labour Discipline and 'Precarity'
Conclusion
4. Jobs
Workplace Control
Conflict, Resistance and Class Power
5. Government
Adequate Forms and Alien Powers
Public Services and Capital
Blood Sacrifices to Alien Powers
6. Class and Equality
Class, 'Identity Politics' and Cosmopolitans
Marxism and Feminism
Equality and Capital
Capital and Immigration
7. Technology
The Means of Evaluation
Capitalism and the Wasting of Resources
8. Media and Ideology
Common Sense
The News Media
Marxist Views on Ideology
9. Conclusion
Summary
Capital and the Future
Final Thoughts: Britain after the 2017 General Election
Notes
Index
