Who Cares about the White Working Class?

Why is the Runnymede Trust looking at the grievances of white people? The organisation acknowledges that this might be seen as unusual coming from an independent policy research body founded on promoting a successful multi-ethnic Britain. But it also points out that it has become increasingly common to find expressions of the theory that the white working class are losing out to minority groups in areas from housing to education, employment and health. The trust asked a group of writers and researchers to look into what was really happening.

And were their findings consistent? The line emerging from all these papers is that yes, the white working class are discriminated against on a number of fronts, but because of their class, not on account of their race.

The "C" word? Are we allowed to say that anymore? Runnymede notes the shift in political terminology from "the working classes" to "hard-working families". It also notes that the political right is quick to jump on any politician who raises class as an issue as being stuck in "class-warfare rhetoric". The research here reasserts the importance of class in examining social position.

So are we back to class warfare? Certainly, Cambridge professor Diane Reay seems to burn with indignation at the notion of people being urged by Gordon Brown to adopt a work and learning ethic in a context where "working-class culture and identity is constructed as a hindrance to academic achievement". In her argument, she suggests that education as delivered in the UK is about reinforcing class privilege. Sociologist Bev Skeggs looks at the way working-class cultures are subject to "diminution", from the "cultural colonialism" of middle-class educationalists to the public's treatment of reality TV star Jade Goody and the patronising approach of makeover experts Trinny and Susannah. She asks: "why are the middle classes not held accountable for the levels of symbolic violence that they enact in daily encounters with others?".

Blimey. So is there anything else specifically about children and young people in the report? Anoop Nayak writes about the evolution of chavs, and, more particularly, the north east England variant of "charver", as a social category at the end of a long line of disparagement of working-class youth. Invoking sources ranging from 19th-century social reformers to Sex Pistols singer John Lydon, he looks at how white working-class youth have been posited as beyond the pale, and often not even considered properly "white". His interviews with young people suggest some young white people perceive current anti-racism as "anti-white", a misguided assumption that needs to be challenged, says Nayak.

Any ideas on how to do that? The final chapter in this collection takes a frequently-asked-questions approach, providing robust responses to common assertions - such as that immigrants get all the housing, white children in a minority suffer at school and "white flight" is pervasive and inevitable. The aim here is to translate academic thinking for a non-academic audience. Along the way there are a few suggestions on improving policy for poorer people in general.

FACT FILE

- The Runnymede Trust says Britain remains blighted by class division as opposed to anti-white racism and that "returning to the issue of class inequality and social mobility is long overdue"

- The report Who Cares about the White Working Class? is available from the Runnymede website