 |
 |
New and updated edition from Verso Books:
CHAVS: THE DEMONIZATION OF THE WORKING CLASS
By Owen Jones
http://www.versobooks.com/books/1100-chavs
------------
Verso Voices: Owen Jones Answers Your Questions
Send us
your burning questions for Owen! We'll collect your questions by email and
twitter and he will try to answer as many as possible in our inaugural Verso
Voices video.
Simply tweet your questions @VersoBooks using the hashtag #AskOwen OR email
enquiries AT verso.co.uk with 'Ask Owen' in the subject line. We'll accept
questions until Friday 15th April, 6pm GMT.
http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2587-verso-voices-owen-jones-answers-your-questions
------------
Bestselling investigation into the myth and reality of working-class life in contemporary Britain.
In modern Britain, the working class has become an object of fear and ridicule. From Little Britain’s Vicky Pollard to the demonization of Jade Goody, media and politicians alike dismiss as feckless, criminalized and ignorant a vast, underprivileged swathe of society whose members have become stereotyped by one, hate-filled word: chavs.
In this acclaimed investigation, Owen Jones explores how the working class has gone from “salt of the earth” to “scum of the earth.” Exposing the ignorance and prejudice at the heart of the chav caricature, he portrays a far more complex reality. The chav stereotype, he argues, is used by governments as a convenient figleaf to avoid genuine engagement with social and economic problems and to justify widening inequality. Based on a wealth of original research, Chavs is a damning indictment of the media and political establishment and an illuminating, disturbing portrait of inequality and class hatred in modern Britain. This updated edition includes a new introduction by author Owen Jones and new material that looks at the costs of the coalition government since 2010: benefits cuts, bedroom tax, workfare, dismantling of the NHS and the continued rise of the 1%.
------------
Owen Jones is a writer, commentator and activist. He writes frequently for the Guardian, Independent and New Statesman, and has worked in Parliament as a trade union lobbyist and parliamentary researcher, helping Labour plan backbench rebellions on issues ranging from civil liberties to workers’ rights. He lives in London.
------------
“A passionate and well-documented denunciation of the upper-class contempt for the proles that has recently become so visible in the Brit- ish class system.”
- Eric Hobsbawm, Guardian
“A bold attempt to rewind political orthodoxies; to reintroduce class as a political variable... It moves in and out of postwar British history with great agility, weaving together complex questions of class, culture and identity with a lightness of touch. Jones torches the political class to great effect.”
- Jon Cruddas, Independent
“The white working class seems to be the one group in society that it is still acceptable to sneer at, ridicule, even incite hatred against. ... Forensically ... Jones seeks to explain how, thanks to politics, the working class has shifted from being regarded as ‘the salt of the earth • to the scum of the earth’.
- Carol Midgely, The Times
------------
PAPERBACK: APRIL 2016 / 9781784783778 / $15.95 / £8.99 / $20.95CAN
AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK
CHAVS is currently 30% off in Paperback and 40% off in E-Book!
http://www.versobooks.com/books/1100-chavs
-----------
Visit Verso's website for information on our upcoming events, new reviews and publications and special offers: http://www.versobooks.com
Sign up for the Verso mailing list:
https://www.versobooks.com/users/sign_up
Follow us online:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VersoBks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/VersoBooks
Instagram: http://instagram.com/versobooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/18970808-verso-books