‘He's snooty ‘im’: exploring ‘white working class’ political disengagement

Abstract

Using a small pilot qualitative study conducted in the North of England prior to the 2010 General election, we seek to understand why our respondents might feel actively disengaged from mainstream politics. It is argued that one major reason is because politicians are seen as lacking understanding of the local contexts in which these low wage workers live. The gulf between represented and representative is widened if politicians fail to communicate in a 'down-to-earth' way. This indicates that social inequality between represented and representative is a factor in disengagement, but that such disengagement is not the result of apathy on the part of citizens. Further research is required, but our study suggests that if politicians fail to recognise their privilege and politics fails to address economic disadvantage across ethnic groups then disengagement from mainstream politics is likely to worsen.

Resistance or resignation to welfare reform? The activist politics for and against social citizenship

“…Whilst these appeals, if successful, would prove crucial to meeting their basic material needs, these struggles were also motivated by a range of post-material concerns (Manning and Holmes, 2013). The process of appealing a decision made by WINZ appeared to be an affirmation of an individualÕs status as a social citizen, as someone with the right to have rights.…”

“…For example, lived experiences of exclusion can lead to differing forms of (critical) political disengagement (e.g. Manning and Holmes, 2013) or marginalised citizens can adopt pragmatic strategies to overcome or cope with the failed promises of social citizenship (e.g. Dean and Shah, 2002).…”

“…This is particularly surprising given the low level of voter turnout amongst poorer citizens in New Zealand (cf. Manning and Holmes, 2013;Statistics New Zealand, 2014).…”

Adolescent citizenship and educational track: a qualitative study on the development of views on the common good

“…issue (e.g. Eidhof et al 2016;Gesthuizen 2006;Kriesi et al 2006;Manning and Holmes 2013;Norris 2011). For example, Dutch political scientists Bovens and Wille (2009) have launched the provocative concept 'diplomacy-democracy' to call attention to the extreme overrepresentation of higher educated people among politicians and the risk that they are increasingly ignoring the interests and concerns of lower educated citizens.…”

When politicians fail: Zombie democracy and the anthropology of actually existing politics

“…al. 2016;Laurison 2015;Manning and Holmes 2013). Nor is electoral withdrawal an inevitable outcome of our times (Koch 2016;Pilkington and Pollock 2015;Rheingans and Holland 2013).…”