Affective Polarisation: Social Inequality in the UK after Austerity, Brexit and COVID-19 9781529222289
Inequality is an ever-present danger in our society. This important book addresses the crucial nexus between the lived e
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English Pages 192 [259] Year 2023
Table of contents :
Front Cover
Affective Polarisation: Social Inequality in the UK after Austerity, Brexit and COVID-19
Copyright information
Table of Contents
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
References
1 The Divided Left in the UK: Partisanship, Ideology and Class after Brexit
Introduction
What is ‘the left’ in the UK?
A divided left
Ideological and affective polarisation in the UK
Conclusion
References
2 Populism and the People: Elitism, Authoritarianism and Libertarianism
Introduction
Defining populism
Populist performance: elitism in disguise
Populist ideology: authoritarianism and libertarianism
Conclusion
References
3 ‘Coloring the Utterance with Some Kind of Perceivable Affect’: Constructing ‘Country’ and ‘People’ in Speeches by Theresa May and Boris Johnson – A Linguistic Perspective
Introduction
Theoretical orientations: discourse, meaning, language use
‘People’ and ‘country’ in Theresa May’s and Boris Johnson’s speeches
Conclusion
References
4 The Challenges of Polarisation: Lessons for (Re-)Politicising Inequality across Four English Towns
Introduction
A mixed methods comparative community analysis of social polarisation
Economic, spatial and relational polarisation
A mixed methods approach
Quantitative methods
Ethnographic methods
Economic and spatial aspects of polarisation
Relational aspects of polarisation
Conviviality and grassroots activism among marginalised populations
Divisions and differences between town residents
The missing middle and its conditioning of town politics
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
5 “Go Away, But Don’t Leave Us”: Affective Polarisation and the Precarisation of Romanian Essential Workers in the UK
Introduction
Romanians in the UK
So why come to the UK in the first place?
Where does this leave Romanians then?
Whiteness, class and racialised capitalism
Conclusion
References
6 Racialised Affective Polarisation in the UK
Introduction
Sites and contexts of racialised affective polarisation
Emotion and White privilege: ‘Get angry. Anger is useful. Use it for good’
Communities of race, class and gender: “No, it’s not knowledge we lack”
Racial and ethnic diversity in the literary field: ‘For the many not the few’
Conclusion
References
7 “Now You Have to Listen”: A Historical Analysis of Britain’s Left-Behind Communities
Introduction
Left-behind communities before 1997
Left-behind communities between 1997 and 2010
Left-behind communities between 2010 and 2016
Conclusion
References
8 Britain in a State of Emergency: Studying Ken Loach’s Films I, Daniel Blake (2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019)
Introduction
I, Daniel Blake (2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019)
Cruel optimism
References
9 Cloaking Class: Making the Working Class Visible
Introduction
The fear and the loathing of and for the working class
Conclusion
References
10 Class, Poverty and Inequality in Scotland: Independence and the Creation of Affective Polarisations
Introduction
Class, inequality and the making of Scottish nationalism
The 2014 independence referendum
Post-referendum affective polarisations
Conclusion
References
11 Language and Identity: The Taliesin Tradition
Introduction
A linguistic identity
An industrial identity
A British identity
Welsh as a British language
Population shift and language
Welsh identity denied?
Identity based on institutions
Identity asserted
Identities reimagined
Can language play a part in melding new identities?
References
Conclusion
References
Index
