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A review by amymariedoug
Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones
4.0
You can also read this review on my blog.
I’m angry. I’m furious. And like so many of the working class, Owen Jones is too. Growing up in a working-class community, I understand what it is for those more privileged to dismiss our concerns as the uneducated opinions of a ‘Chav.’ The caricature, personified by in TV shows such as Shameless, is an unfounded and unfair stereotype used by society (including the working-class about their peers) to demonize the working class. On the contrary, only by living with the working-class can you understand the ‘Chav’ to be a prejudiced (and as Jones points out, racist in origin) lie. The working-class are not unintelligent, dirty and lazy; they are often the opposite. They are merely victims of their social class.
Perhaps the most illuminating chapter of Jones’ book is the first: the case of Shannon Matthews versus Madeleine McCann. Undoubtedly, anyone reading this will have heard of Madeleine, but how many can be said to remember Shannon? Class, race and general marketability play a role in the publicity of missing children all the time, but the former is most prominent in the case of these two girls. The two cases are fairly similar, happening a year apart from each other, both being young girls who mysteriously vanished. Whilst the McCann’s were Doctors, Shannon grew up on a Yorkshire council estate. The media coverage, Jones points out, was astonishingly different for the two. The McCanns were given millions in funding, whilst Shannon’s family were demonized as Chavs. When it was revealed that Shannon’s mother was responsible for her kidnap, the media’s claims were validated. ‘Of course it was the mother, how could it not be?’ Yet should the same question not be asked of the McCann’s? Society answers ‘of course not, they’re respectable middle-class!’
Jones’ book is incredibly well-researched. The effort he went to in interviewing real, working-class people instead of looking at statistics is so so valuable. For once, working-class people are allowed to speak, instead of being spoken at. On the other hand, Chavs is a little statistic heavy, so it took me a little longer to read through it. Overall though I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Whether interested in class struggles or not, this book is educational and will no doubt help to diminish the ‘Chav’ caricature. Unfortunately, despite being published back in 2011, it’s very telling that Jones’ concerns still remain relevant, nearly ten years later.
I’m angry. I’m furious. And like so many of the working class, Owen Jones is too. Growing up in a working-class community, I understand what it is for those more privileged to dismiss our concerns as the uneducated opinions of a ‘Chav.’ The caricature, personified by in TV shows such as Shameless, is an unfounded and unfair stereotype used by society (including the working-class about their peers) to demonize the working class. On the contrary, only by living with the working-class can you understand the ‘Chav’ to be a prejudiced (and as Jones points out, racist in origin) lie. The working-class are not unintelligent, dirty and lazy; they are often the opposite. They are merely victims of their social class.
Perhaps the most illuminating chapter of Jones’ book is the first: the case of Shannon Matthews versus Madeleine McCann. Undoubtedly, anyone reading this will have heard of Madeleine, but how many can be said to remember Shannon? Class, race and general marketability play a role in the publicity of missing children all the time, but the former is most prominent in the case of these two girls. The two cases are fairly similar, happening a year apart from each other, both being young girls who mysteriously vanished. Whilst the McCann’s were Doctors, Shannon grew up on a Yorkshire council estate. The media coverage, Jones points out, was astonishingly different for the two. The McCanns were given millions in funding, whilst Shannon’s family were demonized as Chavs. When it was revealed that Shannon’s mother was responsible for her kidnap, the media’s claims were validated. ‘Of course it was the mother, how could it not be?’ Yet should the same question not be asked of the McCann’s? Society answers ‘of course not, they’re respectable middle-class!’
Jones’ book is incredibly well-researched. The effort he went to in interviewing real, working-class people instead of looking at statistics is so so valuable. For once, working-class people are allowed to speak, instead of being spoken at. On the other hand, Chavs is a little statistic heavy, so it took me a little longer to read through it. Overall though I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Whether interested in class struggles or not, this book is educational and will no doubt help to diminish the ‘Chav’ caricature. Unfortunately, despite being published back in 2011, it’s very telling that Jones’ concerns still remain relevant, nearly ten years later.