Class Matters: Inequality and Exploitation in 21st-Century Britain - Softcover

Umney, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745337082 ISBN 13: 9780745337081

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2018

Synopsis

Social class remains a fundamental presence in British life in the twenty-first century. It is woven into the very fabric of social and political discourse, undiminished by the end of mass industry; unaugmented despite the ascendancy of 'ordinary working people' and other substitute phrases. Absent from this landscape, however, is any compelling Marxist expression or analysis of class. In Class Matters, Charles Umney brings Marxist analysis out of the 19th century textiles mill, and into the call centres, office blocks and fast food chains of modern Britain. He shows how core Marxist concepts are vital to understanding increasing pay inequality, decreasing job security, increasing routinisation and managerial control of the labour process. Providing a critical analysis of competing perspectives, Umney argues that class must be understood as a dynamic and exploitative process integral to capitalism - rather than a descriptive categorisation - in order for us to better understand the gains capital has made at the expense of labour over the last four decades.

About this title

About the Author

Charles Umney is a lecturer at the University of Leeds Business School.
 

Review

'By reinstating the importance of Marxist analysis for understanding the relationship between class and social inequality in 21st century Britain, Charles Umney has written a highly cogent and perspicacious account of the formation of contemporary inequality and exploitation.  It should be a vital source for students of contemporary capitalism, including those training to be its managers in Business Schools.'  (Professor Paul Stewart, former editor of Work, Employment and Society)

'Margaret Thatcher declared class a ‘communist concept’. One of her main ideological victories was to drive it out of official language. Now that the nationalist right offers its own, mutilated class language, it is clear that this subject won’t go away. The Left urgently needs to reclaim this territory. At last, Charles Umney has written a long overdue corrective, a sophisticated answer to impoverished sociologies and cheap media cliches. In smart prose, he shows that class is not what we have been told it is, and that the right-wing dichotomy between class and identity doesn't hold in the real world. A sharp and deeply necessary book.'  (Richard Seymour, Salvage)

“Charles Umney’s Class Matters is a highly accessible presentation of the transformation of the British economy over the last four decades and the problems facing the British political economy today. He deftly mixes analysis of history, current events and political discourse with the latest research findings from the academic literature. Umney’s book vividly demonstrates the acute relevance of Marxist class analysis for understanding work, government, economics and politics in 21st century capitalism” (Matt Vidal, Loughborough University London)

“Why is there such extreme inequality in the world today? Is it human nature? Predatory bosses and financiers? A corrupt political class? In this book Charles Umney presents a powerful and nuanced alternative narrative driven by Marxist political economy. With a keen eye for irony, paradox, and the absurd, he analyzes work, politics, and technology in capitalist societies. Class Matters is a witty and wise antidote to the mainstream diagnoses of our times.” (Ian Greer, Cornell University)

“By reinstating the importance of Marxist analysis for understanding the relationship between class and social inequality in twenty-first-century Britain, Charles Umney has written a highly cogent and perspicacious account of the formation of contemporary inequality and exploitation.  It should be a vital source for students of contemporary capitalism, including those training to be its managers in business schools”
  (Paul Stewart, former editor of Work, Employment and Society)

“Margaret Thatcher declared class a ‘communist concept.’ One of her main ideological victories was to drive it out of official language. Now that the nationalist right offers its own, mutilated class language, it is clear that this subject won’t go away. The Left urgently needs to reclaim this territory. At last, Charles Umney has written a long overdue corrective, a sophisticated answer to impoverished sociologies and cheap media cliches. In smart prose, he shows that class is not what we have been told it is, and that the right-wing dichotomy between class and identity doesn't hold in the real world. A sharp and deeply necessary book.”
  (Richard Seymour, author of Against Austerity)

Edition details

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0745337082
• ISBN 13: 9780745337081
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240