Critical Social Psychology of Social Class 3030559645, 9783030559649

Table of contents :
Contents
1 Social Class: What Is It and Why Does It Matter? (Katy Day)
Introduction
Defining and Conceptualising Social Class: How Do We ‘Determine’ Someone’s Class?
Psychology and Social Class
Scope and Aims of the Book
References
2 Psychology and Social Class: The Working-Class as ‘Other’ (Bridgette Rickett)
Introduction
Social Class and the ‘Psy’ Disciplines: A Troubled History
Inherent Deficiencies: Essentialising Social Class
The (Ir)Rational Mind: Troubling Working-Class Minds
‘Why Do Poor People Behave so Poorly?’: Cognition and Behaviour
Shifting the Blame and Highlighting Injustice
Summary
References
3 Conceptualising Social Class: Towards a Critical Social Psychological Approach (Maxine Woolhouse)
Introduction
Undercurrents of and Key Influences on Critical Social Psychology
Reductionism and Individualism
Experimental Methods and Statistics
Historically- and Culturally-Bound
Misguided in Its Claims to Be Objective and Value-Free
Feminist Psychology: The Place of Social Class in Women’s Lives
Feminist Psychology and Social Class
Marxist Psychology: An Oxymoron?
Social Constructionism, Poststructuralism and Critical Psychology: Discourse and Identity
Considerations for a Critical Social Psychology of Class
Genealogy of Subjectification and Classification
Summary
References
4 Class Discourse and the Media (Katy Day)
Introduction
The Media: What Does This Have to Offer Critical Social Psychological Enquiry?
‘Chavs’, ‘Gypsies’ & Class Disgust
Contested Meanings and ‘Chav Pride’
Meritocracy and the Making of the Neoliberal Subject
Summary
References
5 Classed Identities: Submergence, Authenticity and Resistance (Bridgette Rickett)
Introduction
Classification, Social Identities and Class Prejudice
Reconstructing Class: The Ideal of ‘Classlessness’
Submerged Identities in an Emotional Terrain
Implications for Transformative Politics: Authenticity, Resistance and Social Protest
Working-Class Feminine Identities, Authenticity, Resistance and Social Protest
Working-Class Masculine Identities, Authenticity, Resistance and Social Protest
Cautionary Notes: Problems and Limitations
Summary
References
6 Critical Analyses: ‘Real-World’ Applications (Maxine Woolhouse)
Introduction: Coming Out of the Ivory Tower
Education
The Current ‘State of Affairs’ in UK Education
Mental Health, Wellbeing and Psychological Distress
A Case Study of Good Practice
Physical Health and Illness
Critical Psychological Approaches to Health
Summary
References
7 Debates, Issues and Future Directions (Katy Day)
Introduction
The ‘Poststructuralist Left’ and Class Politics: Exploring the Tensions
Relativism
Anti-Essentialism
‘Identity Politics’ and Intersectionality
The ‘Extra-Discursive’
What Next? Future Directions for Class Research
Scrutinising the Discursive Practices of the Privileged
Critical Community Psychology and Participatory Action Research (PAR)
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Working-Class People and Communities
Summary
References
References
Index