It was the first day of school, and we were standing on the bleachers in the gymnasium, waiting for the seniors to make their ceremonial entrance. I stood there with the ninth graders, craning my neck, trying to get a glimpse of the new senior class as they lined up in the hallway. We show our respect by standing during the seniors’ entrance; they usually reward us by putting on a show while walking to their seats. Continue reading “The Muddy-Booted Boys: The Lads’ Redneck American Cousins”
Cultures of Class: ‘Cashed Up’ and (Dis)Appearing in Place
In Fame, Folk Devils and Generation X-Factor, Heather Mendick and Kim Allen highlight the moral condemnation of the ‘get rich quick’ X-Factor generation, and the profound classing of ‘celebrity’ as (un)appealing and (dis)tasteful. Patterns of culture, consumption and aspiration manifest variously across different national and international contexts and as a visiting scholar at the Australian National University, I’ve had the opportunity to consider the shape and ‘stick’ of class in the Australian context. Specifically, I’ve been intrigued by the figure of the ‘bogan’ as a negative descriptor of white working-class poor populations and an identified ‘new tribe’ of Australians (similar to the UK figure of the ‘chav’, excessively clothed in the wrong brand, and lacking the ‘right’ cultural capital, see ‘Neighbourhood Types’). As Mendick and Allen’s piece highlights, behavioural traits are captured and mis-represented as individual character facts, or flaws, disguising fundamental divisions around legitimacy, authority and material inequalities. Continue reading “Cultures of Class: ‘Cashed Up’ and (Dis)Appearing in Place”