The Olympics and Class

Did you see the Olympics?  Great, wasn't it?  Obviously, the ability to jump higher/run faster is not that much of an achievement anymore, in fact it's pretty useless since we're not cave dwellers fighting each other for the scraps from a revently deceased Woolly Mammoth or running away from one of those old tigers with the massive teeth but it would be churlish to bring this up after our runners/jumpers/make-a-horse-do-a-dance-ers did so well. 

Anyway, from a sociological point of view the Olympics matter because in the last Olympics, which were somewhere abroad I assume (I didn't watch that one) most of the British Olympic Team (NOT 'Team GB'!  NEVER 'Team GB'!  'Team GB' is a nauseating Americanism and if you say it you are a traitor. FACT!) had attended Private School, so there was a debate about CLASS and INEQUALITY and people saying 'Blimey, these rich people seem to have unfair advantages due to their enormous wealth, yadda yadda yadda, say something less blindingly obvious whydontcha?  Anyway, this time round, there was a slight change to the debate as it seems a few more peasants/state school kids won medals.  Here are some articles discussing it:

1  2   3

Get a proper job you posh pillock.

AS Class Identity - The Great British Class Survey

What social class are you?!  I don't think you're even human, I doubt you can even legitimately class yourself as a 'mammal' BUT WHY NOT PROVE ME WRONG BY TAKING THIS BBC SURVEY ON CLASS!  YEAH!

Do the Class Survey!

You can read about the survey here. You won't, you're too lazy, but the offer still stands.

Too stupid to complete a survey?  HERE'S SOME VIDEOS INSTEAD!  Let me hear you grunt your approval!

Videos! Grunt! Grunt!

AS Class Identity - Unpaid Internships - a barrier that stops the poor getting the best jobs?

Many of the exciting and glamorous jobs that people want to do in the Media, Industry, Fashion and Politics require you to work for free for a certain amount of time. This is called an 'internship' and some people say that it favours the rich who can afford to work for free to secure these highly sought-after jobs.

So, in terms of what we have looked at regarding the way the upper class tries to keep those from the lower classes from joining the upper class, read these articles below and have a think!

1   2   3

Social Class Identity - News Articles and more...

Primarily for the AS class, here are a selection of articles relating to class, meritocracy and education. 

It took about ten mins on Google to collect all these, most of them were linked to each other on the Guardian website so I just followed those.  They are very useful as additional reading to broaden your knowledge for the exam and life in general.  The more you read, the more you know and the better you can do in your exams!  Of course, you are free to ignore them and remain in your present position, i.e shrouded in a thick fog of ignorance.  A really good student would read them and take notes, particularly relating to studies mentioned, statistics, examples, the author and source of the article and a general summary of what the article is about.   I know, it's a crazy idea but it just might work!

Read them here...

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11


Bonus Material!  Yeah!  Here is it...

These good people do a whole lotta research etc on poverty and inequality, they are very useful to know about...

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation



Full text of study by Mike Savage on:

Changing Social Class Identities in Post-War Britain: Perspectives from Mass-Observation

Workless families: a convenient untruth. A belief in inherited underclass idleness is spreading, but in reality multiple generations who have never worked is very rare