ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
We Have Never Been Middle Class by Hadas Weiss
Acute interrogation of how social perceptions, values and beliefs influence economic behaviour
Diners in denial: Luis Bunuel’s The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
SELF-STYLED “academic nomad” Hadas Weiss's first book explores culture in Germany and Israel by studying communities in-depth and over extended periods.
An anthropologist living in Spain, she uses literature review, formal ethnographic research and informal observation based on personal experience to explore the relevance and influence of the term “middle class” and her book is a scholarly but accessible exploration of a pervasive and damaging myth.
It opens with the unsettling suggestion that “middle class” is an ideology rather than a genuine identity within the capitalist class system. This, says Weiss, is why we struggle to develop a clear definition.
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