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The Middle Classes And Their Aristocratic Others

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  • Steph Lawler

Abstract

This article considers English middle-classness in terms of identity, dispositions and manners, in the context of a project of middle-class self-distinction from the aristocracy. Taking as a case study broadsheet press coverage of the break-up of the relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton, it examines the ways in which such coverage uses the concept of ‘class’ in two senses: as an artificial system, and as a (naturalized) property of the person. These two meanings of class slide into each other, so that class contempt can be used against persons who are seen to lack the appropriate, ‘natural’ qualities. Using Bourdieu's concept of habitus and its related notion of ‘generative forgetting’, I argue that the naturalization of middle-classed dispositions is an important means through which class is deployed in contemporary England. When (as in this case study) some challenge is seen to be mounted to this naturalization, a whole symbolic economy of taste and manners is seen as being undermined and the anxieties around middle-class existence are revealed.

Suggested Citation

  • Steph Lawler, 2008. "The Middle Classes And Their Aristocratic Others," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 245-261, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:1:y:2008:i:3:p:245-261
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350802476954
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    Cited by:

    1. Amy Clarke, 2023. "Recognising British Bodies: The Significance of Race and Whiteness in ‘Post-Racial’ Britain," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 279-295, March.

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