The White Working Class as ‘Flawed Consumers’: Representations and Policy Responses
The Open Society Foundations are a family of more than 30 foundations active in more than 70 countries around the world. The Open Society Foundations support justice and human rights, freedom of expression, and access to public health and education. The Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens.
Research and Advocacy Mitigation of anti-minority and antiimmigrant sentiment Equality and social cohesion in Western Europe Local and national government engagement and EU where necessary
Undertake research and advocacy on issues which undermine open societies Offer evidence based comparative research and contribute to better informed policies and debate on diversity and equality in Europe Engage local governments to improve political will and leadership in countering intolerance Support the critical engagement of grassroots organisations at city and national level Strengthen or support the creation of a shared sense of interest between communities
HOUSING
EMPLOYMENT
COHESION
EDUCATION
MEDIA
POLICING
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Premised on policy knowledge gaps Evidence based comparative research Qualitative methodology City level Muslims in EU Cities Somalis in European Cities Engaging Marginalised Majority Populations and Communities
Advocacy is an organised attempt to change policy, practice and/or attitudes and behaviour by presenting evidence and arguments for how and why change can happen
Research-driven
Sustainable change at the local level Local ownership
Briefings, partnerships, facilitation, networks, capacity building, grant giving, media, visual representation, promoting good practices
Local, national and European levels
City administrations
Civil Society Actors
European networks
And what about the other players?
Six cities •
Aarhus, Denmark
•
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
•
Berlin, Germany
•
Lyon, France
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Manchester, United Kingdom
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Stockholm, Sweden
‘White working class’ or ‘marginalised majority population’?
“individuals who are citizens of the country where the research was taking place and born in that country and whose parents were also citizens of the country and born in that country”
Qualitative research 12 focus groups in each city Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners, civil society activists)
Berlin
Lyon
Amsterdam
Stockholm Aarhus
Manchester
Areas of majority ‘white working class’ population
Traditional centre left municipalities
Not the ‘most deprived areas’ in the city
Significant support for far right parties
Economic insecurity, networks of support and identity
Failure to involve white working class communities in integration policies
Stigmatized local identites
Relative lack of attention on underachievement of white working class children
Reforms in education have encouraged segregation on the grounds of both class and ethnicity
Degrading of vocational education
Rise of negative media stereotypes Chavs (UK), Hartz IV television (Germany), “aso-TV” Netherlands
Structure of media industry/professionals and decline of traditional local media
Symbolic neighbourhoods: Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Tuindorp, Triegeparken,
Community based social media challenging representations of local areas
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