
Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class (Paperback)
Owen Jones (author)- 10+ in stock
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 9781839760921
Number of pages: 336
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"A work of passion, sympathy and moral grace."-Dwight Garner, New York Times
"A bold attempt to rewind political orthodoxies; to reintroduce class as a political variable ... It moves in and out of postwar British history with great agility, weaving together complex questions of class, culture and identity with a lightness of touch. Jones torches the political class to great effect."-Jon Cruddas, Book of the Week, Independent
"It is a timely book. The white working class seems to be the one group in society that it is still acceptable to sneer at, ridicule, even incite hatred against ... Forensically ... Jones seeks to explain how, thanks to politics, the working class has shifted from being regarded as 'the salt of the earth to the scum of the earth.'"-Carol Midgley, Book of the Week, Times
"Superb and angry."-Polly Toynbee, Guardian
"Seen in the light of the riots and the worldwide Occupy protests, his lucid analysis of a divided society appears uncannily prescient."-Matthew Higgs, Artforum
"As with all the best polemics, a luminous anger backlights his prose."-Economist
"Chavs is persuasively argued, and packed full of good reporting and useful information ... [Jones] makes an important contribution to a revivified debate about class."-Lynsey Hanley, Guardian
"A lively, well-reasoned and informative counterblast to the notion that Britain is now more or less a classless society."-Sean O'Hagan, Observer
"A trenchant exposure of our new class hatred and what lies behind it."-John Carey, author of The Intellectuals and the Masses
"The stereotyping and hatred of the working class in Britain, documented so clearly by Owen Jones in this important book, should cause all to flinch. Reflecting our high levels of inequality, the stigmatization of the working class is a serious barrier to social justice and progressive change."-Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of The Spirit Level
"Eloquent and impassioned."-Andrew Neather, Evening Standard
"Jones's analysis of the condition of the working class is very astute ... A book like this is very much needed for the American scene, where the illusion is similarly perpetuated by the Democrats that the middle-class is all that matters, that everyone can aspire to join the middle-class or is already part of it ."-Anis Shivani, Huffington Post
"Everybody knows what a chav is, it seems, but no one is a chav. But then it's a word unlike any other in current usage ... A new book, Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, by first-time author Owen Jones ... has thrown the word into the spotlight all over again."-Carole Cadwalladr, Observer
"A blinding read."-Suzanne Moore, Guardian
"[A] thought-provoking examination of a relatively new yet widespread derogatory characterization of the working class in Britain ... edifying and disquieting in equal measure."-Publishers Weekly
"A fiery reminder of how the system has failed the poor."-Peter Hoskin, Daily Beast
"Mr. Jones's book is a cleareyed examination of the British class system, and it poses this brutal question: 'How has hatred of working-class people become so socially acceptable?' His timely answers combine wit, left-wing politics and outrage."-Dwight Garner, New York Times
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“Exemplary work!”
This is the first book in a long time where I have been equally enthralled and engaged, The quality of Jones's research and exploratory nature of his prose is of the highest standard. The book serves well to... More

“Chavs”
This is a timely defence of working class people who only seem to exist for the media as stereotypes - lazy, drunken, foul-mouthed, badly dressed benefit scroungers. As the author makes clear that is far from the... More
“Tells you what the media doesn't.”
A series of essays, many of which repeat the same point. 'We're all middle class now' has been the staple message from politicians for the past 20 years. This book aims to explain how the working class... More
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