Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class

by Owen Jones

But as injustice is a collective problem, it requires a collective solution:

it remains my sincere belief that, as our ancestors overcame injustice, their traditions will be inherited, and a far more just Britain, and world, will be built, however difficult that may sometimes be to imagine.

In all cases, the meaning of the word changes depending on the speaker.

Demonizing people at the bottom has been a convenient way of justifying an unequal society throughout the ages.

We are all prisoners of our class, but that does not mean we have to be prisoners of our class prejudices.

If money was anything to go by, the life of Madeleine McCann had been deemed fifty times more valuable than that of Shannon Matthews.

Malone’s career would be over and the Sun would be facing legal action for printing material that incited hatred. But there was no outcry and no angry demands for her sacking. Why? Because the communities she was attacking are regarded as fair game.