Working Class Research Articles

The Cinematic Construction of Social Acceleration: Nice View (2022) and the Other Side of ‘China Speed’

ABSTRACT This article explores the rapid pace of contemporary societal development and individual lives as represented and culturally constructed in film, in a non-Western context. It focuses on Nice View, a state-initiated Chinese film. The film celebrates China’s rapid economic growth and urbanisation, or ‘China speed’, over the past few decades, and foregrounds the diligence of the working class that synchronises and contributes to national economic development. Nonetheless, the article argues that this velocity of societal development also entails the inevitable speeding-up of the pace of individual life and the exploitation of labour, which has been justified by the film’s narrative. ‘China speed’, as shown in the film, is underpinned by omnipresent deadlines, the constant feeling of a lack of time, the insecure wellbeing of the working class, and a demand on individuals to succeed through entrepreneurship as early as possible.

The Class Politics of the Rentier State: Rentierism as a Strategy in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This article proposes an alternative account of rentier state-building as a conscious strategy by the ruling class to prevent the emergence of threats to its power. Rentierism stymies the development of a productive economy and thus the formation of a combative working class. The case of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) provides a vantage point for observing this process. Since its establishment in the 1990s, the KRG developed an anomalous rentierism and, due to its lack of sovereignty and the limits of its redistributive capabilities, it has built a conflictual system, in contrast to classical cases of rentiers. While rentier state theory emphasizes the capacity of the rent to temper conflicts, the KRG has been shaken by uninterrupted waves of popular protests. The article reconstructs the process of class formation in the region showing how the creation of a rentier system was actively pursued by the Kurdish elite, demonstrating that rentier state-building is a ruling class project rooted in a strategy of (attempted) neutralization of social conflicts. The limits of the rentier state theory can be overcome by introducing a sociological dimension that accounts for the complexity of class conflicts and strategies.

Manifesto and Capital : Two Theories of Capitalism

This paper investigates the differences between the theory of capitalism which underlies the Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848) and the one formulated in Marx’s “critique of political economy”. The differences in question concern (i) the historical origin of capitalism, (ii) long-term prospects of the working class under capitalism, and (iii) the fundamental nature of capitalist social reality. With respect to the first point, while the Manifesto views the emergence of capitalism as based in the expansion of commodity production and trade, Capital emphasizes the expropriation of immediate producers. Secondly, the 1848 text anticipates a worsening, in absolute terms, of the condition of the working class under capitalism. In contrast, Marx’s later account of accumulation allows for the growth of real wages and predicts a relative worsening of the position of the working class. And thirdly, while the Manifesto views capitalism as having made exploitation easier to discern, in Capital the focus is on fetishism and the “topsy-turvy” forms of appearance which mask the nature of social reality. As I argue, these differences are significant enough to speak of two different theories, and they boil down to the way the theories conceive of their object. On all three dimensions analyzed here – history, dynamics, and nature – Capital emphasizes the historical specificity of the capitalist mode of production in ways the Maniefsto did not account for.

The MAGA Ideology and the Trump Regime

John Bellamy Foster presents a rogue's gallery of the fascist ideologues insidiously pushing the MAGA agenda, from the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025 to neo-Nazi YouTubers and cultural influencers. "The political and ideological successes of the MAGA movement," Foster writes, "were made possible in part by a liberal-left that abandoned the working class economically and politically."

Reordering human waste. Public restrooms as a sign of socialist modernity in China

ABSTRACT The infrastructure of human waste management, from public restrooms and sewage systems to the cleaning squads that work to keep this profane substance in its proper place according to notions of public hygiene, makes a place modern. While a mundane aspect of social life, this infrastructure is deeply political, for it establishes not only a spatial organization for excrement but also a social order. Thus, for example, proximity to waste reflects low social status and can even be a source of stigma. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) featured this infrastructure in two examples of propaganda, the play Dragon Beard Ditch by Lao She depicting the reconstruction of an open sewer in Beijing by the government and the official commendation of a model dung worker named Shi Chuanxiang promoting the collector of human waste and restroom cleaner as a national hero. In this study, I analyse these cultural texts to show how the infrastructure of human waste materially and symbolically embodied a public culture of socialist modernity, which was a hybrid between Western ideals of modernity with the specifically socialist politics in the local historical context. The infrastructure of human waste management, I argue, manifested the CCP’s power to establish spatial and social order and helped legitimize the regime by showing it to be engaged in modernizing the nation. By my interpretation, the state sought, through Dragon Beard Ditch and the official narrative of the dung worker Shi, to frame the public interpretation of the infrastructure as the government’s concern for the Chinese people’s welfare and a socialist effort to elevate the working class.

A Comparative Analysis of Economic Development in Islamic Economics and Marxism: Principles and Practices

This article compares the concept of economic development within the frameworks of Islamic principles and Marxist ideology, using a review-based analytical approach. Structurally, the article is divided into two main sections: the first explores and critically examines the economic concepts and assumptions underpinning Marxism, while the second analyzes Islamic economic policies, principles, strategies, and moral values. The primary objective is to compare the perspectives of Islamic economics and Marxism on economic development, highlighting both their convergences and divergences. The study concludes that although Islam and Marxism are rooted in fundamentally different worldviews—one religious and moral, the other materialist and ideological—certain similarities exist in their critiques of economic inequality and exploitation. Notably, the article argues that equating Islam, with its comprehensive spiritual, ethical, and social dimensions, to the narrower materialist framework of Marxism is reductive. Nevertheless, when focusing solely on economic development, both systems show comparable concerns for equity, fairness, and the welfare of the working class. While Marxism emphasizes a critique of capitalism and the redistribution of wealth through class struggle, Islam advocates for economic progress and social justice grounded in divine principles such as zakat (almsgiving), khums (a form of income tax), and prohibitions on exploitation. Significantly, values like opposition to unjust accumulation of wealth and the importance of economic justice—central to Marxist thought—were integral to Islamic teachings centuries before the rise of Marxism. The article suggests that Islamic economics places a stronger emphasis on holistic development—social, spiritual, and economic—compared to the class-centric focus of Marxism. This comparative study concludes by proposing that insights drawn from both traditions could inform more equitable and sustainable models of economic development, particularly in societies seeking alternatives to purely capitalist or socialist frameworks.

Rethinking Englishness: deep historical analysis of working-class forms emphasises the importance of redistribution for the left

Recent English political phenomena are generally presented in post-colonial contexts: that Brexit and attendant electoral outcomes are the result of an unrepentant, dominant and pathological Englishness in communities that refuse to integrate into modernity. Significant levels of support among working-class English communities for Brexit, The Conservative Party in 2019, the 2021 Hartlepool by-election and the rise of Reform UK has been explained by commitment to long-standing colonial cultural privilege. However, for many of those voters, this has fostered a sense of confusion: not only do these people feel alienated and excluded from modern political discourse, they also inhabit communities that have long been subject to significant material deprivation and cultural domination. In this article, we engage in deep historical analysis of England since the Migrations to argue that there are forms of elite, colonial and working class, colonised Englishness that have divergent and contradictory characteristics that post-colonial analyses cannot easily explain, but which become apparent through older, Marxian lenses. We argue that failure to understand working class communities’ understandings of their Englishness as dominated and subjugated leads progressive politicians to dismiss precisely the interventionist, redistributive socio-economic policy required to advance collective interests nationally, promote equality and demonstrate the relevance of progressive politics to the communities for which parties like the Labour Party were formed to serve.

Making a “decorous” working class: Racialized stigmatization and alienation in a gentrifying neighborhood

ABSTRACT Since 2018, the municipality of Brescia (Italy) has been carrying out a large-scale project of urban regeneration targeting Via Milano, a 2.5-kilometer road connecting the city’s western neighborhoods to the historical center. This project, inspired by the Italian government’s approach for revitalizing “decaying urban peripheries,” is transforming Via Milano and the surrounding districts. The area, historically inhabited by the city’s industrial working-class, is now home to many migrant residents as well. Drawing from 6 years of ethnographic research, this paper discusses three dynamics emerging from the regeneration. Firstly, it examines how powerful discourses define racialized conditions of membership to Italian society by mobilizing the categories of “decay” and “decorum,” which marginalize non-White residents and stigmatize their practices, deemed as “indecorous.” Secondly, it explores how these racialized definitions of Italianness are mobilized by public authorities to impose their vision and facilitate the emergence of inter-class alliances between white working- and middle-class residents with a “desired gentrifier,” that is, an imagined subject the municipality aims to attract to the regenerated neighborhood. Finally, the paper concludes by discussing how the “working-class subject” itself has been made “decorous,” complicating the relationships between groups forced to coexist in a gentrifying, yet historically class-segregated, neighborhood.

The Invisible Work of Intellectual Advocacy: Female Volunteering for the Socialist Cause in Cold War Iceland

This article focuses on the writings of female Icelandic socialist intellectuals and activists during the twentieth century and analyses how they perceived of time spent on work dedicated to the socialist education of the Icelandic working class. It will neither try to evaluate the impact of intellectuals’ work, nor will it attempt to deconstruct the class dichotomy and power structures inherent in intellectuals advocating on behalf of workers. Instead, the focus here is on intellectual women's conceptualisation of time devoted to advocacy, broadly defined, in light of their gender, authority, and privilege. In Iceland, as in many other places, writers and intellectuals were at the forefront of the ideological battle between communism and capitalism that took place during the Cold War. Earlier, in the interwar period, intellectuals also led the way in terms of advocating for Soviet style socialism in Iceland, and they took their role as educators very seriously.

False consciousness and political disenfranchisement: the Indonesian Labour Party in post-Soeharto capitalism

ABSTRACT This study investigates the Indonesian Labour Party’s (Partai Buruh) failure in the 2024 legislative elections, where it secured less than 1% of the vote despite Indonesia’s sizeable working-class population. It examines why workers avoid supporting this anti-systemic party by analyzing Indonesia’s socio-economic structure, persistent inequality, and the ideological barriers shaping political behaviour. While poverty has declined since the fall of the Soeharto regime, extreme wealth inequality continues to fragment the working class, preventing class-based political mobilization. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this research integrates qualitative analysis of poverty and leftist movements with survey data from 709 workers in Central Java. The findings reveal that none of the surveyed workers supported Partai Buruh, instead aligning with mainstream parties such as PDI-P and Gerindra despite these parties promoting neoliberal labour policies. Drawing on Marxist and Gramscian theories, the study argues that false consciousness, reinforced through state repression, religious institutions, and ideological control, has prevented the formation of a strong labour identity. By highlighting the structural and ideological obstacles facing anti-systemic parties, this study provides insights into how capitalist hegemony shapes labour’s political choices in post-Soeharto Indonesia.

South Africa’s volatile electorate: changing bases of party support in 2014, 2016, and 2019

ABSTRACT In South Africa, support for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) dropped steadily from 70 percent in 2004 to 40 percent in 2024. How did the support bases of the ruling and opposition parties shift during this period of ANC decline? Drawing on three surveys of voters (total N = 6,804) from Black working class communities – conducted during the 2014, 2016, and 2019 elections – this study considers changes across three terrains of division: sociodemographic factors, material conditions, and protest. The results demonstrate substantial variation across the three elections, with ANC support moving towards older voters, social grant recipients, and the full-time employed. The voting patterns of protesters varied over time and with respect to the form of protest (worker, community, or student) and residential area, affirming the volatility of South African politics.

Separating the Boy's from the B'hoys: The Working Class Masculine Identity during the MidNineteenth Century

For the American man living during the nineteenth century, testing and proving ones "manhood" became a very significant process. Masculinity was the foremost concept behind the definition of a man. In order to gain respect, one needed to establish his own masculinity and demonstrate it amongst his peers. This was especially true in New York City, a standard of manhood was affecting the working class. A common understanding of appearance, attitude, and personality dominated the way working class men carried themselves. The thriving social atmosphere of New York's urban center obliged men to "prove" themselves. It was essential for them to socialize with their peers, demonstrating their manhood as they drank and danced through working class neighborhoods. The desire for male camaraderie brought men into volunteer fire departments, where their masculinity was reinforced on a daily basis. Men gathered in the streets after stressful hours of work as they felt the need to release the tension associated with being a working man. Throughout the nineteenth century a new "manly culture" evolved which ritualized violence amongst men. A sense of competition grew and men struggled to gain respect in society. They were forced to fight by whatever means necessary to protect their manhood. By 1845, the New York City Police Department was established bringing authority figures into the streets. Police officers were to stop the violent nature of the working class but the presence of authority figures only introduced another layer of violence to society. The archetypal man was one who had a manly appearance, socialized with his fellow fire laddies, was always prepared for an honorable fight, and stood up to authority figures. Masculinity dominated every part of a working class man's life forcing him to do whatever it took to uphold his reputation.

Evaluating the objectives of establishing backyard gardens in the peri-urban and rural households of South Africa

Backyard gardens possess unique features that make them a potential source of livelihood among the rural poor households. The study aimed to assess the factors influencing households to establish backyard gardening in the Bojanala District in the North West Province of South Africa. Primary data was collected through semi-structured questionnaire administered to 220 purposively selected participants actively engaged in backyard gardening. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Multinomial Logistic Regression with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23.0. The results showed that most households cultivated 100% of the land allocated for backyard gardens mainly to produce food for home consumption. Moreover, the outputs from multinomial regression analysis revealed that being employed and involved in non-farm activities were significant factors influencing the participants to establish backyard gardens to produce food for home consumption. It is recommended that households in the study area should cultivate the whole area reserved for backyard gardens and rent unutilised space to earn income. Again, the working class in peri-urban and rural areas of the Bojanala district should establish backyard gardens as a mechanism to sustainably produce food for their families and save money for purchasing food.

Liminality and the Triple Dream: Streetcar and PostWar Suburbs

The built landscapes that developed across American time and place are among the most significant resources of social history. Dell Upton has referred to architecture as an art of this sort of social storytelling. With Upton in mind, suburbs become a particular landscape of interest because of their place between the city and country, the rich and the poor. As liminal vernacular landscapes, both streetcar and post­war 'sitcom' suburban developments represent the built manifestations of the desire for home­ownership and social well­being by the working and middle class of America

Maternity protections, constitutional rights and the informal economy

This article sets out South Africa’s obligations in terms of constitutional and legislative provisions pertaining to self-employed workers’ access to social security provisions and maternity benefits in particular. South Africa has not enacted an enabling policy or legislative framework to extend maternity benefits to self-employed workers. Despite constitutional commitments to equality and non-discrimination and access to social security benefits, in addition to obligations incurred through ratification of international conventions, the current unemployment insurance mechanism prevents self-employed women from contributing to a maternity fund and drawing maternity benefits during pregnancy and after childbirth. Using a constitutional analysis and drawing on relevant court judgments, this article examines the obligations on the state in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and resulting legislative obligations to enact measures to ensure access to social security for all categories of working class women – not just those employed in the formal sector.

Beggars Becoming Choosers

Abstract Biographies of secularists usually focus on urban people, middle- or working class, but rarely on the rural poor. This article uses the notion of ‘turning points’, coined for new ways of writing problem-based biographies, to analyse a rupture with Catholicism, as related in memoirs of an almost destitute Breton villager in the 19th century. Questioning the role of emotions in this process (e.g. anger at a dominant clergy), it was nevertheless through intellectual transformations that this rupture occurred. However, much more was at stake than a mere reflection on contradictions and falsehood in the scriptures. The article shows how, in this particular case, the gradual integration of villagers into the French nation-state (through institutions like the army) and the transformations of their language habitus, partly triggered by the clergy itself, paved the way for deconversion.

Solidarity across the platform: mobilizing high-wage and low-wage workers in the tech sector

What strategies and tactics allow workers to build solidarity in 21st century capitalism? Skill-biased technical change and globalization have polarized labour markets across the Global North, leading scholars to view a fractured working class as a defining feature of contemporary capitalism. This article reaches a different conclusion. Tracing three cases of high-wage tech workers mobilizing on behalf of low-wage workers in the US, this article shows how workers can develop counterhegemonic tactics to transform management’s discourse into resources for inclusive labour solidarity. At Google, WeWork, and Amazon, workers extended management’s invocation of tech’s founding norms in order to build solidarity across three types of structural boundaries that otherwise divided workers: status, occupation, and the firm. These case studies illustrate how working-class solidarity is still possible despite the challenges entailed by the contemporary structure of production. The growing dominance of the tech sector reinforces divisions among workers but also offers possibilities for workers to build solidarity across those divisions by articulating a collective identity that extends their ethical commitments.

Converging ethnicity and class: a strategy for fostering interethnic solidarity and mitigating income inequality

ABSTRACT A dominant political narrative of welfare chauvinism posits that migration and ethnic minorities threaten the interests of non-migrant citizens, particularly those in lower socio-economic positions. This framing fuels intergroup tensions, fostering an ‘us vs. them’ attitude, undermining cohesion. Building upon literature on social identity and boundary-making processes, this study investigates whether an alternative political narrative that merges class and ethnicity – invoking a diverse working class – promotes solidarity for the improvement of income positions for citizens with and without a migration background. And whether it does so more than a general-social-class narrative and a ‘welfare-chauvinism’ narrative. Our study uses an original survey-experiment, incorporated in the 2023 Dutch Parliamentary Election Study (N = 4824). We investigate whether the impact of the narratives varies by type of solidarity and participants’ social class and migration background. Contrary to expectations, the merge-class-and-ethnicity narrative did not increase interethnic-class solidarity. However, it decreased levels of chauvinist-class solidarity. Put differently, the merge-class-and-ethnicity narrative did not contribute directly to higher levels of interethnic-class solidarity, but only indirectly by the stronger rejection of exclusionist-ingroup solidarity. These findings differ from earlier studies conducted in the US. We call for a better understanding of the conditionality of responses to political narrative(s) that promote solidarity.

Bleak prospects: youth transitions in twenty-first century Britain

ABSTRACT This paper presents data on pay, housing and pension prospects which shows that an inter-generation decline in life chances that had begun by the 1980s is continuing in the 2020s. A difference is that in the 1980s the decline was confined to young people on working class life courses. In the 2020s it spread through the lower middle class into some management and professional occupations. We then ask why there is more acquiescence than resistance from youth in the 2020s. Part of the answer is that depressing life chances by cohort replacement is less likely to lead to organised resistance than straight-forward population-wide income reductions. It is argued that the drivers of inter-generation decline will not go away, and the only effective resistance will involve boosting economic growth which is currently restrained by domestic and global financial governance.

Against “Plebeian Ignorance” and for “Civilized Behavior”: Habsburg Trieste’s Società Zoofila as a Bourgeois Instrument

Abstract During the nineteenth century, a growing sense of empathy toward non-human animals emerged within the Habsburg Empire. The new empathy toward animals took organizational form in voluntary associations that attracted men and women in urban settings. In 1852, one of the first such associations was born in the busy port city of Trieste (Trst/Triest), drawing members from the elite. These individuals criticized the animal care practices of the working class and rural population, repeatedly accusing them of “immorality” and even “inhumanity.” As the article depicts, the guardians of the animal kingdom were not as compassionate as they might appear. In fact, the protectors of animals believed themselves far superior to the proletarians who supposedly whipped their horses. The way the growing bourgeoisie treated their animal friends ultimately served as a tool in the creation of the social distinction between the bourgeoisie on the one hand, and the workers and peasants on the other. While Trieste’s animal protection society reflected a broader global trend, it also displayed unique characteristics shaped by the city’s distinctive social and cultural dynamics. The article sheds light on how these local traits influenced its development.