the white working class as ‘flawed consumers’: representations and policy responses
TRANSCRIPT
At Home in Europe Project
The White Working Class as ‘Flawed
Consumers’: Representations and
Policy Responses
The Open Society Foundations
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.
At Home in Europe Project
Research and Advocacy Mitigation of anti-minority and anti-
immigrant sentiment Equality and social cohesion in
Western Europe Local and national government
engagement and EU where necessary
Aims
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
Scope of the studies
MEDIA
EDUCATION
COHESION EMPLOYMENT
HOUSING
POLICING
POLITICAL PARTICIPATIO
N
Research
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
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
Advocacy: Strategic approach and tools
Research-driven
Sustainable change at the local level
Local ownership
Briefings, partnerships, facilitation, networks, capacity building, grant giving, media, visual representation, promoting good practices
Who do we want to influence?
Local, national and European levels
City administrations
Civil Society Actors
European networks
And what about the other players?
www.opensocietyfoundations.org/programs/home @HomeInEurope
• Aarhus, Denmark
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Berlin, Germany
• Lyon, France
• Manchester, United Kingdom
• Stockholm, Sweden
Six cities
Methodology
‘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”
Methodology
Qualitative research 12 focus groups in each city Semi-structured interviews with key
stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners, civil society activists)
BerlinLyon Amsterdam
Manchester
Stockholm
Aarhus
Background and context
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
Identity and Belonging
Economic insecurity, networks of support and identity
Failure to involve white working class communities in integration policies
Stigmatized local identites
Education
Relative lack of attention on under-achievement of white working class children
Reforms in education have encouraged segregation on the grounds of both class and ethnicity
Degrading of vocational education
Media
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
At Home in Europe Team
Director: [email protected]
Advocacy Officer: [email protected]
Prog. Assistant: [email protected]
Senior Policy Adv.: [email protected]