Sociology

The idea of an ‘underclass’ is associated with right-wing politics and stems from the work of Charles Murray. He suggested that rather than suffering any structural, institutional disadvantage (such as racism), those who were in poverty were inherently inferior in some way. Murray pointed to the ‘culture of poverty’ that he observed in inner city ghettos, characterized by high crime rates, lone parenting, unemployment and reliance on welfare benefits, and low levels of intelligence. He thought that those born and socialized into such a culture could not avoid being poor. 729-731

Marxist theorists suggest that education serves the interests of the owners of capital. Bowles & Gintis argued that the experience of mainstream education prepared young people to be subordinate, obedient workers who would carry out monotonous tasks without complaining. Their ‘correspondence principle’ suggested that the structure of social relationships at school mirrored those of the workplace, in terms of power and authority; the hidden curriculum taught children how to behave like docile workers. 327

In the 1980s, industrial relations were changed by increasing state regulation and declining trade union membership. The Conservative government of the time sought to regenerate the economy through market forces and individual enterprise, rather than allow workers to act collectively. This resulted in a number of strategies aimed at disempowering the trade unions and labour movement: imposing restrictions on picketing, balloting as a prerequisite to industrial action, and banning political strikes. Thus strike action was not illegal, but it became increasingly difficult to organize. 700-701