Class,Politics and the Progressive Dilemma

This article considers contemporary class inequalities and how they might shape a progressive politics in the UK. Drawing on findings from the BBC Class Survey, it outlines changes in the class structure, class mobility and class identities. It is argued that the class structure is increasingly polarised and fragmented, with a wealthy elite, a vulnerable precariat and fragmented middle and working classes in between. Declining upward social mobility is a source of anxiety for middle‐class and working‐class parents alike. Class identification, especially working‐class identification, has weakened over time, although class snobbery is far from dead. Class has changed and the class basis of politics is changing now too. A progressive politics is possible if the political parties of the centre‐left appeal to the majority of the electorate rather than one class, acknowledge common concerns and worries and appeal to shared hopes and dreams that straddle class boundaries.     

Women in the informal sector

This article reviews the extent to which the educational system has acknowledged the importance to women of the informal sector of the economy, and the extent to which it has sought to prepare them for employment or self-employment within it. It assesses the record of both formal and non-formal education in providing women with the necessary skills to compete with men for employment, and concludes that both have generally failed to assist women to obtain skilled, well-paid, and secure jobs, leaving them in overwhelming numbers in subsistence-level activities in the informal sector. Within the non-formal approach to education, the article examines training in income-generating projects, which are a major conduit for ssistance to poor women in developing countries. Some recommendations for improved strategies of education and training provision are presented. 1     

Libel Cases and Public Debate – Some Reflections on whether Europe Should be Concerned about SLAPPs

In recent years, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) have become well-recognized as challenging free speech and public participation in the USA, Canada and Australia. However, in Europe SLAPPs remain largely unrecognized with little consideration of their use and impact. This paper argues that SLAPPs are used in Europe and have been neglected for a number of reasons. In order to examine the European SLAPP situation, this paper focuses on libel law in England and Wales. It considers the debate on free speech that has flowed out of libel cases and concludes by reflecting on what advantages might flow from a refocusing of that debate that includes a recognition of SLAPPs.     

Museums and the Active Citizen: Tackling the Problems of Social Exclusion

The aim of this paper is to attempt to determine the role of museums in combating social exclusion through facilitating active citizenship. It does this by presenting the results of an analysis that used a modified form of a model of citizenship created by Makela as a framework to explore the data generated by an empirical study. By focusing upon respondents in an holistic way, so understanding their experiences of museum based exhibitions and community development projects within the contexts of their lives, the study concludes that museums were able to overcome many of the barriers to active citizenship that were identified. However, it was also evident that they themselves were creating barriers as some were physically or intellectually inaccessible to a number of study participants. The most significant contribution of museums in developing active citizens was to provide a context for constructing a sense of identity and so develop greater self-confidence. The paper concludes that if the potential that museums have fostered is to be released government agencies need to work together.