Whiteness,Class and Grassroots Perspectives on Social Change and Difference

This paper suggests that the definition of the white working class, as an ethnic majority, is fluid and shifting, in contrast to its conventional portrayal as a fixed and static group. They are more than simply voiceless and ‘left behind’, especially with regard to views of multiculturalism, immigration and social change. Using data from two recent studies, we see a range of views expressed by white working class communities, which underlines the need for care to be taken when attempting to describe common‐sense views on these polemical subjects.