The tangled chain of the social democrats: a gold necklace and the US election results

摘要

by Lisa Mckenzie- @redrumlisaududLisa is a research fellow in the LSE’s Sociology department, focusing on class, race and austerity Britain. She is also a prominent political activist and manages the LSE Researching Sociology blog.ududI wrote a book called ‘Getting By’ about a council estate where I lived for 22 years; I wrote about the relationships and everyday lives of the working class people that live there. This council estate in Nottingham in some ways is a beacon of success; it is truly multi-cultural and harmonious with people sharing their cultures, their lives and their beds. My book mainly focused upon white working class women whose children were mixed race, and the overall message from those women, and that community was we are better people because of ‘our mixing’. That is how I like to think of a place that was home where I have friends and family. However, that is not the general narrative about this community, in Nottingham it is known as a dangerous place full of single mothers, drug dealers, and gang crime. The people who live there know and talk openly about the prejudice that they face every day because of where they live, how they dress, and their ways of speaking. Those on the outside of the estate and looking in would not see this estate as successful. On the front cover of my book there is an image of a gold necklace with the words ‘Getting By’ hanging from it. I have this necklace in my jewellery box.