Author Archives: sarahattfield

Working-Class People on the Snowfields: Class at the Winter Olympics

Posted on February 26, 2018

The combination of renewed interest in Tonya Harding (due to the film, I, Tonya) and the winter Olympics made me think of class and sport lately – especially sports that involve snow and ice. Although winter sports might be considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Working-Class Women Unionists on the Front Lines

Posted on December 11, 2017

On November 16, 2017, thousands of construction workers walked off their job sites to march through central Sydney in protest against laws designed to limit the power of unions in the construction industry. Workers from many unions joined the ‘Stop … Continue reading →

Posted in Class at the Intersections, Contributors, Issues, Labor and Community Activism, Sarah Attfield | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Activist Art in Working-Class Communities

Posted on September 25, 2017

The impacts of government sell-offs of public housing on working-class communities are highlighted in new documentary film released in the UK. Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (2017), features experts and politicians, but at its heart are the working-class people … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield, Working-Class Culture | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Will the British Working Class Stand Up and Fight Back?

Posted on May 8, 2017

I spent my teenage years in 1980s Thatcher’s Britain. Working-class people struggled in a grim environment. Three million people were unemployed, local services and the NHS were underfunded, and attacks were launched against unions (as a result of the miners’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield, Working-Class Politics | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

A Working-Class Appreciation for the National Health Service

Posted on February 13, 2017

I have spent a lot of time in a National Health Service (NHS) hospital in the southwest of England recently because my mother has been seriously ill. Without the treatment and care she received there, she would not have survived. … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield, The Working Class and the Economy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

I, Daniel Blake and The Power of Working-Class Story Telling

Posted on December 5, 2016

Ken Loach’s latest film I, Daniel Blake (2016) was hard for me to watch. I left the cinema with a knot in my stomach and tears in my eyes. It was a visceral experience that brought back memories of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Future Nobel Literature Prize for a Working-Class Rapper?

Posted on October 24, 2016

Reactions were mixed to the announcement that songwriter Bob Dylan had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Some literary aficionados were outraged that a popular musician had won the prize (rather than a novelist or poet), while others were … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments