Buy new:
$26.00
FREE delivery Monday, May 13
Ships from: Santa Sack
Sold by: Santa Sack
$26.00
FREE Returns
FREE delivery Monday, May 13. Details
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 18 hrs 36 mins. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$26.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$26.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Santa Sack
Ships from
Santa Sack
Sold by
Santa Sack
Sold by
Santa Sack
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$2.57
Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... See less
$3.98 delivery May 13 - 14. Details
Only 3 left in stock - order soon.
$$26.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$26.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by glenthebookseller.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class Paperback – May 22, 2012

by Owen Jones (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 284 ratings
See all formats and editions

There is a newer edition of this item:

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class
Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class
$16.74
(1,329)
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$26.00","priceAmount":26.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"26","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ligI0pTqk4XnuHQsO62FYa3SIK9CISSfKclpipY72VXImA0PiMk46UVC0aKyV41cNVSEnbeReIZs679oLdWhCfm1UjekEH947BUqnh4QGP2nY4ATjG9H4kdvdCjDvkXNJD6DWirVyTH5yFw6hLmGO%2F5IxF6G7VE5JkuqHNc0cwv1FzoVmIg%2Bz9bzQZTbhvqw","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$2.57","priceAmount":2.57,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"2","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"57","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ligI0pTqk4XnuHQsO62FYa3SIK9CISSf49j29vIawYVxDWUVPjQPno%2Fl%2Bx0RGLJfugSunsSv%2BO%2FzqYoYYOodWWOZ%2BwGK1ekU8uO969fs6%2FGk8h4TZkCwEhD4HyZ6qvjMyZKK8LaGFXHV%2Bz7VfM7JU82v4LlfP6YV45zW5zguFAhQofIu%2FOfcAQA5H42yHse4","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

In modern Britain, the working class has become an object of fear and ridicule. From Little Britain’s Vicky Pollard to the demonization of Jade Goody, media and politicians alike dismiss as feckless, criminalized and ignorant a vast, underprivileged swathe of society whose members have become stereotyped by one, hate-filled word: chavs.

In this acclaimed investigation, Owen Jones explores how the working class has gone from “salt of the earth” to “scum of the earth.” Exposing the ignorance and prejudice at the heart of the chav caricature, he portrays a far more complex reality. The chav stereotype, he argues, is used by governments as a convenient figleaf to avoid genuine engagement with social and economic problems and to justify widening inequality. Based on a wealth of original research, Chavs is a damning indictment of the media and political establishment and an illuminating, disturbing portrait of inequality and class hatred in modern Britain. This updated edition includes a new chapter exploring the causes and consequences of the UK riots in the summer of 2011.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Verso
  4. Publication date
    May 22, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 1.01 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1844678644
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1844678648
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A passionate and well-documented denunciation of the upper-class contempt for the proles that has recently become so visible in the British class system.”—Eric Hobsbawm, Guardian

“A work of passion, sympathy and moral grace.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times

“A bold attempt to rewind political orthodoxies; to reintroduce class as a political variable ... It moves in and out of postwar British history with great agility, weaving together complex questions of class, culture and identity with a lightness of touch. Jones torches the political class to great effect.”—Jon Cruddas, Independent (Book of the Week)

“It is a timely book. The white working class seems to be the one group in society that it is still acceptable to sneer at, ridicule, even incite hatred against ... Forensically ... Jones seeks to explain how, thanks to politics, the working class has shifted from being regarded as ‘the salt of the earth to the scum of the earth.’”—Carol Midgley, Times (Book of the Week)

“Superb and angry.”—Polly Toynbee, Guardian

“Seen in the light of the riots and the worldwide Occupy protests, his lucid analysis of a divided society appears uncannily prescient.”—Matthew Higgs, Artforum

“As with all the best polemics, a luminous anger backlights his prose.”—Economist

“Chavs is persuasively argued, and packed full of good reporting and useful information ... [Jones] makes an important contribution to a revivified debate about class.”—Lynsey Hanley, Guardian

“A lively, well-reasoned and informative counterblast to the notion that Britain is now more or less a classless society.”—Sean O'Hagan, Observer

“A trenchant exposure of our new class hatred and what lies behind it.”—John Carey, author of The Intellectuals and the Masses

“The stereotyping and hatred of the working class in Britain, documented so clearly by Owen Jones in this important book, should cause all to flinch. Reflecting our high levels of inequality, the stigmatization of the working class is a serious barrier to social justice and progressive change.”—Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of The Spirit Level

“Eloquent and impassioned.”—Andrew Neather, Evening Standard

“Jones’s analysis of the condition of the working class is very astute ... A book like this is very much needed for the American scene, where the illusion is similarly perpetuated by the Democrats that the middle-class is all that matters, that everyone can aspire to join the middle-class or is already part of it.”—Anis Shivani, Huffington Post

“Everybody knows what a chav is, it seems, but no one is a chav. But then it’s a word unlike any other in current usage ... A new book, Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, by first-time author Owen Jones ... has thrown the word into the spotlight all over again.”—Carole Cadwalladr, Observer

“A blinding read.”—Suzanne Moore, Guardian

“[A] thought-provoking examination of a relatively new yet widespread derogatory characterization of the working class in Britain ... edifying and disquieting in equal measure.”—Publishers Weekly

“A fiery reminder of how the system has failed the poor.”—Peter Hoskin, Daily Beast

“Mr. Jones’s book is a cleareyed examination of the British class system, and it poses this brutal question: ‘How has hatred of working-class people become so socially acceptable?’ His timely answers combine wit, left-wing politics and outrage.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times

About the Author

Owen Jones is a writer, commentator and activist. He writes frequently for the Guardian, Independent and New Statesman, and has worked in Parliament as a trade union lobbyist and parliamentary researcher, helping Labour plan backbench rebellions on issues ranging from civil liberties to workers’ rights. He lives in London.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Verso; 1st edition (May 22, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844678644
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844678648
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 1.01 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 284 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
284 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

charles t smith
5.0 out of 5 stars We face diminishing expectations!
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2013
Verified Purchase
Owen Jones does an excellent job of documenting the destruction of the British working class beginning with Thatcher through to today. The similarities between Thatcher's administration and Reagan's administration makes one wonder if the international ruling class had worked together to break the Unions and decimate the working class. Thatcher broke the strongest Union in England after the miners one year strike ended in defeat (1984-1985) and Reagan broke the Air Traffic Controllers Union when they went on strike in 1981 and were permanently fired from their jobs. These Union defeats mark the beginning destruction of organized labor in both countries. Today the new mantra is, "We are all middle class." The media no longer mentions the working class and on occasion they pay lip service to the poor and destitute with "human interest" stories. Not a pretty picture. Short of a revolution the majority of residents of both countries will have to live with diminishing expectations. There can be no economic turnaround when both countries are dependent on consumerism and the population has less and less money to spend. The rich live better than royalty ever did while most of us working folks live like serfs with flat screen TV's. Please do read this book and ponder the ramifications of what Mr. Owens is documenting. Even if you have a safety net what will happen to you when the society around you crumbles as it did in Detroit, parts of Florida and east Oakland? Mr. Jones included this poem towards the end of the book. Think about it. It is our way out.

Rise like Lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number -

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you -

Ye are many - they are few.

Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Call to Freedom"
16 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
IrisDaughter
5.0 out of 5 stars Owen Jones writes a easy read in a logical way
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is an original look at the working class in the U.K. but it is equally accurate in the denigration of the working class here in the U.S. Whenever we use the term trailer trash as if the people are there by choice rather than the overwhelming odds against them. Maybe, it didn't start with globalization or the break-up of unions, but it follows the long decline of people (Mitt Romney's 49% and the angry supporters of Bernie and Trump) who are stuck at the bottom and have only a tiny chance of "working" their way out.
Owen Jones writes a easy read in a logical way. It helps that I know many people living with diminished expectations as well as frequently listening to the anger on all side of the political spectrum when I listen to The Washington Journal on C-Span.
There are holes in OJ's logic, but it offers a take that adds to out knowledge.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J. Edgar Mihelic, MA, MA, MBA
4.0 out of 5 stars Deserves More Attention in the States
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2015
I wrote a couple of friends from the Isles to explain what a Chav was to me. It’s a term we don’t have here in the states, and I was looking for an equivalent. The best I got was that it represents rednecks and white trash. The coding in the states is a little deeper. Most of our hate is race based. There is some class based hatred and demonization, but for us the race has been the easiest component of othering a population. We do have class-based hatred, with politicians speaking out against welfare queens and food stamp recipients, but I can’t hear those appeals without hearing the dog-whistle that goes along with it.

That I had to ask people about what the title of the book really means could be why it didn’t get the best play on this side of the Atlantic. The class-based othering that goes on, as depicted by Jones, is alien to me in terms of class. I think it is part of the unique histories of our countries. The English ended slavery earlier than we did and we imported our race-based exploitation to our shores where they kept theirs off shore in the various colonies. It was only with decolonization after the Second World War that I am aware of huge race based hatreds. Unless you count the Irish. They have always been dehumanized.
So it was with a pretty blank slate that I read this book.

There is a lot of explanation of how England turned during the Thatcher era, and it coincides with what I know about this country with Reagan, but only more so. But it is not just Thatcher-bashing. Jones looks at the whole of contemporary British society in terms of the demonization of the working class. It is familiar, and it makes me think a couple of things. First, is it right as a leftist to point fingers at Thatcher and Reagan if they seem to just have been agents of larger structural change that was happening in the western world? Would the devastation of the unions and the bifurcation of society between “Makers and Takers” have happened even if there were different characters in those roles? Is neoliberalism just how capitalism adjusts to productivity gains, siphoning the gains to the upper class and eliminating the middle class?

Secondly, what is the role of racial hatred in the states with regard to the class based hatred that Jones chronicles? Is it an impediment to class based identity? I’m not sure if Chavs can supply the answers to these in the context of either country, but it does lay the groundwork for the structure of thought needed for analysis. I look forward to reading his more recent release. Maybe it will get some respect on these shores.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
John Greenhow
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Read.
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
A very good read. I left Britain about 30 years ago so I missed out on the Chav culture -but it's good to see that the British class system and British snobbery are still alive and well!
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Carole Ann Reed
5.0 out of 5 stars Sobering corrective to our denial of class realities
Reviewed in Canada on August 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
Important book! Parallels developments and sentiments in North America.
Report
althmn
5.0 out of 5 stars Una joya de literatura política de nuestro tiempo
Reviewed in Spain on November 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
Fantástico para conocer la situación política británica, totalmente aplicable a la de casi cualquier país occidental. Además lo veo muy útil para practicar un inglés culto pero cercano al mismo tiempo.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
robert brandon
5.0 out of 5 stars love this book. its portrayal of the working class and their unending plight is spot on. GO WORKING CLASS; YOU MAKE THE WORLD!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
i really (REALLY) don't know anything about politics as, like many working class people, i simply think 'what is the point? they will all screw us over' and i have no idea who Owen Jones is or why some people seem to dislike him so much but i really don't understand why he is getting such hateful backlash for this book. he describes how we are treated very well and seems to actually want change (although i could be wrong on that).
i came from a 'chavvy' background; hung out in a gang, did drugs, abused alcohol and even stole cars (i was homeless at the time and we usually just drove around the corner and slept in the car, not that that excuses it). i knew two murderers, my partner was a mugger and doing beer/petrol runs was a biweekly thing for us. trackies was the desired attire; the bottoms of which were tucked into socks, a baseball cap was a must and no respectable mate was without a can in one hand and a joint in the other. none of which i am proud. what people don't seem to realise is that you live and breathe this behaviour from the second you are born; nobody tells you any different-you never see anything different except on snobby TV shows (and that's only if you own a TV), role models are non-existent and the thought of getting a paid (legal) job is laughable. until i was 19 i honestly thought a job was a dream, not dissimilar to the way little girls grow up to realise that they will never actually be a princess; people like me didn't get jobs, we were too rough and subhuman. i still get shaky when i enter a 'posh' shopping centre: you know those places, they have a million different stores (usually good ones) all under one roof-well i can't go in them because i get some sort of mini panic attack fearing that everyone is watching me and i will get thrown out simply for being there.
this is not a life that you choose, trust me. if you want a decent life you need to abandon all friends, all family, every aspect of the life you have led for as long as you can remember, as well as changing many of your opinions (which were never really yours, but you had to agree lest you be ousted from the gang and beaten up every time you dared to leave your dump of a flat). if someone asked you to act like a chav, you wouldn't; it would be shameful to behave in such a manner when everyone you know hates the people you are portraying-this is exactly the same for a chav; you cannot act like a middle class person. you don't have the faintest clue where to begin, you don't have the means to do it and even if you DID, you would be killed for thinking you were better than everyone else.
i also got pregnant quite young: 17. this is what changed my life. i immediately dropped my 'friends', began a relationship with a more responsible guy and moved city. we are good people, my partner works full time to support us and we don't receive many benefits (although we still get some due to us still being working class and as such we can barely afford to feed ourselves sometimes even when working full time).
what annoys me, and i feel is portrayed somewhat in this book, is that i am tarred with the same brush as some of those scumbags who do atrocious things in the name of money. i admit i did bad things and, outwardly, i seemed to be a bad person, but i never was inside; you do what you can to survive. you might say you would never steal-not even a loaf of bread-but try not eating for 3 days, you might just change your mind. and, no, we don't have family to help us out. we have no one. i am sooo annoyed that i never had the remotest chance of attending a university simply because i was born into a poor family, on a poor estate. there certainly ARE chavs out there but there is a reason they are that way; try to live it yourself, see how long you last. many of us hate it and don't want to live in such a disgusting way, but there are little options and only a tiny chance of escape for a life like that. how am i supposed to get a decent job when people assume i am an illiterate crook just because i am from a council estate/have a bad accent. this plagues my life even now, 10 years on. i will never be good enough for anything more than a cleaning position or mcdonalds server (not that there is anything wrong with these jobs; just that its upsetting that nobody would consider me to be intelligent enough to achieve anything more than that).
i would like to add that i will always regret what i did and how i behaved; not a day goes by when i don't feel the burning shame of my actions and thank God that He helped me out of that despicable life. please don't judge as people can change if they really try and some people do desperate things when they are in desperate situations. if anyone would like to read a really inspirational book (true story obviously) of someone being born into s***, going through horror the middle classes can't even imagine and coming out a decent person with a fantastic job, i would recommend this book: A Piece Of Cake by Cupcake Brown; this book really helped me to turn my life around and it is truly inspirational. i also recommend this book as this guy obviously knows what he is talking about.
15 people found this helpful
 Report
tahir s.
5.0 out of 5 stars Class War, A fine study of class hatred in Britain
Reviewed in Germany on November 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
This brilliant book examines the rise of ruling class hatred of the British working class. Rubbishing the working class goes hand in hand with worship of capital and capitalists.

Who are the working class? Those who have to sell their labour power to live - the vast majority of the British people. We are not defined by our level of income, education or housing.

Owen Jones's indignant, well-argued debut begins with a joke: "It's sad that Woolworth's is closing. Where will all the chavs buy their Christmas presents?" This was uttered by the host of a dinner party attended by the author in "a gentrified part of east London", at which liberal views are taken as a given and, though everyone present has a professional job, not everyone is white, male or straight.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesante libro
Reviewed in Spain on January 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Interesante libro junto con el de Chavs, del mismo autor (Owen Jones). La entrega se realizó antes de lo esperado (se encontraba en stock) y en perfectas condiciones.
Report