Network Groups
This page provides links to our diverse groups. All are interested in Class and social groups from different perspectives.
Better Working Lives
Jonathan Lord and Vicki Harvey
This group aims to inform workers and able changemakers to drive equity and to elevate the lived experience of frontline workers through rigorous research and actionable scientific evidence. Together, we work to develop diverse, equitable, and truly inclusive working conditions.
Contact Jonathan (J.D.Lord@salford.ac.uk) and Vicky (V.M.Harvey@salford.ac.uk) for more information.
Educational Pathways and Classed Trajectories
Helene Snee and Chris Porter
Education has a contradictory relationship with social class, offering both emancipatory potential and the reproduction of classed advantages. Social mobility meanwhile is often put forward as a way of tackling class inequality but raises its own questions about the accompanying vision of social justice. Educational pathways and Classed Trajectories aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, campaigners and anyone interested in these concerns to advance research agendas, develop innovative methodologies, promote reform, and keep class on the curriculum. Areas of interest might include exploring classed educational inequalities and how these relate to other social divisions; lived experiences of class among students and staff at all levels of education; critical pedagogies and teaching class; and fostering critical perspectives on social mobility.
Contact Helen for more information: h.snee@mmu.ac.uk
More information on Educational Pathways and Classed Trajectories
Media, Culture and Class
Laura Minor and Jonny Smith
This group explores the relationship between class and media across film, television, radioand digital platforms. Covering both British and international contexts, we examine how class shapes production as well as how it is represented and experienced by audiences. Drawing on cultural studies, media studies, and industry research, we bring together scholars working across historical and contemporary formations to ask urgent questions about inequality, identity, and power. We welcome researchers at all career stages and are committed to building a lively, cross-disciplinary community that connects academic work with partners in broadcasting, heritage, the arts, and the wider public.
Contact Laura (L.J.Minor@salford.ac.uk) or Jonny (jonathansmith_26@hotmail.com) for more information.
Social Housing
Lindesay Dawe, Tanja Poppelreuter, Colin Stuhlfelder
The history of social housing in Great Britain is a story of shifting political ideals, economic pressures, and changing ideas about class, community, and the role of the state. For the professional class in Britain (architects, town planners, administrators) their ambitions for housing – from the late 19th C – were inextricably linked to a purpose of reshaping the city and wider public health reform. Challenges in delivering housing reform through the 20th C were multi-layered as policies, design philosophies, and economic conditions changed. For those who were the prime beneficiaries, the British working class, better housing conditions under municipal authority included rent control, tenant protection and limits on the power of the landlord, although by the mid-twentieth century tensions between expectations and delivery were never far from the surface. The aims of this group is to better understand ideologies that led to the building of different types of housing. We are interested in juxtaposing positions held by councils, planners, developers, architects, landlords and tenants historically and currently. The group also investigates stereotypical notions associated with people living in social housing, social stigmatisation and the aftermath of regeneration and gentrification. We are open to all members of the public and seek young as well as established researchers, members of public institutions, representatives of councils and industries to come together to learn more about the complexities of housing.
Contact Lindesay (l.dawe@ulster.ac.uk), Tanja (t.poppelreuter@salford.ac.uk), or Colin (C.R.Stuhlfelder@salford.ac.uk) for more information.
Working Words Collective
Ursula Hurley
The Working Words Collective is the Creative Writing Interest Group for the Cultures of Class network. We bring together anyone interested in reading, writing, or sharing stories—individuals, community groups, writers, and practitioners—to recognise and connect creative work shaped by a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. Working with the Northern School of Writing and the English Research Centre at the University of Salford, we offer an open and supportive space to explore how class and creativity meet. Through workshops, conversations, and collaborative projects, we aim to build a lively, welcoming community that values storytelling as a powerful way to understand ourselves and the world.
Contact Ursula for more information: U.K.Hurley@salford.ac.uk
The Creative Arts and Class
Rebecca Starr
Over the last few years, there have been increasing calls from artists to consider the central role of social class, and specifically working-class identities, in the arts and cultural sectors. Ranging from the establishment of platforms to share opportunities for working class artists (Working Class Creatives Database), to spaces for exchanging experiences of navigating the arts and offering support to others, such as the Working Arts Club, there is a renewed interest in highlighting the contributions of, and barriers to, working-class people in these sectors.Exploring the arts in the broadest sense, The Creative Arts and Class group aims to interrogate the complex, and often contradictory, relationships between ‘art’ and ‘class’, ranging from the experiences of artists and creatives, to debates in disciplines from critical theory and art history to media studies and theatre. We are open to all and welcome anyone with any interest in sharing their experiences, ideas and ambitions for improving the visibility of class in the creative arts.
Contact Rebecca for more information: R.Starr@leeds.ac.uk
Class in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM)
This group explores the relationship between the GLAM sector and class. Museums and galleries have always had a complicated relationship with class. Originally seen as a tool to help civilise and control the working class by providing access to culture and knowledge, today working class culture is itself a legitimate subject for museums. Working class history and culture is celebrated and explored at industrial heritage sites, radical archives and museums of popular culture. At the same time class inequality has deepened and the routes to a career in the GLAM sector for people from a working class background have narrowed. Today the sector is charged with meeting a social justice agenda, but can it do this without tackling class and understanding GLAM spaces as sites of continuing class struggle. This group aims to understand how the GLAM sector and our individual practice within it can contribute to tackling class inequality and encourage critical thinking about how contemporary class is presented at GLAM sites.
For more information contact Belinda: Belinda.scarlett@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
External Organisations and Resources
Founded in 1960, the Society for the Study of Labour History (SSLH) is the UK’s principal organisation dedicated to the study of labour history.
Membership is open to all who would like to learn more about labour history and heritage whether on a professional or amateur basis.
The SSLH publishes the journal the Labour History Review, organises regular conferences and actively promotes the preservation of historical resources connected to the labour movement.
The CSJ’s vision is for those living in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities across Britain to be given every opportunity to flourish and reach their full potential.
We bring this vision to life by seeking to influence the policies the Government creates and the laws it makes, such that it does all it can to address the root causes of poverty.
The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) is leading left think tank working to ensure policy is on the side of everyday people. Originating in the trade union movement, CLASS has an authentic connection to working people and a unique insight into the challenges society faces. CLASS has been shaping and championing left analysis and policy debates since its creation. Our publications, events and training cover issues such as employment, the financial system, the macro economy, public services and housing.
The Sutton Trust is the UK’s leading social mobility charity.
Our programmes empower young people to access life-changing opportunities, and our research influences national change to deliver a fairer future.
Our Aims:
- Help academic colleagues overcome class-based barriers throughout their careers
- Amass data on the economic, social, and cultural challenges facing working class academics
- Mentor and support working class students
- Develop best practices on recruiting, retaining, and meaningfully advocating on behalf of working class faculty, staff, and students
- Abolish global class discrimination
We are the home for sociological curiosity. We champion sociology as a powerful tool for understanding and changing the world around us. We’re not gatekeepers; our charity is committed to building an inclusive global community of thinkers who challenge everyday ideas about how society works and want to shape them for the better. We believe that sociology is for everyone and that you don’t need to be a sociologist to think like one.