ABSTRACT
As Weis (2004) asserts, with the growing ascendancy of neo-liberalism accompanied by an intensification of social inequalities in the USA (Apple, 2003; Katz, 2001; Reich, 2001), the UK (Blanden & Machin, 2004; Blanden, Gregg & Machin, 2005; GalindoRueda et al., 2004; Seager & Milner, 2006), and more widely (Freeman-Moir & Scott, 2003; McLeod & Yates, 2006) the need for serious class-based analyses could not be more pressing. However, the focus of much social justice work has traditionally been on the working classes (Reay, 2006; Sennett & Cobb, 1972; Skeggs, 1997; Weis, 1990; Willis, 1977). In contrast, the research that I am currently engaged in is part of a small but growing trend in the UK to focus on the privileged in society (Ball, 2003; Power et al., 2003; Vincent & Ball, 2006). While most of this work emphasizes class as the most salient aspect of identity my research specifically concentrates on the intersections of class and race through a focus on white, middle-class identity.
