ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between residents' class position and identity amidst transitions and occupational changes brought by urban restructuring. Exploring class identity not only lets us speak to such epochal prognostications, it foregrounds the process of hegemonic change. Economically, impact of sectarianism is still evident in statistics of neighbourhood multiple deprivation levels with many Catholic areas being in top 10 worst wards. Female respondents, arguably, experienced more changes than men. Ostensibly, deindustrialisation, the feminisation of industry through the growth in the service sector and the expansion of education has extended their labour market opportunities. Working-class is presented as an inclusive category but being African or Muslim exists alongside being working-class. The phenomenological idea of working-classiness and ethnicity are closely aligned. Young people, disconnected from the same traditional class cultural experience, position themselves as being in control of their own biography through a narrative of individuality. Class identity is rejected across these axes, pathologised as lacking respectability, power, or individuality.
