Where did the idea of being WORKING CLASS come from?

60% of British adults today define themselves as 'working class'. But where does this idea of class as an identity actually come from? Until the early 19th century, working people's interests weren't seen as distinct from tradespeople, professionals and industrialists. But this changed as the industrial revolution created fresh divisions in the cities - and a new movement called Chartism emerged to fight for a controversial idea called democracy.
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0:00 Intro
01:14 Small Horizons - Class Under Feudalism
02:02 The Industrial Revolution
02:49 Increasing Awareness of Class in the Cities
03:32 The Classes Rupture
04:24 The Anti-Corn Law League: A Middle Class Cause?
05:27 Chartism and the People's Charter
06:31 Campaigning as the Working Class
08:29 Working Class Politics
09:47 Change at Last for the Workers
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📚 References:
Thompson, D., & Epstein, J., (Eds.), The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and Culture, 1830-1860, (Macmillan, London, 1982).
Thompson, D., The Dignity of Chartism (Verso, London, 2015).
Epstein, J., ‘The Working Class and the People’s Charter’ in International Labor and Working-Class History, No. 28 (1985), pp.69-78.
Schwarzkopf, J., Women in the Chartist Movement, (Macmillan, London, 1991).
Walton, J., Chartism, (Routledge, London, 1999).
Sanders, M., The Poetry of Chartism: Aesthetics, Politics, History, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009)

[@CARTERHUB]

These videos are absolutely superb! Keep up the good work.

[@RadicalHistory]

Thank you Ben!!

[@archivist17]

'Upper', 'middle', and 'working' class are just ideas used to sow confusion. There is only Proletariat and Bourgeoisie, with Petit Bourgeois as a functional division.

[@RadicalHistory]

Sounds like you're referring to Marx's ideas here. Isn't the 'proletariat' the same as the 'working class'? (Yes all of these are really social constructions!)

[@archivist17]

@@RadicalHistory Yes, I am. And no, the working class is too loosely defined, so can be manipulated by those in power. The definition of proletarian is a functional one.
By the way, Feargus O'Connor has been one of my heroes since childhood (for all his faults). He made a huge difference for us all by giving the Chartists a louder and more coherent voice and rallying standard.

[@RadicalHistory]

@@archivist17 I see - you mean how politicians claim to want to appeal to 'working people' (whatever that means)? Yes O'Connor seems to have been a very inspiring leader at the time. I'm tempted to do a dedicated video on him at some point down the line. I wonder what made him decide "this is what I want to do with my life"!

[@archivist17]

@@RadicalHistory Exactly that. On both points. I personally could not get too much Chartist content, as finding out about them after they had not even been mentioned in history classes opened my eyes to the normative nature of the curriculum. Thanks for all your fantastic radical content.

[@RadicalHistory]

@@archivist17 I'd never heard of them either until my mid-20s - amazing really that you can go through school and not know the story of how we ended up with things like the right to vote. I'll keep trying to drop them in!!!

[@davidchunkyonion]

Very useful analysis. The cat interlude is not adding much, in my opinion, and I like cats.

[@pete9934]

Everyone else means peasants

[@tworealms]

Bet Seacole was a way better nurse than Florence could ever be! Black women generally are. We dont need white peoples approval of her, we Jamaicans know who she was and her relevance