Episode Overview

Title: Why do so many people mistakenly think they are working class? | Extra iQ
Podcast: LSE IQ (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Host: Sue Windybank (A)
Guest: Professor Sam Friedman, Sociologist of Class and Inequality at LSE (B)
Date: February 6, 2024

This "Extra iQ" episode features an extended interview with Professor Sam Friedman about his research into the complexities of class identity in Britain. The conversation delves into why a significant number of middle-class Britons subjectively identify as working class, what motivates this phenomenon, and the real-world social consequences it can have within UK society.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Paradox of Subjective Class Identification

• Finding: While globally most people self-identify as middle class, in the UK there is a persistent trend of people with objectively middle-class backgrounds seeing themselves as working class.
• Research Insight: One in four people from solidly middle-class backgrounds in middle-class jobs self-identify as working class.
• Why? Many interviewees reference extended family histories (sometimes two or three generations back) rooted in working-class struggle, despite their current circumstances.

Notable Quote:

“If you go back two or three generations in most families in this country you tend to get to a history of working class struggle...I think what's interesting is that people find in those stories a kind of upward story that helps them make sense of their own identity and helps them tell a humble origin kind of story, a story of meritocratic striving.”
– Prof. Sam Friedman (B) [01:55]

Terminology:

• Deflecting privilege: A process where people focus on family histories of hardship rather than acknowledging their current advantages, thereby avoiding confronting their own privilege.

2. The Consequences for Genuine Working-Class Individuals

• Barrier Reinforcement: Those who deflect privilege may fail to recognize the specific barriers faced by genuinely working-class people, especially in elite professions.
• Elite Occupations: Supposedly ‘working class’ identifications can mask actual advantage, fostering environments in elite institutions (like law firms) where some feel effortless "fit" while others truly struggle.

Notable Quote:

“You might get people who claim a sort of working class identity, but actually aren't really conscious of the fact that their fairly advantaged upbringing is meaning that...they're able to walk into an elite law firm and just understand those codes in ways that those from working class backgrounds really struggle with.”
– Prof. Sam Friedman (B) [04:26]

Social Effect: Such misidentification can generate frustration among genuinely working-class individuals and perpetuate real inequalities.

3. Nuances and Gradations Within Class

• Beyond Simple Categories: Class is "relational" rather than fixed, with substantial gradations and cultural markers that affect feelings of belonging or exclusion.
• Code Switching: Even people from middle or lower-middle class backgrounds may feel out of place in elite settings, suggesting class identity is fluid and context-dependent.

Notable Quote:

“Class is relational. People from fairly middle class backgrounds will still feel fairly out of place in a very elite workplace...there's sort of these gradations and it's often something that's very hard to put your finger on.”
– Prof. Sam Friedman (B) [05:32]

4. The 'Ordinariness' Defence and British Society

• Reluctance to Identify as Elite: Most people, even those objectively privileged, do not see themselves as elite—there is always someone deemed ‘more privileged’ to compare against.
• Moral Legitimacy: Presenting oneself as 'ordinary' is seen as a way to avoid accusations of snobbery or moral superiority.
• 'Fish out of water' feeling: While people notice when they're out of place in settings above their background, they rarely notice when they are perfectly "at home" in privileged spaces.

Notable Quote:

“We’re very much aware of that feeling of being a fish out of water, but we perhaps don’t notice the routine ways that we are fish in water.”
– Prof. Sam Friedman (B) [07:49]

Structural Insight: Britain’s class system is not just three boxes; it’s a social space with infinite gradations of belonging and not belonging.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:48 — Introduction to the main topic: why middle-class people identify as working class.
• 01:55 — Discussion of "upward stories" and meritocratic narratives.
• 03:34 — The impact of misidentification on people from genuinely working-class backgrounds.
• 04:26 — Real-world implications for barriers in elite professions.
• 05:32 — The complex, relational nature of class identity and gradations within the middle class.
• 06:28 — On feeling 'out of depth' vs. 'ordinary' and the British desire to downplay privilege.
• 07:49 — Analogy: 'Fish out of water' vs. being ‘at home’ in privileged spaces.

Memorable Quotes

• “There's also a danger that...searching for a meritocratic story obscures and blinds people from reflecting on the plain advantages that they've actually experienced in their own lifetime.” (B) [02:51]
• “This sort of claiming of working classness...perhaps perpetuates some of the actual barriers that those from working class backgrounds face, as well as a certain irritation or frustration.” (B) [04:34]
• “The point, in a way, is that we're very much aware of that feeling of being a fish out of water, but we perhaps don't notice the routine ways that we are fish in water.” (B) [07:49]

Tone and Style

The conversation is thoughtful and analytical, marked by Professor Friedman's careful reflection. The tone is conversational but underpinned by sociological insight, accessible yet rooted in academic research.

This summary captures the major threads and takeaways from the episode, offering a roadmap for listeners (or those who haven’t tuned in) to understand how subjective class identities in the UK both reflect and shape real, ongoing social dynamics.