The author reflects on their lifelong struggle with the concept of social class, drawing from a family history of working-class origins elevated through education, which contrasts sharply with their personal experiences. Despite academic achievements and a freelance career, they live in a state of 'class limbo,' unable to fully identify with any class due to their financial struggles. The article critiques the rigid nature of social class and emphasizes the confusion surrounding class identity in contemporary society, highlighting how it fosters divisiveness and fails to capture the fluidity of personal experiences.
I am also confused. Part of this is due to the idea that social class is an immutable, inherited characteristic: you are born into a class and you die in the same class.
...organising people into strata, like specimens in a laboratory, feels inhuman. It's divisive by definition.
At the same time, I am pushing 40 and living with my mum because I can't afford to rent anything larger than a broom cupboard, so I feel as though I am in class limbo.
I have two degrees, I have written two books and I freelance for the Guardian...yet I am in class limbo.
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