poverty porn

The phrase poverty porn has become increasingly employed in the UK to describe film medias' growing tendency to exploit poor people for entertainment value (see this recent article in Tonight.) The most popular of this genre based on a reality-show format focuses on residents in a Birmingham neighborhood in the Channel 4 series, Benefits Street.

Downton Abbey alternative

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, you'll definitely be interested in this documentary film produced several years ago by the BBC and now available on YouTube. Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs places the servant class of the Victorian Age in a larger historical context, recognizing for example the role of coercion and particularly the workhouse in generating this supply of highly exploitable workers. Also see Secrets from the Workhouse, which is narrated by Jim Carter (Carson of Downton Abbey).     .  

British social class calculator

The BBC has published this interactive calculator allowing readers to determine their class position. The tool was developed by a team of sociologists based on recent survey data of the adult UK population (N>160,000). Seven categories were derived from the study which presumably reflects the contemporary class structure more accurately than previous definitions.

Downton Abbey and alternate realities

This New York Times article by Judith Newman explores the immense popularity of PBS's Downton Abbey  within the U.S., along with several books that offer alternative views on relationships between English masters and servants.  Was it the case that they were characterized by noblesse oblige, perhaps even coupled with social intimacy, or were they typically distant and exploitative in nature?  Newman implies that the depiction may largely reflect the social background of the writer, as does a recent piece by Heilpern appearing in the Nation about the author of Downton Abbey.  Newman, as well as Timson in a recent article in The Globe and Mail, see the popularity of this series in light of America's financial crisis and growing preoccupation with inequality.