Tag Archives: Michael Gove

08Oct/24

Can Kemi Badenoch claim to have ‘become working class’ while working in McDonald’s – and why would she want to?

Michael Rees, Nottingham Trent University

Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch recently caused controversy by claiming that while she was born to a middle-class family, she “became working class” when working in McDonald’s to earn money while she was in college. In fairness to Badenoch, having a diversity of experience is an admirable attribute for an MP – something you wouldn’t associate with someone like recently deposed Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg for example.

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27Mar/23

How Black children in England’s schools are made to feel like the way they speak is wrong

Ian Cushing, Edge Hill University

Whiteness is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the racialisation of white people and the disproportionate privilege – social, linguistic, economic, political – that comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, whiteness is not innate – it is taught.

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