The Making of the British Middle Class?

Book excerpt: The contributors to this volume examine the history of the British middle classes from the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Geography, economy and occupation recur as factors contributing to differentiation between middling social groups. At the same time, the authors explore the significance for social and political behaviour of shared forms of identity, including a range of cultural practices - religion, voluntary activities and local cultural networks, the cultivation of professional status, education and the language of the press - and their organization and institutional forms: churches, schools, newspapers, voluntary and charitable associations and professional bodies. These several accounts raise broader theoretical and historiographical debates, not least about the vexed question of class, which are discussed and contextualized by the editors.