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Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain
While the 1% rule, poor neighbourhoods have become the subject of public concern and media scorn, blamed for society's ills. This unique book redresses the balance. Lisa Mckenzie lived on the St Ann’s estate in Nottingham for more than 20 years. Her ‘insider’ status enables us to hear the stories of its residents, often wary of outsiders. St Ann's has been stigmatised as a place where gangs, guns, drugs, single mothers and those unwilling or unable to make something of their lives reside. Yet in this same community we find strong, resourceful, ambitious people who are 'getting by', often with humour and despite facing brutal austerity.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 23, 2015
A fierce, fantastic book. Based on solid ethnographic work, yet personal and written in an accessible way. Some will decry it as political. Well, hell yes, it is--and should be! Required reading for anyone interested in public or activist sociology. The only thing lacking was another round of edits where some repetition could have been cut, but that's a minor detail.
December 31, 2022
3.5 Stars!
“If you want to know anything about a neighbourhood, ask the women, especially the mothers, as they spend much of their time in and around the estate, taking children to school; they are also heavily invested in the neighbourhood, usually through family and kinship networks-what matters to the community matters to the women who raise their children in it.”
This study is centered on the St Ann’s estate in Nottingham, but of course most of the social problems can be related and applied on a far wider scale right across the United Kingdom. This echoes much of the work done by Orwell in the 30s and what the Mass-Observation studies were doing for many years too.
McKenzie brings a deeply refreshing air of authenticity to her work, which makes a pleasing change from the usual middle/upper class academics who parachute in on poverty safaris and then scuttle back to their professional sinecures and bourgeois comforts.
In the same way that travel books have a better insight and deeper quality to them when the author can speak the native language, McKenzie has a crucial advantage by the fact that she is working class and also lives in the place she studies. Because she has skin in the game, and this is her very community, she gains trust and is recognised by them as being one of them, which allows her to get deeper into the heart of the community and paves the way for added nuance and depth.
McKenzie doesn’t shy away from confronting the complexities and the ambiguities she encounters in the estate, we get to hear about domestic violence, racist abuse and other flaws which are not brushed over, she is aware that this can leave the area ripe for ridicule and tabloid fodder, but at least she is not afraid to show the many sides, and this is why this succeeds in producing a well-rounded account.
In 2011 after the London and English riots, David Cameron had “pledged a war on gang affiliation within inner-city communities.” Which made me laugh as I wondered whether that meant he would be focusing more on the political or financial class?...
The English riots work as a strong example of how the political and judicial system works, and who it works for. We only have to look at the many draconian punishments hammered on people who either played small/inconsequential roles, or even those who played no part at all but were swept up in it by police, due to the colour of their skin or their background, and compare that to how the wealthy are treated when they commit far more serious crimes with real life consequences for many others. Whether that be the law breaking Tory government during lockdown or the thieving banking industry, not only do they get away with it, but the poor also get to suffer the consequences of their actions too.
This is all fuelled and promoted by some of the most hateful and poisonous people “writing” in some of the most hateful and popular papers in the land which feed the nation a steady, toxic diet of stigma, stereotypes and lies whilst at the same time keeping the right wing elite in power and maintaining the status quo, diverting attention away from the real issues and problems, in favour of demonised the working classes as they fall further and further behind.
What is apparent is the sheer apathy and profound ignorance of successive British governments to the root causes and their pervasive impact and legacies on needy communities throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles. At the risk of stating the obvious, but what do we think is going to happen when you repeatedly vote in a mob of people who come from a world that is so cocooned from the harsh day to day realities for the majority of people in the UK?...
Again at the risk of stating the obvious, we can see beyond any reasonable doubt that the political and corporate elite have no interest whatsoever in the plight of the people in St Ann’s or other estates like them beyond what opportunities something like it might hold for them to exploit or manipulate in the future.
There is a nice afterword by Owen Jones too, who has also written well on similar subjects in the past, and this book goes nicely alongside similar work published by the likes of Selina Todd, Lynsey Hanley and Kate Fox.
“If you want to know anything about a neighbourhood, ask the women, especially the mothers, as they spend much of their time in and around the estate, taking children to school; they are also heavily invested in the neighbourhood, usually through family and kinship networks-what matters to the community matters to the women who raise their children in it.”
This study is centered on the St Ann’s estate in Nottingham, but of course most of the social problems can be related and applied on a far wider scale right across the United Kingdom. This echoes much of the work done by Orwell in the 30s and what the Mass-Observation studies were doing for many years too.
McKenzie brings a deeply refreshing air of authenticity to her work, which makes a pleasing change from the usual middle/upper class academics who parachute in on poverty safaris and then scuttle back to their professional sinecures and bourgeois comforts.
In the same way that travel books have a better insight and deeper quality to them when the author can speak the native language, McKenzie has a crucial advantage by the fact that she is working class and also lives in the place she studies. Because she has skin in the game, and this is her very community, she gains trust and is recognised by them as being one of them, which allows her to get deeper into the heart of the community and paves the way for added nuance and depth.
McKenzie doesn’t shy away from confronting the complexities and the ambiguities she encounters in the estate, we get to hear about domestic violence, racist abuse and other flaws which are not brushed over, she is aware that this can leave the area ripe for ridicule and tabloid fodder, but at least she is not afraid to show the many sides, and this is why this succeeds in producing a well-rounded account.
In 2011 after the London and English riots, David Cameron had “pledged a war on gang affiliation within inner-city communities.” Which made me laugh as I wondered whether that meant he would be focusing more on the political or financial class?...
The English riots work as a strong example of how the political and judicial system works, and who it works for. We only have to look at the many draconian punishments hammered on people who either played small/inconsequential roles, or even those who played no part at all but were swept up in it by police, due to the colour of their skin or their background, and compare that to how the wealthy are treated when they commit far more serious crimes with real life consequences for many others. Whether that be the law breaking Tory government during lockdown or the thieving banking industry, not only do they get away with it, but the poor also get to suffer the consequences of their actions too.
This is all fuelled and promoted by some of the most hateful and poisonous people “writing” in some of the most hateful and popular papers in the land which feed the nation a steady, toxic diet of stigma, stereotypes and lies whilst at the same time keeping the right wing elite in power and maintaining the status quo, diverting attention away from the real issues and problems, in favour of demonised the working classes as they fall further and further behind.
What is apparent is the sheer apathy and profound ignorance of successive British governments to the root causes and their pervasive impact and legacies on needy communities throughout the length and breadth of the British Isles. At the risk of stating the obvious, but what do we think is going to happen when you repeatedly vote in a mob of people who come from a world that is so cocooned from the harsh day to day realities for the majority of people in the UK?...
Again at the risk of stating the obvious, we can see beyond any reasonable doubt that the political and corporate elite have no interest whatsoever in the plight of the people in St Ann’s or other estates like them beyond what opportunities something like it might hold for them to exploit or manipulate in the future.
There is a nice afterword by Owen Jones too, who has also written well on similar subjects in the past, and this book goes nicely alongside similar work published by the likes of Selina Todd, Lynsey Hanley and Kate Fox.
February 21, 2021
Reading women challenge 21: nonfiction on social justice
This is a hard one to review. So. This is clearly an academic text that has also been published. The level of academic writing was not great. Repetitive and the insertion of self was quite cringey at times, not something I would let my pgce students get away with so it was surprising that this came from a research fellow. Anyway. Snobbish bit out of the way.
This looks in great depth at the estate in Nottingham called St Anns. It's infamous in these parts, as being dangerous, drug addled and, basically, "rough". Mackenzie does a great job at showing the beauty in this, in the community feeling, and the value systems. I live in the neighbouring ward and am often in St Anns for midwife/health visitor checks or passing through, so it felt really interesting to know all these places. She discusses both large structural problems (benefits, enemployment) and the specific attacks like lots of houses not being accessible by road, so taxis and pizza delivery refuse them service. I learnt a lot, and gained a lot of respect for the area. One other thing I wanted to point out was how much talk there was of blackness, specifically West Indian and Caribbean culture, of white people adopting that culture and how black people were at the top of the social hierarchy, but there was very little voice given to black people at all. It felt particularly unfair during the section on how 'black women are racist to white women' that this was left unaddressed.
This is a hard one to review. So. This is clearly an academic text that has also been published. The level of academic writing was not great. Repetitive and the insertion of self was quite cringey at times, not something I would let my pgce students get away with so it was surprising that this came from a research fellow. Anyway. Snobbish bit out of the way.
This looks in great depth at the estate in Nottingham called St Anns. It's infamous in these parts, as being dangerous, drug addled and, basically, "rough". Mackenzie does a great job at showing the beauty in this, in the community feeling, and the value systems. I live in the neighbouring ward and am often in St Anns for midwife/health visitor checks or passing through, so it felt really interesting to know all these places. She discusses both large structural problems (benefits, enemployment) and the specific attacks like lots of houses not being accessible by road, so taxis and pizza delivery refuse them service. I learnt a lot, and gained a lot of respect for the area. One other thing I wanted to point out was how much talk there was of blackness, specifically West Indian and Caribbean culture, of white people adopting that culture and how black people were at the top of the social hierarchy, but there was very little voice given to black people at all. It felt particularly unfair during the section on how 'black women are racist to white women' that this was left unaddressed.
May 6, 2021
I picked up this book because, having lived in Nottingham for 6 years, it didn't take me long to pick up on the stigma associated with St Ann's. I had quickly realised that it's a place that should be avoided if you're not from St Ann's. So I was curious, what is St Ann's and it's residents really like?
I learnt about the ways in which St Ann's residents are excluded from the rest of society and why local value systems and status are so important in getting by. Some of the stories made me upset, such as Tyler feeling 'out of place' at University and some made me angry... Such as 18 year old Perry and his wrongful conviction after the 2011 riots.
I love how Lisa can relate to the subjects of her research because of her own background, and I'm sure that without this 'insider' status the residents would not have trusted her enough to share their honest stories.
I will never be able to think of St Ann's in the same way again and I hope that society / government policies can change to abolish this structural inequality.
I learnt about the ways in which St Ann's residents are excluded from the rest of society and why local value systems and status are so important in getting by. Some of the stories made me upset, such as Tyler feeling 'out of place' at University and some made me angry... Such as 18 year old Perry and his wrongful conviction after the 2011 riots.
I love how Lisa can relate to the subjects of her research because of her own background, and I'm sure that without this 'insider' status the residents would not have trusted her enough to share their honest stories.
I will never be able to think of St Ann's in the same way again and I hope that society / government policies can change to abolish this structural inequality.
September 8, 2017
The real deal. The book everyone in Parliament needs to read, especially if they're a Tory MP and hate every page of it. Lisa McKenzie is pretty much the only person worth listening to on the question of why poor people voted Leave in the 2016 referendum (and thus why Remain lost), although that isn't covered here. There are a couple of typos that could have been fixed here and there, but that's the minor negative I've got. The Kindle edition should have a Sleaford Mods album playing as continuous soundtrack as well.
February 10, 2016
I really enjoyed reading this book. ‘Getting By’ is unusual for being a eight year study of working class life on the St Ann’s estate in Nottingham, written by a working class woman who was living on the estate being studied. The writer is able to maintain her own rhetorical style whilst negotiating academic requirements with a light touch making it accessible to a general readership.
What stands out for me is the resilient community connections that are maintained in St Anns, whilst under siege from the rest of Nottingham society and the national media. To me this is central to understanding class oppression. The most oppressed people seem to not lose their connection to the people around them. Whereas as class oppression is internalised and people ‘move up and out’ to a lifestyle to escape the stigmatisations and stereotypes, they gradually lose that connection. If they get to be ‘truly’ middle-class, they may be lacking warmth and closeness with the other humans that live in their sphere. A generalisation of course. But the point is that it is the middle classes that are lacking - with respect to human solidarity. Working class people are being told they are inferior but this quality of their lives is overlooked and unappreciated. The exclusion of the people of this estate from life outside the confines of the estate is made clear in several sections of the book.
Lisa describes class oppression lucidly: According to the classist myths levelled by the right wing media working class people “lack aspiration, moral values, a work ethic, and are too located in the places where they live, leading to ignorance, stupidity, and lack of aspiration - they have become deficit in the public imagination.” p.20. Later she says: “Throughout this book I have shown how stigma and stereotype are both pervasive damaging.” p.192. There is ”loathing for families who live on council estates” p.194. At the best they are shown disrespect by the world outside of the estate. Respect then becomes a key value within the estate. Other elements of classism mentioned are feeling powerless and having no say, being insecure, and unsafe, being misrepresented and misunderstood. p.171.
In spite of these damaging representations… “Being part of a community, the sense of belonging and the strong sense of who you are, is often lost in contemporary Britain.” p.199. In fact the people on this estate feel they are leaders in making a new multi-racial ‘mixed identities’ community which they rightly see as a future which we could all aspire to. It is good that this book focuses on this achievement interwoven with the struggle to ‘get by’. ”Throughout this book I have described a tight-knit community, which has been built on pride, a sense of belonging, humour, and sharing, but also in fear, instability and stigmatisation.” p.149.
I am left thinking that academia does not have enough Lisa Mackenzie’s and so has not developed a satisfactory theory of oppression that accounts for the damage it does to individual. At one point Lisa observes “They were also hurt buy these representations, and often said it made them weak.” p.204. I can see that the inability to further explore this emotional hurt is due to the historically disembodied nature of academic discourse and the literary class. The bourgeois vested interests that run academic institutions will maintain an inscrutable silence on the matter. Academia has its own ‘emotional boundaries’. p.160. Lisa does criticise academia, even if it is something of a glancing blow - the verbose language of academic papers (p.147). The sanitisation of accounts of working-class life by middle-class researchers on p.170. The difficulty a young estate working class intellectual faces in Nottingham university.
The book has much fascinating detail. The account of the apolitical nature of communication amongst the men and the prevalence of ‘conspiracy theories’ and accords with experience of relatives in London. Which leads me to think that this is a widespread phenomenon. The question being: how could this kind of inquiry be converted into a more politically potent one? Similar questions pervade the community - how can a community with such strong inner bonds find the agency to become a political force? This needs to be a discussion that includes the people in those situations; which, I suppose, is what this research achieved.
Although this is a complex and nuanced picture of this estate, there is much left to know. To what extent do (for instance) organisations like the Labour party and Trade Unions have members on the estate? The study engages with the people who get most unfairly and hurtfully stereotyped by the media, but I would think there are many other individuals on such a large estate that don’t fit those stereotypes. It is often ‘oddballs’ that can be catalysts for change as well as people with a normative experience. In fact Lisa herself could be seen as one such oddball who is both similar and different. It is clear in some of the later quotes that her research process and commitment to the people has itself been a catalyst of change in individuals, which we may never be able to quantify the results of. I am part of an allotment community where I live but the allotments on St Anns offered another site that was mentioned but not covered by the research. (Page 23). But I can see that a study there could have been seen as an avoidance of the key ‘problems’ that the estate is famous for.
Towards the end of the book she says: “There has been a gradual exclusion, devaluing and stigmatisation of sections of the British working class for several generations.” p.195. I would claim this is a much older process and is integral to the formation of class society and urbanisation. It is not just the poorest sections but the whole of the class, as in majority of the population, that is affected. To escape this stigmatisation most of us are invited to deny, denigrate and leave the deep values of our culture and become reborn as aspirational or middle class wannabees. What a formula for alienation! What an internalisation of damaging class shame! Why should not working class people do whatever job they like without having to feel they have to give up their identity to do certain things! But the majority of us probably live somewhere in this realm. It is the corralling and mythification of St Anns and the ‘poor’ in general that is used to terrify the rest of us into being ‘classless’.
I notice Lisa has got a fellowship at the glamorous LSE. Congratulation to her. I hope she is not going to be swallowed up by the establishment.
What stands out for me is the resilient community connections that are maintained in St Anns, whilst under siege from the rest of Nottingham society and the national media. To me this is central to understanding class oppression. The most oppressed people seem to not lose their connection to the people around them. Whereas as class oppression is internalised and people ‘move up and out’ to a lifestyle to escape the stigmatisations and stereotypes, they gradually lose that connection. If they get to be ‘truly’ middle-class, they may be lacking warmth and closeness with the other humans that live in their sphere. A generalisation of course. But the point is that it is the middle classes that are lacking - with respect to human solidarity. Working class people are being told they are inferior but this quality of their lives is overlooked and unappreciated. The exclusion of the people of this estate from life outside the confines of the estate is made clear in several sections of the book.
Lisa describes class oppression lucidly: According to the classist myths levelled by the right wing media working class people “lack aspiration, moral values, a work ethic, and are too located in the places where they live, leading to ignorance, stupidity, and lack of aspiration - they have become deficit in the public imagination.” p.20. Later she says: “Throughout this book I have shown how stigma and stereotype are both pervasive damaging.” p.192. There is ”loathing for families who live on council estates” p.194. At the best they are shown disrespect by the world outside of the estate. Respect then becomes a key value within the estate. Other elements of classism mentioned are feeling powerless and having no say, being insecure, and unsafe, being misrepresented and misunderstood. p.171.
In spite of these damaging representations… “Being part of a community, the sense of belonging and the strong sense of who you are, is often lost in contemporary Britain.” p.199. In fact the people on this estate feel they are leaders in making a new multi-racial ‘mixed identities’ community which they rightly see as a future which we could all aspire to. It is good that this book focuses on this achievement interwoven with the struggle to ‘get by’. ”Throughout this book I have described a tight-knit community, which has been built on pride, a sense of belonging, humour, and sharing, but also in fear, instability and stigmatisation.” p.149.
I am left thinking that academia does not have enough Lisa Mackenzie’s and so has not developed a satisfactory theory of oppression that accounts for the damage it does to individual. At one point Lisa observes “They were also hurt buy these representations, and often said it made them weak.” p.204. I can see that the inability to further explore this emotional hurt is due to the historically disembodied nature of academic discourse and the literary class. The bourgeois vested interests that run academic institutions will maintain an inscrutable silence on the matter. Academia has its own ‘emotional boundaries’. p.160. Lisa does criticise academia, even if it is something of a glancing blow - the verbose language of academic papers (p.147). The sanitisation of accounts of working-class life by middle-class researchers on p.170. The difficulty a young estate working class intellectual faces in Nottingham university.
The book has much fascinating detail. The account of the apolitical nature of communication amongst the men and the prevalence of ‘conspiracy theories’ and accords with experience of relatives in London. Which leads me to think that this is a widespread phenomenon. The question being: how could this kind of inquiry be converted into a more politically potent one? Similar questions pervade the community - how can a community with such strong inner bonds find the agency to become a political force? This needs to be a discussion that includes the people in those situations; which, I suppose, is what this research achieved.
Although this is a complex and nuanced picture of this estate, there is much left to know. To what extent do (for instance) organisations like the Labour party and Trade Unions have members on the estate? The study engages with the people who get most unfairly and hurtfully stereotyped by the media, but I would think there are many other individuals on such a large estate that don’t fit those stereotypes. It is often ‘oddballs’ that can be catalysts for change as well as people with a normative experience. In fact Lisa herself could be seen as one such oddball who is both similar and different. It is clear in some of the later quotes that her research process and commitment to the people has itself been a catalyst of change in individuals, which we may never be able to quantify the results of. I am part of an allotment community where I live but the allotments on St Anns offered another site that was mentioned but not covered by the research. (Page 23). But I can see that a study there could have been seen as an avoidance of the key ‘problems’ that the estate is famous for.
Towards the end of the book she says: “There has been a gradual exclusion, devaluing and stigmatisation of sections of the British working class for several generations.” p.195. I would claim this is a much older process and is integral to the formation of class society and urbanisation. It is not just the poorest sections but the whole of the class, as in majority of the population, that is affected. To escape this stigmatisation most of us are invited to deny, denigrate and leave the deep values of our culture and become reborn as aspirational or middle class wannabees. What a formula for alienation! What an internalisation of damaging class shame! Why should not working class people do whatever job they like without having to feel they have to give up their identity to do certain things! But the majority of us probably live somewhere in this realm. It is the corralling and mythification of St Anns and the ‘poor’ in general that is used to terrify the rest of us into being ‘classless’.
I notice Lisa has got a fellowship at the glamorous LSE. Congratulation to her. I hope she is not going to be swallowed up by the establishment.
October 15, 2016
Really wonderful book! Super brain opening! Read if you're a person interested in other people but especially if you think you might have accidentally fallen victim to the world's ease at demonising the working classes!
July 1, 2015
Needs a good editor
March 28, 2020
Books like this need to be written, read, shared and understood. More often than not, stigmatised communities are very poorly understood or appreciated by the outside world so I'm very glad that Lisa Mackenzie captured and shone a light on her community in this body of research.
One point I did find bizarre about her research was that she seemed to focus exclusively on white mothers and black men, leaving the reader wondering about other groups in the community who were only mentioned casually in passing, and never interviewed. In a community as diverse as St. Ann's, this leaves this book lacking somewhat as many voices were left unheard and the full picture of the estate is left incomplete.
One point I did find bizarre about her research was that she seemed to focus exclusively on white mothers and black men, leaving the reader wondering about other groups in the community who were only mentioned casually in passing, and never interviewed. In a community as diverse as St. Ann's, this leaves this book lacking somewhat as many voices were left unheard and the full picture of the estate is left incomplete.
March 26, 2023
I really liked this book. It's clearly written and empathetic. I got a good sense of the community from it and she humanises well a group of people that have been demonised by the press in recent years.
November 22, 2024
everyone in Parliament should read this book
loved the anecdotal and conversational style Lisa McKenzie writes in, makes you feel like you’re right there in her community speaking with the women she writes about
loved the anecdotal and conversational style Lisa McKenzie writes in, makes you feel like you’re right there in her community speaking with the women she writes about
May 17, 2015
Four stars for being important, certainly not for enjoyment factor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews