Illusive Identity: The Blurring of Working Class Consciousness in Modern Western Culture

This text is a transnational exploration of the evolution of working-class consciousness within modern Western culture. The work traces how the rise of popular culture blurred the definition and dulled the influence of class identity in Europe and the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Chapters tackling changing class consciousness in Britain, Germany, Italy and the United States offer insight into the movement from a traditional community-based social identity to a modern consumer-based culture; a mass culture influenced by industrialization, new social institutions and the powerful imagery of new media. Illusive Identity demonstrates the transformative impact of modernity on the labouring classes, as advertising, entertainment and the rise of the popular press replaced traditionally shared narratives about the nature of work with a new and liberating cultural paradigm.