Book review: Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain

Date01 March 2016
Published date01 March 2016
DOI10.1177/0264550516634941a
Subject MatterBook reviews
PRB634941 92..97
94
Probation Journal 63(1)
Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain
Lisa McKenzie
Policy Press; 2015; pp. 225; £14.99, pbk
ISBN: 978-1447309956
Reviewed by: Emma Wincup, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Criminal
Justice Studies, University of Leeds
Getting By caught my attention soon after it was published, not least because of the
(social) media attention which followed. This is unusual for academic books which
too often languish on dusty library shelves, and the author (who describes herself as
an activist sociologist) should be applauded for this feat. It is a book which has been
praised by both academics and journalists (including Owen Jones – author of
Chavs
and Mary O’Hara – author of Austerity Bites). This highly readable book
provides an insight into the complexities of life in one of Britain’s poorest neigh-
bourhoods; the rather notorious St. Ann’s estate in Nottingham. It provides an
empathetic account of living in difficult conditions, which have been exacerbated
by the austerity measures introduced by the Coalition government. Grounded in the
voices of the residents, it challenges the stereotypical images of estate life and
culture so frequently found in public and political discourse. It is an example of what
might be described as an ‘insider ethnography’ because it is informed by the
author’s personal experiences of living on the estate for over 20 years, initially as a
young single parent working in a factory and later as a mature student at the Uni-
versity of Nottingham. For some academic researchers, this would undermine the
validity of the study but on the contrary, I feel that it enhances it. I’m doubtful that
many academics would have been able to establish the degree of trust and rapport
that the author did with residents who, understandably, might be suspicious of
‘outsiders’ asking questions about their lives.
The book is essentially about class but recognizes how it interacts with other
social divisions. Its focus is predominantly on the women...

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