The Chantelles of Benefits Britain: Collective representations of the clients of the welfare state in conservative British press (2008-2012)

Małgorzata Paprota

Abstract


This paper outlines the representation of Claimants, a key social actor relevant to the welfare state, as groups in two conservative British newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph. With recourse to critical discourse analysis, in particular van Leeuwen’s 2008 work on the representation of social actors, as well as to corpus methods, the paper shows how the representation of this social actor in collective terms helps entrench the discourse of (mainly class-based) prejudice, thus working to delegitimise the welfare state.

Keywords


social actors; welfare state; Daily Mail; Daily Telegraph

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anthony, L. (2012): AntConc 3.3.5m. [Computer Software]. Tokyo: Waseda University.

Baumberg, B., Bell, K., Gaffney, D., Deacon, R., Hood, C., and Sage, D. (2012): Benefits Stigma in Britain. London: Turn2Us, Elizabeth Finn Care and University of Kent.

Bennett, J. (2013): “Moralising class: A discourse analysis of the mainstream political response to Occupy and the August 2011 British riots.” Discourse & Society, 24(1), 27–45. http://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512463634

Fox, K. (2004): Watching the English. The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Hart, C. (2010): Critical Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Science. Houndmills: Palgrave.

Jones, O. (2012): Chavs. The Demonisation of the Working Class. 2nd ed. London: Verso.

Leaker, D. (2009): Economic Inactivity. Economic and Labour Market Review, 3(2), 42–46. http://doi.org/10.1057/elmr.2009.27

Offe, C. (2006): Some Contradictions of the Modern Welfare State. In: Pierson, C., and Castles, F. G., eds: The Welfare State Reader. 2nd edition. (66-75) Cambridge: Polity Press.

Paprota, M. (2015): Inclusion and Role Allocation in the Representation of the Social Actors of the Welfare State in Conservative British Press (2008-2012). In: Trušník, R., Bell, G. J., and Nemčoková, K., eds: From Theory to Practice 2013:

Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Anglophone Studies. (165-176) Zlín: Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně.

Philip, G. (2011): Colouring Meaning: Collocation and Connotation in Figurative Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Skeggs, B. (2004): Class, Self, Culture. London: Routledge.

Tyler, I. (2013): Revolting Subjects. Social Abjection and Resistance in Neoliberal Britain. London and New York: Zed Books.

van Leeuwen, T. (2008): Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Welshman, J. (2013): Underclass. A History of the Excluded since 1880. 2nd edition. London: Bloomsbury.

Williams, R. (1960): Culture and Society: 1780-1950. New York: Anchor Books.

Corpus articles quoted

Anderson, B. (2010): Only Cameron Has the Guts to Tackle the Welfare Aristocrats. Sunday Telegraph, 11 April.

Ellicott, C. (2011): Benefit Cheat UK. Daily Mail, 5 March.

Glover, D. (2008): New Labour’s Graveyard? Daily Mail, 23 July.

Heathcoat, E. (2008): Reality behind ‘Radical’ Reforms. Daily Mail, 11 December.

Lefort, R. (2010): Benefits Bill Soars. Sunday Telegraph: 3 January.

Martin, D. (2012): The 190 Families with Ten Children Who Get £60k Benefits a Year. Daily Mail, 9 January.

Peev, G. (2011): Now a Retreat on Benefits. Daily Mail, 13 June.

Platell, A. (2008): Shannon's Mother and Seven Babies by Six Men. Daily Mail, 6 December.

Phillips, M. (2009): Alfie, Chantelle and the Sheer Madness of Sex Education That Teaches Nothing about Morality. Daily Mail, 16 February.

Phillips, M. (2010): The Surprising Lessons I Learned on a Journey to the Heart of Feckless Britain. Daily Mail: 4 January.

Oborne, P. (2009): Where’s Maggie When We Need Her? Daily Mail, 2 May.

Wilson, A.N. (2011): Death of the Working Class. Daily Mail, 19 November.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2015.39.2.179
Date of publication: 2016-03-31 09:33:50
Date of submission: 2016-03-30 13:06:15


Statistics


Total abstract view - 809
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 597

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Małgorzata Paprota

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.