University of East London Homepage

Social commentator Owen Jones talks at University of East London

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Owen Jones

Owen Jones, renowned social commentator and author of the book Chavs, the Demonization of the Working Class, spoke to staff and students about class struggle and higher education at UEL’s Stratford Campus last month.

Students from the School of Law and Social Sciences organised the event together with Professor Maria Tamboukou. Tamboukou said she was delighted to have Jones as a speaker, stating: ‘’he is the crucial voice on education and class at the moment.’’

The event was organised to give students and the public a chance to discuss the struggle of class in higher education, an issue, which according to Professor Tamboukou, has had a long tradition at the University of East London.

Jones suggested that class divisions still exist maintained by contemporary political and journalistic representations; and that in those representations, the working class has become a synonym for poor.

Discussing education, he said that access to higher education is dependent on various factors, cultural capital and up-bringing being two but with the key being self-motivation and the willingness to learn.

Asked about whether he thought that modern universities such as UEL were more open to people from all classes, he responded that ‘‘all universities should have a good social mix. It’s about how intelligent someone is, not about their social class.’’

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information