Struggles for value: value practices, injustice, judgment, affect and the idea of class

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Social Psychology
• Political Economy

Background:

• Contemporary society demands constant self-valuation through capital accumulation.
• Marginalized groups face intensified devaluation and legitimation challenges.
• The British New Labour government's Respect Agenda serves as a case study for examining these dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the lived experience of value struggles among devalued populations.
• To explore how injustice is affectively experienced and articulated.
• To understand the creation of alternative value systems by marginalized groups.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research drawing on a small project.
• Utilizing the British New Labour government's Respect Agenda as a critical device.
• Analysis of 'ugly feelings' and their conversion into 'just-talk'.

Main Results:

• Marginalized individuals, deemed 'useless', develop alternative value-making strategies.
• Experiences of injustice generate affective responses ('ugly feelings').
• Respondents expressed anger over being blamed for circumstances beyond their control ('accident of birth').

Conclusions:

• Class relations are defined by struggles against economic limitations, unjust judgment, and for dignified relationality.
• Denigrated groups actively defend their existence and make their lives liveable.
• These findings have significant implications for understanding austerity politics and social inequality.