Education has replaced wealth as the key determinant of class in European societies, and with it comes a new hierarchy. As a consequence, the lesser educated feel disenfranchised and less valued. This real change in our socioecology has led to education correlating with populism, nationalism and anti-immigration, as well as reinforcing withdrawal of the white working class with educational achievement. But if we understand the nuances, we can offer real solutions, writes Antony Manstead.
Politics and social class affect each other. It is no surprise that analysis of political attitudes over time shows that class can be very important. The classic left–right political dimension is associated with income, such that those with lower incomes are more in favor of redistribution and government intervention than are those with higher incomes.
However, since the 1990s a new political dimension has taken center stage, and this is associated with education rather than income: Lower educated people tend to support nationalist and anti-immigration parties, whereas higher educated people tend to support parties that emphasize ethnic tolerance and protection of the environment. With arecent parliamentary report in the UK highlighting the educational underachievement of the ‘white working class’, combined with much theorizing about the rise of populism and nationalism, we need a nuanced analysis of class and education more than ever.
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