(This blog was written with the assistance of ChatGPT. This tool can assist authors who are already aware of the conceptual content they want to write about, but lack the time and financial resources to be able to produce a finished article. The intentions of the author are provided through a series of prompts that guide the machine. The machine then draws upon its extensive training literature to build the article based on a process of pattern-matching. These new technologies enable white working class males a means of constructing their own identities through writing blogs and publishing them on social media platforms.)
Introduction
If nothing else, the current Trump presidency has shifted the media spotlight onto white working-class male identities in the Anglo-Saxon English speaking world. In England, this identity has undergone significant transformation over the past two centuries, shaped by the tides of industrialization, deindustrialization, class politics, cultural shifts, and more recently, globalisation and identity politics.
However, the white working-class male identity in England has never been static, it reflects the changing economic roles, political allegiances, family structures, and cultural values of the nation throughout history. This blog will argue that the identity is not simply the product of industrialisation or economic conditions. Rather, it emerges from a deep historical sediment, layered with ideals, values, and social roles inherited from England’s foundational cultural and legal institutions.
Arguably then, the evolution of this identity can be better understood through three core historical pillars: Anglo-Saxon common law, which emphasized local autonomy, kinship, and justice; Norman chivalry, which introduced ideals of duty, loyalty, and martial honour; and the Protestant work ethic, which stressed industriousness, thrift, and moral uprightness.
Anglo-Saxon Common Law: Roots of Localism and Communal Masculinity (AD450 to 1066)
Before the Norman Conquest in 1066, Anglo-Saxon England was governed not by centralised monarchic power, but by a system of customary law deeply embedded in local communities. Common law during this period was unwritten, customary, and based on collective decision-making in local courts (hundred courts and moot courts), where free men – often the heads of households or kin groups – took part in resolving disputes.
This participatory legal structure shaped early ideas of male responsibility and honour. The white male subject was expected to defend the community, uphold justice, and be accountable to peers. Honour was public; shame and compensation were communal matters. Kinship and loyalty to the "folk" (people) held primacy over allegiance to distant authority.
Though modern working-class life is far removed from these early forms, the cultural memory of local autonomy, fairness, and mutual responsibility has echoed through generations. In industrial and post-industrial contexts, this translated into the solidarity of the workplace, unionism, and a deep suspicion of elite interference or imposed authority. The idea that a "real man" is someone who stands by his mates, speaks plainly, and defends what’s right has roots in these ancient legal and moral codes.
Norman Chivalry: Honour, Service, and Hierarchical Masculinity (1066 to 1517)
The Norman Conquest brought a dramatic shift: centralised monarchy, feudal hierarchy, and a new warrior aristocracy. While chivalry as an ethos initially belonged to knights and nobles, its core values – duty, courage, loyalty, and honour – eventually permeated the broader culture, influencing ideals of masculinity across the social spectrum.
For the working classes, particularly those in rural or martial labour (e.g., yeomen, soldiers, sailors), chivalric masculinity filtered down as a moral framework. A man was measured not only by his strength, but by his loyalty to family, community, and crown. In service and subordination, there was honour; this carried through to the militarised identities of many working-class men who served in England’s various wars.
During the industrial era, a version of this chivalric ethic re-emerged: the "respectable working man" who worked hard, provided for his family, and remained loyal to his class and country. The soldier-worker image – valorised especially during and after World Wars – echoed the medieval knight’s sense of duty and sacrifice, albeit in radically different material conditions.
Moreover, paternal authority, a hallmark of feudal and chivalric culture, shaped domestic expectations. Working-class fathers often saw themselves as protectors and moral guides of their households, with strength and self-discipline held in high regard. This has fed into modern cultural ideals of the "strong but silent" working-class man.
The Protestant Work Ethic: Industry, Morality, and Masculine Self-Control (1517 to 1760)
The Protestant Reformation, particularly in its Calvinist and Puritan variants, revolutionised English moral thought. The "Protestant work ethic", as famously described by sociologist Max Weber, promoted hard work, thrift, discipline, and moral rectitude as signs of both religious virtue and social value. In England, particularly from the 17th century onward, this ethic fused with capitalist development and laid the foundation for modern labour ideals.
Although originally a bourgeois ideal, this ethic became deeply embedded in working-class culture by the 19th century. As industrialisation expanded, the working-class male was expected to be sober, punctual, industrious, and morally upright. Respectability was not just about economic survival but also about proving one's worth in a stratified society.
The Protestant ethic also discouraged idleness, emotional expression, and hedonism – traits which were associated with failure or vice. These ideals contributed to a gendered culture in which the male role was defined by labour, discipline, and emotional restraint. Public emotion was seen as weakness; dignity was found in endurance.
Even when working-class men deviated from this ethic – through drinking, gambling, or rebellion – these acts often took on symbolic meaning as resistance to an oppressive moral order. Still, the underlying pressure to "be a man" by working hard and enduring hardship remained a key element of identity.
Industrial Roots of the Working Class Identity (1760 to 1914)
The archetype of the white working-class male emerged during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. As England industrialised, men from rural areas moved to urban centres like Manchester, Birmingham, and Sheffield to work in factories, mines, docks, and steelworks. Labour was physically demanding, dangerous, and often poorly paid, but it was a cornerstone of masculinity: strength, endurance, and stoicism became defining traits of male identity.
Work was central not only to economic survival but to social identity. The man was typically the sole breadwinner, while women were relegated to the domestic sphere. Class solidarity grew out of shared hardship and unionised labour, and a sense of pride in skilled manual work was prevalent. Politically, many working-class men aligned with the Labour movement and trade unions, seeing themselves as part of a broader class struggle.
Wartime Masculinity and National Service (1914 to 1945)
World War I and II significantly shaped working-class masculinity. Millions of men were conscripted, and military service reinforced ideals of bravery, sacrifice, and nationalism. Returning soldiers were often idealised as heroes, though many returned to poverty, unemployment, and trauma. The post-WWI period saw the rise of the Labour Party as a political force, supported heavily by the working-class vote, particularly after the Representation of the People Act 1918 granted voting rights to many more working-class men.
In this period, the white working-class male identity was firmly linked to notions of duty, hard work, and national pride. National Service, compulsory until 1960, further institutionalised these ideals for post-war generations.
Post-War Consensus and Cultural Stability (1945 to 1967)
The period after World War II saw the rise of the welfare state and an improved standard of living for much of the working class. Mass council housing, nationalised industries, and the NHS contributed to a sense of collective progress. Employment in heavy industry and manufacturing was still dominant, and jobs were relatively stable.
The white working-class male in this era retained traditional masculine traits: he was often the provider, physically tough, and rooted in local community life, especially through the pub, football, and family. Trade unions were powerful, and union membership was a source of pride and identity. Popular culture – from "kitchen sink" dramas to music halls and early rock-and-roll – often depicted or celebrated working-class life.
Deindustrialisation and Identity Crisis (1967 to 1994)
The 'Summer of Love' in 1967, the economic shocks of the 1970s, followed by Margaret Thatcher's neoliberal policies in the 1980s, marked a series of turning points. The closure of coal mines, steelworks, shipyards, and other traditional industries devastated many working-class communities, particularly in the North and Midlands. Unemployment soared, and long-standing social structures began to collapse.
For many white working-class men, this period represented not just economic decline but a profound identity crisis. With the erosion of manufacturing jobs came the loss of pride, purpose, and community. The trade union movement, once a bastion of collective masculinity, was significantly weakened after events like the 1984–85 miners' strike. Traditional notions of masculinity – built on labour, loyalty, and resilience – began to appear outdated or under threat.
This period also saw the rise of new working-class subcultures – skinheads, mods, punks – often as expressions of frustration, resistance, or cultural displacement. In some cases, working-class men were drawn to far-right politics or nationalist ideologies, partly in response to perceived threats from Soviet Communism, radical feminism, homosexuality, immigration and multiculturalism.
Cultural Marginalisation and Political Alienation (1994 to 2016)
By the 1990s and early 2000s, the white working-class male was increasingly portrayed in the media as "left behind" or culturally obsolete. With the decline of blue-collar work and the rise of the service economy, many men found themselves in insecure, low-paid jobs, if employed at all. Their traditional role as provider was undermined by economic restructuring and shifts in gender roles.
Culturally, white working-class men became the subject of satire, criticism, or moral panic – typified in the "lad culture" of the 1990s or the "chav" stereotype of the 2000s. Films like Trainspotting, The Full Monty, and Billy Elliot explored themes of masculinity, unemployment, and social change. At the same time, many working-class communities felt politically abandoned, particularly from 1994 to 2010 by New Labour, which increasingly focused on middle-class voters and liberal cosmopolitan values.
The result was a growing sense of political alienation and cultural invisibility. Traditional institutions like unions, working men's clubs, and local industries no longer provided the collective spaces where identity was formed and reinforced.
Resurgence, Resentment, and Populism (2016 to Present)
In recent years, the white working-class male identity has been invoked in political debates surrounding Brexit, immigration, and nationalism. The 2016 Brexit vote, in which many working-class constituencies voted Leave, was widely interpreted as a revolt by "left behind" communities against metropolitan elites, austerity, and cultural marginalisation.
This group has often been positioned – rightly or wrongly – as hostile to progressive values, especially around race, gender, and sexual identity. Some white working-class men have responded with resentment toward perceived double standards in diversity and inclusion policies, feeling that their grievances are overlooked or vilified.
At the same time, others have sought new expressions of masculinity – whether through involvement in mental health movements, community projects, or adapting to non-traditional work in care or service sectors. Popular media has diversified representations of working-class masculinity, showing greater emotional depth, vulnerability, and complexity – as seen in TV shows like This Is England, Shameless, or Top Boy.
Summary and Conclusions
Today, the white working-class male identity in England exists in tension: caught between nostalgia for lost certainties and the pressures of a rapidly changing world. Economic precarity, educational disadvantage, and declining life expectancy in some regions reflect ongoing structural challenges. Simultaneously, conversations around masculinity are evolving, with increasing scrutiny on mental health, gender roles, and toxic behaviours.
In the 20th century, especially after the Second World War, white working-class men could still find purpose through labour, family, and national service – all structured by inherited ideas of honour, duty, and effort. But with deindustrialisation in the late 20th century, the economic foundations of male identity collapsed. Work no longer provided meaning, discipline gave way to precarity, and traditional forms of authority (the union, the army, the church, the family) declined in influence.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union there has been a growing recognition of internal diversity within the working class. Not all white working-class men share the same values or experiences; identities are shaped by regional, generational, and personal factors. The old model of the strong, silent, industrial breadwinner is giving way to more plural and fluid understandings of what it means to be a working-class man in 21st-century England.
The result has been a crisis of continuity. With no clear economic role and diminishing cultural status, many working-class men have found themselves cut off from historical identities that once grounded them. Yet echoes of those traditions remain: in notions of fair play, in attachment to localism and nationhood, in emotional restraint, in honour cultures, and in the persistent belief that "a man’s worth is proven through work."
For example, the revival of right-wing populist parties across Europe – particularly visible in Brexit politics in England – shows how residual elements of Anglo-Saxon local justice (anti-elite sentiment), chivalric loyalty (national pride), and Protestant morality (emphasis on responsibility and effort) have continued to inform the way many white working-class men understand themselves and their place in the world.
Thus, while these value systems may have adapted to changing economic conditions, they have not disappeared. They continue to shape expectations around work, duty, loyalty, emotional expression, and fairness. Understanding this history is essential not only to explaining the present, but to imagining inclusive and constructive paths forward for those whose identities have been forged in the fires of both tradition and transformation. These values are not just there to guide white working-class males, they are there for all the people who choose to be guided by them.
While the current identity is often portrayed in narrow or reductive terms – as reactive, stagnant, or obsolete - especially by outsiders, a deeper historical view reveals a more complex and layered story. The ideals shaping white working-class masculinity in England draw from long and persistent cultural lineage - and what this lineage has drawn from, it has shown it can learn from, and in many ways go on to replace.
As England continues to navigate questions of economic inequality, political representation, and demographic conflict, among a spectrum of identities, the evolution of our moral values remains central to understanding the nation's past, present, and future. The pragmatic adaptation of traditional values to current contingencies is at the foundational of a new ideology and a new self-confidence; this should ultimately lead to a plethora of new identities that are constructed for and by the English people.
Let’s us pray that these are less constrained by the traditional hierarchies and surface tensions of race, gender and class than they have been in the past!
No comments:
Post a Comment