Atrocity Stories and Access to Elite Universities: Chickens at the Station

The article explores the interactional management of class relations using atrocity stories as a conceptual device vis‐à‐vis new case study data. We argue that interactionist ideas are well placed to comment on the hidden injuries of class in the higher education sector and demonstrate this using at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSymbolic interaction Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 533 - 554
Main Authors Hillyard, Sam, Tummons, Jonathan, Winnard, Madeleine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, US John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.08.2021
Subjects
atrocity stories
class
elites
higher education
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Summary:The article explores the interactional management of class relations using atrocity stories as a conceptual device vis‐à‐vis new case study data. We argue that interactionist ideas are well placed to comment on the hidden injuries of class in the higher education sector and demonstrate this using atrocity stories and Goffman's work. We use the atrocity stories of atypical cases (non‐traditional graduates of an elite university) to expose class differences. Atrocity stories and Goffman's work on cooling, impression management, and total institutions were used here to unlock extended interviews with graduates from the 1960s–1980s who attended one elite British university. The findings expose the manifestation of the English class structure and a variety of responses. The conclusion finds evidence of resistance rather than challenge. A call is made for more longitudinal ethnographic research exploring how universities might promote access agendas—with particular attention to those both upwardly and downwardly mobile.
ISSN:0195-6086
1533-8665
DOI:10.1002/symb.513