> As far as I can tell, "chav" was initially a local term of Kent and Essex for
> hooligans, ne'er-do-wells and hardnuts, which happened to catch on in the media
> and was generalised as a catch-all term of hate for the working class. It's
> unusual in UK culture, because it's a term which explicitly recognises that
> there are poor and common people in the SouthEast of England (the rich bit).
> In the past, most of our terms occupying the same linguistic space as "chav"
> have basically been about racialising parts of the North of England
> ("scousers", "geordies" etc) and comparing them to effete "southern poofs", so
> it is interesting that "chav" is explicitly a class-based epithet rather than a
> regionalist one.
...
> But
> they're basically the same kind of people who I grew up not talking to, albeit
> that they probably get into a bit more trouble and are a bit sharper, because
> they don't live on farms. (Probably very similar to yer American white trash
> too). Not that bright as a rule, keen on settling disputes with their fists,
> stubborn as hell, capable of great generosity and upholders of a frighteningly
> complicated unwritten code of behaviour. I think that what scares people about
> chavs is that if you don't understand the code, they would appear to be
> frighteningly and unpredictably violent.
Can I stop you there? Only, I notice that you are implicitly accepting that there is such a thing as the fabled "chav". You are correct that it is a class insult, but your ensuing description confirms that the insult is based on a melange of media manufactured maledictions rather than a discernible social phenomenon. There is no definition of 'chav' as a sociological category that is workable, so it can only be understand as an imaginary archetype. More precisely still, it is a phantasmatic screen through which media yuppies, ever concerned with the sumptuary proclivities of the working class (drinking, smoking, drug-taking lardies that we all are), view us. The insults that are entailed by the term are often openly class supremacist (oh, look, she's a single mum who bears the marks of constant stress and worry - let's call her a 'pramface'). It is the social resentment of the middle and upper classes, usually those with some educational achievements (and often those who live in the South East and worry about gypsies and asylum seekers), presented with the usual 'ironic' patina. Stupid shows like 'Little Britain' coat this loathing of 'wheelchair layabouts' and 'chavs' and so on in the soothing unction of satire, but it is not the less obvious for it. The stuff about 'Burberry' gear and 'Prada' shoes is really about people getting ideas above their station, and saving or borrowing for expensive clothing. The stuff about the "American white trash" is indicative of another aspect of it: the 'chav' meme 'ethnicises' poverty. The working class are Othered, not quite civilised, not even quite the same breed as the conscientious, altruistic, intelligent, fully-rounded human beings that populate the wealthier suburbs. It is the sort of stereotype that must populate the imagination of New Labour hacks like David Aaronovitch, particularly when the latter supported New Labour's benefit cuts on the grounds that the poor would only spend it on the pubs, bookies and drug-dealers.
I repeat and underline: there is nothing behind this stupid meme but class supremacism, the contempt, hostility and resentment toward the poor exhibited by those who would in darker times prove ready recruits to the master race. _________________________________________________________________ Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail. http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d