A Series of Class Acts: Mystifications in Irish Print Media Discourses

Abstract

In this study, in the context of increasing inequality across the developed economies and beyond, I engage with the related issue of social class. I argue, despite postmodernist claims to the contrary, that social class continues to be a tendency to structure capitalist societies, and a primary determinant of life chances. In so doing, I draw on several strands of international class-based theory and research, and on research in the specifically Irish context. Using an explanatory critique, I highlight the failure of contemporary Irish print media discourses to acknowledge the class-based content of the issues to which they refer, while nevertheless promoting the interests of the dominant parties concerned. In conclusion, among other things, I claim that social class is deeply ingrained in Irish society, but that the sources concerned in the print media are much more likely to mystify than accurately inform their readers on this issue.