Introduction
The introduction outlines the central questions and arguments of the book. It summarizes the main, conflicting interpretations of the role of class in late twentieth-century England: some have suggested that class declined in significance in this period, while others suggest class identities lost little power. Neither interpretation is satisfactory: class remained important to ‘ordinary’ people’s narratives about social change and their own identities throughout the period 1968–2000, but in changed ways. Strict class boundaries were felt by many to have blurred since 1945, a period which saw many significant changes, in particular shifts in gender roles and growing ethnic diversity in England. Furthermore, class snobberies ‘went underground’ in this period. The decline of deference is central to understanding changing class identities and politics in this period.