In western economies, neoliberal hegemony has contributed to the cultural erosion of class. Yet with class disidentification, awareness of structural inequality can be obscured and the working-class depoliticised. Despite this, there is a lack of literature and analysis of high-profile activist rhetoric in the UK that could challenge this consensus. As a unique case study, I rhetorically analyse the speeches and media interviews of a prominent UK trade union leader to show how they utilise specific techniques in attempts to reconstruct a working-class identity and invite audience identification. In doing so I contribute to literature on class consciousness and proffer constitutive rhetoric as an emancipatory tool for challenging hegemony and reinstating the political identity of the working-class.
Kathryn A. Boyle (Wed,) studied this question.