A Waste of Space? Controversies Surrounding the Working-Class Parlour in Inter-War Britain

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12877906
AutoresKrista Cowman (0000-0002-1318-9450, University of Lincoln, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen15
Número2
Páginas129-153
Fecha de publicación2018-05-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHome Cultures (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1740-6315 • E-ISSN: 1751-7427
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17406315.2018.1610610
OpenAlexW2921135672
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas26

This article uncovers the fierce inter-war debate provoked by the British Government’s decision to remove state subsidies for building larger “parlour-type” houses in 1923. Examining the various defences that were put forward in support of the working-class parlour it argues that the parlour was seen as a key marker of respectability in working-class communities with the potential to shape the behaviours and outlook of its inhabitants. Drawing on a variety of contemporary and autobiographical sources it suggests that the occasional use of the parlour, a keystone of its opponents’ criticisms was precisely what gave most value to the room for its owners. Recent controversy over the bedroom tax in Britain suggests that “extra” space remains a contentious issue in subsidised homes today

Aesthetics · Art · Class (philosophy · Epistemology · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Subsidy · Value (mathematics · Variety (cybernetics · Working class · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US