Deprived

This short article draws on the personal experiences of a working-class activist involved in the campaign to save the local libraries in the area in which she was born and grew up. It explores the difficulties involved in being a working-class activist in what are predominantly middle-class political spaces dominated by those who do not have grass root connections to the community. It considers the gulf between middle-class approaches to, and understandings of, activism when compared to those of working-class people. In doing so it draws a distinction between activists who are from the communities where the work takes place and who need and use the services under threat and those who support the fight to save the libraries but consider the people who live in the community as ‘deprived‘. The author questions whether it is possible to reconcile the two in a way that can promote social justice and reduce oppression.