Class melancholy

Do social classes still exist?
A manifesto for the working class

Combining personal memories, cultural theory and a notable polemical streak, Cynthia Cruz examines how the choice between assimilation and annihilation played an important role in the lives of musicians, artists, writers and filmmakers from the working class—including Amy Winehouse, Ian Curtis, Cat Power, Jason Molina, Clarice Lispector and Barbara Loden.

This analysis reveals a portrait of Freudian melancholy: the working-class subject abandons their origins to “become someone,” only to discover, all too often, that they have lost themselves in the process. Excluded, marginalized and subjected to a precarious existence, the working class is considered non-existent by those in power.

Social classes clearly still exist, with all their cultural consequences and their impact on mental health.

What does it mean today to belong to the working class in a middle-class world? It means being a ghost.