People Like Us

£9.99

Hashi Mohamed came to Britain aged nine, a refugee from the Somali civil war. He attended some of Britain’s worst schools and was raised exclusively on state benefits. Yet today he is a successful barrister, with an Oxford degree and a CV that includes appearances on the BBC. Hashi explores what his own experience can tell us about social mobility in Britain today. Far from showing that anything is possible, he concludes his story is far from typical: our country is still riven with deep divisions that block children from deprived backgrounds from accessing the advantages that are handed to others from birth.

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Description

A New Statesman Book of the YearAS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4’S BOOK OF THE WEEK’Hashi Mohamed powerfully exposes the alienating and segregating effect of social immobility in this country.’ David Lammy ‘A moving, shocking and clear-eyed account of the increasingly rare phenomenon of social mobility. Using his own extraordinary story as a spine [Hashi Mohamed] has written an analysis, how-to-guide and polemic on getting on and up in Britain today.’ – Grayson Perry ‘Beautifully written and powerfully argued, People Like Us is essential reading’ The Secret BarristerWhat does it take to make it in modern Britain? Ask a politician, and they’ll tell you it’s hard work. Ask a millionaire, and they’ll tell you it’s talent. Ask a CEO and they’ll tell you it’s dedication. But what if none of those things is enough?Raised on benefits and having attended some of the lowest-performing schools in the country, barrister Hashi Mohamed knows something about social mobility. In People Like Us, he shares what he has learned: from the stark statistics that reveal the depth of the problem to the failures of imagination, education and confidence that compound it. We live in a society where the single greatest indicator of what your job will be is the job of your parents. Where power and privilege are concentrated among the 7 per cent of the population who were privately educated. Where, if your name sounds black or Asian, you’ll need to send out twice as many job applications as your white neighbour. Wherever you are on the social spectrum, this is an essential investigation into our society’s most intractable problem. We have more power than we realise to change things for the better.

Additional information

Weight 0.28 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 12.8 × 2.6 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

312

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

305.5130941 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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