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This paper uses data gathered from an ESRC funded research project on social networks, social capital and lifestyle to provide an account of contemporary class identities derived from 178 in-depth interviews carried out in the Manchester area between 1997 and 1999. We use this data to unpack the ambivalent nature of contemporary class identities. We argue that despite the diversity of the sample, a number of common elements characterize people's attitudes to class. People are more hesitant in placing themselves in classes than they are about talking class as a social and political issue. Most people wish to see themselves as `outside' classes. Even so, class is a marker by which people relate their life histories, and most people are aware of class terminology. The major division in our sample is between those with the cultural capital to play reflexively with ideas of class, and those who lack these resources and feel threatened by the implications of relating class to their own personal identities. This latter group are mainly concerned to establish their own `ordinariness', which we read as a defensive device to avoid the politics of being labelled in class terms. Both middle-class and working-class identities can be used to establish ordinariness. We argue that sociologists should not assume that there is any necessary significance in how respondents define their class identity in surveys. We use these findings to take forward debates deriving from Bourdieu regarding class identity.

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Background: Cognitive Muscular TherapyTM (CMT) is an integrated behavioural intervention developed for knee osteoarthritis. CMT teaches patients to reconceptualise the condition, integrates muscle biofeedback and aims to reduce muscle overactivity, both in response to pain and during daily activities. This nested qualitative study explored patient and physiotherapist perspectives and experiences of CMT.Methods: Five physiotherapists were trained to follow a well-defined protocol and then delivered CMT to at least two patients with knee osteoarthritis. Each patient received seven individual clinical sessions and was provided with access to online learning materials incorporating animated videos. Semi-structured interviews took place after delivery/completion of the intervention and data were analysed at the patient and physiotherapist level.Results: Five physiotherapists and five patients were interviewed. All described a process of changing beliefs throughout their engagement with CMT. A framework with three phases was developed to organise the data according to how osteoarthritis was conceptualised and how this changed throughout their interactions with CMT. Firstly, was an identification of pain beliefs to be challenged and recognition of how current beliefs can misalign with daily experiences. Secondly was a process of challenging and changing beliefs, validated through new experiences. Finally, there was an embedding of changed beliefs into self-management to continue with activities. Conclusion:This study identified a range of psychological changes which occur during exposure to CMT. These changes enabled patients to reconceptualise their condition, develop a new understanding of their body, understand psychological processes, and make sense of their knee pain.

This Note uses the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) to consider the changing volume and distribution of voluntary association membership (and hence social capital) in Great Britain. We aim to supplement Hall's study of trends in social capital published in this Journal with more recent and longitudinal data.1 This allows us to show that whilst the volume of social capital is not declining, it is becoming increasingly class specific, and that its relative aggregate stability masks considerable turnover at the individual level. These findings are significant for current debates on social capital.