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Subscribe to Working-Class Perspectives - Working-Class Perspectives offers weekly commentaries on current issues related to working-class people and communities. Contributors discuss a variety of issues, from what class means to how it intersects with race and gender to how class is shaping American politics. We welcome relevant comments of 500 words or less.
For questions or comments about this blog, e-mail Sherry Linkon. For assistance with news stories about working-class politics and culture, call or e-mail John Russo, 330-207-8085. Categories
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The State of the Working Class
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Author Archives: Working-Class Perspectives
Representing Post-Industrial Communities in Culture
I grew up on Merseyside in the 1980s and 90s, when this region around Liverpool found itself on the extreme end of the UK’s wave of industrial decline in that period. This had a profound effect on my working-class family … Continue reading
Time Is Not On Our Side
Time is suddenly news. How little we have, how much we want, and what we do with it for work or whatever. Is this good news for workers? Maybe for some, but probably just the same ol’, same ol’ for … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Wade Rathke, Work
Tagged burnout, future of work, workers rights, working hours
2 Comments
Class Ceilings
Most of us have stopped believing in the myth of the meritocracy. The myth promises that the ablest or most intelligent or hardest working get ahead of the rest. Most everyone realizes this is not true, yet we continue to … Continue reading
Governor DeWine: It’s Never Too Late to Do the Right Thing for Ohio’s Workers
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, the time is always right to do the right thing. In a case where formerly unemployed Ohioans are seeking the reinstatement of pandemic benefits, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has the opportunity to prove he … Continue reading
Labor Spring 2023: Making Campuses Platforms for Labor Renewal
Everywhere you look this spring, you’ll find evidence that campuses are becoming sites of labor organizing and struggle. In recent months, faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago staged recently a successful week-long strike, adjunct faculty at the New … Continue reading
Why Veterans in Labor Should Not Be Ignored
Even in the era of identity politics, one category of identity has largely been ignored: what UK journalist Joe Glenton calls “veteranhood.”19 million former soldiers — most of them working class — share a strong sense of personal identity as … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Labor and Community Activism
Tagged labor activism, Unions, Veterans in labor
1 Comment
Fair Time Legislation Is Achievable, Not Just for Rail Workers But for Everyone
Even as President Biden signed legislation imposing a contract without paid sick leave on 115,000 rail workers, he made it clear that the fight for paid leave — not just for rail workers but for everyone — wasn’t over. As … Continue reading
Meeting Labor’s Moment
In my thirty years in the labor movement, I’ve never seen a moment quite like this one. We’re living through a pivotal moment for America’s working class and for the future of U.S. labor, but it’s more than that. This … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Labor and Community Activism, Lane Windham
Tagged labor movement
2 Comments
Which Side Are You On? Four Facts and Two Promising Prescriptions for Dampening Inflation
As mine owners and their goons terrorized striking miners and their families during the Harlan County Coal wars in 1931, Florence Reece penned the iconic labor song, “Which Side Are You On.” It pleads for unity and collective resistance. As … Continue reading
Deadbeat Creditors and Other Tales of Moral Hazard
Some twenty years ago, three years out of law school, my partner and I attended a friend’s wedding in New Jersey. Both of us had racked up a lot of debt and were struggling to find permanent jobs in NYC. … Continue reading
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