-
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
Archives
The State of the Working Class
Listen to Working-Class Perspective editor Sherry Linkon's recent interview about Working-Class Studies on KERA's Think with Krys Boyd.Links
Blogroll
Category Archives: Contributors
Working-Class Scholars and Activists Bringing Change
At the beginning of 2021, I asked whether life for working-class people would get any better now that everyone understood that working-class people keep societies running. I wasn’t very optimistic about bosses or governments doing much to stem job insecurity … Continue reading
Sidney Poitier: Nobody You Can Boss Around
In the 10 days since we learned of Sidney Poitier’s death there have been hundreds of tributes to Poitier—an undeniable icon. Most of these tributes have focused on Poitier’s brilliant acting, for which he received innumerable awards, as well as … Continue reading
The Pandemic as an Employment Shell Game
I have always been skeptical of the use of labor statistics. In 2009, I began to write in Working-Class Perspectives about the de facto unemployment rate, because official reports on the unemployment rate in Youngstown left out much of the … Continue reading
Work is a Real Life Squid Game for the Global Precariat
I’m assuming you’ve heard of Squid Game, but have you also heard that Squid Game is the most watched television show in Netflix history, inspiring 1.65 billion hours of viewing in its first month? This week we learned that Squid … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Kathy M. Newman, Work
Tagged precariat, Squid Game, workplace violence
1 Comment
Who Wants to Be Rich? Working-Class People Would Like Their Share
A recent crop of TV shows — Maid, Succession, Squid Game — have demonstrated that being rich doesn’t lead to happiness. Family, friendship, and other aspects of life are more important. If the world of the rich is filled with … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield
Tagged rich people, working class on TV
Leave a comment
Building Back Better?
As we await U.S. Senate action on President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, it is worth reflecting on what the past few tumultuous months have meant for U.S. workers. Much has happened in the short time since the summer drew … Continue reading
How Class Cultures Work
Across my lifetime, I’ve lived within and between two class cultures that work together in complex and sometimes contradictory ways. Broadly, middle-class professionalism emphasizes aspiration, achievement, and becoming. Working-class culture, on the other hand, prioritizes authenticity, character, and belonging. One … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Working-Class Culture
Tagged class relations, working-class culture
2 Comments
Dirty Jobs, Essential Workers, and the Infrastructure Bills
Current negotiations over the second infrastructure bill may remind a lot of people of Mike Rowe’s oddly popular series Dirty Jobs. Which makes sense. Watching a man stumble around inside a sewage tank as he gags loudly and directs us … Continue reading
How Government Statistics Define the Stories of the Working Class
One of my favorite media criticism works is British journalist and media professor Brian Winston’s “On Counting the Wrong Things.” He argues that the categories we use to count can themselves lead to misleading conclusions. Deciding to count the number … Continue reading
Blue-Collar Babies: Why America’s Working Class Needs Affordable Child Care
In Netflix’s must-see new series, Maid, Alex (Margaret Qualley) flees a violent boyfriend with her two-year-old in tow, only to discover the gordian knot of being an impoverished, unhoused, single mom. Affordable child care is at the knot’s center. Alex … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Lane Windham, The Working Class and the Economy, Work
Tagged American Family Plan, child care, Maid
1 Comment
Working-Class Perspectives 