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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
Listen to Working-Class Perspective editor Sherry Linkon's recent interview about Working-Class Studies on KERA's Think with Krys Boyd.Links
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Category Archives: Contributors
Class and Water: Climate-Charged Displacement
Hurricane Ida in Louisiana in August and the historic wildfires in the West and Midwest are the latest reminders that too much water, or too little, will be in the headlines for the rest of our lives. But to call … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Ken Estey, The Working Class and the Economy
Tagged climate change, infrastructure, Jobs
1 Comment
The Multiracial Working Class
One of the questions that you hear regularly in the Working-Class Studies Association is, “Why is the organization so White?” There are many possible answers to this question, of course. Some of it must surely be laid at our collective … Continue reading
Accounting for Class
Recently global accountancy giant KPMG made headlines for its new policy on social class and its mission to increase working-class representation amongst its workforce. In what seems like a ground-breaking initiative, the company has set itself the target of increasing … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Tim Strangleman, Understanding Class, Working-Class Culture
Tagged Class diversity, class identity
2 Comments
“Don’t Get Old”: On Ageing and the Working Class
In the US sitcom Superstore (2015-2021), one of the characters, Myrtle, is an elderly store assistant who is often the brunt of jokes due to the slow pace of her work and her overall dottiness. At one point in the … Continue reading
Some Dreamers of the Rusty Dream
In the new Showtime series, American Rust, set and filmed outside of Pittsburgh, PA, and based on the 2009 novel by Philipp Meyer, we see the aftermath of an industrial collapse so devastating that the fictional town of Buell, PA, … Continue reading
The Unanswered Question about the Future of US Labor Unions
Within six months the two men who have led the AFL-CIO for more than twenty-five years, John J. Sweeney and Richard Trumka, have passed away. In reflecting on Trumka’s sudden passing and the likely transition of leadership within the dominant … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Labor and Community Activism, Wade Rathke
Tagged AFL-CIO, labor organizing, labor unions
1 Comment
Fighting Poverty with Classism
I spent part of last week at the Chautauqua Institution, which a friend described as “summer camp for adults.” Its lovely Victorian summer homes, pricey food options, and demographics – skewing older and extremely white – make it feel like … Continue reading
The Downward Path We’ve Trod: Reflections on an Ominous Anniversary
This week marks the 40th anniversary of an illegal strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) that was decisively broken by President Ronald Reagan. That strike began on August 3, 1981, when more than 12,000 air traffic controllers … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Joseph A. McCartin, Labor and Community Activism
Tagged labor activism, labor unions, PATCO strike
2 Comments
MIA: Workers, Working, and Workplaces
“Hacks is like most stories about creative work: It avoids really showing any.” B.D. McClay, New York Times Magazine B.D. McClay’s epigram works like any good hook: it grabs your interest. So here is another: “In order to entertain audiences, … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Work
Tagged Dirty Jobs, Films about work, Images of work
1 Comment
Biden and Social Wages
If Biden’s American Family Plan becomes law as he proposed it, my grand-niece Harri will finally have a “modest yet adequate” standard of living based on a new commitment from the federal government to provide social wages. Harri is a … Continue reading
