Category Archives: Issues

Grifting the Working Class

Posted on February 18, 2019 by

Since the 2016 election, pundits have pondered how a man who began his campaign by gliding down an escalator in a gaudy Manhattan skyscraper festooned with his name managed to ride working-class resentment and anxiety to the presidency. How did … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Working-Class Politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Class and the Dignity of Work

Posted on February 11, 2019 by

In the week before Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown announced his “Dignity of Work” tour, with events in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, and his home state, Ohio. The tour placed the working class at … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Ken Estey, Labor and Community Activism, The Working Class and the Economy, Working-Class Politics | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Should We Mourn the Loss of Industrial Jobs?

Posted on February 4, 2019 by

On his show, This Is Me Now, comedian Jim Jefferies recently joked that Canada should build a three-foot wall on its border to prevent ‘Americans [who] are crawling over because their lungs are filled with coal from getting all their … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Work, Working-Class Culture | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Ghosts of Bisbee

Posted on January 28, 2019 by

Bisbee ‘17 is a documentary about an Arizona town facing its ghosts.  In June 1917, when copper miners organized by the Industrial Workers of the World had gone on strike for two weeks, 1200 striking workers were rounded up and … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Labor and Community Activism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Working-Class Precarity: An Education

Posted on January 21, 2019 by

The teacher who most influenced me was Raphael Samuel, one of the leading social historians of his time – though I didn’t know that when I studied with him.  Raph, as we came to know him, had chosen to work … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Tim Strangleman, Work | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Time to Make a Deal on the Federal Minimum Wage

Posted on January 14, 2019 by

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009.  Until last year, when the unemployment rate dropped almost to the level of full employment, wages were stagnant, exacerbating inequality.  In 2018, average hourly earnings went up … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Wade Rathke, Work, Working-Class Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Blaming Workers Again

Posted on January 7, 2019 by

Working-class people often get blamed for their troubles. They should have planned better, been less demanding, or just been smarter. Those are just some of the judgments that surfaced again in the weeks after General Motors’ announcement late in November … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Labor and Community Activism, Sherry Linkon, The Working Class and the Economy | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments