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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: Class and the Media
Sea Shanties and the Pleasure of Work
I thought that the viral TikTok sea shanty trend had run its course when, just before Passover, I saw a link to a video called the “Red Sea Shanties.” Here the Jewish a capella group, Six13, changed the lyrics of … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Kathy M. Newman, Work
Tagged TikTok, Wellerman, Work songs
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Bringing Ourselves to Say “Working-Class”
Would it make a difference if this was called the Middle-Class Perspectives blog? Would the writers be discussing the same issues in the arts, in education, in politics, and the relationship between race, gender, and class if we were talking … Continue reading
Bucket Toilets and Casseroles: Belonging, Mutual Aid, and Working-Class Survival
This past year of the pandemic has, for many, been one of struggle and isolation. So films about single older working-class women dealing with economic and personal challenges might not seem inspiring at the moment. But the insights they provide … Continue reading
Not Just Viruses: What Epidemic Cinema Teaches Us about Working-Class Vulnerability
Over the last year of the COVID pandemic, we’ve heard over and over that “we’re all in this together,” But the quality (and “quantity”) of public health services for poor and working-class families was an issue before the Covid-19 pandemic. … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues
Tagged catastrophes, COVID, epidemics, precariat
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Christmas (and Class) Behind the Scenes
I love Christmas movies because they are always about work. Want to see executive fat cats who are forced to work on Christmas Eve? Check out Scrooged, Elf, and The Family Man. Want to see elves being mistreated, overworked, and … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues, Kathy M. Newman
Tagged Elf, Holiday movies, Netflix, workers
2 Comments
Cultural and Political Diversity in the White Working-Class
Influential political analyst Ron Brownstein thinks American politics is all about answering this question: “How long can Paducah tell Seattle what to do?” The question resonates because metro areas vote so differently from small town and rural areas and because … Continue reading
Reality TV and Real Work in the Fishing Industry
Fishing may be the world’s second oldest profession, but the industry is about as visible as a quiet cousin at a family reunion. Unassuming, keeping to itself, it is largely ignored in talk about work and the economy. All of … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Work
Tagged Fishing industry, reality TV
3 Comments
No Class: Why You Should Be Getting Your Labor News from Teen Vogue
Last Wednesday NBA players refused to take the court for their playoff games in order to protest the latest police shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake of Kenosha, Wisconsin, who survived the shooting but is now paralyzed. In … Continue reading
Working-Class Public Housing in the COVID Spotlight
The Covid19 pandemic has highlighted many inequalities experienced by working-class people — insecure work, unsafe work places, access to health care, housing conditions and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on people of colour. Mainstream media has also covered many … Continue reading
Essential Work: The 2020 WCSA Awards
At the center of all the chaos and turmoil of 2020 has been the essential worker on the front lines—from healthcare workers treating those infected with COVID-19 to service workers of all kinds who have kept us fed, supplied, and … Continue reading
