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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: Working-Class Culture
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
Loved and Lost: Working-Class People We Lost in 2022
While it might seem rather maudlin to start a new year by writing about death, the loss of favourite musicians, actors, and athletes reminds us of the pleasure they’ve given us. Some losses are especially important for working-class people, for … Continue reading
Hope and Concern: The WCSA’s 2022 Award Winners
Great plagues subvert our expectations about how things work, opening up new opportunities and widespread mobilization for social change. According to one massive study of historical epidemics, “civil unrest” often follows – as we are seeing now. Whatever direction the … Continue reading
Posted in Allison L. Hurst, Class and Education, Class and Health, Class and the Media, Class at the Intersections, Contributors, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Understanding Class, Working-Class Culture
Tagged WCSA, work and class, working-class poetry, working-class studies, Working-Class Studies Association
1 Comment
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
3 Comments
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
3 Comments
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
English Football and Working-Class Culture
On the afternoon of Saturday, September 23rd, 1933, Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) played Liverpool in a match at Tottenham’s home ground, White Hart Lane, in North London. About a mile away, at the same time, my grandmother went into labour with … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield, Working-Class Culture
Tagged Class and sports, European Super League, football, Tottenham Hotspur
1 Comment
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
The Unsettling
It’s fire season again. Two years ago, my parents lost their home in Paradise. This year, I almost lost mine. I live in Oregon, where scores of fires were stoked up by unusual Eastern blasts of dry wind over the … 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
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