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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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Tag Archives: activism
Activist Art in Working-Class Communities
The impacts of government sell-offs of public housing on working-class communities are highlighted in new documentary film released in the UK. Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (2017), features experts and politicians, but at its heart are the working-class people … Continue reading
Organizing Miracles
The problem with collective action is you can’t do it on your own. Massive popular collective action emerges from mysterious movements in the Zeitgeist, but it also requires dedicated organizing that often seems not just unlikely but almost miraculous. When … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Labor and Community Activism
Tagged 1989, activism, East Germany, organizing
3 Comments
Climate of Change: Students, Naomi Klein, and the People’s Climate March
I was one of the hundreds of thousands filling the streets of New York for the People’s Climate March, September 21, 2014. I was there with a dozen students from my freshman composition course, in which we are reading and … Continue reading
Posted in Class at the Intersections, Contributors, Issues, Nick Coles
Tagged activism, capitalism, climate change, Naomi Klein, People's Climate March
1 Comment
Climate Change and Income Inequality
People committed to struggles for peace and justice always have our work cut out for us. The forces arrayed against us are powerful and determined, and the range of issues and crises demanding action is daunting. Given our limited time … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Nick Coles, The Working Class and the Economy
Tagged activism, climate change, income inequality
1 Comment
Sing Out! Lessons from the Extraordinary Life of Pete Seeger
Like thousands of fellow Americans, I have spent the last week listening to Pete Seeger’s recordings, poring over his many obits, and inhaling Alec Wilkinson’s wonderful short biography, The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger. With this work … Continue reading
All in for Inequality for All
Two months ago I learned about the film Inequality for All when I saw a friend’s post about it on facebook. I rushed to the film’s website to find out when it was coming to Pittsburgh. But alas, there was … Continue reading
The Future of Labor Unions and Community Coalitions
Over the last 30 years, the American labor movement has periodically gone through wrenching discussions of its failures to organize new workers and grow its membership. See, for example, “The Changing Situation of Workers and Their Unions” (February, 1985), “New … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Labor and Community Activism
Tagged activism, coalition building, community organizing, labor movement, labor unions, SEIU, Trumka
4 Comments
Is Education the Answer to Economic Inequality?
One of the most common solutions offered to reverse America’ growing economic inequality is increased access to education. President Obama may have started the trend with his call for universal, high-quality preschool, but others have joined the fray. In March, … Continue reading
Social Media: What Is It Good For?
In June of 2009, a movement of Iranians mobilized to protest the apparent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The government moved to suppress dissenting voices by censoring text messages, blogs, and other forms of communication. Observers around the world got excited … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues
Tagged activism, Civil Rights movement, Iran democracy, Malcolm Gladwell, social media
7 Comments
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