Tag Archives: middle class

A Class on Class

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Working-Class Perspectives

I recently graded 32 final projects from my course on working-class literature at the University of Pittsburgh.  The assignment had invited students to use whatever forms of writing or other media would allow them to express what they had been … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Nick Coles, Understanding Class | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Against Pursuing Excellence

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Working-Class Perspectives

I am not against excellence.  I just think it’s over-rated as an aspiration.  In fact, I think aspiration itself may be over-rated. When I see excellence — when I’m competent to recognize it (and in many fields, like science and … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Understanding Class | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

American History without the Working Class — Again!

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Working-Class Perspectives

As interesting and insightful as American Prospect reviewer Sarah Igo makes it seem, I am not going to read Made in America: A Social History of American Culture and Character by Berkeley sociologist Claude Fischer. According to Igo, Fischer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Understanding Class | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Welcome to the Working Class

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Working-Class Perspectives

As the financial industry celebrates its recovery from the Great Recession with huge bonuses, attention has turned increasingly to jobs.  But that’s not a new concern: over the past three decades first the working class and then the middle class … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, The Working Class and the Economy | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments