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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
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Tag Archives: working conditions
Making Sense of Working-Class Work
Forty years ago this July, I left school to start my first career as a railway worker. At sixteen and with few if any qualifications, I was lucky to find a good job which was fully unionised. As the union … Continue reading
Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Tim Strangleman, Work
Tagged working conditions, working-class jobs
1 Comment
Fair Time Legislation Is Achievable, Not Just for Rail Workers But for Everyone
Even as President Biden signed legislation imposing a contract without paid sick leave on 115,000 rail workers, he made it clear that the fight for paid leave — not just for rail workers but for everyone — wasn’t over. As … Continue reading
The Power of Recognizing Higher Ed Faculty as Working-Class
Just over 20 years ago, Michael Zweig published The Working Class Majority: America’s Best Kept Secret. At that year’s How Class Works conference at SUNY Stony Brook, academics from history, political science, labor and industrial relations, and other fields debated … Continue reading
“People Ain’t Gonna Come to Work if They Don’t Feel Safe”
If you live in Iowa, you get to see a little bit of how the sausage is made, so to speak, especially if it’s pork. It’s a common occurrence to see long semi-truck trailers on the highways, with round pink … Continue reading
Working-Class People Hold Society Together: Class and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted class inequalities. Commentators in the US, UK, and Australia are acknowledging that working-class people are more likely to suffer as a result of both the virus and the measures put in place to contain its … Continue reading
Why Can’t It Be Like That Now? Remembering What We Had and Could Have Again
‘But why can’t work be like that now?’ my colleague Julia asked when I told her about my research into the former Guinness brewery at Park Road in West London. After working on the project for the best part of … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, Tim Strangleman, Work
Tagged changes in work, workers' experiences, working conditions, working-class culture
2 Comments
Sorry to Bother You: A Spectacle That Teaches
If you haven’t seen Sorry to Bother You yet, please stop reading this and find somewhere in your town that is still playing the film. SEE IT NOW. If you have seen Sorry to Bother You, I hope you will … Continue reading
Worker Portraits: Contradictions and Contingency
Paintings and sculptures often represent those with power, not the working class. Yet, a current exhibit at Washington, D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery, “The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying America’s Workers,” not only highlights workers, it also invites us to consider … Continue reading
The Work Lives of Uber Drivers: Worse Than You Think
To be an Uber driver is to work when you want. Or so Uber likes to say in recruitment materials, advertisements, and sponsored research papers: “Be your own boss.” “Earn money on your schedule.” “With Uber, you’re in charge.” The … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Work
Tagged gig economy, Uber, working conditions
22 Comments
Teaching Work and Learning from Working-Class Students
It was my freshman year at university, and we were just back from Easter break for the first tutorial of the summer term. The seminar leader, an older middle-class professor, went around the table asking each of us what we … Continue reading
Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Tim Strangleman
Tagged teaching, working conditions, working-class students
5 Comments
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