Archive: Working-Class Perspectives
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WCP: Blaming Workers Again
When GM announced in November that it planned to close five plants in the United States and Canada, many were quick to point the finger at those who will suffer the consequences: the workers. Why hadn’t they planned better? Gone to college? Moved to a different city? Voted differently? Made even more concessions with their union? In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, John Russo and Sherry Linkon explain why these ideas are wrong and why they matter.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: The Global Working Class Fights Back
2018 has seen many working-class people around the world standing up for their rights and pushing back against injustice and inequality. Some of these fights have made the mainstream news in western countries, but many have not. As we reflect on the year that is ending, let’s not forget the struggles of working-class people and the successes of collective action and solidarity. Around the world, people have had enough of corporate greed and government inaction to combat inequality.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Trouble in Paradise
The wildfires in California, protests in France, the refugee crisis, and disputes over federal land all have a common thread in climate change. Working-class people repeatedly bear the brunt of its effects, and the rich use their clout to buy and legislate their own protection at others’ expense. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Allison L. Hurst ruminates the class war over climate.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: ABC Sitcom The Conners: The Struggle is Real
ABC rebooted Roseanne without its namesake star after she was dismissed for a racist tweet against President Obama’s close advisor, Valerie Jarrett. In Working-Class Perspectives, Kathy M. Newman describes how The Conners successfully tackles issues that working-class families face today: struggles with addiction, health, and work.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Beyond the Caravan: Why We Must Protect Workers Covered by TPS
Leading up to the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans warned voters about a caravan of migrants traveling north from Central America. In this weeks’ Working-Class Perspective, KI’s Juan L. Belman Guerrero calls our attention to another group of immigrants who have already planted roots in the United States: hundreds of thousands of immigrants covered by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) face the threat of removal from their homes and workplaces if their immigration status is not addressed, which would harm both them and the American economy.
Categories: Our Staff, Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Is the Fever Breaking? Ground Zero Youngstown
Before the election, KI visiting scholar John Russo dubbed Youngstown, Ohio as “ground zero” for Trump’s appeals to white working-class voters. Two years later, Russo explores whether the Trump fever is starting to break in the area. In Working-Class Perspectives, he tracks how a slumping local economy, trade policy, and the politics of resentment are shaping political views in this long-time Democratic stronghold.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Working-Class Politics and The Foremen Problem
“White working-class voters” are usually treated as a single, monolithic group, but that ignores some important differences in this category. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Allison L. Hurst analyzes how foremen, who consider themselves as middle-class, are more likely to vote Republican than other workers.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Middle-Class Influence vs. Working-Class Character
Children start learning the culture of their social class early on, and those lessons shape not only their own behavior and opportunities but also the way others respond to them. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metzgar reviews Jessica Calarco’s book on how middle-class children learn to negotiate for better opportunities, while working-class children are taught to be deferential.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Labor’s Day, More or Less?
The U.S. labor movement is facing bitter legal and political attacks. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective Wade Rathke asserts that the talk of unions dying off is greatly exaggerated. Rathke points to a surge of worker-led organizing across the country and the ability of unions in other parts of the world to thrive in even harder circumstances than the ones set by Janus.
Categories: Bargaining for the Common Good, Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Sorry to Bother You: A Spectacle That Teaches
Among labor activists, summer movie-going wasn’t defined by another high-budget action film or carefree 70’s themed musical, but by Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You. In this week’s Working-Class perspectives, Kathy M. Newman reviews the film and discusses how its production is reflective of a changing Hollywood that is becoming more accepting of pro-union politics.
Category: Visiting Scholars