Category Archives: Understanding Class

How Their Silence Diminishes Us

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Working-Class Perspectives

Dear [REDACTED], I’ve started this letter too many times. A few weeks ago, we stood at opposite ends of a small apartment. I’m new to being part of gatherings like this, so I watched warily from the sidelines of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, Understanding Class | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Class Ceilings

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Working-Class Perspectives

Most of us have stopped believing in the myth of the meritocracy. The myth promises that the ablest or most intelligent or hardest working get ahead of the rest.  Most everyone realizes this is not true, yet we continue to … Continue reading →

Posted in Allison L. Hurst, Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Understanding Class | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Which Side Are You On? Four Facts and Two Promising Prescriptions for Dampening Inflation

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Working-Class Perspectives

As mine owners and their goons terrorized striking miners and their families during the Harlan County Coal wars in 1931, Florence Reece penned the iconic labor song, “Which Side Are You On.” It pleads for unity and collective resistance. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Issues, The Working Class and the Economy, Understanding Class | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Hope and Concern: The WCSA’s 2022 Award Winners

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Working-Class Perspectives

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 , , , , | 1 Comment

A Movement Moment and a Real NLRB

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Working-Class Perspectives

Finally, it’s a new morning for workers in America.   For at least a brief time, while the Biden administration is alive, even if unwell, and the Supreme Court has not yet brought the darkness and ended our parade, opportunity is … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Labor and Community Activism, Understanding Class, Wade Rathke | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Working-Class Scholars and Activists Bringing Change

Posted on January 24, 2022 by sarahattfield

At the beginning of 2021, I asked whether life for working-class people would get any better now that everyone understood that working-class people keep societies running. I wasn’t very optimistic about bosses or governments doing much to stem job insecurity … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Sarah Attfield, Understanding Class | Tagged , | Leave a comment



Posted on January 3, 2022 by Working-Class Perspectives

Pandemic Cuts: Deepening the Higher Ed Divide American mythology promises upward mobility, and college can provide an important first step up the class ladder. With the rise of the “knowledge economy” and the decline of industrial jobs and unions, some … Continue reading →

Posted in Understanding Class | 4 Comments

Will Democrats Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth?

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Working-Class Perspectives

This has been a month of bad news for the Democratic Party. The conflicts around the infrastructure and Build Back Better bills and the November election results make clear that Republicans hold significant advantages with voters on critical issues including … Continue reading →

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Accounting for Class

Posted on September 27, 2021 by deindustrial

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 , | 3 Comments

Announcing the 2021 Working-Class Studies Association Awards

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Working-Class Perspectives

It is my honor and pleasure to share the winners of the Working-Class Studies Association’s annual awards.  The books, articles, essays, stories, and media nominated for our awards this year show a great diversity. Looking at this list of award-winning … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Guest Bloggers, Understanding Class | Tagged , | Leave a comment