Social classes Books

Book SynopsisPublishers Weekly’s “Top 10” Spring 2024Amazon's Best History Book of the Month for February 2024This groundbreaking book tracks the massive wealth amassed from slavery from pre-Civil War to today, showing how our modern economy was built on the backs of enslaved Black people—and lays out a clear argument for reparations that shows exactly what was stolen, who stole it, and to whom it is owed.   In this timely, powerful, investigative history, The Stolen Wealth of Slavery, Emmy Award-nominated journalist David Montero follows the trail of the massive wealth amassed by Northern corporations throughout America’s history of enslavement. It has long been maintained by many that the North wasn’t complicit in the horrors of slavery. The truth, however, is that large Northern banks—including well-known institutions like Citibank, Bank of New York, and Bank of America&mda

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Book SynopsisThis important book “weaves lyrical storytelling and fascinating research into a compelling narrative” (San Francisco Chronicle) to look at dietary differences along class lines and nutritional disparities in America, illuminating exactly how inequality starts on the dinner plate. Inequality in America manifests in many ways, but perhaps nowhere more than in how we eat. From her years of field research, sociologist and ethnographer Priya Fielding-Singh brings us into the kitchens of dozens of families from varied educational, economic, and ethnoracial backgrounds to explore how—and why—we eat the way we do. We get to know four families intimately: the Bakers, a Black family living below the federal poverty line; the Williamses, a working-class white family just above it; the Ortegas, a middle-class Latinx family; and the Cains, an affluent white family. ​ Whether it's worrying about how far pantry provisions can

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Book SynopsisAn essential and engaging read for everyone who wants to better understand the challenges facing our cities, towns and our nation, starting with the places we call home (Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class)The neighborhoods we live in impact our lives in so many ways: they determine who we know, what resources and opportunities we have access to, the quality of schools our kids go to, our sense of security and belonging, and even how long we live.Yet too many of us live in neighborhoods plagued by rising crime, school violence, family disintegration, addiction, alienation, and despair. Even the wealthiest neighborhoods are not immune; while poverty exacerbates these challenges, they exist in zip codes rich and poor, rural and urban, and everything in between.In Fragile Neighborhoods, fragile states expert Seth D. Kaplan offers a bold new vision for addressing social decline in America, one zip code at a time. By rev

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Book SynopsisThis collection of essays considers some of the conceptual and philosophical contentions that Nancy Fraser’s work has provoked, presenting some compelling examples of its analytical power in a range of contexts.Trade ReviewLovell’s edited essays offer valuable reflections on an area of commonground shared by sociology and moral philosophy: the Redistribution orRecognition debate. Bridget Fowler is a Professor Emerita of Sociology in the University ofGlasgowTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Re-Faming Justice in a Globalizing World 3. Justice and the Public Sphere: The Dynamics of Nancy Fraser’s Critical Theory 4. Sexuality, Subjectivity and … Economics? 5. Nancy Fraser’s Theory of Justice: A ‘Sociologically Rich’ Model for a Global Capitalist Era? 6. Class, Moral Worth and Recognition 7. Feminist Critiques of Bourdieu: The Case of Social Capital 8. NQOC: Social Identity and Representation in British Politics 9. (Mis)-Recognition, Social Inequality and Social Justice: A Critical Social Policy Perspective 10. Needs, Rights and Transformations: The Adjudication of Social Rights in South Africa

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Book SynopsisHow can teachers bridge the gap between their commitments to social justice and their day to day practice? This is the question author Adam Howard asked as he began teaching at an elite private school and the question that led him to conduct a six-year study on affluent schooling. Unfamiliar with the educational landscape of privilege and abundance, he began exploring the burning questions he had as a teacher on the lessons affluent students are taught in schooling about their place in the world, their relationships with others, and who they are. Grounded in an extensive ethnographic account, Learning Privilege examines the concept of privilege itself and the cultural and social processes in schooling that reinforce and regenerate privilege. Howard explores what educators, students and families at elite schools value most in education and how these values guide ways of knowing and doing that both create high standards for their educational programs and reinfTrade Review"This is an important and easy-to-read account of a subject we often think we know all about—how privilege influences our education. Howard has effectively combined a narrative account with an academic one to help us all relate to the subject. If only I could have read this forty years ago, before I began to tackle this subject in the Central Park East Schools of East Harlem."--Deborah Meier, currently senior scholar at New York University, author and for 40 years a teacher and principal at ground breaking K-12 public schools"Howard tells a compelling story of life in elite schools from the perspective of a teacher whose own K-12 experiences had been in rural, impoverished schools. Besides being a keen observer of classroom and school life, Howard documents how he carries out his own mission of challenging his affluent students to rethink their sheltered, elitist views and engage in social justice pursuits. The author balances astute personal reflections as a teacher in elite schools with a sensitive and caring portrayal of students who may come across as arrogant and selfish, yet still face the pain caused by school competition and excessively high parental expectations. "--Ellen Brantlinger, Professor Emeritus, Curriculum & Instruction Department, Indiana University-BloomingtonTable of Contents1. Teaching the Affluent 2. Revisioning Privilege 3. In Pursuit of Excellence 4. College-Oriented Desires and Expectations 5. Trust 6. Honoring Traditions 7. Giving Back 8. Outsiders Within 9. Privileged Perceptions of the Subjugated Other 10. Interrupting Privilege. Notes References

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive analysis of stratification in rural Sri Lanka, taking into account the hierarchies of class, status and power.Table of ContentsTransliteration of Sinhalese words; research setting. Part 1 Stratification during the baseline period: the baseline period; the caste hierarchy in the baseline period; the class hierarchy in the baseline period; the power hierarchy in the baseline period; the ideology of stratification during the baseline period. Part 2 Contemporary stratification: the contemporary community; the contemporary caste hierarchy; the contemporary class hierarchy; the contemporary power hierarchy; the contemporary ideology of stratification.

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Book SynopsisA revolutionary new argument from eminent Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits attacking the false promise of meritocracy It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal – that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding – reigns supreme.  Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream.   But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy’s successes.   This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits is well placed to expose the sham of meritocracy. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. Markovits also knows that, if we understand that meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. When The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, it also illuminates the first steps outward, towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people.

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Book SynopsisThe author of this text challeges the the conventional view of the Scottish nobility as violent, unlearned and backward, with the aim of demonstrating that the nobility were as steeped in contemporary European debates and movements as they were rooted in local society.

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Book SynopsisHow would the Mitford girls cope with the pressures and turmoil of modern life? Whether it is Pamela’s guide to throwing a jubilee party, Nancy's guide to fashion or Diana’s tips on how to stay young, this quirky and fact-filled book draws on rare and unpublished interviews and information to answer that question.

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Book SynopsisDavid Downes'' early work on delinquency in East London made an original contribution to the comparative study of anomie and subcultural theory, and social policy on education and employment. His research and writing went on to include the study of gambling, drugs policy and the state of criminological theory. His later work broke new ground in detailed, cross-national, comparative analysis of criminal justice and penal policy, in particular in relation to England and the Netherlands. A related endeavour was to contribute (with Rod Morgan) to the burgeoning study of the politics of crime control. He was a founding member of the National Deviancy Conference in 1968 and of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice at the LSE in 1989. He edited the British Journal of Criminology from 1985 until 1990. His most recent work (with Tim Newburn and Paul Rock) has been on the official history of criminal justice policy in England and Wales 1960-1997.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; Published writings; The teen canteen: in at the end; Educating for uncertainty (with Fred Flower); Delinquent subcultures in Stepney and Poplar: informal observation; Summary and conclusions; Gambling as a sociological problem; Gambling as a social problem (with B.P. Davies, M.E. David and P. Stone); Promise and performance in British criminology; Praxis makes perfect: a critique of critical criminology (with Paul Rock); Abolition: possibilities and pitfalls; Law and order: theft of an issue; Theories of decarceration: problems of accounting for sentencing trends in the Netherlands; The depth of imprisonment: an exploratory study of the Netherlands and England; Employment schemes for offenders; Mitigating the social effects of unemployment; Dumping the 'hostages to fortune'? The politics of law and order in post-war Britain (with Rod Morgan); The macho penal economy: mass incarceration in the United States - a European perspective; Toughing it out: from Labour opposition to Labour government; Visions of penal control in the Netherlands; Name index.

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Book SynopsisHow is the class being transformed in the Global South? How are working people organising in the workplace and in the community? What are the forces shaping and reshaping workers' lives? Four essays focus on change amongst American workers.Table of ContentsClass and the capitalist corporation in the 21st Century, Greg Albo; China's ruling class, Lin Chun; China's working class, Lu Zhang; The working classes in China and India, Jens Lerche; India's New Trade Union Initiative, Gautam Mody; Class in the Slums, Supriya Roy Chowdhury; The Egyptian working class, Joel Beinin; NUMSA and the class struggle in South Africa, Nicolas Pons-Vignon & Sam Ashman; The transformation of Chile's class structure, Tim Clark; Class and politics in Turkey, Sebnem Oguz; The European working classes, Andreas Bieler; Class analysis and the British working class, Hugo Radice; Labour's new morphology: From informality to infoproletariat, Ricardo Atunes; What happened to the new middle class? Randy Martin; Social class and its global reproduction in the age of austerity, Sue Ferguson & David McNally; On decent work: a global perspective, Ben Selwyn; The International Olympic Committee: Class and Neoliberal Globalization, George Wright; Money in American politics, Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgenson & Jie Chen.

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Book SynopsisStories of economic shame in Britain and a hopeful way forward for capitalism Trade Review‘How the system became rigged so that even the fortunate lose out: a masterpiece.’ * Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1% *‘The latest in the series of powerful books on the divisions in modern Britain, and will take its place on many bookshelves beside Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race and Owen Jones’s Chavs.’ * Andrew Marr, Sunday Times on Posh Boys *‘[A] hard-hitting, forensic takedown.’ -- Herald (Glasgow)

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Book SynopsisA wry, affectionate and amusing take on English class and customs from an outsider''s perspective.For years German lawyer and author Detlev Piltz has been observing England, its life, customs and above all its classes. He argues that whenever an English person meets another, they will immediately try and place the individual they are talking to in a class by their speech, deportment, clothing, address and general aura. Why might this be, and does the English class system still exist in the twenty-first century? This book argues that it is very much still alive.Piltz examines the ''hard'' and ''soft'' class markers that permeate English society, from where Britons go on holiday to what they wear, eat, drive and what they name their pets. He explains how the way you pronounce the word garage' indicates your class, and asks whether it makes sense still to talk of the English Gentleman, a species of human being so often admired in continental Europe yet parodied and satirized ad infTrade ReviewAt 400-plus pages, Piltz is nothing if not thorough. He includes some great quotes... * The Guardian Saturday Magazine *Table of ContentsForeword and Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: About Class 1 ‘It depends on your class’ 2 Equality and Meritocracy 3 What is Class? 4 Hard Class Markers 5 Working, Upper, Middle, Under 6 Class Matters 7 Class Denial 8 Class and Politics Part II: Soft class markers (then and now) 9 Rules, Soft and Silent 10 Appearance 11 Clothing and Dress 12 Greeting, Introduction, Addressing People 13 What’s in a Name? 14 Accent and Pronunciation 15 Vocabulary and Language 16 Conversation 17 Stances and Behaviour 18 Cars 19 Table Manners 20 Food and Drink 21 Shopping 22 House 23 Gardens 24 Animals 25 Sport 26 Holidays and Travel 27 The Arts 28 Etcetera Part III: Always and Forever? 29 A classless Society 30 Class-free Zones 31 Class of Origin 32 Change of Class 33 Breaking the Rules 34 Foreigners Part IV: Beyond Class 35 This Happy Breed of Men Bibliography and Further Reading Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThrough individual stories, essays, poetry, and critical analyses, Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, Seventh Edition, introduces issues of race, class, and gender within an interdisciplinary framework. Themes of identity, power, and change are examined from many different perspectives and voices. In addition to its focus on minorities victimized by discrimination, this anthology includes the experiences of the privileged and of those who resist change, and reinforces students’ understanding that they can effect changes in their lives and in society.Table of ContentsPreface Identity Part I Racial and Ethnic Identity 1. Just ‘Cause I’m Mixed by Afro DZ aka (Peter Shungu) 2. American Anthropological Association “Statement on Race” 3. Ethnicity in American Life: The Historical Perspective by John Hope Franklin 4. Toward a More Perfect Union by Barack Obama 5. ‘Racial Impostor Syndrome’: Here Are Your Stories by National Public Radio 6. Every Good-Bye Ain’t Gone by James Baldwin 7. The Loudest Voice by Grace Paley 8. To Be Hopi or American by Polingaysi Qoyawayma (Elizabeth Q. White) 9. People of Color Who Never Felt They Were Black by Darryl Fears 10. Rosa Wakefield by John Langston Gwaltney 11. I’m Not Your Miss Saigon by Jillian Montilla 12. In the Aloha State, All (Identity) Politics is Local by Eric Pape 13. American Dreamer by Bharati Mukherjee 14. On the Other Side of the War: A Story by Elizabeth Gordon 15. Medicalization of Racial Features: Asian American Women and Cosmetic Surgery by Eugenia Kaw 16. Before the Great Gorge by Carlos Cumpián 17. Race in a Genetic World by Harvard Magazine 18. Exploring the Cuban Conundrum: Exiles, Immigrants, Americans or Illegals? by Mercedes Diaz Suggestions for Responding to Part I Part II Gender and Sexual Identity 19. Adam Rippon: When I Came Out is When I Started to Own Who I Am As a Person by Karen Price 20. Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns? by Jeremy Adam Smith 21. There’s a Petition Calling for the First Transgender Barbie by Huffington Post 22. Where I Come From Is Like This by Paula Gunn Allen 23. The Male Role Stereotype by Doug Cooper Thompson 24. Transgender Rights in the United States: A Short History by Tom Head 25. A Transsexual’s Story by Jessica R. Stearns 26. Two Sexes Are Not Enough by Anne Fausto-Sterling 27. Same-Sex-Marriage Flashpoint: Alabama Considers Quitting the Marriage Business by Debbie Elliott 28. When the Political Is Personal by Ann Marie Nicolosi Suggestions for Responding to Part II Part III Economics and the American Dream 29. Decloaking Class: Why Class Identity and Consciousness Count by Janet Zandy 30. The Truth About Growing Up Rich by Sallie Bingham 31. Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education by bell hooks 32. Daddy Tucked the Blanket by Randall Williams 33. Homeless in America by Sabena Siddiqui 34. Student Debt Lives On Hold by Consumer Reports Suggestions for Responding to Part III Suggestion for Responding to Identity Power Part IV Power and Racism 35. Why “Birth of a Nation” Still Matters in American Politics by Frank Louis Rusciano 36. ICE Spokesman Quits, Bashes Trump Administration on Immigration Raids by Willa Frej 37. Historical Discrimination in the Immigration Laws by U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 38. Immigration Laws since 1980: The Closing Door by Barbara Franz 39. Consider the Trauma Immigration Raids Cause for Children by Dr. Rebekah Diamond 40. The Year in Hate: Trump Buoyed White Supremacists in 2017, Sparking Backlash Among Black Nationalist Groups by oDouth 41. 2-205 by Reshma Baig 42. Something About the Subject Makes It Hard to Name by Gloria Yamato 43. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh 44. Native Americans vs. the U.S. Government by Michael Dorris 45. Urban Native Americans by Roberta Fiske-Rusciano 46. Sex, Class, and Race Intersections: Visions of Women of Color by Carol Lee Sanchez 47. Crimes Against Humanity by Ward Churchill 48. Anti-Semitism in the United States by Robert Cherry 49. Seeing More Than Black and White by Elizabeth Martinez 50. Behind Barbed Wire by John Hersey 51. Asian Americans Battle “Model Minority” Stereotype by Robert Daseler 52. “Jim Crow” Law by Benjamin Quarles 53. Jim Crow Revived in Cyberspace by Greg Palast and Martin Luther King III 54. It’s Not Just Starbucks: White Fear is an American Problem by Renee Graham 55. Emmett Louis Till, 1941–1955 by Southern Poverty Law Center 56. Subtle vs. Overt Racism by David K. Shipler 57. Blacks Feel Indignities by Robert Anthony Watts Suggestions for Responding to Part IV Part V Power and Sexism 58. Citizenship and Violence by The American Prospect 59. Manhood on the Mat by Jackson Katz and Sut Jhally 60. For Women’s History Month, a Look at Gender Gains—and Gender Gaps—in the U.S. by Abigail Geiger and Kim Parker 61. Sexual Harassment at Work in the Era of #MeToo by Nikki Graf 62. Sexual Harassment: The Nature of the Beast by Anita Hill 63. Breaking Down Gender Bias in the Construction Industry by Kate Stephenson 64. Congress Passes Bill to Protect Young Athletes From Sexual Abuse by Feminist Newswire 65. A More Hidden Crime: Adolescent Battered Women by Nancy Worcester 66. Why Doesn’t She Just Leave? by Clarethia Ellerbe 67. Rape and Sexual Assault by James A. Doyle 68. The Sexual Assault Epidemic That No One Talks About by Joseph Shapiro 69. “The Rape” of Mr. Smith by Unknown 70. Roe v. Wade Turns 45, But There’s No Time to Celebrate by Ilyse Hogue 71. Unions Are Fighting For Families by Liz Shuler Suggestions for Responding to Part V Part VI Power and Classism 72. Warren Buffett Calls for Higher Taxes for US Super-Rich by Graeme Wearden 73. Imagine a Country by Holly Sklar 74. Bulging Jails Are Other American Exception by Albert R. Hunt 75. What the Dip in Life Expectancy is Really About: Inequality by Julia Belluz 76. The Opioid Epidemic Explained by German Lopez 77. Institutionalized Discrimination by Robert Cherry 78. Jury Whops Insurer by Leslie Brown 79. The Spectre of Regionalism by Hunter O’Hara 80. Why People Love “Assistance to the Poor” But Hate “Welfare” by Ashley Jardina 81. Mothers Dying After Childbirth is a Medical Issue—But Cultural Too by Erin Sagen 82. The Tainted Water Crisis in Upstate New York That Andrew Cuomo Can’t Shake by Alexander C. Kaufman Suggestions for Responding to Part VI Part VII Race, Class, and Gender During the Obama and Trump Administrations: A Comparative Look 83. How America Changed During Barack Obama’s Presidency by Michael Dimick 84. Ousted Standing Rock Leader on the Pipeline Protest That Almost Succeeded by Phil McKenna 85. Trump Wants Immigrants To Be Afraid by Dara Lind 86. 25 Texas Mosques Open Their Doors to Harvey Survivors by Dean Obeidalla 87. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer: The Politics of Racism in Trump’s America by Shorenstein Center 88. The Trump Administration Isn’t Just Curtailing Women’s Rights, It’s Systematically Eroding Trust in Women by Annalisa Merelli 89. The Pendulum Effect: The Science That Took Us From Obama to Trump by Marjorie M. Fuller 90. Environmental Justice in the Age of Trump by Michael J. Brogan 91. The Power to Count: Citizenship and the Census by Victor Thompson Suggestions for Responding to Part VII Suggestions for Responding to Power Change Part VIII Taking Action 92. Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum by Eric Holder 93. Diversity and Its Discontents by Arturo Madrid 94. Breakfast at Perkins by Derek Schork 95. Five Ways to Help Prevent Domestic Violence by Richard Tolman 96. Going Public with Our Vision by Charlotte Bunch 97. A Manifesto for Men by Andrew Kimbrell 98. Resistance to Change by Kathleen Ryan 99. The March for our Lives, Explained by Jen Kirby 100. Freedom for the Thought We Hate by Gerald Gunther 101. The Oklahoma Teachers’ Strike is 26 Years in the Making by Jon Hazell Suggestions for Responding to Part VIII Part IX Change Makers 102. Boys State by Michael Moore 103. Victory at Arnot by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones 104. The Organizer’s Tale by César Chávez 105. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by Ramon Johnson 106. Free at Last by Southern Poverty Law Center 107. The Movement by Anne Moody 108. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Muriel Tillinghast 109. “Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done” by Michael Ryan 110. Saving Native Lands by Valerie Taliman 111. Cecilia Fire Thunder: She Inspires Her People by Ann Davis 112. Claiming Respect for Ancestral Remains: Repatriation and the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma by Robert L. Cast, Bobby Gonzalez, and Timothy K. Perttula 113. The Weinstein Effect by Linda Barstyn 114. A New Lynching Memorial Highlights America’s Grim Legacy of Racial Terrorism by P.R. Lockhart 115. Message to My Daughters by Edwidge Danticat Suggestions for Responding to Part IX Suggestions for Responding to Change Credits C1 Index I1

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Book SynopsisThe last, acceptable form of prejudice in America is based on class and executed through state-sponsored economic discrimination, which is hard to see because it is much more subtle than raw racism.While the American meritocracy officially denounces prejudice based on race and gender, it has spawned a new form of bias against those with less education and income. Millions of working-class Americans have their opportunity blocked by exclusionary snob zoning. These government policies make housing unaffordable, frustrate the goals of the civil rights movement, and lock in inequality in our urban and suburban landscapes.Through moving accounts of families excluded from economic and social opportunity as they are hemmed in through "new redlining" that limits the type of housing that can be built, Richard Kahlenberg vividly illustrates why America has a housing crisis. He also illustrates why economic segregation matters since where you live affects access to transportation, employment opportunities, decent health care, and good schools. He shows that housing choice has been socially engineered to the benefit of the affluent, and, that astonishingly the most restrictive zoning is found in politically liberal cities where racial views are more progressive.Despite this there is hope. Kahlenberg tells the inspiring stories of growing number of local and national movements working to tear down the walls that inflicts so much damage on the lives of millions of Americans.

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Book SynopsisThe America you grew up in is no longer here. Our country is in sharp decline. Yet we often fail to truly call out the culprits responsible for it. Who are the corrupters of our great country? They are politicians (both Democrat and Republican), they are businessmen, they are celebrities, they are media executives, they are scientists. They are the elite. And they are selfish. In Do Not Comply, one of America's most articulate and fastest rising political commentators on the right exposes the elite's many lies holding America hostage. Witt persuasively explains how a corrupt ruling class has pitted us against each other in the name of "the greater good" and "building back better." But the changes and programs they institute have only hurt us in the long run and have sent us spiraling to serfdom while the elites reap all the benefits. Without fear or favor, the independent-minded Witt deconstructs the misguided policies and adventures of America's political, pharmaceutical, tech, media, and financial institution elite - with surprising takeaways. Through systematically looking at the biggest issues used to divide us today, Witt answers these crucial questions about the future of America: How do the elite achieve their power? How do we fix the vexing problems in our society caused by this greed and selfishness? And how do we take our power back? From one of America's brightest young minds, this book is a must-read for citizens seeking the truth about who really controls the levers of power in our country. As we watch America descend toward moral and economic destruction, it's tempting to believe we have no power to enact change. But we always have a choice-and it's not too late. Do Not Comply is the first step towards righting the ship.

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Book SynopsisAn insightful and timely analysis of how global economic restructuring will impact workers' struggles in the US. On New Terrain challenges conventional wisdom about a disappearing working class and the inevitability of a two-party political structure as the only framework for struggle. Through in-depth study of the economic and political shifts at the top of society, Moody shows how recent developments in capitalist production impact the working class and its power to resist the status quo.Trade Review“[A] masterful and much-needed book.” —Solidarity "Kim Moody's provocative work 'On New Terrain' immediately shakes the reader by offering a hard hitting, concrete and sober analysis of the transformation of both the capitalist and working classes of the USA. His analysis lays the foundation for the development of theory to situate a 21st century working class reawakening. Moody offers the reader a pole of opinion which helps to advance a badly needed debate that has profound implications for the creation of a movement for socialism." -Bill Fletcher, Jr., coauthor of "Solidarity Divided"; author of "'They're Bankrupting Us' - And Twenty Other Myths about Unions" "Moody's "new terrain" is not a world, as most would have it, where globalization has left U.S. workers helpless. It shows how corporations' inevitable push for profits actually opens up new vulnerabilities—if only unions can get their act together. He explodes myths about the gig economy and the potential to transform the Democratic Party. Readers will put the book down convinced that there is a way for workers to win." -Jane Slaughter, LaborNotes "Kim Moody, whose books and articles have for more than forty years provided essential analysis and strategy for the labor left, continues this indispensable work in his new book, On New Terrain: How Capital is Reshaping the Battleground of Class War. Arguing that capital has created a new and more advantageous terrain for working class struggle, he suggests that capital is more vulnerable, but the labor and social movements must be able to make the most of the situation. And Moody suggests how they might do so. The working class, he argues, also has the potential to create its own political force, but only if it can avoid the cul-de-sac of the Democratic Party. Every labor activist and all of those who want to build a powerful left in America will want to get this book." – Dan La Botz, New Politics “This is a detailed and provocative study of how capital has changed since the 1980s and its effects on the working class and political parties in the USA and across the world. It rejects the notion that we live in a post-capitalist world or that the ‘gig economy’ dominates industrial relations. Instead, it presents a classical Marxist analysis that painstakingly shows how the composition of the ‘core working class’ has changed in its occupational, industrial and ethno/racial composition under changing business practices since the 1980s.” –Scottish Left Review “Kim Moody, has been one most of the most experienced working-class organisers in the US over the past few decades. His latest book On New Terrain seeks to rethink both our understanding of capitalism today, and how the workers can respond.” –Monthly Review “Veteran US activist and author, Kim Moody, offers a timely antidote to despair about the potential of America’s working class to play a central role both in resisting the Trump agenda and the neo-liberal brand of capitalism that paved ‘The Donald’s’ path to the White House.” –Labour Briefing “Moody’s argument not only insists the working class still exists but that its structural capacity to organise and paralyse production has grown as the restructuring and consolidation of capital has created a “new terrain” for the class struggle. Such a case is highly welcome to socialists who argue that workers possess the collective power to not just challenge capital but to break it.” –Socialist Review “The best recent work on the history and the contemporary promise of the move from Ford to Tesco.” –Red Pepper “Despite the election of Trump and the rise of the alt-right, the huge support for Bernie Sander’s campaign for the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination, the Black Lives Matter movement and the wave of teachers’ strikes show that there is plenty of anger among US workers. Moody’s welcome and important book shows that they still have the power to resist and how socialists can build a mass movement of opposition to neoliberalism in its heartland.” –International Socialism JournalTable of ContentsPart I: Re-Making of the US Working Class Chapter 1 The Roots of Change Chapter 2 How Precarious is Work? Chapter 3 A More Diverse Working Class Part II: The Changing Terrain of Class Struggle Chapter 4 Consolidation of Capital Chapter 5 Capital’s Supply Chain Gang Chapter 6 The Next Upsurge? Part III: The Changed Political Terrain Chapter 7 Capital and The Rise of State Politics Chapter 8 Prisoners of the American Scheme Chapter 9 The Democratic Party Cul de Sac Chapter 10 Electoral Politics from a Socialist Perspective Conclusion: Pulling the Analysis Together

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Book SynopsisThe Cultures of Italian Migration allows the adjective "Italian" to qualify people's movements along diverse trajectories and temporal dimensions. Discussions on migrations to and from Italy meet in that discursive space where critical concepts like "home," "identity," "subjectivity," and "otherness" eschew stereotyping. This volume demonstrates that interpretations of old migrations are necessary in order to talk about contemporary Italy. New migrations trace new non linear paths in the definition of a multicultural Italy whose roots are unmistakably present throughout the centuries. Some of these essays concentrate on topics that are historically long-term, such as emigration from Italy to the Americas and southern Pacific Ocean. Others focus on the more contemporary phenomena of immigration to Italy from other parts of the world, including Africa. This collection ultimately offers an invitation to seek out new and different modes of analyzing the migratory act.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Thinking Anew: An Introduction Chapter 2 Screening the Silent Film: Reginald Barker's The Italian and the Resurgence of American Nativism Chapter 3 Dagli Appennini alle risaie: Italian Global Soundscapes, Memory, History, and Performance in the Voice of Women Chapter 4 Voices of a Minor Empire: Migrant Women Writers in Contemporary Italy Chapter 5 Beyond Fortress Europe: Cartographies of Migrant Routes in Yousef Wakkas' Narratives Chapter 6 The Italian Ethnic Press in a Global Perspective Chapter 7 Italianization of Emigration in Canada: Or, What is the Role of the Italies Outside of Italy? Chapter 8 "Architextualizing" the Italian Immigration Experience to the U.S.: Bricklayers and Writers in John Fante's Works Chapter 9 Italiani agli antipodi: Italian Immigrant Identities in New Zealand Chapter 10 Staying Longer in Water Does Not Turn a Stick into a Crocodile: Challenges of Senegalese Migrant Culture in Italy Chapter 11 Italian Migrations and Diasporic Approaches: Historical Phenomena and Scholarly Interpretations Chapter 12 Transgressive Bodies: The New Realism of Contemporary Italian-Immigrant Literature and Film Chapter 13 Comedy and Community in Migration Literature Chapter 14 The Geographical Approach to the Study of Immigration in Italy: Space, Territory, Ethnic Landscapes Chapter 15 Unwilling Multiculturalism: The Italian Immigrant Women and the Americanization Movement Chapter 16 Migranti, Subalterni, "Theorized" e "No Cost:" Sull'uso e l'abuso delle rappresentazioni nello studio delle religioni dei migranti

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Book SynopsisA thoughtful, multiperspective take on the sociopolitical effects of bicycling.

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Book SynopsisCanadian labour history and working-class struggles are brought to life in this anthology of nine short comics, each one accompanied by an informative preface. Each comic showcases the inspiring efforts and determination of working people who banded together with others to fight to change the world.

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Book SynopsisIn Degrees of Failure, Randle Nelsen brings together such diverse topics as campus parking, college sports, helicopter parents, edu-business as edu-tainment, and technology in teaching to show how continuing inequities, grounded in large part upon social class differences, are maintained and reproduced in our universities.

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Book SynopsisWith heart-wrenching reporting and incisive analysis, In These Times magazine has charted a staggering rise in inequality and the fall of the American middle class. Here, in a selection from four decades of articles by investigative reporters and progressive thinkers, is the story of our age. It is a tale of shockingly successful corporate takeovers stretching from Reagan to Trump, but also of brave attempts to turn the tide, from the Seattle global justice protests to Occupy to the Fight for 15.Featuring contributions from Michelle Chen, Noam Chomsky, Tom Geoghegan, Juan González, David Moberg, Salim Muwakkil, Ralph Nader, Frances Fox Piven, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Slavoj Zizek, and many others, The Age of Inequality is the definitive account of a defining issue of our time.Trade ReviewAs In These Times has documented for the past forty years, the great issue of our time is our nation's movement toward oligarchy. We have a grotesque level of income and wealth inequality and a political system that is being bought and sold. We must make it clear that the greed of the 1 percent, corporate america, and wall street cannot continue. We must stand together and say 'enough is enough.' -- Bernie SandersTo get out of the current political and economic hole, we need to understand how we ended up here. For decades, In These Times has been marshaling some of our finest minds to tackle this vital question, and here are the illuminating results of that investigation. -- Naomi KleinIf we can't address the gross unfairness that's come to mark our economic life, we probably can't address our other problems either. These are some of the planet's sharpest minds, and what they say must be heard. -- Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New PlanetCompiles chronologically arranged excerpts from the Chicago-based publication's coverage of labor and the economy from its 1976 launch through the dawn of the Trump era. The result is a sweeping chronicle of the slow-motion coup by which the billionaire class seized all the levers of power in our erstwhile democracy and used them to siphon wealth upward from ordinary workers to the corporate elite. -- Danny Duncan Collum * Sojourners *

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Book SynopsisOver the last ten years the issue of Europe has been placed at the centre of major political conflicts, revealing profound splits in society. These splits are represented in terms of an opposition between those countries on the losing and those on the winning sides of globalisation. Inequalities beyond those nations are critically absent from the debate.Based on major European statistical surveys, the new research in this work presents a map of social classes inspired by Pierre Bourdieu's sociology. It reveals the common features of the working class, the intermediate class and the privileged class in Europe. National features combine with social inequalities, through an account of the social distance between specific groups in nations in the north and in the countries of the south and east of Europe. The book ends with a reflection on the conditions that would be required for the emergence of a Europe-wide social movement.Trade ReviewThree sociologists analyse the European social structure, looking at the implications of the economic and political integration that has taken shape on the continent. Their approach provides new opportunities for the study of inequalities. The book seeks to provide an overview of inequalities between socioeconomic groups with regard to working conditions, income, education, cultural practices and international mobility. In doing so, it establishes itself as a highly valuable resource on account of the large number of statistics it provides. The abundance of studies cited across a wide range of fields and the concrete illustrations of the phenomena described also make it a useful reference work for all those interested in matters of social classes and inequalities in Europe. -- Milan Bouchet-Valat * booksandideas.net *If you are interested in the future of socioeconomic inequality, class structure and political mobilization in Europe, you should read this book. Cédric Hugrée, Etienne Penissat and Alexis Spire develop an innovative and powerful empirical-quantivative and conceptual-analytical framework in order to offer a transnational perspective on social class in Europe. I very much hope that this work will be followed by sociologists, economists and social scientists and of all stripes and others. A must-read! -- Thomas PikettyBringing the social theories of Pierre Bourdieu to bear on a trove of survey data, Social Class in Europe draws a bold and bright map of class structure, division and condition across the continent. It demonstrates how European unification has splintered the lower classes while solidifying the domination of the economic and cultural bourgeoisie. By documenting social polarization both within cities and countries as well as across regions (North/South, East/West), it provides an essential key to understand the class struggles and political strife roiling Europe in the 21st century. -- Loïc Wacquant, author of Urban Outcasts: A Comparative sociology of Advanced Marginality and Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity.A highly sophisticated and original attempt to combine a class analysis of Europe with a political critique of the institutions of the European Union. An important step forward for the left developing a European strategy. * Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne *

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Book SynopsisA thrilling and vivid work of history, Class War weaves together literature and politics to chart the making and unmaking of social class through revolutionary combat. In a narrative that spans the globe and more than two centuries of history, Mark Steven traces the history of class war from the Haitian Revolution to Black Lives Matter.Surveying the literature of revolution, from the poetry of Shelley and Byron to the novels of Émile Zola and Jack London, exploring the writings of Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara, and Assata Shakur, Class War reveals the interplay between military action and the politics of class, showing how solidarity flourishes in times of conflict. Written with verve and ranging across diverse historical settings, Class War traverses industrial battles, guerrilla insurgencies, and anticolonial resistance, as well as large-scale combat operations waged against capitalism's regimes and its interstate system.In our age of economic crisis, ecological catastrophe, and planetary unrest, Steven tells the stories of those whose actions will help guide future militants toward a revolutionary horizon.Trade ReviewA survey of the literature of revolution, Mark Steven's history of global class war considers work by writers from Byron to Assata Shakur. It feels more crucial than ever to study the work of writers who practiced solidarity, and this book promises to be a vital contribution to the revolutionary canon. -- Most Anticipated Books of 2023 * Lit Hub *Class war is everywhere and in every era. And yet it is not in all places and times the same; it is the stuff of history, and history is what changes. In any regard it is war, and there will be no chance of winning if we do not reckon carefully with its transformations into the present and along the branching paths of the future. It is this movement, a real movement, that Mark Steven sets out to capture, making use of literature's necessary capacity for figuring both the broadest and most delicate social formations in motion. Here he offers a crystallography of veiled relations; there he summons the most explicit jeremiads. Louverture to LeGuin, this book is a wonder in its reach and attention, breathing vitality into core concepts while outmaneuvering the staid orthodoxies hobbling all too much class discourse in the 21st century. Like all the best history: a way forward. -- Joshua Clover, author of Riot. Strike. RiotBeautifully written and conceived, Class War is a history as absorbing as any nineteenth-century novel. Part literary criticism, part political theory, part polemic, it is also an act of recovery; Steven has written a necessary book. -- Anahid Nersessian, author of Keats's Odes: A Lover’s DiscourseWritten with verve and ranging across diverse historical settings, Class War traverses industrial battles, guerrilla insurgencies, and anticolonial resistance, as well as large-scale combat operations waged against capitalism's regimes and its interstate system. An exceptional and impressive work of history. -- Able Greenspan * Midwest Book Review *Literature and politics go hand in hand in this survey of revolutionary literature from the Haitian Revolution to Black Lives Matter, including the writing of Che Guevara, Frantz Fanon and Assata Shakur. * The New York Times Book Review *University lecturer Steven states boldly in the introduction that 'this book is intended as a guide to class war.' He then paints a wide canvas, writing about revolutions in Haiti, Cuba, Russia, and elsewhere, spanning centuries to prepare us for a class war that, he argues, is already happening. -- Leland Cheuk, The best new books for summer 2023 * The Boston Globe *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Class War Now1. The Burning South2. Army of Redressers3. Defend the City4. School of War5. Towards a Red Army6. Protracted Peoples' Wars7. For Complete Disorder8. The Armed Nucleus9. Fighting after Fascism10. Army of the WrongedPostscript: No War But Class War

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Book SynopsisSonia Blandford, CEO of award-winning charity Achievement for All, writes brilliantly and honestly about the facing up to the realities of the white working class and how to address social mobility from the inside. No-one in the UK is better placed than Sonia to write about the struggles of white working class pupils in our schools. She grew up on the Allied Estate in Hounslow and was the first member of her family to pursue education beyond the age of 14 and was also the first to attend university. Sonia lost her mother when she took an accidental overdose, when she couldn't read the doctor's prescription. This tragic failing served as one of the inspirations for her to set up the award-winning Achievement for All organisation, who work with thousands of schools to help close the attainment gap. Born to Fail? tackles head-on issues such as why education often doesn't matter to the working class; how education has failed to deliver for them; the importance of self-belief, action and confidence; and how the Early Years is the crucial time to build success from the start.Trade Review'Sonia Blandford's book hit me like a ducking in freezing water. My starting point was the opposite to hers - privileged and certain I could change the world. She says of the working class 'it isn't about rescuing them. It's about valuing them and allowing them to develop in their own way'. Written with great clarity and personal insight, this is a book which, if taken seriously, especially by educationists and policy makers, really could change the world and I personally wish I had had the benefits of its wisdom fifty years ago. It is a perfect read for anyone wanting to see a more equitable society in modern Britain.' -- Sir Stephen O'Brien CBE (Founding Chair Teach First; Founding CEO Business in the Community and London First) 'Blandford may be the first Professor to have failed her English qualification five times - but this heart-ripping, brain-provoking book uses words perfectly to explain why class is not the same as disadvantage, why social mobility isn't something well-educated teachers can hand to chosen children but is something every child must be helped to choose for themselves, and why something as simple as playing the cornet in a school musical can be life-changing. Practical, hard-hitting, and packed with evidence, this is a manifesto for looking again at how we really make schools work for everyone.' -- Laura McInerney, Editor of Schools Week 'This book offers a genuinely new and unique approach to the debate on social mobility by using the author's own experience of growing up and succeeding from a working class background. Sonia shows how we need to understand the impact of working class experience and values on learners if we are to successfully shape educational policy and interventions which really have a chance of success. Building on her own extensive experience of implementing life changing programmes in education she explores what needs to change in our system to turn around the fact that social mobility is going backwards. This is a must read analysis if you are interested in making a difference in this area.' -- Brian Lamb, OBE (Special Educational Needs and Disability policy expert and Government adviser)Sonia Blandford's book hit me like a ducking in freezing water. My starting point was the opposite to hers - privileged and certain I could change the world. She says of the working class 'it isn't about rescuing them. It's about valuing them and allowing them to develop in their own way'. Written with great clarity and personal insight, this is a book which, if taken seriously, especially by educationists and policy makers, really could change the world and I personally wish I had had the benefits of its wisdom fifty years ago. It is a perfect read for anyone wanting to see a more equitable society in modern Britain. Sir Stephen O'Brien CBE (Founding Chair Teach First; Founding CEO Business in the Community and London First Blandford may be the first Professor to have failed her English qualification five times - but this heart-ripping, brain-provoking book uses words perfectly to explain why class is not the same as disadvantage, why social mobility isn't something well-educated teachers can hand to chosen children but is something every child must be helped to choose for themselves, and why something as simple as playing the cornet in a school musical can be life-changing. Practical, hard-hitting, and packed with evidence, this is a manifesto for looking again at how we really make schools work for everyone Laura McInerney, Editor of Schools Week This book offers a genuinely new and unique approach to the debate on social mobility by using the author's own experience of growing up and succeeding from a working class background. Sonia shows how we need to understand the impact of working class experience and values on learners if we are to successfully shape educational policy and interventions which really have a chance of success. Building on her own extensive experience of implementing life changing programmes in education she explores what needs to change in our system to turn around the fact that social mobility is going backwards. This is a must read analysis if you are interested in making a difference in this area. Brian Lamb, OBE (Special Educational Needs and Disability policy expert and Government adviser)

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Book SynopsisHow an historic market town in middle England has entertained itself over 150 years, from 1800 to 1950. Lovely black and white photographs

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Book SynopsisIt is a great privilege to launch our series with A Working Life, Cruel Beyond Belief, by Alfred Temba Qabula, with a new Foreword by the original translator, BE Nzimande. Qabula was a central figure in the cultural movement among working people that emerged in and around Durban in the 1980s. It was an innovative attempt to draw on the oral poetry developed among the Nguni people over many centuries. Alfred Temba Qabula was a forklift driver in the Dunlop tyre factory in Durban at the time this book was developed. He used the art of telling stories to critique the exploitation of black workers and their oppression under apartheid.

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Book SynopsisSets out to determine when and why valedictorians end up at less selective schools, showing that social class makes all the difference. This title traces valedictorians' paths to college and presents damning evidence that high schools do not provide sufficient guidance on crucial factors affecting college selection.Trade Review"Top Student, Top School? is an important, well-conceived, and well-written study. The topic addressed is of critical importance. Higher education is meant to facilitate social mobility, but a large body of research suggests it instead reproduces inequality. Here Alexandria Walton Radford gives us a much better understanding of the mechanisms that prevent higher education from achieving this central goal." (Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Century Foundation)"

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Book SynopsisA cruise along the streets of Chennai - or Silicon Valley - filled with professional young Indian men and women, reveals the new face of India. In this book, the author examine one particularly striking group who have taken part in this development.Trade Review"Tamil Brahmans is a solid, original work that makes a major contribution to our understanding of a vitally important part of the world and of a unique group of people whose numbers in the United States are growing year by year and who are becoming increasingly influential at the highest professional levels in medicine, law, academia, business, and government." (Sylvia J. Vatuk, University of Illinois at Chicago)"

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Book SynopsisOffers an ethnography of the culture of suburban drug dealers. This book shows that suburban drug dealers accord status to deliberate avoidance of conflict, which helps keep their drug markets more peaceful - and, consequently, less likely to be noticed by law enforcement.Trade Review"Code of the Suburb takes us into the world of young white suburban drug dealing and in doing so, provides a fascinating and powerful counterpoint to the devastation of the drug war in poor, minority communities. To readers familiar with that context, the absence of police and prisons-indeed, of virtually any negative consequences for selling and using drugs-is quite striking." (Alice Goffman, author of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City)

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Book SynopsisThese seven essays on the structure of Chinese society are based on articles contributed by Fei to Chinese newspapers in 1947 and 1948. Six case histories from a study of the gentry by Yung-teh Chow are appended. The chief interest and charm of this book lie in the fact that it is not directed to the Western reader; these were studies written in Chinese, by an erudite Chinese, for a Chinese public. . . . Mrs. Redfield is to be complimented for her own careful research in preparing this translation for a non-Chinese public.Robert F. Spencer, American Anthropologist

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Book SynopsisRoger V. Gould argues that human conflict is more likely to occur in symmetrical relationships - among friends or social equals - than in hierarchical ones, wherein the difference of social rank between two individuals is already established.

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