What are you reading?

[gotoseagrl]

The Letter by Kathryn Hughes

[Kobi]

In this richly detailed and eye-opening book, Rick Wartzman chronicles the erosion of the relationship between American companies and their workers. Through the stories of four major employers--General Motors, General Electric, Kodak, and Coca-Cola--he shows how big businesses once took responsibility for providing their workers and retirees with an array of social benefits. At the height of the post-World War II economy, these companies also believed that worker pay needed to be kept high in order to preserve morale and keep the economy humming. Productivity boomed.

But the corporate social contract didn't last. By tracing the ups and downs of these four corporate icons over seventy years, Wartzman illustrates just how much has been lost: job security and steadily rising pay, guaranteed pensions, robust health benefits, and much more. Charting the Golden Age of the '50s and '60s; the turbulent years of the '70s and '80s; and the growth of downsizing, outsourcing, and instability in the modern era, Wartzman's narrative is a biography of the American Dream gone sideways.

Deeply researched and compelling, The End of Loyalty will make you rethink how Americans can begin to resurrect the middle class.

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I'm thinking "richly detailed" is a euphemism for mind numbing minutia.

Good stuff, just a lot of detail to wade through.

[Kobi]

"Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class.

Meanwhile, the professional elite--journalists, managers, and establishment politicians--is on the outside looking in, and left to argue over the reasons why.

In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, explains why so much of the elite's analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in assumptions by what she has controversially coined "class cluelessness."

Williams explains how most analysts, and the corresponding media coverage, have conflated "working class" with "poor."

All too often, white working class motivations have been dismissed as simply racism or xenophobia.

Williams explains how the term "working class" has been misapplied--it is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. This demographic often resents both the poor and the professionals. They don't, however, tend to resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality.

Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities--just with more money.

White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people throughout the world who have proven to be a potent political force.

For anyone stunned by the rise in populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters"--book jacket.

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Excellent, informative, simply written and easy to understand - all in less than 200 pages.

Also does well to explain why Nixon's southern strategy and Trump were successful with the silent majority type groups.

[PlatinumPearl]

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield.

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kobi

"Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class.

Meanwhile, the professional elite--journalists, managers, and establishment politicians--is on the outside looking in, and left to argue over the reasons why.

In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, explains why so much of the elite's analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in assumptions by what she has controversially coined "class cluelessness."

Williams explains how most analysts, and the corresponding media coverage, have conflated "working class" with "poor."

All too often, white working class motivations have been dismissed as simply racism or xenophobia.

Williams explains how the term "working class" has been misapplied--it is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. This demographic often resents both the poor and the professionals. They don't, however, tend to resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality.

Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities--just with more money.

White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people throughout the world who have proven to be a potent political force.

For anyone stunned by the rise in populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters"--book jacket.

------------------------------------


Excellent, informative, simply written and easy to understand - all in less than 200 pages.

Also does well to explain why Nixon's southern strategy and Trump were successful with the silent majority type groups.

Kobi? Does Joan Williams supply footnotes, and possibly an indexed appendice in her book? I also wonder too, if you don't mind sharing, is Williams neutral, non-partisan in her views and as well, is she a current Sociology professional? I ask because I am not familiar with any of her works. And thanks for your post! : )

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

Kobi? Does Joan Williams supply footnotes, and possibly an indexed appendice in her book? I also wonder too, if you don't mind sharing, is Williams neutral, non-partisan in her views and as well, is she a current Sociology professional? I ask because I am not familiar with any of her works. And thanks for your post! : )

Joan C. Williams is Distinguished Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Center of Work Life Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Described as having "something approaching rock star status” by the New York Times, she has played a central role in documenting how work-family conflict affects working-class families and in reshaping the debates over women’s advancement for the past quarter-century.

I never heard of her either. After this book, I am looking forward to reading her other book - Unbending gender : why family and work conflict and what to do about it.

There are 30 pages of footnotes to browse through.

Neutral and non partisan? Hm. That sounds like you are asking me if she is using data to push for one political viewpoint over another.

I didnt see or feel that. I saw a new and refreshing way of looking at data and leaving it up to the reader to form their own conclusions as to what resonates with them and why.

There are three things that stand out to me. The first is the way she shows commonalities across ethnicity as well as specific and unique differences when it comes to looking at something from a class perspective.

Secondly, she illustrates in a simple way as to how the social contract between employers and employees has been radically changed since WW2 , how the demise of labor unions (class specific) has taken a toll on middle America, and globalization has led to a different approach in policy. All add up to significant losses for a significant amount of people.

Third, and most importantly to me, is showing the assumptions and presumptions people make, from the top on down which skews reality, and creates and perpetuates divisions.

If you read it, I'd be interested in your thoughts. This is a theme I am seeing more and more in contemporary writings.

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Joan C. Williams is Distinguished Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Center of Work Life Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Described as having "something approaching rock star status” by the New York Times, she has played a central role in documenting how work-family conflict affects working-class families and in reshaping the debates over women’s advancement for the past quarter-century.

I never heard of her either. After this book, I am looking forward to reading her other book - Unbending gender : why family and work conflict and what to do about it.

There are 30 pages of footnotes to browse through.

Neutral and non partisan? Hm. That sounds like you are asking me if she is using data to push for one political viewpoint over another.

I didnt see or feel that. I saw a new and refreshing way of looking at data and leaving it up to the reader to form their own conclusions as to what resonates with them and why.

There are three things that stand out to me. The first is the way she shows commonalities across ethnicity as well as specific and unique differences when it comes to looking at something from a class perspective.

Secondly, she illustrates in a simple way as to how the social contract between employers and employees has been radically changed since WW2 , how the demise of labor unions (class specific) has taken a toll on middle America, and globalization has led to a different approach in policy. All add up to significant losses for a significant amount of people.

Third, and most importantly to me, is showing the assumptions and presumptions people make, from the top on down which skews reality, and creates and perpetuates divisions.

If you read it, I'd be interested in your thoughts. This is a theme I am seeing more and more in contemporary writings.

Oh, very nice! Thank you Kobi.... I will snag a copy of it soon. That's impressive, 30 pages of foot notes! And I'm sure that her source citations will be very interesting. Every field of academic study adheres to particular tenets of research methods, so no doubt Law will utilize stringent codification process of discovery. Very nice, and many thanks!!

[firecat242]

Just started Sacred Economics by Charles Eisentsein....and to balance that out I am currently rediscovering Maya Angelou with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.