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Untold Stories: Bringing Class into the Classroom

17 Dec 2018
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By: Adj Marshal and Betsy Leondar-Wright Students often respond with confusion to questions about social class—not surprising given the common assumption that the US is a “classless society.”  The fog surrounding class stratification makes it difficult to teach about economic inequality. Why is class so challenging to teach about? Compared with race or gender, class is less obviously inscribed on the body and more poorly understood, with more gray areas and fewer shared terms for social categories, making identity development a slower and more fraught process. Class background profoundly affects an individual’s social standpoint (Collins 2000), but most students have... Read More

Breaking New Ground in the UK

20 Nov 2018
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Training of activist trainers on class and classism. The Exploring Class weekend in Gloucestershire in West England, hosted by the radical nonviolence magazine Peace News, was the first training of activist trainers on class and classism that there’s ever been in Britain, so far as we know. About a week before Exploring Class took place in June, a participant got in touch to check if there were other working-class participants coming. She didn’t want to be in a tiny minority of working-class people at the training of trainers, especially a four-day residential workshop focused on class and classism. Would this... Read More

Glide Church Workshop in San Francisco

20 Nov 2018
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In July, Senior Trainer Shane Lloyd and Interim Executive Director Rachel Rybaczuk co-led an Exploring Class workshop for members of Glide Church in San Francisco. The training was in support of Bridging The Divide (BTD), a project bringing people from across the political spectrum into dialogue on a monthly basis. Bridging The Divide is a powerful example of the cross-class solidarity-building central to Class Action’s mission. The workshop contained material from our Activist Class Cultures framework and provided insight into the ways class norms may influence BTD. Chris Collins, Bridging The Divide organizer, shared his thoughts about the class issues... Read More

Working Class Studies Association – Poverty Class Panel & Caucus

20 Nov 2018
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As a first-generation, low-income college student, I knew that the feelings of inadequacy I was having were my own version of imposter syndrome. I had never been to an academic conference, and here I was standing outside the Centre des Congrès de Quebec, about to present at one of the most prestigious conferences in the sociological field, the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. It was 2017, and my co-authored book chapter Bringing Class into the Classroom had been accepted as an official ASA session and was receiving interest from a number of working-class academics. In speaking to working-class raised academics... Read More

Classism in Our Schools

26 Sep 2018
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Students begin to experience the effects of classism in schools as early as kindergarten, or perhaps even nursery school. Elementary school playgrounds reveal the effects of classism on a child’s education. Families living in poverty and even working-class families cannot readily afford the latest toy or gadget that might be all the rage on the playground. When all the other kids are excitedly exploring the newest electronic recreational device, the kid who is without feels excluded and somehow “less than” the others. Sadly, that child cannot possibly grasp that this awful feeling of inferiority is caused by classism. My Story... Read More

#FirstGenThrowback

26 Sep 2018
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Reflecting on my own experience as a first-generation college student, I rarely used the educational resources of the academic library. Being a first-gen, library usage was just not ingrained in my family culture. As a result, I had no idea of the variety or richness of the resources available that could have helped me learn and understand the academic challenges I faced throughout my college experience. For me, at that time, going to any library meant looking for information in an encyclopedia and/or seeking a quiet place to study. Graduating from a Boston public high school and lacking college-level study... Read More

A Reflection on the Gig Economy

31 Aug 2018
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I am no stranger to the gig economy. I have relied on it from time to time to supplement the income from my small business. When business is slow – or more often – when vendors are slow to pay me, I’ve taken short-term temp work, signed up for focus groups or been a “secret shopper.” But when two of my biggest clients ran into some financial issues of their own this spring, I needed a quick and steady infusion of cash for a few months. I decided to answer those Uber, Lyft and Amazon ads that showed up almost... Read More

The Work to Be Done This Labor Day

31 Aug 2018
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On Labor Day 2018, it’s hard to maintain hope. Many will labor on Labor Day (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Growing up in a blue-collar union household, working on holidays was considered a boon). Many labor in worse conditions than our parents and grandparents. The Gig Economy The gig economy leaves millions on their own: So-called independent contractors assume all the risks of labor. Employers, most of whom are never met in person, reap the benefits. Workers drive, deliver (in my bike-loving city, workers pedal all over with other people’s groceries and take out), teach (in upper-middle-class academia, highly... Read More
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Recent Blog Posts

Untold Stories: Bringing Class into the Classroom
17 Dec 2018
Breaking New Ground in the UK
20 Nov 2018
Glide Church Workshop in San Francisco
20 Nov 2018
Working Class Studies Association – Poverty Class Panel & Caucus
20 Nov 2018