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Bridging the class divide

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working class

No Retreat in Confusion: Classism in Germany

November 13, 2017 by Dirk Eilers Leave a Comment

When I talk about classism in Germany the common reactions range from an unknowing Never heard of it to a disbelieving and doubtful Do you really think classes still exist? to a search-engine-like Did you mean “classicism” to a pejoratively knowing I heard of it, but I think it lacks theory; it is too much about how you feel. […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Doubting Class Exists Tagged With: class cultures, Class Theory, poverty, working class

Missing Corner, Missing Choices

October 24, 2017 by Anika Savage Leave a Comment

I recently participated in the Class Action workshop The Moment for Change: Exploring Class and Classism for Social Action. I learned a lot from the “class” – specifically, that class does matter, and each of us brings our experience into interactions with others. There was one point in the class, however, when I felt a strong […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Building Economic Alternatives, Classism in the Economy, Dismantlng Classism, Systemic Classism Tagged With: low-wage jobs, money, poverty, working class

Four Ways Nonprofits Can Address the Classism Within

September 21, 2017 by Class Action 1 Comment

Several years ago, I was sitting in a diversity training of a nonprofit I helped manage. We’d spent the morning talking about inequality within the organization around the issues of race, sexual orientation, gender and even political leanings. All of a sudden tears began to roll down one woman’s face. Despite obviously trying to hold […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class prejudice, Classism, Classism in Progressive Movement Groups, Dismantlng Classism Tagged With: classism, middle class, privilege, working class

Class Diversity Improves Your Nonprofit Board

September 21, 2017 by Larry Dansinger 1 Comment

Nonprofit organizations, which are legal entities that must be approved by state governments, allow people to join together and combine resources to achieve common goals. Most often nonprofits are started by people who are passionate about addressing social problems or responding to needs in their communities. So why do so many nonprofits fail to address […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Classism in Progressive Movement Groups, Cross-class alliances Tagged With: middle class, owning class, poverty, working class

Reader Feedback on Classism Exposed

August 16, 2017 by Class Action Leave a Comment

More than 100 people responded to the summer 2017 Classism Exposed 5-Minute Survey. The responses were as diverse as the people who responded, as evidenced by the demographic information collected. However, there were clear preferences for the length of blog posts, blog topics and for how often readers want to receive the Classism Exposed blog eBlast. It […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism Tagged With: class cultures, classism, education, privilege, racism, Rationalizing privilege, snobs, social movements, speaking up, stereotypes, working class

Is Elvis-Hating Classist?

August 15, 2017 by Lita Kurth 1 Comment

So much depends on whether you are looking up at Elvis from the working poor or working-class or down at him from the middle- and upper-class. When you look at photos of Elvis fans at his funeral or Graceland, they don’t usually look well-off. Their haircuts, clothes, whole demeanor suggest they came from the same […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in the Media, Class prejudice, Internalized classism, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: class cultures, classism, snobs, stereotypes, working class

What Happens When Degrees Aren’t Enough?

July 25, 2017 by Taylor Chapman 3 Comments

  Being a first generation college student often feels like being perpetually caught between two or more worlds. Many of us learn that we must weave ourselves seamlessly through poverty, familial commitments, academic demands and more in order to be successful. But what happens when code-switching and your degree don’t seem to be enough? A […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Building Economic Alternatives, Class in Higher Education, Classism in the Economy, First Generation College Students, Poverty Tagged With: academia, education, first generation college students, low-wage jobs, poverty, privilege, working class

Trump’s War on the Poor, Working-Class and …

June 29, 2017 by Class Action Leave a Comment

When explaining why his cabinet is filled with billionaires, President Donald Trump uttered what might just earn him Class Action’s 2017 Most Classist Comment of the Year Award. Mr. Trump said, “Somebody said why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? No, it’s true. And … I said: ‘Because […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class prejudice, Classism, Classism in Politics, Classism in the Economy, Owning class, Politics and Class Tagged With: budget cuts, corporations, owning class, poverty, privilege, Rationalizing privilege, snobs, super-rich, tax cuts, working class

Trump’s Presidency: What We Deserve

June 29, 2017 by Gillian Mason Leave a Comment

Type “Trump voters deserve” into your search bar, and the two suggestions that pop up are “Trump voters deserve what they get” and “Trump voters deserve to lose healthcare.” To me, and I’d guess probably to you, this logic is completely unsurprising. In the Northeastern city where I live, we hear it every day – […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Building Economic Alternatives, Class prejudice, Classism, Classism in Politics, Classism in the Economy, Dismantlng Classism, Health care access, Owning class, Politics and Class, Poverty Tagged With: blaming the victim, budget cuts, classism, middle class, privilege, race and class, racism, snobs, stereotypes, super-rich, tax cuts, working class

Assimilation and the First Generation College Student

May 4, 2017 by Bobby Zaman 1 Comment

Going to college as a first generation student of color is more than just getting the money and applying for the right scholarships. It’s also about fitting in, trying to relate to your peers and constantly assimilating to a new culture. Money is only the first hill we must climb before hurtling over various mountains […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class in Higher Education, Class prejudice, Classism, First Generation College Students, Internalized classism Tagged With: academia, classism, education, first generation college students, snobs, stereotypes, working class

Living “Relatively Visible”

May 4, 2017 by Rathi R 2 Comments

I am born to a Tamil, working class, OBC (Other Backward Caste) couple who immigrated to North India to earn their livelihood in the mid-1980s. My father had begun working with an American cultural agency, a full-time job that he would continue to do for the next three decades. My mother, by default, stayed at […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class prejudice, Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Institutional racism, Race and Class Tagged With: classism, immigrants, low-wage jobs, middle class, snobs, stereotypes, working class

The Poverty Catch-22

May 4, 2017 by Hazel Garcia Leave a Comment

The High Costs of Destitution Cause a Vicious Cycle Nothing is more infuriating than the ill-informed critique that “the haves” like to lob at “the have-nots.” Here’s a classic: “If you’re so poor and can’t afford to eat, then why are you overweight?” If you have ever been poor, you know the answer to that question […]

Filed Under: Class prejudice, Classism, Classism in Everyday Life, Classism in the Economy, Money, Poverty Tagged With: blaming the victim, money, poverty, working class

Class in Crisis

April 18, 2017 by Jude Diebold 1 Comment

Usually when I sit down to write out my thoughts on a political event, I write because I want to express an idea to resolve an issue. In fact, I would venture to say that most political writing is a reaction to some current event, with an idea of how this event can/will/should be handled. Today that is […]

Filed Under: Classism in Politics, Classism in the Economy, Dismantlng Classism, Electoral politics Tagged With: activism, budget cuts, classism, community organizing, speaking up, working class

Spring Break?

March 23, 2017 by Jade Obler Leave a Comment

When I think of spring break, I think of MTV and early 20-somethings soaking up the sun. I believe that this ideal spring break is becoming more and more mythical with the rising costs of education. Classism enables wealthy students to obtain degrees debt free while low-income and working-class students are faced with more and more debt. I […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in Higher Education, Cultural capital, Dealing with privilege, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: classism, education, middle class, spring break, working class

How Class Affects My (Breaks from) Class

March 23, 2017 by Jude Diebold 1 Comment

As a teenager, I became acquainted with our modern society’s expectation of “spring break” through MTV’s spring break specials. I remember as a teen feeling an acute sense of “fear of missing out“ when seeing slightly older peers dancing on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Growing up in rural Ohio, I was nowhere […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class cultures, Class in Higher Education Tagged With: class cultures, education, middle class, spring break, working class

Classism in Literature: Poor Boy Syndrome

March 2, 2017 by Julia Gerhardt 2 Comments

In the song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Freddy Mercury sings, “I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy.” He’s right, you don’t. Yet, it seems that in the literary world, poor boys are the ones who receive all the sympathy. It did not dawn on me until I took the class Working Class Women’s Literature at Goucher […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in Literature, Women and Class Tagged With: academia, classism, poverty, sexism, stereotypes, working class

Social Class and a Writing Conference

March 2, 2017 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

Though not all writing conferences are expensive, many are. A number try, essentially, to take money from those who can afford it to subsidize those who can’t – a worthy policy.  But one still tends to meet more wealthy people than poor at a writing conference. Last summer, I attended one on the East Coast that […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class in Literature, Class prejudice, Classism, Pop Culture Classism Tagged With: poverty, privilege, snobs, working class

Five Classist Pitfalls to #Resist in Your Activism

February 13, 2017 by Davey Shlasko 4 Comments

In a moment of potentially revolutionary activism and mobilization, don’t let classism undermine your efforts. The past few weeks have been both terrifying and inspiring. In the midst of ascending totalitarianism and the drastic, likely unconstitutional roll-backs of basic rights, we are also seeing a swift mobilization from both new and established activists. Organizations and […]

Filed Under: Class prejudice, Classism in Politics, Classism in Progressive Movement Groups, Cross-class alliances, Dealing with privilege, Internalized classism, LGBT & Class, Politics and Class Tagged With: activism, class cultures, classism, community organizing, middle class, owning class, privilege, social movements, working class

Resistance Is Critical

January 19, 2017 by Betsy Leondar-Wright Leave a Comment

The election outcome was a shock – but wasn’t something new. Throughout U.S. history we’ve had waves of right-wing populism, when people bought into explanations of their economic hardships that scapegoat other marginalized groups and reject traditional elites. This election was a right-wing populist upsurge that few of us saw coming. We underestimated the number […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class prejudice, Classism in Politics, Classism in Progressive Movement Groups Tagged With: activism, classism, snobs, social movements, working class

Affordable vs. Attainable Housing

January 5, 2017 by Lita Kurth 3 Comments

When you think affordable housing, you think $600,000 for a condo, right? With a $12,000 down payment, that would be $3,557 per month for 30 years. Maybe that’s why a new term has arisen in the real estate market, attainable housing. Under the new rules, old safety precautions are ignored. Once, homebuyers were advised to spend no more than […]

Filed Under: Affordable Housing, Building Economic Alternatives, Money Tagged With: debt, downward mobility, middle class, money, working class

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