White Working Class, Joan C. Williams
White Working Class, Joan C. Williams
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White Working Class
Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America

Author: Joan C. Williams

Narrator: Liisa Ivary

Unabridged: 3 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/27/2017


Synopsis

Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite―journalists, managers, and establishment politicians―are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, described as having “something approaching rock star status” by the New York Times, explains why so much of the elite’s analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in class cluelessness.Williams explains that many people have conflated “working class” with “poor”―but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don’t 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. While white working-class motivations are often dismissed as racist or xenophobic, Williams shows that they have their own class consciousness.White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of 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.

About Joan C. Williams

Joan C. Williams is Distinguished Professor of Law and Hastings Foundation Chair at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Williams’ work includes What Works for Women at Work, coauthored with Rachel Dempsey; Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do about It; and such widely read reports as “The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict,” coauthored with Heather Boushey. Williams is frequently featured as an expert on social class. For more information, visit JoanCWilliams.com.

About Liisa Ivary

Liisa Ivary loves to tell stories that take you on the characters’ journey. From theater to audiobooks to teaching, Liisa brings listeners along with humor, rigor, safety, and ease.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brad on June 04, 2017

If a webcam had been trained at my face while I was reading this book my expression would probably have been one of slowly dawning horror. If a comic-strip thought balloon had been connected to my head, it might have read, "Oh dear. I guess I really do live in even more of a bubble than I thought I......more

Goodreads review by Peter on May 20, 2017

Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - [URL not allowed] I thought the first part of this book was interesting and educational. In the first part, the author, Joan C. Williams, examines the situation of the "white working class" ("WWC"). Williams attempts to be objective......more

Goodreads review by Caren on June 13, 2017

This book is an expanded version of an article the author wrote just after the election: [URL not allowed]-so-many-... . The author describes herself as a member of the professional/managerial elite, born and bred, but says that forty years ago she married a “class migrant”, a man from a b......more

Goodreads review by Melanie on December 02, 2020

This is a book trying to explain the White Working Class to the Professional Managerial Elite Class in the wake of Trump's election in 2016. Having lived amongst people in both worlds, I appreciated her ability to enter the mind of the WWC and provide rational arguments for their choices. A couple o......more


Quotes

“No one should have an excuse for ‘class cluelessness’ after reading this book―and everyone should read it.” Anne-Marie Slaughter, president and CEO of New America

“Each chapter illuminates a core source of misunderstanding, and together they chart a way to bring the country together without abandoning the values of the minorities.” Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of Strangers in Their Own Land

“Blunt, compelling, [and] tightly argued.” Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working

“Informed and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking, written with an extraordinary clarity and data-driven insight… a seminal work of exceptional scholarship and very highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review