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  • White Working Class

  • Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America
  • By: Joan C. Williams
  • Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
  • Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)

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White Working Class cover art

White Working Class

By: Joan C. Williams
Narrated by: Liisa Ivary
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Publisher's Summary

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.

©2017 Joan C. Williams (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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A well-informed message of empathy that is applicable in many countries and contexts

A fascinating evidence-informed exploration of the break down of understanding between classes that in a utopia would be widely read and fuel the bridging of this divide and the bringing of people closer together.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.