Cut loose : jobless and hopeless in an unfair economy / Victor Tan Chen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chen, Victor Tan, 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Unemployed--United States.

Unemployed.

Unemployed--Canada.

Automobile industry workers--United States--Case studies.

Automobile industry workers.

Automobile industry workers--Canada--Case studies.

United States--Economic conditions.

United States.

Canada--Economic conditions.

Canada.

United States--Social conditions.

Canada--Social conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (339 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Years after the Great Recession, the economy is still weak, and an unprecedented number of workers have sunk into long spells of unemployment. Cut Loose provides a vivid and moving account of the experiences of some of these men and women, through the example of a historically important group: autoworkers. Their well-paid jobs on the assembly lines built a strong middle class in the decades after World War II. But today, they find themselves beleaguered in a changed economy of greater inequality and risk, one that favors the well-educated-or well-connected. Their declining fortunes in recent decades tell us something about what the white-collar workforce should expect to see in the years ahead, as job-killing technologies and the shipping of work overseas take away even more good jobs. Cut Loose offers a poignant look at how the long-term unemployed struggle in today's unfair economy to support their families, rebuild their lives, and overcome the shame and self-blame they deal with on a daily basis. It is also a call to action-a blueprint for a new kind of politics, one that offers a measure of grace in a society of ruthless advancement.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1. They Had It Coming

CHAPTER 2. All This Garbage from Life: Education and the Capital Speedup

CHAPTER 3. Decline and Fall: Hardship, Race, and the Social Safety Net

CHAPTER 4. Half a Man: Fragile Families and the Unmarriageable Unemployed

CHAPTER 5. Vicious Circles: The Structure of Power and the Culture of Judgment

CHAPTER 6. Loser: The Failures of the American Dream

CHAPTER 7. There Go I

Appendix: Research Methods and Policy Details

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780520283015

0520283015

OCLC:

910159755