Living on the edge : when hard times become a way of life / Celine-Marie Pascale.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pascale, Celine-Marie, 1956- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States.

United States--Economic conditions--2009-.

United States--Social conditions--1980-2020.

Working poor--United States.

Working poor.

Poverty--United States.

Poverty.

Equality--United States.

Equality.

Economic history.

Social conditions.

Physical Description:

xiii, 295 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2021.

Summary:

"A portrait of struggling America and how it has been left behind"-- Provided by publisher.

"For the majority of Americans, hard times have long been a way of life. Some work multiple low-wage jobs, others face the squeeze of stagnant wages and rising costs of living. Sociologist Celine-Marie Pascale talked with people across Appalachia, at the Standing Rock and Wind River reservations, and in the bustling city of Oakland, California. Their voices offer a wide range of experiences that complicate dominant national narratives about economic struggles. Yet Living on the Edge is about more than individual experiences. It's about a nation in a deep economic and moral crisis. It's about the long-standing collusion between government and corporations that prioritizes profits over people, over the environment, and over the nation's well-being. It's about how racism, sexism, violence, and the pandemic shape daily experience in struggling communities. And, ultimately, it's a book about hope that lays out a vision for the future as honest as it is ambitious. Most people in the book are not progressives; none are radicals. They're hard-working people who know from experience that the current system is unsustainable. Across the country people described the need for a living wage, accessible health care, immigration reform, and free education. Their voices are worth listening to."--Back cover.

Contents:

The lay of the land

The struggling class

A hazardous life: the high price of being poor

Sacrifice zones: the places we call home

Ordinary things that can only happen here

The burdens of prejudice: class and race

The burdens women face

The face of a movement?

The myths we live by

And then, the pandemic...

The future we want

Appendix A: Methods, methodology, and theory

Appendix B: Table of interviewees.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [243]-284) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Pascale, Celine-Marie, 1956- Living on the edge

ISBN:

9781509548231

1509548238

9781509548248

1509548246

OCLC:

1229140889

Publisher Number:

40030828585

40030827094