Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 05:14:18 -0500
From: Richard Jensen <h4900@APSU01.APSU.EDU> Reply-To: Social Class in Contemporary Societies

Subject: Heath on "The New Working Class"

American Demographics, January 1998
Features
The New Working Class
by Rebecca Piirto Heath
In a supposedly classless society, nearly half of Americans consistently identify themselves as working class. This group is more diverse than it was a generation ago, and now it includes people from all walks of life. Perhaps the greatest common bond of working-class Americans is their belief in the combined strength of working people -- through unions. As recently as two years ago, leading newspapers were announcing the death of the working class. That obituary now seems premature. Although the structure of the working class is shifting, its spirit is thriving.What's changing is the working-class stereotype of a hard-hatted, blue-collared, middle-aged, white man. As the industrial age becomes more of a dim memory, the image of the group of people who drive the economy is changing, too. Indicators suggest that the working core of Americans is becoming younger, more ethnically diverse, more female, somewhat more educated, and more alienated from it's employers.

Trying to pinpoint the precise nature of this shift, however, is a prickly proposition. The difficulty comes from our uniquely American view of class. The common belief on these shores is that America, unlike Europe, is a classless society. We admit to racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural divisions. But to class? Most Americans think of class the same way they think of the British monarchy -- something foreign. . . . .

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