Full Description
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
Acknowledgments 1. They Had It Coming 2. All This Garbage from Life: Education and the Capital Speedup 3. Decline and Fall: Hardship, Race, and the Social Safety Net 4. Half a Man: Fragile Families and the Unmarriageable Unemployed 5. Vicious Circles: The Structure of Power and the Culture of Judgment 6. Loser: The Failures of the American Dream 7. There Go I Appendix: Research Methods and Policy Details Notes Index
