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Book Cover
E-book
Author Chen, Victor Tan, 1976- author.

Title Cut loose : jobless and hopeless in an unfair economy / Victor Tan Chen
Published Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2015]
©2015

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Description 1 online resource
Contents They had it coming -- All this garbage from life : retraining and the capital speedup -- Decline and fall: hardship, race, and the social safety net -- Half a man: fragile families and the unmarriageable unemployed -- Vicious circles: the structure of power and the culture of judgment -- Loser: the failures of the american dream -- There go I
Summary "Years after the Great Recession, the economy is still weak, and an unprecedented number of workers have sunk into long spells of unemployment, increasingly unlikely to get another good job in their lifetimes. Based on a careful crossnational comparison, "Cut Loose" describes the experiences of American and Canadian unemployed workers and the impact of the different social policies meant to help them. It focuses on a historically important group: autoworkers. Their well-paid factory jobs built a strong middle class in the decades after World War II. But today, they find themselves lost and beleaguered in a changed economy of greater inequality and risk, one that favors the well-educated--or well-connected. Their declining fortunes tell us something about what the white-collar workforce should expect in the years ahead, as job-killing technologies and the shipping of work overseas take away even more good jobs. Their frustrating experiences with retraining question whether education is really the cure-all it is made out to be. And their grim prospects in the job market reveal today's frenzied competition and harsh culture of judgment that has trickled down to a group long known for its strong belief in equality. "Cut Loose" provides a poignant look at how the long-term unemployed struggle in today's unfair economy to support their families, rebuild their lives, and cope with shame and self-blame. Yet 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."--Provided by publisher
Analysis 21st century american economy
american auto industry
american economy
american history
auto industry
autoworkers
business
call to action
car industry
class inequality
depressed economy
economic concerns
economy
ethics
factory work
great recession
historical
income inequality
industrial economic relations
job killing technology
labor policy
labor
laid off workers
middle class
morality
political
politics
sociology
technology
unemployment
work overseas
worker
working class
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Unemployed -- United States
Unemployed -- Canada
Automobile industry workers -- United States -- Case studies
Automobile industry workers -- Canada -- Case studies
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Labor.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Labor & Industrial Relations.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Sociology -- General.
Automobile industry workers
Economic history
Social conditions
Unemployed
SUBJECT United States -- Economic conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140020
Canada -- Economic conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85019300
United States -- Social conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140511
Canada -- Social conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85019352
Subject Canada
United States
Genre/Form Case studies
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780520958852
0520958853