Winner of the 2021 Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award Winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist for the 2021 New England Society Book Award Finalist for the 2021 New England Independent Booksellers Association Award A New York Times Editors' Choice and Chicago Tribune top book for 2020 "Mill Town is the book of a lifetime; a deep-drilling, quick-moving, heartbreaking story. Scathing and tender, it lifts often into poetry, but comes down hard when it must. Through it all runs the river: sluggish, ancient, dangerous, freighted with America's sins." --Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small, rural town of Mexico, Maine, where for over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that provided jobs for nearly everyone in town, including three generations of her family. Kerri had a happy childhood, but years after she moved away, she realized the price she paid for that childhood. The price everyone paid. The mill, while providing the social and economic cohesion for the community, also contributed to its demise. Mill Town is a book of narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism that illuminates the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease with the central question; Who or what are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?

Despite their best intentions, professionals in the helping fields are influenced by a deficit perspective that is pervasive in research, theory, training programs, workforce preparation programs, statistical data, and media portrayals of marginalized groups. They enter their professions ready to fix others and their interactions are grounded in an assumption that there will be a problem to fix. They are rarely taught to approach their work with a positive view that seeks to identify the existing strengths and assets contributed by individuals who are in difficult circumstances. Moreover, these professionals are likely to be entirely unaware of the deficit-based bias that influences the way they speak, act, and behave during those interactions. Reconstructing Perceptions of Systemically Marginalized Groups demonstrates that all individuals in marginalized groups have the potential to be successful when they are in a strengths-based environment that recognizes their value and focuses on what works to promote positive outcomes, rather than on barriers and deficits. Covering key topics such as education practices, adversity, and resilience, this reference work is ideal for industry professionals, administrators, psychologists, policymakers, researchers, academicians, scholars, instructors, and students.

Exploring the growing field of mobilities research, this Handbook focuses on the flows and movements of people, artefacts, capital, information and signs on different social and geographical scales. It examines the systems and practices of mobilities within societies, politics, cultures and economies from different theoretical, epistemological and methodological perspectives. Reflecting the variety and diversity of research methods and applications, contributions from top scholars highlight the multiple dimensions of mobilities, from transport to tourism, cargo to information, and across physical, virtual and imaginative mobilities. Chapters analyse mobilities from different angles and scales, emphasising interdisciplinarity by looking at how researchers engage with mobile methods. An inspirational toolbox of research methods and applications for mobilities, sociology and human geography scholars, this Handbook provides both qualitative and quantitative insights to the topic. It will be of interest to policymakers and urban planners looking for a better understanding of the impact and importance of mobilities in contemporary societies. Contributors include: K. Barry, N.M. Bennetsen, J. Berg, T. Birtchnell, T. Boehme, G. Bourg, R. Boyd, A.V.H. Bueno, M. Buscher, E.C. Cabalquinto, C.B. Christensen, F. da Costa Portugal Duarte, M. de Neergaard, A. Elliott, M. Freudendal-Pedersen, J. Germann Molz, K. Goetz, N. Grauslund Kristensen, K. Hartmann-Petersen, M. Henriksson, J.M. Hildebrand, F. Hirschhorn, M. Huyghe, O. Jarv, H.L. Jensen, O.B. Jensen, S. Kesselring, H. Krobath, G.R. Larsen, C. Lassen, A. Maddrell, K. Manderscheid, A. Masso, L. Murray, L. Nitschke, A. Paulsson, A. Perkins, R. Rackham, A. Rocci, L. Schindler, M. Sheller, S. Silm, L.C. Smith, S. Smith, S. Sodero, G. Sunderer, C.H. Sorensen, B. Szerszynski, K.S. Tan, S. Thulin, M. Trandberg Jensen, C. Tschoerner-Budde, D. Tyfield, R. Tzanelli, P. Vannini, S. Wilson, D. Zuev

Over the last 25 years, nearly two billion people across the globe have risen out of poverty and income levels have risen worldwide. Yet in the US, the top 1% earn twice the amount of income as the poorest 50% of the population. In the midst of rising prosperity, economic dissatisfaction--driven by the persistent fear felt by many that they are ''falling behind''--is higher than at any point since the 1930s. In Understanding Economic Inequality, the author brings an economist's perspective informed by new, groundbreaking research on inequality from philosophy, sociology, psychology, and political science and presents it in a form that it is accessible to those who want to understand our world, our society, our politics, our paychecks, and our neighbors' paychecks better. As any history of the 21st century would be incomplete without understanding ''the 99% versus the 1%'', the insights provided by the author will prove valuable to any reader. This book also provides the foundation for undergraduate courses on wealth and income inequality, and an essential reading for introductory economics, labor economics, public policy, law, or sociology courses.

Global inequality has been a burning issue for years now. As the economies progress, it is expected that the benefits of growth will percolate to the lower sections of society. However, this percolation takes place in a discriminating manner. Inequality can be observed in terms of health, income, education, wealth, gender, availability of opportunities, and other socio-economic parameters. The governing authorities and international agencies have been taking various corrective measures to reduce the widening levels of inequality. However, certain external factors like the pandemic can wash away the efforts taken and deteriorate the progress made on the inequality levels in economies. Emerging Trends and Insights on Economic Inequality in the Wake of Global Crises discusses the impact of global disasters and crises on economic inequality. It provides an overview of the evolution of global inequality over the years, increasing different forms of inequalities amidst crises, the corrective measures taken by the national and international agencies, and the way forward for economies with worsening inequalities. Covering topics such as crisis management, digital agriculture, and economic welfare, this premier reference source is an essential resource for economists, business leaders and executives, government officials, students and educators of higher education, sociologists, researchers, and academicians.

'It's fascinating and moving to discover and identify those LGBT people in less happy times, who fought for the freedoms LGBT people now enjoy in the UK. This book will make you look back with gratitude and astonishment for what has been achieved.' Sir Ian McKellen LGBT activist and civil rights history from the 1960s to the 2000s has had a huge impact on our social and political landscape in the UK, yet much of this history remains hidden. Prejudice and Pride: LGBT Activist Stories from Manchester and Beyond explores aspects of LGBT activist history. It covers educational activism, youth work activism and the history of the LGBT Centre in Manchester. Through personal stories of activists, heard and recorded by young people from LGBT Youth North West, the book explores the 'wibbly wobbly' nature of people's histories. It reveals how they interlink in surprising and creative ways to form the current landscape of both prejudice and pride. Also contains exercises for interpreting and ideas for collecting activist histories within youth work.

The Mobilities Paradox: A Critical Analysis asks how the mobilities paradigm, arguably one of the most influential theoretical innovations of the 21st century, holds up against the empirical realities of a deeply unequal world. Korstanje's provocative analysis pairs a sweeping overview of the theoretical landscape with specific instances of tourism, terrorism, hospitality, automobility, digital technologies, and non-places to put mobilities theory to the test.' - Jennie Germann Molz, College of the Holy Cross, US The theory of mobilities has gained great recognition and traction over recent decades, illustrating not only the influence of mobilities in daily life but also the rise and expansion of globalization worldwide. But what if this sense of mobilities is in fact an ideological bubble that provides the illusion of freedom whilst limiting our mobility or even keeping us immobile? This book reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the mobilities paradigm and reminds us that today only a small percentage of the world?s population travel internationally. In doing so the author?s insightful analysis constructs a bridge between Marxism and Cultural theory. Offering a critical discussion of the theory of mobilities, the book explores the concept in the context of colonialism, nation states, consumption, globalization, fear and terrorism. This unique book presents an alternative viewpoint that is vital reading for cultural theorists, sociologists, anthropologists and Marxist scholars seeking a different understanding of the theory of mobilities.

In original essays drawn from a myriad of archival materials, Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain reveals how the members of the Junta de Damas de Honor y Merito, founded in 1787 to administer charities and schools for impoverished women and children, claimed a role in the public sphere through their self-representation as civic mothers and created an enlightened legacy for modern feminism in Spain.

One of the most famous writers of all time, George Orwell's life played a huge part in his understanding of the world. A constant critic of power and authority, the roots of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four began to grow in his formative years as a pupil at a strict private school in Eastbourne. His essay Such, Such Were The Joys recounts the ugly realities of the regime to which pupils were subjected in the name of class prejudice, hierarchy and imperial destiny. This graphic novel vividly brings his experiences at school to life. As Orwell earned his place through scholarship rather than wealth, he was picked on by both staff and richer students. The violence of his teachers and the shame he experienced on a daily basis leap from the pages, conjuring up how this harsh world looked through a child's innocent eyes while juxtaposing the mature Orwell's ruminations on what such schooling says about society. Today, as the private school and class system endure, this is a vivid reminder that the world Orwell sought to change is still with us.

The Impact of Natural Disasters on Systemic Political and Social Inequities in the U.S. examines how natural disasters impact social inequality in the United States. The contributors analyze natural disasters such as Hurricane Maria to show how these events influence the ways political and social inequality change over time. The contributors cover topics such as criminal justice, demographics, economics, history, political science, and sociology to show how effects of natural disasters vary by social and economic class in the United States. Ultimately, the contributors conclude that natural disasters and emergencies make political and social inequality worse. The Impact of Natural Disasters study social and political mechanisms in disaster response and relief that enable natural disasters to worsen inequalities in America and offers potential solutions.

A denunciation of the credentialed elite class that serves capitalism while insisting on its own progressive heroism Professional Managerial Class (PMC) elite workers labor in a world of performative identity and virtue signaling, publicizing an ability to do ordinary things in fundamentally superior ways. Author Catherine Liu shows how the PMC stands in the way of social justice and economic redistribution by promoting meritocracy, philanthropy, and other self-serving operations to abet an individualist path to a better world. Virtue Hoarders is an unapologetically polemical call to reject making a virtue out of taste and consumption habits. Forerunners: Ideas First is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital publications. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.

Written in 1954 and published here for the first time, The Social Background of Delinquency deals with the social climate in which juvenile delinquency crops up time after time. It examines ‘bad’ behaviour among people who could otherwise be classed as ‘normal’ members of ordinary English society. It attempts to explore certain aspects of the sub-cultures within respectable society which appear to breed behaviour officially classed as ‘delinquent’. The research is based on a working-class town in the Midlands with a high proportion of miners and observes a pair of similar streets in five areas of the town. Each pair of streets containing one delinquency-free and one with a history of trouble. Not content with a mere survey, the research design is multifaceted and includes ethnographic observations, key informant interviews, personal history analyses and 'the playroom method' explicitly designed to ascertain children's views. The findings are reported here and represent a snapshot of life in the 1950s.

"The Richardson boys ganged up with two other big families in their buildings and, at various ages, had tried out most of the local youth organisations. Bert Richardson with a suitable set of brothers and mates, was in the Scouts, but they got ejected. Later, at thirteen, he joined a boys' club for its boxing and football, and belonged on and off till he was sixteen. Then he suddenly dropped out." Why did Bert drop out? Originally published in 1954, the answer forms the substance of Some Young People, the report of an inquiry into adolescents' reactions to their local youth groups. Besides answering the question "Who joins what?" (and two thirds of these thousand youngsters of 14 to 17 were not members of any youth organisation) the book describes some of the hopes, pleasures and difficulties of such people as Frances, the chocolate packer, who has ambition to marry before long; and John, the carpenter's apprentice, whose passions are autocycling, pigeons and pigs. It also throws light on problems such as those presented by gangs; and suggests the importance of "my friends," the closely-knit set who mean so much to the adolescent.

The American Dream of reaching success through sheer sweat and determination rings false for countless members of today's working class. This volume shows that many of the difficulties facing modern laborers have deep roots in the history of worker exploitation in the South. Contributors make the case that the problems that have long beset southern labor, including the legacy of slavery, low wages, lack of collective bargaining rights, and repression of organized unions, have become the problems of workers across the United States. Spanning nearly all of U.S. history, from the eighteenth century to the present, the essays in this collection range from West Virginia to Florida to Texas. They examine such topics as vagrancy laws in the Early Republic, inmate labor at state penitentiaries, mine workers and union membership, pesticide exposure among farmworkers, labor activism during the civil rights movement, and foreign-owned auto factories in the rural South. They distinguish between different struggles experienced by women and men, as well as by African American, Latino, and white workers. The broad chronological sweep and comprehensive nature of Reconsidering Southern Labor History set this volume apart from any other collection on the topic in the past forty years. Presenting the latest trends in the study of the working-class South by a new generation of scholars, this volume is a surprising revelation of the historical forces behind the labor inequalities inherent today.