Here, anthropologist Newman (Columbia) tackles the growing problem
of downward mobility in the middle class. The vaunted figure of the
80's may be the Yuppie, but Newman suggests that, in actuality,
over half of the American population is currently experiencing an
erosion of living standards due to inflation, corporate layoffs
(particularly in the high-tech fields), or divorce. Newman indicts
the corporate world for a seeming lack of empathy for displaced
workers and executives caught in budget crunches. She suggests that
laid-off executives (who fall the farthest) are lumped into the
category of "inept" by other corporations and head-hunters, despite
the fact that they usually fall due to the cutting of a whole
department for budget reasons. Based on in-depth interviews with
actual victims, this work chronicles the loss of self-confidence
that ultimately eats away at those who are forced to give up old
standards of living and even to sell homes in the effort to keep
food on the table. "Downward mobility is the crucible of
self-doubt." Newman, unfortunately, is long on indictments but
short on solutions. She devotes just half a page to the subject of
how our society might better face this problem. Falling back on
other cultures, Newman suggests the Japanese. or West German
approach as a preventative. The industries of those countries seem
to be suffused with "an ethos of loyalty and reciprocal
commitment." Before discharging employees, these nations'
industries will look to cut hours. And when times really get rough,
Japanese companies might, as Matsuhita actually did, send
assembly-line workers out selling door-to-door. Others have
suggested that America adopt Japanese methods before, so Newman is
offering no new prescription here. But her diagnostic tracking of
middle-class belt-tightening is well researched and valuable.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Over the last three decades, millions of people have slipped
through a loophole in the American dream and become downwardly
mobile as a result of downsizing, plant closings, mergers, and
divorce: the middle-aged computer executive laid off during an
industry crisis, blue-collar workers phased out of the
post-industrial economy, middle managers whose positions have been
phased out, and once-affluent housewives stranded with children and
a huge mortgage as the result of divorce. Anthropologist Katherine
S. Newman interviewed a wide range of men, women, and children who
experienced a precipitous fall from middle-class status, and her
book documents their stories. For the 1999 edition, Newman has
provided a new preface and updated the extensive data on job loss
and downward mobility in the American middle class, documenting its
persistence, even in times of prosperity.
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