Driving after Class: Anxious Times in an American Suburb (Volume 31) (California Series in Public Anthropology)

A paradoxical situation emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century: the dramatic upscaling of the suburban American dream even as the possibilities for achieving and maintaining it diminished. Having fled to the suburbs in search of affordable homes, open space, and better schools, city-raised parents found their modest homes eclipsed by McMansions, local schools and roads overburdened and underfunded, and their ability to keep up with the pressures of extravagant consumerism increasingly tenuous. How do class anxieties play out amid such disconcerting cultural, political, and economic changes? In this incisive ethnography set in a New Jersey suburb outside New York City, Rachel Heiman takes us into people’s homes; their community meetings, where they debate security gates and school redistricting; and even their cars, to offer an intimate view of the tensions and uncertainties of being middle class at that time. With a gift for bringing to life the everyday workings of class in the lives of children, youth, and their parents, Heiman offers an illuminating look at the contemporary complexities of class rooted in racialized lives, hyperconsumption, and neoliberal citizenship. She argues convincingly that to understand our current economic situation we need to attend to the subtle but forceful formation of sensibilities, spaces, and habits that durably motivate people and shape their actions and outlooks. "Rugged entitlement" is Heiman’s name for the middle class’s sense of entitlement to a way of life that is increasingly untenable and that is accompanied by an anxious feeling that they must vigilantly pursue their own interests to maintain and further their class position. __Driving after Class__ is a model of fine-grained ethnography that shows how families try to make sense of who they are and where they are going in a highly competitive and uncertain time. A Paradoxical Situation Emerged In The Late 1990s: The Dramatic Upscaling Of The Suburban American Dream, Even As The Possibilities For Achieving And Maintaining It Diminished. Driving After Class Explores Middle-class Anxieties And Suburban Life During Those Years. Drawing On Nineteen Months Of Ethnographic Research In A Suburban New Jersey Town As Mcmansions Sprouted Up Next To Subdivisions Of Moderately Sized Colonial-style Homes And Infrastructural Essentials Like Schools And Roads Became Overburdened, Each Chapter Throws Into Relief Subtle Gradations Within The Middle Class And Among Middle-class Sensibilities, And Brings To Life The Ways That People Were Reorienting Themselves--both Consciously And Unconsciously--to The Discursive And Material Displacement Of Postwar Liberal Approaches To Middle-class Life In Favor Of Newly Dominant Neoliberal Logics. The Ethnographic Moments Illustrated In The Book, Drawn From Fieldwork In People's Homes, Their Town Hall, And Their Suvs, Reveal The Ways That Efforts To Appease Feelings Of Insecurity--whether Through Place-making Practices, Childrearing Strategies, Or 'had-to-have' Purchases--often Made People (and Their Neighbors) Feel And Be Less Secure. The Economics And Cultural Politics Of The Constellation Of These Ways Of Being, Which I Have Termed 'rugged Entitlement,' Ended Up Steering Many Children, Youth, And Parents Into Ambivalence About The Structuring And Texture Of Their Everyday Lives: It Is Exhausting Work To Be Strategically And Persistently Driving After Class. But More Often Than Not, Unable To Imagine The Possibility Of Crafting Another Way Of Life, Most Curbed These Unsettling Doubts And Resolutely Fueled Up For The Ride--provided By Publisher. Being Post-brooklyn -- Gate Expectations -- Driving After Class -- Vehicles For Rugged Entitlement -- From White Flight To Community Might -- A Conclusion, Or Rather, A Commencement. Rachel Heiman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A paradoxical situation emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century: the dramatic upscaling of the suburban American dream even as the possibilities for achieving and maintaining it diminished. Having fled to the suburbs in search of affordable homes, open space, and better schools, city-raised parents found their modest homes eclipsed by McMansions, local schools and roads overburdened and underfunded, and their ability to keep up with the pressures of extravagant consumerism increasingly tenuous. How do class anxieties play out amid such disconcerting cultural, political, and economic changes? In this incisive ethnography set in a New Jersey suburb outside New York City, Rachel Heiman takes us into people’s homes; their community meetings, where they debate security gates and school redistricting; and even their cars, to offer an intimate view of the tensions and uncertainties of being middle class at that time.

With a gift for bringing to life the everyday workings of class in the lives of children, youth, and their parents, Heiman offers an illuminating look at the contemporary complexities of class rooted in racialized lives, hyperconsumption, and neoliberal citizenship. She argues convincingly that to understand our current economic situation we need to attend to the subtle but forceful formation of sensibilities, spaces, and habits that durably motivate people and shape their actions and outlooks. "Rugged entitlement" is Heiman’s name for the middle class’s sense of entitlement to a way of life that is increasingly untenable and that is accompanied by an anxious feeling that they must vigilantly pursue their own interests to maintain and further their class position. Driving after Class is a model of fine-grained ethnography that shows how families try to make sense of who they are and where they are going in a highly competitive and uncertain time. "A paradoxical situation emerged in the late 1990s: the dramatic upscaling of the suburban American dream, even as the possibilities for achieving and maintaining it diminished. Driving After Class explores middle-class anxieties and suburban life during those years. Drawing on nineteen months of ethnographic research in a suburban New Jersey town as McMansions sprouted up next to subdivisions of moderately sized colonial-style homes and infrastructural essentials like schools and roads became overburdened, each chapter throws into relief subtle gradations within the middle class and among middle-class sensibilities, and brings to life the ways that people were reorienting themselves--both consciously and unconsciously--to the discursive and material displacement of postwar liberal approaches to middle-class life in favor of newly dominant neoliberal logics. The ethnographic moments illustrated in the book, drawn from fieldwork in people's homes, their town hall, and their SUVs, reveal the ways that efforts to appease feelings of insecurity--whether through place-making practices, childrearing strategies, or 'had-to-have' purchases--often made people (and their neighbors) feel and be less secure. The economics and cultural politics of the constellation of these ways of being, which I have termed 'rugged entitlement, ' ended up steering many children, youth, and parents into ambivalence about the structuring and texture of their everyday lives: it is exhausting work to be strategically and persistently driving after class. But more often than not, unable to imagine the possibility of crafting another way of life, most curbed these unsettling doubts and resolutely fueled up for the ride"--Résumé de l'éditeur Contents Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Common Sense in Anxious Times 2. Being Post-Brooklyn 3. Gate Expectations 4. Driving after Class 5. Vehicles for Rugged Entitlement 6. From White Flight to Community Might 7. A Conclusion, or Rather, a Commencement Notes References Index