The Politics of Identity: Solidarity Building Among America's Working Poor (Suny Series in Public Policy)

Conventional Wisdom Believes That Solidarity Among The Working Poor Is Rare In The United States And Identity Politics Shoulders A Large Portion Of The Blame. The Politics Of Identity Offers A Fresh Take On Solidarity Building And Identity Among America's Working Poor By Placing Workers' Voices Center Stage Through The Use Of Fieldwork And In-depth Interviews. The Book Provides The First Empirical Assessment Of Long-standing Theoretical Debates Over The Effect Of Identity Politics For Developing Additional Solidarities That Is Politically Relevant, Theoretically Rich, And Highly Readable.--jacket. Introduction -- Identity Among The Working Poor : Possibilities In Familiar Patterns -- They're A Lot Like Us : Understanding Coalitional Solidarity, Developing It, And The Role Of Associational Identity Politics -- Hey, It's Not My Fault : Barriers To Coalitional Solidarity And The Non-role Of Associational Identity Politics -- I Got Workers' Backs : Uncovering Collective Worker Solidarity, Developing It, And The Role Of Associated Identity Politics -- Being A Worker Doesn't Mean A Thing To Me : The How And Why Of Rejecting Collective Worker Solidarity -- It Could Get Political : Everyday Uses Of Collective Solidarity And Identity Politics For Policy Change And Activism -- I Would Go Toward The Goal They're Trying To Reach : Everyday Uses Of Coalitional Solidarity And Identity Politics For Policy Change And Activism -- Conclusion. Erin E. O'brien. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 239-262) And Index. Annotation "Conventional wisdom believes that solidarity among the working poor is rare in the United States and identity politics shoulders a large portion of the blame. The Politics of Identity offers a fresh take on solidarity building and identity among America's working poor by placing workers' voices center stage through the use of fieldwork and in-depth interviews. The book provides the first empirical assessment of long-standing theoretical debates over the effect of identity politics for developing additional solidarities that is politically relevant, theoretically rich, and highly readable."--Jacket