Michael Beyea Reagan: Intersectional Class Struggle (2021, AK Press)
Paperback, 200 pages
English language
Published June 14, 2021 by AK Press.
"This innovative book explores the relevance of class for understanding our world today. Using a historical lens, Reagan studies the experiences of working-class peoples, from migrant farm workers in California to the “factory girls” of New England and Black workers in the South, to explore the variety of working-class experiences. He investigates how the concepts of racial capitalism and black feminist thought, when applied to class studies and popular movements, allow us to recognize that our movements can be diverse and particularistic as well as have elements of the universal experience shared by all workers. Arguing most class analysis misses major elements of what class is and how it operates, Reagan combines intersectional theory and materialism to show that culture, economics, idealogy, and consciousness are all factors that go into making "class" meaningful."--From back cover
Interesting historical examples, but written in an annoying way and a bit too anglocentric (as usual).
You can find my entire review here.
From the start of my review:
I liked this book from the start, in how it simply put things together:
At the end of working on Intersectional Class Struggle, I found myself writing during the combined impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the unprecedented movement power of Black Lives Matter in 2020. Albeit powerful, attempting to look strictly at “class” factors to explain this moment gets us in trouble. For example, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the already gross wealth inequality in the United States; the richest and most powerful tech corporations have ballooning stock valuations and profitability propped up by government spending and guarantees for the rich. A study by the Institute for Policy Studies found, in the first three months of the crisis in the United States, the nation’s billionaires increased their wealth by over $600 billion, …
You can find my entire review here.
From the start of my review:
I liked this book from the start, in how it simply put things together:
At the end of working on Intersectional Class Struggle, I found myself writing during the combined impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the unprecedented movement power of Black Lives Matter in 2020. Albeit powerful, attempting to look strictly at “class” factors to explain this moment gets us in trouble. For example, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the already gross wealth inequality in the United States; the richest and most powerful tech corporations have ballooning stock valuations and profitability propped up by government spending and guarantees for the rich. A study by the Institute for Policy Studies found, in the first three months of the crisis in the United States, the nation’s billionaires increased their wealth by over $600 billion, bringing their total assets to $3.5 trillion, more than the total wealth for the entire U.S. Latinx population. In the same period, more than 44 million people had to file for unemployment relief because they lost their jobs and, by mid-2020, 40 million were facing eviction, all disproportionately affecting people of color. Amazon’s stock valuation soared during the crisis to $1.5 trillion, doubling its profit during the pandemic and bringing in a record $5.2 billion in revenue. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive officer (CEO) and already the richest person in the world, gained $13 billion in one day on a stock surge, his personal value up $70 billion on the year to roughly $180 billion while the real economy suffered. Meanwhile, Amazon workers who make that profit possible were being called in to work, getting infected with COVID-19, and dying. By May, there were eight known deaths. When workers protested those conditions, they were fired.
Coe is expressing the tenets of intersectional class struggle, the idea that, despite significant differences, most of us are “in the same boat” and can come to recognize it. White workers can’t make it without Black liberation.
You can find my entire review here.returnreturnFrom the start of my review:returnreturnI liked this book from the start, in how it simply put things together:returnreturn
At the end of working on Intersectional Class Struggle, I found myself writing during the combined impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the unprecedented movement power of Black Lives Matter in 2020. Albeit powerful, attempting to look strictly at âclassâ factors to explain this moment gets us in trouble. For example, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the already gross wealth inequality in the United States; the richest and most powerful tech corporations have ballooning stock valuations and profitability propped up by government spending and guarantees for the rich. A study by the Institute for Policy Studies found, in the first three months of the crisis in the United States, the nationâs billionaires increased their wealth by over $600 billion, bringing their …
You can find my entire review here.returnreturnFrom the start of my review:returnreturnI liked this book from the start, in how it simply put things together:returnreturn
At the end of working on Intersectional Class Struggle, I found myself writing during the combined impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the unprecedented movement power of Black Lives Matter in 2020. Albeit powerful, attempting to look strictly at âclassâ factors to explain this moment gets us in trouble. For example, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the already gross wealth inequality in the United States; the richest and most powerful tech corporations have ballooning stock valuations and profitability propped up by government spending and guarantees for the rich. A study by the Institute for Policy Studies found, in the first three months of the crisis in the United States, the nationâs billionaires increased their wealth by over $600 billion, bringing their total assets to $3.5 trillion, more than the total wealth for the entire U.S. Latinx population. In the same period, more than 44 million people had to file for unemployment relief because they lost their jobs and, by mid-2020, 40 million were facing eviction, all disproportionately affecting people of color. Amazonâs stock valuation soared during the crisis to $1.5 trillion, doubling its profit during the pandemic and bringing in a record $5.2 billion in revenue. Jeff Bezos, Amazonâs chief executive officer (CEO) and already the richest person in the world, gained $13 billion in one day on a stock surge, his personal value up $70 billion on the year to roughly $180 billion while the real economy suffered. Meanwhile, Amazon workers who make that profit possible were being called in to work, getting infected with COVID-19, and dying. By May, there were eight known deaths. When workers protested those conditions, they were fired.returnreturnSo, what is intersectional class struggle? To quote the author from a passage about Clarence Coe:returnreturn
Coe is expressing the tenets of intersectional class struggle, the idea that, despite significant differences, most of us are âin the same boatâ and can come to recognize it. White workers canât make it without Black liberation.returnreturnRace, gender, class, all of these bits matter in breaking all of us out of our chains. Reagan, unlike Marx, includes more factors than the material when describing the fundamental relationship of class.
