The Problem of Class in America

Class is everywhere in American life, but rarely discussed explicitly. This course will investigate why this is. How does class operate in American life? Why is it so often obscured? What are the cultural, political and historical forces that have made it such a contested category? We will approach class from a variety of disciplines, including history, cultural studies, and sociology; study the ways class interacts with race and gender; and consider the prospects of class in America in the context of the twenty-first century's widening inequality and globalized economy.