Rachel Sherman's new book, Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels observes that workers and guests often minimize class differences between them, even by enacting relationships strongly structured by their relative privilege.
This revelation sparked a sea change in my thinking and caused me to completely recalibrate my understanding of the world's pecking order. All of a sudden the playing field was level and I felt that I had a right to be in the game if I had faith in myself -- regardless of my roots.
As a young gay male looking for LGBT success stories in the media, I have to wonder if the success of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge is really a victory for a collective "us." My fear is that the media will exploit their story as something more representative of LGBT issues than it really is.
Without state support for early parenting, being present in those precious early months is a class-based privilege, one that ultimately exacerbates the very class disadvantage that creates unequal access to the luxury of parenting in the first place.
We're a nation that's coming to respect statistics. Billy Bean convinced us that better statistics could beat bigger payrolls in sports. Nate Silver helped humble Karl Rove's money machine with better statistics. Maybe it's time to take a more careful look at the international test statistics judging how good our nation's schools are.
As he hands me a paper, I hand him a dollar in exchange, and the makeshift barrier that exists between two different social classes of people is broken down by both of our authenticity in this experience.
College for all? Forget college? It depends. And one of the things it depends on is that taboo U.S. topic: social class.
The rich are more likely to: a) Cut off other drivers. b) Be disinterested in the welfare of others. c) Cheat on a test to get ahead. d) Give m...
Most of the people who were old enough to remember living through the Great Depression never forgot it. The fear and uncertainty left them inclined to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
Even the most democratic societies are rife with social and economic inequalities, as the current tension between the poorer "99%" and the richest "1%...
Until recently, we all saw the college years as an important time for intellectual, social and cultural growth. Those days seem to be over. Colleges and universities have been profoundly politicized.
It is not Romney's wealth that makes him unable to relate. It is his incapacity to acknowledge the privileged position from which he began.
As a white activist, I get this a lot. What does a white liberal weekend revolutionary know about police brutality? What gives me the cultural authority to quote the poetry of Gil Scott-Heron? And who the hell do I think I am?
Who is more likely to lie, cheat, and steal—the poor person or the rich one? It’s tempting to think that the wealthier you are, the more likely y...
Significantly more Americans see "very strong" or "strong" class conflict between the rich and poor, according to a survey released Wednesday by the P...
Most Americans want to believe that they are middle class, and this notion, which goes along with the myths of American social equality and equal opportunity, makes us feel good. We don't like to discuss issues that threaten our social myths.
It is high time people stopped forming their opinions about free trade based on what they think people will think of them at cocktail parties.
Instead of simply teaching people to have 'healthy' marriages, marriage counseling taught Americans to define marriage itself as a healthy state of being.
Here's the question society needs to ask itself: Do the "average" and "below average" have the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the "above average" and "excellent?"
This is a small, intimate novel about an exceedingly well-educated concierge in a Paris apartment building and her relationships. Here are five reasons I think this book is essential reading for grown ups.
The tendency of sons to have similar earnings to their fathers' is stronger in the U.S., Great Britain, and Italy than in nine other rich countries.
Some of the worst offenders were the middle-aged men who smoked mountains of Capri cigarettes; if I had $5 for every one I eventually picked up, I would now be living in a villa inCapri.
