Reviews | About the Author

The United States is not a middle class society. Michael Zweig shows that the majority of Americans are actually working class and argues that recognizing this fact is essential if that majority is to achieve political influence and social strength. "Class," Zweig writes, "is primarily a matter of power, not income." He goes beyond old formulations of class to explore ways in which class interacts with race and gender.

Defining "working class" as those who have little control over the pace and content of their work and who do not supervise others, Zweig warns that by allowing this class to disappear into categories of middle class or consumers, we also allow those with the dominant power, capitalists, to vanish among the rich. Economic relations then appear as comparisons of income or lifestyle rather than as what they truly are--contests of power, at work and in the larger society.

Using personal interviews, solid research, and down-to-earth examples, Zweig looks at a number of important contemporary social problems: the growing inequality of income and wealth, welfare reform, globalization, the role of government, and the family values debate. He shows how, with class in mind, our understanding of these issues undergoes a radical shift.

Believing that we must limit the power of capitalists to abuse workers, communities, and the environment, Zweig offers concrete ideas for the creation of a new working class politics in the United States.

Reviews

"For Zweig, our station in the world of work determines our fate. And in the power grid of the workplace, someone else makes the decisions, so everyone else is 'powerless' and 'vulnerable' As Zweig himself admits: "Life and politics are complicated, in part, because we as individuals have many 'identities' that shape us."--Ronald D. Elving, Washington Post Book World. July 16, 2000.

"Even in post-Cold War America this working class has very different economic interests from capitalists and the professional class. Zweig believes that workers must understand this idea in order to unite across race and gender divisions to define and solve their economic plight. This book is convincingly argued, well documented with economic statistics and personal interviews, and upbeat in its conclusion. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries."--Library Journal. May, 2000.

"Those who take (rather than give) orders at work are the working class; at 62% of the labor force, they are a majority distracted and diverted from its best interests for several generations. Zweig suggests the implications of this analysis for a number of key political issues, including the 'underclass,' 'family values,'globalization and what workers get (and should get) from government. Putting class back on the table produces thoughtful, provocative analysis of where the nation is going and what working people could do about it." --Mary Carroll. Booklist. May 15, 2000.

". . . In this pungent critique of class and economics in the United States -- part economic theory part political lecture and part reportage of working class life -- Zweig offers an insightful, radical analysis that will make many readers rethink commonly held but unexamined beliefs. . . Zweig supports his arguments with statistics, facts and personal stories and argues with a forcefulness and conviction backed by a deeply moral sense of the dignity that is due to each person in their work and workplace."--Publishers Weekly. May 15, 2000.

"Trends toward globalization and privatization exacerbate workers' lack of meaningful influence over corporate activities, particularly legal regulation. . . . Zweig advocates working-class organization through labor unions and political action groups. He sees 'signs of optimism' in the new leadership of the labor movement and renewed social activism among college students. Altogether, the study makes a convincing case about the working class and its implications for the US economy and society. Readable at all levels."--Choice. November, 2000

"Michael Zweig provides us with a much needed discussion of class in contemporary American society. . . . Zweig provides a clearly defined treatise on class issues. While students can benefit from the exposure to a perspective that is currently missing from the public landscape, union organizers and activist can also profit from his discussions of worker power and the rebirth of a democratic social movement among working people."--Barbara Thomas Coventry, University of Toledo. Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 31, No. 1

"As Zweig suggest[s], unions can help rebuild their strength by reclaiming the idea of class from the dustbin to which it has been consigned. [This] book should be widely read as part of that process."--Steve Early, Labor Notes, July 2000.

"Using personal interviews, solid research, and down-to-earth examples, . . . Zweig offers concrete ideas for the creation of a new working-class politics in the United States."--Newsletter of the New Political Science Section of APSA. February, 2000.

"This is a refreshing book to read. . . . carefully researched. . . . [a] book which puts class at the centre of the current debate about how we change the world. . . hugely welcome."--Judith Orr. Bookmarks, London. Marxist Litt.

"Zweig's investigation of politics goes beyond the electoral, focusing instead on how a broad working-class social movement (often in alliance with segments of the professional middle class) could reshape workplace and community power relations as well as national politics. . . . A plain-spoken economist, rigorous thinker, and clear writer, Zweig defines the American class structure basically by occupations and the amount and kind of power people have in the workplace."--Jack Metzgar, The Nation. October 30, 2000.

"In an important contribution to the development of new working-class studies, economist Michael Zweig shows how class shapes power relations, life chances, and politics in contemporary America." --Working Class Notes. Spring 2000.

"Michael Zweig renders a major service in restoring and redefining class as central to the understanding of how the American political economy works. . . . Zweig carefully parses official data to draw compelling conclusions about the class structure of modern America. The book should appeal widely to classroom teachers in high schools and universities, where it will help fill a long-standing gap in the social sciences. . . . We are all in Zweig's debt."--New Labor Forum. Fall/Winter 2000

"Working Class Majority: American's Best Kept Secret by Michael Zweig, a SUNY Stonybrook professor of economics, is a very readable analysis of class in America. Check it out."--Under the Volcano, #58

"Working Class Majority is the excellent text written by Michael Zweig, a Marxist and professor of economics, that seeks to bring the discussion of class to the fore."--Modern Times, Vol. 1, #1, September 2000

"This is a book for working class activists, whether they fight for justice in the workplace or in the community. . . . He has filled The Working Class Majority with a gallery of pictures of workers, illustrating the faces of the contemporary working class in all its diversity. . . . Until now, the fact that the working class is the majority has been kept a secret. But, with the publication of this book, the secret is out."--Ken Nash, Public Employee Press. Vol. 41, No. 12, November 2000

"This seminal work demolishes step by step the mistaken assumptions held by many people about class. As Zweig takes the reader through a discussion of power, numbers, status, wealth, and function, he brings the reader along with him. The strength of this book is that is it not a lecture, but a discussion with the reader."--Frank Emspak, University of Wisconsin. RI/IR 2000, Vol. 55, No. 4

"Michael Zweig has written a powerful 200-page book about class in America."--Alvena Bieri, The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2001

"The Working Class Majority is an important book that should be studied by all those engaged in the struggle for radical change and the establishment of a more just society. . . . The book is written in a popular style that is easily understandable."--Herb Kaye, People's Weekly World, April 2001

"[The book is] keen to dispel traditional images of the working class. Its members are distinguished not by income, nor by the colour of their collars, but by the extent to which they have control over their lives."--Jason Ralph, International Affairs 77, I, 2001

"Michael Zweig's book The Working Class Majority is a compelling attempt to revive the discussion of class in America. . . . [It is] a book written with remarkable intellectual courage and curiosity, in defense of the working-class majority."—Behrouz Tabrizi, St. Francis College, Review of Radical Politic Economics, Fall 2003

"The Working Class Majority is an excellent introduction to the sort of politics that socialists and progressives in general should be promoting. Anyone seeking to understand the basics of class struggle politics - and escape the mainstream, non-structural definition of class - should read this book."--Jason Schulman, The Advocate (CUNY), December 2001

"In [this book], Michael Zweig changes the way we look at class in American Society. . . . Zweig's thorough analysis has the potential of adding to the power of working class people."--No More Jobs: The Employment Project Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 5, June, 2000.


“For 50 years ‘class’ was a forbidden word on the shores of the United States. Michael Zweig’s excellent text--The Working Class Majority--exposes the realities of class power and class politics in the contemporary USA. This is a book for working class activists, whether fighting for justice in the workplace or in the community.”--Bill Fletcher, Jr., Assistant to the President, AFL-CIO

“Michael Zweig does a good job exposing the attempts to scapegoat welfare recipients, immigrants, and foreigners, etc., and shows how recent policies aimed at these groups as the cause of the declining living standard of working class Americans are profoundly class driven in their intent and outcome. As well, Zweig writes in a clear and interesting style about these complicated topics--a useful book.”--Elaine Bernard, Executive Director, Harvard University Trade Union Program

“The Working Class Majority is in the finest tradition of popular economics education while at the same time making a genuine scholarly contribution to the literatures on class and inequality. Michael Zweig’s major contention is that class matters both with respect to power and to life chances. . . . This book is a controversial but entirely fresh contribution to the debate.”--Stanley Aronowitz, City University of New York

About the Author

Michael Zweig is Professor of Economics at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, where he has received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is on the state executive board of United University Professions, Local 2190, American Federation of Teachers, representing 22,000 faculty and professional staff throughout SUNY. His earlier books include Religion and Economic Justice and The Idea of a World University.

Political Science / U.S. & Canada
Industrial and Labor Relations
Economics & Finance
American Studies