Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America

"It's not your father's working class anymore. It's more female, more diverse racially, and it doesn't wear Carhartt's and a hard hat anymore. Sleeping Giant is the first major examination of this dynamic and increasingly activist class and the role it will play in our political and economic future. What does "working class" mean in today's America? Today's workers don't just man the assembly lines. They watch our children and aging parents, park our cars, screen our luggage, clean our offices and hotel rooms, cook our take-out meals and stock our store shelves. And they are blacker, browner, and more female than the old working class. They are not as organized, in terms of their unions and political clout, but they are demographically powerful and are awakening to that power. The new working class is indeed a "sleeping giant," and Tamara Draut will blend up-close-and-personal individual narratives with historical background and sophisticated analysis to explain how they are about to change America for the better"--… (more)