Growing up Working Class

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 1-40

3. Where Does the Concrete End? The Local Context of the Hidden Injuries of Class

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 41-70

4. Education: The Hidden Injuries of Class Begin in Earnest

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 71-102

5. Previous Research on Education and The Hidden Injuries of Class. My Educational Career Compared

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 103-141

6. Friends, Girlfriends, and Sports: The Injuries Escalate and Become Personal

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 143-180

7. Social Structure and Culture: The Macro Context

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 181-208

8. Social Media: A “Reunion” of Angry (and Not So Angry) White Working-Class Men and Women

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 209-227

9. Conclusion: Hard and Settled Living and The Development of Angry (And Not So Angry) White Working-Class Men and Women

   • Thomas J. Gorman

   Pages 229-249

10. Back Matter

    Pages 251-266

    PDF

This enlightening auto-ethnography examines how social class (and other social institutions and structures) affect how people grow up. Primarily, the book investigates how American children and young adults are impacted by the "hidden injuries" of class, and offers a rich description of how these injuries manifest and curdle later in life. Thomas J. Gorman provides sociological explanations for the phenomenon of the so-called "angry white man," and engages with this phenomenon as it relates to the rise of recent populist political figures such as Donald J. Trump. He also examines how and why white working class people tend to lash out at the wrong social forces and support political action that works against their own interests. Finally, the book demonstrates the connections between working-class attitudes toward schooling, sports, politics, and economics.

• class injuries
• working-class men
• working-class women
• white working class
• inequality
• social stratification
• class divide
• autoethnography
• working class anger
• populism

“The book provides rich potential to explore the nuances of racially homogenous class experiences and related perspectives around self-esteem, education, relationship formation, family trauma (e.g., alcoholism), and other hidden injuries of class.” (Meghan Burke, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 48 (5), September, 2019)

“Nostalgia rolled back to me faster than the B-express train as I read Queens College sociologist Thomas J. Gorman’s Growing Up Working Class. … the book is erected around a compelling thesis: How the ‘hidden injuries of class’ follow working-class kids into adulthood … . what I admire most in Gorman’s book are his astute autobiographical observations. He successfully evokes the claustrophobic, frustrating, exhilarating, painful, sometimes menacing, and just plain loud world of working-class New York.” (Alfred Lubrano, Journal of Working Class Studies, Vol. 3 (2), December, 2018)

“Gorman’s book … is an autoethnography embedded in sociological theories and concepts (including Sennett and Cobb’s [1972] hidden injuries of class). The premise of this well-written book is simple: the author shows how sociology has allowed him to look back and understand what happened in his life. … Gorman gathered rich and differentiated material which comprises memories, informal interviews, social media hangouts, and biographical materials, such as a letter cited in full and a complete study program.” (Kamil Luczaj, Acta Sociologica, 2018)


“I didn’t write this book. I don’t know the author in the real world and we aren’t even from the same country, but after reading it I felt proud; very proud that someone like me has the bravery to write a book about their own class injuries. I say ‘bravery’ and I mean bravery—declaring yourself working class in the academy can be tricky, and becomes very tricky if you want to stay working class and be a ‘working class academic’—apparently an oxymoron, as someone told me that the words cancel each other out. I love this auto-ethnography—it speaks to me and with me. It taps into the anger and real rage within working class communities, and not just white working class communities. Sociologists have an important role in unraveling and being critical of how pain, anger, and injury relating to class inequality expand into every space.” (Lisa McKenzie, Sociology Fellow at the London School of Economics, UK)

• Queens College, CUNY, Queens, USA

  Thomas J. Gorman

Thomas J. Gorman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College, The City University of New York, USA. 

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