Alfred Lubrano

This book is full of interesting anecdotes about “Straddlers”, people who are the first from Blue Collar and other families to attend college. But the stories, while engaging, are just data points, not wrapped into any overall themes.

If you're looking for explanations, then check out sociological books like Paying for the Party, or anything by Charles Murray.

The author would deny this, but on every page I felt a sense of superiority, like he's better than they are because he reads books or doesn't believe in God anymore. I happen to agree that some cultures are better than others, so I'm quite prepared to believe that he's right, but I wonder what would happen if he seriously engaged the literature of serious intellectuals who support religion or many of the "conservative” causes that he apparently now rejects.… (altro)

On the morning after Trump’s shocking victory, I am reminded of this book I read in 2004. Alfred Lubrano does a good job of exploring the confused loyalties and insights that result from having been inside two different cultures. You know how each world can be deeply affirming … and you see, better than the life-long natives, the terrible darkness each holds.

While I have grown up to be a card-carrying member of Blue America, I still remember the provincial small towns in fly-over country where I spent my childhood. If you did not and need some help in understanding the fury of Red America, this blog posting (ignore its click-bait title) is a thoughtful, reality-based, comprehensive discussion of what Trump-world believes and feels.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/… (altro)

Ten years and one Great Recession can have quite an impact on a sociological study like this. The author's premise is that not only the rich, but the middle class, are very different than working class people. Lubrano sees through the prism of his Bensonhurst neighborhood, solidly Italian and blue collar. However, the "collar" divisions don't seem as clear cut as they once were. And the contempt in which working class people hold college? That's pretty much gone too. What remains is the stories - of how your background impacts your choice of partner, profession, politics - which we all know, but the people the author quotes makes it all more real. He pays little attention to racism, saying that class rules all. I don't agree. But here are some highlights: "Children are taught, essentially, to obey and fill in the blanks. By fourth grade, many are bored and alienated; nothing in school connects to their culture. They feel pressure from other working class friends not to participate and are told that being educated is effeminate and irrelevant." It's outdated, but still a good read, and worth more for the historical significance - and to prove how quickly everything changes.… (altro)