Author Description

The Economy Has Been Brutal To American Workers For Decades. The Chance To Give One's Children A Better Life - The Promise At The Heart Of The American Dream - Is Withering Away. And Yet, The Groups Who Stand To Gain The Most From Mobilizing Politically Appear The Least Motivated To Act. The 2016 Presidential Election Threw Into Sharp Relief How Little We Know About How Working-class People Translate Their Grievances Into Politics. In We're Still Here, Jennifer M. Silva Tells A Deep Multi-generational Story Of Pain And Politics That Will Endure Long After The Trump Administration. Drawing On Over 100 Interviews With Black, White, And Latino Working-class Residents Of A Declining Coal Town In Pennsylvania, Silva Reveals How The Erosion Of The American Dream Is Lived And Felt. Most Of The People She Met Are Critical Of Politicians Who Have Failed To Protect Them From Poverty, Exploitation, And Shame. However, The Institutions That Once Reconciled Personal Suffering And Collective Struggle - Families, Churches, Unions, And Social Clubs - Have Become Sites Of Distrust And Betrayal. In Their Place, She Argues, Working-class People Cultivate Individualised Strategies For Making Their Pain Bearable And Comprehensible. Understanding How Generations Of Democratic Voters Come To Reject The Social Safety Net And Often Politics Altogether Requires Moving Beyond Simple Partisanship Into A Maze Of Addiction, Joblessness, Family Disruption, Violence, And Trauma. Silva's Moving Portrayal Uncovers The Relationships, Loyalties, Longings, And Moral Visions That Underlie And Generate The Civic And Political Disengagement Of Working-class People. We're Still Here Provides Powerful, On-the-ground Evidence Of The Remaking Of Working Class Identity And Politics That Will Not Only Spark New Tensions, But Also Open Up New Possibilities For Hope.