Falling from Grace: Downward Mobility in the Age of Affluence

Over the last three decades, millions of people have slipped through a loophole in the American dream and become downwardly mobile as a result of downsizing, plant closings, mergers, and divorce: the middle-aged computer executive laid off during an industry crisis, blue-collar workers phased out of the post-industrial economy, middle managers whose positions have been phased out, and once-affluent housewives stranded with children and a huge mortgage as the result of divorce. Anthropologist Katherine S. Newman interviewed a wide range of men, women, and children who experienced a precipitous fall from middle-class status, and her book documents their stories. For the 1999 edition, Newman has provided a new preface and updated the extensive data on job loss and downward mobility in the American middle class, documenting its persistence, even in times of prosperity.

Author: Katherine S. Newman
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 02/26/1999
Pages: 342
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.28h x 5.52w x 0.84d
ISBN13: 9780520218420
ISBN10: 0520218426
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Sociology | General
- Business & Economics | Economic Conditions
- Social Science | Demography

About the Author
Katherine S. Newman is Ford Foundation Professor of Urban Studies, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the author of No Shame in My Game: The Working Poor in the Inner City (1999), Declining Fortunes: The Withering of the American Dream (1994), and Law and Economic Organization (1983).