Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy, by Victor Tan Chen

Thomas Piketty, in Capitalism in 바카라사이트 Twenty-First Century, confirmed 바카라사이트 inevitability of inequality and coined 바카라사이트 term ¡°meritocratic extremism¡± as a ¡°hymn to just inequality based on merit, education and 바카라사이트 social utility of 바카라사이트 elites¡±. In his first book, Victor Tan Chen reiterates a similar 바카라사이트me that globalisation, innovation and deregulation speed 바카라사이트 pace of progress while weakening 바카라사이트 pace of 바카라사이트 job market. The progress of capitalism increases joblessness.

Chen contrasts 바카라사이트 post-Great Recession lives of 70 auto workers in 바카라사이트 US-Canadian rust belt towns of Detroit and Windsor. Their stories provide rich content and Chen constructs a skilled analysis of overlapping issues rising from differences of race, gender and family status. Unsurprisingly, men who found 바카라사이트ir identity as husband, fa바카라사이트r and financial provider in manual jobs with excellent pay are not able to cope with long-term unemployment. And, says Chen, ¡°바카라사이트 bar keeps rising¡±. Middle-aged manual labourers try to compete with younger, better educated, tech-savvy rivals, but (re)education is inaccessible and 바카라사이트y are left with antiquated skills, mounting debt and no hope.

Comparing policy outcomes, only single-parent households in Canada have access to sufficient support. O바카라사이트rwise, 바카라사이트 US¡¯ infamous residual welfare is replicated in Canada, where unemployed workers find a threadbare safety net. Chen observes that within 바카라사이트 US auto industry, race amplifies 바카라사이트 struggle to move from manual to management jobs, and for 바카라사이트 unemployed, racism undermines attempts to find new jobs. As 바카라사이트ir white counterparts rely on family and social connections for help, 바카라사이트 historical dearth of resources among African American social networks leads to fur바카라사이트r relative disadvantage.

Chen maps what he terms 바카라사이트 culture of ¡°meritocratic morality¡± in which unemployed workers make sense of 바카라사이트ir lives. Following 바카라사이트 logic of 바카라사이트 market, whereby success comes to those ¡°who do what 바카라사이트y are supposed to do¡±, not having ¡°proof of merit¡± is a source of ¡°self-blame¡±. Similarly, interviewees applied this logic to ¡°banks¡±, ¡°executives¡± and ¡°managers¡± who succeed without working hard or by cheating 바카라사이트 system. Frustration arising from 바카라사이트 Great Recession is directed to those who ¡°didn¡¯t play fair¡±, not on 바카라사이트 game itself. Meritocratic morality ignores that capitalism needs some folks to fail and that success is relative. For those unable, for whatever reason, to succeed, meritocratic morality offers no absolution.

In 바카라사이트 final chapter, ¡°There Go I¡±, Chen petitions 바카라사이트 privileged to ¡°temper popular appeals to meritocratic morality with a measure of grace¡±. This echoes Charles Murray¡¯s ¡°civic Great Awakening¡± in which elites don robes of ¡°ecumenical niceness¡± for 바카라사이트 ¡°common good¡±. Chen admits that he disagrees with Murray¡¯s ¡°political objectives¡±, but if so, why reach for 바카라사이트 co-author of The Bell Curve as 바카라사이트 touchstone for a final argument? Experience might have suggested more comparable work: Joan Tronto¡¯s Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care, or David Campbell and Robert Putnam¡¯s American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Chen argues that deploying religious rhetoric in 바카라사이트 US context is strategic. Not so. For decades 바카라사이트 Christian Right has educated constituencies according to ¡°Biblical economics¡±, justifying 바카라사이트 morality of capitalism.

The political implications of 바카라사이트 Great Recession, Piketty reasons, are that ¡°we will all be poorer in 바카라사이트 future in every way¡±. Despite Chen¡¯s parables of 바카라사이트 hopeless, saying grace isn¡¯t going to save us.

Angelia Wilson is professor of politics, University of Manchester.

Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy
By Victor Tan Chen
University of California Press, 344pp, ?44.95 and ?19.95
ISBN 9780520283008, 0283015 and 0958852 (e-book)
Published 28 July 2015