Title: From the edge of the ghetto : African Americans and the world of work /
Authors: Young, Alford A.
Year: 2020
Subjects: African Americans Employment; Michigan Economic conditions; United States Race relations; Ypsilanti (Mich.)
Abstract: Young examines how one group of African Americans conceptualizes the world of work, including the types of jobs that may be available and the skills and talents needed to find and do such jobs. Based on interviews with one hundred low-income African Americans in a suburb near Detroit, this study focuses on how people on the margins take stock of their situations and attempt to function in them. Young addresses the questions of what they think are the "good" jobs, how they assess their own skills, and how they connect the two. The author also explores how these individuals experience social categories such as race, class, and gender and how these impact their understanding of the world of work. --From publisher description.
Contents: Part one. Feeling the end of industrialism. Bringing myself to the edge -- On the doorstep of Ann Arbor and in the shadow of Detroit -- Experiencing the world of work in a city on the edge -- Part two. Fitting into the postindustrial world. Imagining the good job in a city on the edge -- The work ethic in principle and in practice -- Engaging the future: women versus men -- Conclusion: Place and possibility for small-city Black Americans -- Appendix: Portrait of the research participants.