A well-known radical political economist, Michael D. Yates spent decades teaching and analyzing capitalism. But what do the theories that informed his scholarship have to say about the rest of his life experience? What does it mean to be born into the working class? What happens when, as Yates did, you leave it?
Yates seeks to bring the complexity and ambiguity of class, racial, and gender identity into focus through his own life experience. He writes of the erosion of self-confidence and the anxiety caused by the everyday fears of working-class families. He speaks honestly of the ambivalence and heartbreak caused by upward economic mobility, while relating in a deeply personal way to the structures of class inequality in American life. This book explores identity under capitalism—youth, work, alienation, risk, and redemption—telling tales of gambling and Cesar Chavez along the way.