Anthropologist Steve Striffler begins this book in a poultry processing plant, drawing on his own experiences there as a worker. He also reports on the way chickens are raised today and how they are ...consumed. What he discovers about America's favorite meat is not just unpleasant but a powerful indictment of our industrial food system. The process of bringing chicken to our dinner tables is unhealthy for all concerned-from farmer to factory worker to consumer.
The book traces the development of the poultry industry since the Second World War, analyzing the impact of such changes as the destruction of the family farm, the processing of chicken into nuggets and patties, and the changing makeup of the industrial labor force. The author describes the lives of immigrant workers and their reception in the small towns where they live. The conclusion is clear: there has to be a better way. Striffler proposes radical but practical change, a plan that promises more humane treatment of chickens, better food for the consumer, and fair payment for food workers and farmers.
Boston's economy has become defined by a disconcerting trend that has intensified throughout much of the United States since the 2008 recession. Economic growth now delivers remarkably few benefits ...to large sectors of the working class - a phenomenon that is particularly severe for immigrants, people of color, and women. Labor in 21 st Century Boston explores this nation-wide phenomenon of "unshared growth" by focusing on Boston, a city that is famously liberal, relatively wealthy, and increasingly difficult for working people (who service the city's needs) to actually live in. Labor in 21 st Century Boston is the only comprehensive analysis of labor and popular mobilizing in Boston today, the volume contributes to a growing body of academic and popular literature that examines urban America, racial and economic inequality, labor and immigration, and the right-wing assault on working people.
Informed by Eric Wolf's Peasant Wars of the Twentieth
Century , published in 1969, this book examines selected
peasant struggles in seven Latin American countries during the last
fifty years and ...suggests the continuing relevance of Wolf's
approach. The seven case studies are preceded by an Introduction in
which the editors assess the continuing relevance of Wolf's
political economy. The book concludes with Gavin Smith's reflection
on reading Eric Wolf as a public intellectual today.
