Laid Off, Laid Low: Political and Economic Consequences of Employment Insecurity

Edited by Katherine S. Newman

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Paper, 136 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-14605-0
$18.00 / £12.50

October, 2008
Cloth, 136 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-14604-3
$45.00 / £31.00

"With the economy changing rapidly and inequality on the rise, a greater number of working and middle class Americans are now facing unemployment. Families experience this risk as the stress of insecurity, which manifests in voting trends and the undercutting of loyalties that bind workers to firms. Instead of developing institutions to cushion this risk, American policy has increased the extent to which risk falls on the individual and the family. The privatization of risk is pervasive in American society. It hurts individuals and threatens social cohesion. Examining the risks of unemployment and related public policy, Laid Off, Laid Low is a crucial book for policymakers, social scientists, and all who care about the public good." — Craig Calhoun, president, Social Science Research Council

Related Subjects

• American History
• American Politics
• Business

Series

• A Columbia / SSRC Book (Privatization of Risk)

About the Author

Katherine S. Newman is the Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, the director of the Joint Doctoral Programs in Sociology, Politics, Psychology, and Social Policy, and the director of the Institute for International and Regional Studies at Princeton University. She is the author of eight books on inequality, poverty, and mobility in American society.

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