On Class
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Deborah Dundas is a journalist who grew up poor and almost didn't make it to university. In On Class, she talks to writers, activists, those who work with the poor and those who are poor about what happens when we don't talk about poverty or class--and what will happen when we do. Growing up poor, Deborah Dundas knew what it meant to want, to be hungry, and to long for social and economic dignity; she understood the crushing weight of having nothing much expected of you. But even after overcoming many of the usual barriers faced by lower- and working-class people, she still felt anxious about her place, and even in relatively safe spaces reluctant to broach the subject of class. While new social movements have generated open conversation about gender and racism, discussions of class rarely include the voices of those most deeply affected: the working class and poor. On Class is an exploration of the ways in which we talk about class: of who tells the stories, and who doesn't, which ones tend to be repeated most often, and why this has to change. It asks the question: What don't we talk about when we don't talk about class? And what might happen if, finally, we did?
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Despite being an absolute SEO nightmare, I love these Field Notes from Biblioasis. Thoughtful conversations from a Canadian perspective — I had to grab the latest On Class from the books editor at the Toronto Star, Deborah Dundas.
Things that I take for granted like reminiscing about back to school shopping. Fresh new notebooks, a mittfull of highlighters, the misguided ambition of a Day Timer, and Post-Its galore was something Dundas didn't have an experience of. Even the modest Laurentian pencil crayons were out of her reach growing up. She was poor, and for many that realization is weighted with a sense of shame.
It's that bootstrap mentality. That we live in a meritocracy and that a little elbow grease is all you need to pull yourself up. That hard work gets rewarded - the corollary being that it's your fault alone if you don't succeed. With failure comes shame, which prevents folks from talking about it openly, and absolves those who find themselves on the positive side of the ever growing wealth gap.
The pandemic seemed a moment ripe to consider class more closely. How those at the lowest rungs suddenly became incredibly invaluable to keep things running. Heroic pay for grocery workers. Banging pots and pans for our PSWs and nurses. The continued expectation of migrant workers keeping the food coming. But all that attention and sympathy dried up as soon as the pandemic ended. Dundas is writing to remind us of the every growing disparity between the haves and have-nots.
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