Cristina Groeger on Education, Labor, and Inequality in Boston

Cristina Groeger on Education, Labor, and Inequality in Boston

Despite the rising cost of tuition and a recent slump in college enrollment, many Americans continue to look to education to improve their social and economic status. Yet, more and more degrees have not led to reduced levels of inequality. Rather, quite the opposite. Inequality remains the highest its been in decades. In this episode, Cristina Groeger delves into the history of this seeming contradiction, explaining how education came to be seen as a panacea even as it paved the way for deepening inequality. Starting in the late 19th century—at time when few Americans attended college, let alone high school—she explores how schooling came to be associated with work. For some, especially women and immigrants, education offered new pathways into jobs previously held by white, native-born men. The idea that more education should be the primary means of reducing inequality, however, fails adequately account for the experience of many Americans and indeed is, Groeger argues, a dangerous policy trap. If we want a more equitable society, we should not just prescribe more time in the classroom, but fight for justice in the workplace.

Episoder(125)

Holger Droessler on Coconut Colonialism, Labor, and Globalization in Samoa

Holger Droessler on Coconut Colonialism, Labor, and Globalization in Samoa

This month's episode centers Samoa, including the Pacific islands comprising the present-day independent country of Samoa and American Samoa, examining capitalism, globalization, and coconut coloniali...

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Keith Wailoo on Racial Marketing and the Rise of Menthol Cigarettes

Keith Wailoo on Racial Marketing and the Rise of Menthol Cigarettes

In 2020, George Floyd was killed by police outside a store in Minneapolis known as "the best place to buy menthols." Of Black Americans who smoke, eighty-percent smoke menthol cigarettes. In this epis...

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Jason Resnikoff on the Automation Discourse and the Meaning of Work

Jason Resnikoff on the Automation Discourse and the Meaning of Work

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Gregg Mitman on Firestone's Rubber Empire in Liberia

Gregg Mitman on Firestone's Rubber Empire in Liberia

This month's episode focuses on a popular commodity, namely rubber. Despite consuming a large share of the world's rubber supply, the United States has long relied on the global market to meet America...

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Destin Jenkins on Municipal Debt and Bondholder Power

Destin Jenkins on Municipal Debt and Bondholder Power

Indebtedness, like inequality, has become a ubiquitous condition in and beyond the United States. Yet few have probed American cities' dependence on municipal debt. Focusing on San Francisco, this mon...

4 Jan 202257min

Elizabeth Tandy Shermer on Student Loans and Higher Education

Elizabeth Tandy Shermer on Student Loans and Higher Education

It is no secret that the United States is facing a crisis with regards to higher education. In this month's episode, historian Elizabeth Tandy Shermer explains the long history that gave rise to the c...

4 Okt 202147min

Justene Hill Edwards on the Slaves Economy and the Limits of Black Capitalism

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Building on and complicating recent scholarship on slavery and capitalism, Justene Hill Edwards takes listeners on a journey through the slaves' economy. From bustling urban marketplaces to back-count...

4 Aug 202134min

Joshua Greenberg on the Rage for Paper Money and Monetary Knowledge in Early America

Joshua Greenberg on the Rage for Paper Money and Monetary Knowledge in Early America

For many Americans, the question--What is a dollar worth?--may sound bizarre, if not redundant. Fluctuating international exchange rates, highly volatile crypto-currencies, counterfeit money, these ar...

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