Barbara Ehrenreich: 'Nickel and Dimed' or 'Bait and Switched'?
by Leigh Pomeroy
The famous author and social justice commentarian Barbara Ehrenreich came to Gustavus Adolphus College last April 24 to delight and challenge a mostly middle-class crowd of 300 optimistic undergrads and well-educated, aging liberals.
Though I took copious notes, originally I was not going to write on this event as Ms. Ehrenreich more or less covered the same ground as her bestselling book, "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." And who has not read "Nickel and Dimed"?
What surprised me, however, is that Ehrenreich has since published two more books, "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream" and, most recently, "Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy." The latter is a departure from the previous two as it is not a social commentary and covers a more upbeat subject than either the working poor ("Nickel and Dimed") or the middle-class unemployed ("Bait and Switch"). I'm sure she wrote it as therapy for having to deal with the subjects of the previous two tomes.
As everyone who has read "Nickel and Dimed" knows, Ehrenreich, in a meeting with her publisher sometime (I think) in 1998, suggested that someone should go undercover taking menial jobs and living wherever to see if one could actually keep body and soul together, and then write about the experience. The publisher asked, "Why not you?"
Ehrenreich, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology was already a successful author, took up the challenge, and the result became the funny yet bitingly poignant New York Times bestseller.
"Bait and Switch" is the follow-up to "Nickel and Dimed," yet in tone it's quite different, which is perhaps why it's been less successful. Whereas one's reaction to "Nickel and Dimed" is like hitting your funny bone — you don't know whether to laugh or cry — one mostly feels numbness upon reading "Bait and Switch."
The reason? My guess is in "Nickel and Dimed" she knows she's apart from those she writes about — though a temporary fellow traveler, she's strictly an observer. But in "Bait and Switch" she's socializing with members of her own professional class. She genuinely empathizes with the unemployed white collar workers, and seethes with disgust at those posing as "career coaches" and "employment consultants" who prey upon them.
In short, underlying nearly every paragraph in "Bait and Switch" is the subtext, "There but for the grace of God go I."
Ehrenreich has done much to expose the corporate world's nasty side. The frustration one feels from reading both books is what to do about it. But Ehrenreich recognizes her job is not to pose solutions. Quite rightly she sees her role as a modern-day muckraker, perhaps this era's Upton Sinclair. It's up to the rest of us and the politicians we elect to force necessary change.
This is hopefully what the St. Peter audience came away with on April 24. While the aging liberals have spent much of their lives beating their heads against the corporate wall, perhaps the younger members of the audience who have not yet acquired the bumps and bruises of battling the status quo will be able to institute many of the changes so readily needed in our society.
Teddy Roosevelt and a sympathetic Congress were able to accomplish a lot towards re-establishing the people's control over capitalistic greed in the early part of the 20th century. Franklin Roosevelt did the same two decades later. Since then, however, such attempts have only been abortive.
Today, reining in the corporate world is long overdue. Thanks to writers like Barbara Ehrenreich, the Abu Ghraib of the corporate world has been exposed. Now it's up to the rest of us to do something about it.
The famous author and social justice commentarian Barbara Ehrenreich came to Gustavus Adolphus College last April 24 to delight and challenge a mostly middle-class crowd of 300 optimistic undergrads and well-educated, aging liberals.Though I took copious notes, originally I was not going to write on this event as Ms. Ehrenreich more or less covered the same ground as her bestselling book, "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." And who has not read "Nickel and Dimed"?
What surprised me, however, is that Ehrenreich has since published two more books, "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream" and, most recently, "Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy." The latter is a departure from the previous two as it is not a social commentary and covers a more upbeat subject than either the working poor ("Nickel and Dimed") or the middle-class unemployed ("Bait and Switch"). I'm sure she wrote it as therapy for having to deal with the subjects of the previous two tomes.
As everyone who has read "Nickel and Dimed" knows, Ehrenreich, in a meeting with her publisher sometime (I think) in 1998, suggested that someone should go undercover taking menial jobs and living wherever to see if one could actually keep body and soul together, and then write about the experience. The publisher asked, "Why not you?"
Ehrenreich, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology was already a successful author, took up the challenge, and the result became the funny yet bitingly poignant New York Times bestseller.
"Bait and Switch" is the follow-up to "Nickel and Dimed," yet in tone it's quite different, which is perhaps why it's been less successful. Whereas one's reaction to "Nickel and Dimed" is like hitting your funny bone — you don't know whether to laugh or cry — one mostly feels numbness upon reading "Bait and Switch."
The reason? My guess is in "Nickel and Dimed" she knows she's apart from those she writes about — though a temporary fellow traveler, she's strictly an observer. But in "Bait and Switch" she's socializing with members of her own professional class. She genuinely empathizes with the unemployed white collar workers, and seethes with disgust at those posing as "career coaches" and "employment consultants" who prey upon them.
In short, underlying nearly every paragraph in "Bait and Switch" is the subtext, "There but for the grace of God go I."
Ehrenreich has done much to expose the corporate world's nasty side. The frustration one feels from reading both books is what to do about it. But Ehrenreich recognizes her job is not to pose solutions. Quite rightly she sees her role as a modern-day muckraker, perhaps this era's Upton Sinclair. It's up to the rest of us and the politicians we elect to force necessary change.
This is hopefully what the St. Peter audience came away with on April 24. While the aging liberals have spent much of their lives beating their heads against the corporate wall, perhaps the younger members of the audience who have not yet acquired the bumps and bruises of battling the status quo will be able to institute many of the changes so readily needed in our society.
Teddy Roosevelt and a sympathetic Congress were able to accomplish a lot towards re-establishing the people's control over capitalistic greed in the early part of the 20th century. Franklin Roosevelt did the same two decades later. Since then, however, such attempts have only been abortive.
Today, reining in the corporate world is long overdue. Thanks to writers like Barbara Ehrenreich, the Abu Ghraib of the corporate world has been exposed. Now it's up to the rest of us to do something about it.
Labels: Barbara Ehrenreich, social justice
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