4175 - Talking Across Class

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

Social class inequality has skyrocketed over the past thirty years and shows little sign of abating in the near future. With political solutions to inequality looking unlikely, one other potential solution emerges: the ability for people to help each other across class lines. The difficulties of this approach are also enormous, as the classes are geographically and socially segregated. This panel looks at what we can learn about individuals' ability to form cross-class relationships and what potential these relationships hold for addressing inequality. We focus both on successful cross-class interactions -- ones with the potential to alleviate inequality -- and on how to avoid unsuccessful cross-class interactions.

Sub Unit

• Special Sessions

Session Organizers

• Elizabeth M. Lee, Ohio University

• Jessi Streib, Duke University

Individual Presentations

• 400 Million Ways to Be Black: Cross-class Coalition Building in One Black Undergraduate Student Organization - Sherry Deckman, City University of New York-Lehman College

• Race, Class, and Opportunity: Does Possession of Cultural Capital Matter for Getting Ahead? - Karyn Lacy, University of Michigan

• Cross-class Interaction in Social Movement Organizations - Betsy Leondar-Wright, Lasell College

• College Students’ Cross-Class Friendships: A Social Network and Interactional Approach - Janice McCabe, Dartmouth College