Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Youngstown Center closes, working-class studies continues

A sad piece of news here: the Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown is closing, with one of its founders retiring, the other moving and the University unwilling to replace them and keep the Center open.

As the founders say, "what they could never kill went on to organize" - and both their blog and the Working-Class Studies Association will continue, at least in the US. Not so clear what will happen on this side of the pond. After various efforts over the past decade and more, Strathclyde now has a Centre for the Study of Working-Class lives. There are elements of working-class studies (in this sense of a focus on experience, both individual and collective) in Ireland but attempts at bringing these together haven't been successful. And yet, as Thompson says, experience breaks through...