The Concept of High and Middle Social Classes in Chicago

The concept of social class becomes significant when analyzing Walley’s book on postindustrial Chicago as it provides insight on her depictions of working- class neighbourhoods through the issues related to labour, the process of deindustrialization and its consequences (Walley, 2013). In the United States, people resisted discussing the idea of social class, in Walley’s case she struggled to describe this concept directly because of her dual world experiences of home and school (Walley, 2013). Life for Walley’s parent’s generation in southeast Chicago came at a time when the United State’s middle class was growing from post World War 2 (Walley, 2013). During this time a major focus was how the rising economic inequalities became connected to the opposing end of the class spectrum from the money overflow of the financial district (Walley, 2013, p. 3).

Chicago is an area that holds a lot of history with labour conflict, which allows different social class manifestations to evolve through the different stories told by people in the book (Walley, 2013). While most Americans see themselves as being an extensive middle class, people in Chicago use different vocabulary to discuss social class through terms like “the little guy”, “fat cats” or even using cultural characteristics (Walley, 2013, p. 8). Examining southeast Chicago through a class lens is important to not only understand industrialization and deindustrialization but how conflict and exploitation are occurring between classes (Walley, 2013). Some of the conflicts shift from the loss of manufacturing jobs and benefits to the exposure of environmental toxins (Walley, 2013). For example, some people in Chicago are classed based on working class jobs to the neighbourhoods of where they live and how close it is to toxic waste that arises from industrial work (Walley, 2013, p. 11). An important conflict discussed by Walley is that with factories shutting down, it becomes harder to achieve middle class status (Walley, 2013). This leads laborers becoming forced to compete to find a job especially when there are also accusations of those not attaining middle class due to laziness or failure (Walley, 2013). With the increase of humiliating those of lower class, the divisions between social statuses become more recognizable. It is also important to understand that the social class one belongs to is never static but it is only one of the layers of inequalities present in America (Walley, 2013). Among class there are categories such as race and gender, which are also connected to one’s economic positioning (Walley, 2013).

In order to understand the issue of industrial labor, we have to look at how social classes challenged the stories of immigrants who became labourers looking for their American dream (Walley, 2013). Social class not only made up economic positioning but also the sense of place where people shared similar backgrounds of migration, work, and kinship (Walley, 2013, p. 24). Industrial labor was known as a male centered world where many men like Walley’s great grandfather went to Chicago to work in metal industries (Walley, 2013). Many immigrants like her great grandfather represented most white working class American’s who were also seen as poor white and socially inferior (Walley, 2013, p. 36). Ethnic hostility and racial discrimination was becoming more apparent as a stereotype of what it meant to be white working class (Walley, 2013). Many industrial leaders played a role in influencing these tensions to keep industrial labourers separated (Walley, 2013). Industrial jobs were strongly associated with the title of working class who were mostly white men (Walley, 2013, p. 44).

Industrial work was at the core of Southeast Chicago, many steelworkers faced low wages compared to other industries and most families depended on multiple family members working to make ends meet (Walley, 2013). For example, many working class women worked service jobs in the steel mills just like Walley’s grandmother Ethel (Walley, 2013). This example presents how many working class women were not able to stay home and just be mothers since many working class and immigrant families faced a loss of dignity (Walley, 2013). Social class also played a role within families in Southeast Chicago, women were sometimes seen as being part of the upper class in comparison to the men (Walley, 2013). While the men did manual labor, women did jobs in offices next to middle- class people, which displayed a greater level of social class (Walley, 2013, p. 47). It was not until after World War 2 when social classes like Walley’s parents and grandparents were able reinvent themselves as “economically middle class” due to union wages which aided the steel mill increase group security (Walley, 2013, p. 54). This experience of upward mobility is different for every family but upward mobility in the United States also became inactive, as class inequalities have increased (Walley, 2013). The impact of deindustrialization further affected upward mobility and industrial workers and their families (Walley, 2013).

Many working class men like Walley’s father were devastated when Wisconsin steel was being shutdown since many industrial workers were not given an explanation (Walley, 2013). The lower social classes were affected the most since many of them didn’t know that they wouldn’t receive full benefits or be reassured that there would be new positions waiting for them. During the aftermath of the mill being shutdown the working class members of the steel industry received little help from Wisconsin’s steel independent union (Walley, 2013, p. 67). One of the main reasons behind the deindustrialization in Southeast Chicago was that the steel industry was considered inefficient and became less profitable (Walley, 2013, p. 78). There was soon an increase in globalization and competition with foreign countries (Walley, 2013). While this process became inevitable in American businesses, the middle to lower social classes were the ones being screwed and not benefiting from the new economy (Walley, 2013, p. 78). The hopes to expand the middle class soon began to fade and these same social classes were facing depression, suicide, illness, and broken up homes (Walley, 2013, p. 68). There now was a competition between unemployed steelworkers that were trying to shoot their shot at middle class reputability while facing exploitation and discrimination through the hierarchy (Walley, 2013, p. 70).

Deindustrialization created a significant impact on the American dream and what it meant to work hard and have a sense of freedom. The fallout of the working class played a role in the future of labourer’s children as many of them moved on from their social class to become middle class professionals but still felt like they were “straddlers” (Walley, 2013, p. 98). This concept was based on the feeling of “living between two worlds” or social classes (Walley, 2013, p. 98). Although parents desired upward mobility, they were also jealous of their children and felt ashamed by working class culture (Walley, 2013). When trying to move on from the trauma, working class children experienced contesting values that separated them from their family while the middle and upper class kids found cohesion with expectations and beliefs between education and their home (Walley, 2013, p. 99). Despite the fact that the disconnectedness between the different social class worlds became inescapable, the working class soon became erased from the future ideas for the United States (Walley, 2013).

There was now a separation from Chicago and Southeast Chicago, which created barriers for social classes (Walley, 2013). With the shutdown of steel mills there came a loss of jobs, cars, homes, and dreams but a desire of turning postindustrial sites into green open spaces (Walley, 2013). These spaces brought cleaner air and fresh water but the middle to lower class were not left with having no jobs with a healthier environment (Walley, 2013, p. 150). While this new form of environmentalism benefited. Other social classes, some working class families fell back into poverty, which led them to living in trailer homes and having minimum wage jobs (Walley, 2013, p. 154). The deindustrialization in Chicago drifted toward “non unionized and informal labor” which created tension for the middle class, working class, and poor since jobs weren’t always going to be there and you needed a decent wage to pay for the increasing prices of health care and housing (Walley, 2013, p. 154).