Degraded Work: The Struggle at the Bottom of the Labor Market

Contents

Contents Introduction: The Boom in Poorly Paid and Precarious Jobs vii 1. New Inequalities: The Deterioration of Local-Serving Industries 1 2. Beyond Low Wages: The Problem of Degraded Work 23 3. The City That Sweats Work: Growth and Inequality in Post-Fordist Chicago 49 4. Oases in the Midst of Deserts: How Food Retailers Thrive in Disinvested Neighborhoods 81 5. “They’re Happy to Have a Job”: Midsize Supermarkets and Degraded Work 107 6. Building Degradation: Dangerous Work and Falling Pay during a Construction Boom 143 7. A Perfectly Flexible Workforce: Day Labor in a Precarious Industry 171 8. New Answers to New Problems: The Creative Work of Reversing Degradation 203 Conclusion: Building a Fair Labor Market in Postmanufacturing Economies 225 Acknowledgments 237 Notes 241 Bibliography 247 Index 263 This page intentionally left blank ...