Working Underclass

When I was asked about social capital and education I think of the reading by Nesbit (2005) regarding social class and adult education where citing Morris (1994) he writes, “most recently the concept of a fourth class, an underclass has arisen. This rather unfortunately named group consists of those whom society considers largely excluded from the economic order, such as the certifiably insane, the long-term unemployed, drug addicts, recent immigrants, prisoners, and others with certain so called pathological deficiencies” (p. 7). This passage struck me because of so many of the initiatives we have seen in our learning community lately and with the organizations we support. 

Nesbit writes about a segment of the underclass being recent immigrants. When I was a recruiter, and our organization was constantly understaffed, I would have loved to been able to recruit, hire, and train recent immigrants to work in our field. There were several things stopping me however, first, was the lack of training that many of these immigrants could understand and use to work safely. 

Secondly, there was the requirement of citizenship to get onto the worksites. These challenges are beginning to shift in a positive direction for the immigrant communities. We have seasonal work demands that pay a lot for willing workers who want to invest the time and sweat equity into the job. Worksite owners are asking us to find out how we can effectively train non-native English speakers to access their sites and work safely, and HR departments are making it easier for these workers to apply for and land these jobs. All of these actions are helping raise the social capital of this class of worker from one that was nearly untouchable to one that could be relied on for these seasonal work scopes. 

My boss too has looked into and is hoping to help another segment of this underclass. He saw and continues to see that meth and other illegal drugs are hurting the workers ability to stay employed and continue on with their careers. Drug testing standards are antiquated, and addiction is hitting our workforce and community hard. Two years ago he asked me to help him look into creating a series of treatment homes for these workers to help them get off of drugs, stay in a career, and train them for work in the field again. It has not taken off yet, but I love the fact that our leadership is trying to find ways to improve the social capital of these workers as well. 

Nesbit (2005) writing about the relationship between those with power and those without writes that “the relationship between these two classes is essenntlay unequal, exploitative, and beneficial mainly to the bourgeoisie” (p. 7). It’s refreshing to know that I work for a company looking not solely for profit but also for outlets to help workers enter, stay, and continue a career in our industry. 

References

Morris, L. (1994). Dangerous classes: The underclass and social citizenship. Routledge. 

 

Nesbit, T. (2005). Social class and adult education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 106.