Discussion Questions
1. In your own words, what are the differences between wealth and income? What are the differences between capitalism and socialism?
2. Many people say, “My parents worked hard for what they have.” Practice speaking back to this narrative from a social justice framework.
3. Pick an institution (e.g., government, prisons, policing, healthcare, schooling, media) and practice explaining how class manifests in that institution. That is, how are the owning class, middle class, and working class represented? What kind of influence does each class have? For example, who does what work within it, who profits from that work, who makes the rules and policies, whose work is visible and whose isn’t? Who creates and benefits from the discourses that are circulating about class in this institution?
4. Examine the Capitalist Pyramid political comic published in 1911 (Figure 10.3). To what extent has the class pyramid changed in the past 100+ years? Provide specific examples.
Extension Activities
1. Look at the labels on three items you used the most today (e.g., clothes, shoes, technology, or food). Track down the corporate chain between you and the producer. Where was the product made? What are the
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working conditions under which the product was made? How much did you pay for it? How much does the average worker who made the product earn, under what conditions? How much did the corporation make for its shareholders in profits?
2. We have named many feminist scholars whose work is foundational to understanding intersectionality. Identify two of these scholars and select a work from each to compare and contrast. What core tenets of intersectionality are illustrated in their writings?
3. This chapter argues that contemporary activist organizations such as Idle No More and Black Lives Matter draw on the foundational theorizing of scholars, artists, and activists who preceded them. Identify and research the history of other activist organizations that were established prior to the 2000s (e.g., NAACP, ACLU, Native Women’s Association of Canada, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). Also find and study other nonprofit, activist organizations emerging since the 2000s that advocate and operate from an intersectional framework (for example, Showing Up for Racial Justice, CorpWatch, and End the Prison Industrial Complex). In your report explain the history of the organization, its commitments to intersectionality, and how its activism has changed over time.