The Working-Class Studies Association is pleased to announce The Journal of Working-Class Studies. JWCS is an online, open-access, interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that brings together the work of scholars, writers, artists and activists who are committed to the study and representation of working-class life. We aim to publish writing about the global working class – a diverse group of people whose commonality is their position in classed societies.
The inaugural issue features an introduction by editors Sarah Attfield and Liz Giuffre; articles by leaders in the field of working-class studies such as Sherry Lee Linkon, John Russo, Jack Metzgar, and Michael Zweig; and work from emerging voices whose scholarship focuses on the many intersections of class. Also included are reviews of books by Tim Sheard, Michelle Tokarczyk and George Lakey.
We invite submissions that contribute significant knowledge to our understanding of who the global working class(es) are and have been, as well as what it means to ‘study’ class, conceptually and as a socio-economic reality. We especially encourage work that explores how class intersects with other vectors of identity and experience, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, and citizenship status. The journal reviews books that feature working-class people, communities, culture, history, politics, and/or experience as a crucial component of their scholarly or artistic vision. We also invite artists to submit short comics or excerpts of longer works. For further information about submissions, please visit the “Instructions for Authors” page.
Formed in 2003, the Working-Class Studies Association is an international organization which promotes the study of working-class people and their culture. The Working-Class Studies Association is made up of academics, activists, teachers, writers, poets, journalists, practitioners, students, artists and a wide range of others interested in developing the field of working-class studies. The organization holds an annual conference as well as other events to promote the field (including a variety of awards), and act as a discussion forum for working-class issues. The organization is based in North America and has members world-wide.
The Working-Class Studies Association aims to develop and promote multiple forms of scholarship, teaching, and activism related to working-class life and cultures:
- Promote awareness, growth, and legitimacy of working-class studies internationally
- Promote models of working-class studies that actively involve and serve the interests of working-class people
- Promote critical discussions of the relationships among class, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, and other structures of inequality
- Promote interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and disciplinary approaches to studying and teaching about the lived experience of working-class people
- Provide opportunities for academics, artists, activists, workers, independent scholars, students, and others to share their work, make connections with colleagues and professional organizations, and learn about resources
- Facilitate conversations and critical debate engaging diverse intellectual and political approaches to scholarship, teaching, and outreach in working-class studies
- Create partnerships that link scholarship with activism in labor, community, and other working-class social justice organizations
To contact the founding editors, Sarah Attfield and Liz Giuffre, please email editorial@workingclassstudiesjournal.com.