Working with Class

“[This] book should become one of the touchstone monographs on American social work.” — American Historical Review

“This is an excellent history of the rise of radicalism . . . [and] an important contribution to the historical literature on the fate of radicalism in American society.” — Richard A. Cloward, New Labor Forum

“This remarkable volume assays more vital subjects and touches upon more contentious issues than any one monograph or author could treat comprehensively.” — Journal of American History

“Walkowitz is both a gifted and a sophisticated historian, and the bulk of the book contains case studies that illustrate the changing ways in which social workers organized to protect their professional and middle-class identities. In creating these case studies, Walkowitz writes with a special sensitivity to the ways in which race and gender influenced events.” — Labor History

“An excellent history of the rise of radicalism, including red unions, among the staff in the Jewish federation of social agencies and among Jewish staff in New York City’s Department of Welfare during the 1930s, and of the repression that followed in the postwar years. It is an important contribution to the historical literature on the fate of radicalism in American society, if only in one place among one group.” — New Labor Forum

“A trenchant critique of the trajectory of social work.”#Stanley Aronowitz — The Nation###

“Working with Class is a highly textured, impressively researched, and sophisticated account of the transformations in social work and the identity of social workers over this century. But its real subject is the perpetual making, unmaking, and remaking of middle-class identity more broadly, one of the major conundrums of late-twentieth-century America and an analytical challenge that Walkowitz meets with great insight and grace.” — Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University

“Walkowitz addresses a problem of great complexity — the definition and function of class in American life — with appropriate attention to gender, race, ethnicity, and historical era. His strategy of focusing on social work as a case study will advance understanding of the nature of professionalism and the impact of public policy on social structure. His analysis will inform both basic scholarly research and issues of concern to lay citizens.” — Clarke A. Chambers, University of Minnesota