Missing Class: Strengthening Social Movement Groups by Seeing Class Cultures

Missing Class is a highly readable eye-opener for anyone who belongs to a group dedicated to improving American society, from the environment to labor to women's rights and beyond. The author, Betsy Leondar-Wright, couples her extensive experience in organizing across social class lines with a solid grasp of the issues involved in class dynamics. This isn't one more set of facts and concepts to juggle: it's a new way of making sense of all the things that needlessly divide us in America today, delivered with warmth and humor. It's also academically solid: if you are teaching a course in sociology or any of the helping professions you would do well to put it in your syllabus or book report list.

I have to say that when I first heard of Betsey Leondar-Wright's book MISSING CLASS I wasn't sure what to expect.I believe that part of my apprehension was because of the way the word "class" is thrown around these days. In fact one of the most popular definitions of Class online is "the system of ordering a society in which people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status." This might sound a whole lot more harsh than it is, and that is exactly what Betsy addresses in MISSING CLASS.When it comes to looking at issues that matter in the world the way we choose to go about it has a great deal to do with where we are coming from in the world based on our ideas, upbringing and experiences. For Betsy she wanted to know how it was that individuals who seem to have a common interest when it came to addressing a problem was still so splintered in their approach.She shows in the book that those who have a certain shared experience or more prone to look at situations differently than those who don't have the same experiences. Because of this she was able to show that by reaching people where they are---based on who they are---more was able to be accomplished.The great thing about Betsy's book once I read it was that it is something that can be applied in all areas of our lives. Everyone who comes from Mississippi are not racist, just as all people who come from New York are not rude. When we dig deeper into who people really are we are better able to address together the problems we are looking to fix---and experience more success in doing so.Written in such a way that even a layperson could understand, MISSING CLASS examines how you can truly tackle issues of the world from the inside out.

Missing Class is the missing piece to bringing together broad-based, class diverse social justice groups. We all have similar goals for a more just, equitable and sustainable future, but class cultures all too often prevent us from playing well together. This book is a great starting point to transforming ourselves, our organizations and our alliances. Many thanks to Betsy Leondar-Wright for doing the work to bring this research into the broader social justice movement conversation.

I’ll never look at a meeting the same way again. Missing Class made me realize so many things I’d never noticed about group dynamics and social class. I’m going to tell my work colleagues and friends to read this book. It's terrific!

Missing Class provides a new lens through which to look at social movement groups and social justice activists. This book is going to change how activists look at their organizations and their work -- for the better!

Ms. Leondar-Wright's book is a much-needed piece of any activist's library. Her research-based insight into the dynamics of classism and class-based discrimination in social change movements was an eye-opener for me, and will help me immensely in my work.