The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America

In "The Next Shift," Gabriel Winant explores how the Rust Belt has transitioned from a manufacturing-based economy to a healthcare-based one, highlighting the challenges and opportunities faced by health care workers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2023
Publisher: Harvard University Press

Winner of the Frederick Jackson Turner Award, Winner of the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize, and Winner of the C. L. R. James Award, The Next Shift is a groundbreaking work of serious scholarship that is also vividly and readable. The New York Times Book Review has hailed it as an "Editor's Choice," and ProMarket has named it the Best Political Economy Book of the Year.

"The Next Shift is an original work of serious scholarship, but it's also vivid and readable... Eye-opening," writes Jennifer Szalai of the New York Times. "A deeply upsetting book... Winant ably blends social and political history with conventional labor history to construct a remarkably comprehensive narrative with clear contemporary implications," adds Scott W. Stern of the New Republic. "Terrific... A useful guide to the sweeping social changes that have shaped a huge segment of the economy and created the dystopian world of contemporary service-sector work," praises Nelson Lichtenstein of The Nation.

Pittsburgh, once synonymous with steel, has witnessed a significant transformation over the years. Like many other places across the United States, a city that was once a hub of blue-collar manufacturing has now been dominated by the health care industry, which employs more Americans than any other sector. Gabriel Winant takes us on a journey inside the Rust Belt to explore how American cities have weathered the new economic realities.

As steelworkers and their families aged, their demand for healthcare increased. Despite the sharp contraction of the industrial economy, the care economy flourished. However, unlike their blue-collar predecessors, home health aides and hospital staff work unpredictable hours for low pay. Today, healthcare workers, predominantly women and people of color, are at the forefront of our most pressing crises, yet we have been slow to recognize their pivotal role in our twenty-first-century workforce.

The Next Shift offers unique insights into how we arrived at this juncture and what the future may hold. It sheds light on the challenges faced by healthcare workers and explores the potential for transformative change in the industry. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of our modern economy and the critical role played by workers who are often overlooked and underappreciated.

Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674292192