The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class

The book "Wages of Whiteness" explores how race and class intersected in the antebellum US, shaping the country's history and current crisis. It reveals how white workers consumed blackface popular culture, reshaped languages of class, and embraced racist practices, gaining economic advantage while reinforcing stereotypes and forging their identities against Blacks. It also sheds light on the precarious positions of not-quite-white Irish immigrants and the fate of working-class abolitionism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 22 November 2022
Publisher: Verso Books

The intricate interplay of race and class has shaped the course of antebellum America and the ongoing crisis we face today. In his groundbreaking work, Roediger reveals how, in a nation striving for independence, the identity of white workers in the North was able to bridge the gap between themselves and their employers, despite the harsh realities of wage labor. By projecting onto enslaved people and free Blacks the preindustrial proximity to pleasure that regimented labor denied them, white workers embraced blackface popular culture, reshaped languages of class, and perpetuated racist practices both on and off the job.

This racist ideology was not merely a means to maintain economic advantage but stemmed from a complex web of psychological and ideological mechanisms that reinforced stereotypes and solidified the identities of white workers as opposed to Blacks. Wages of Whiteness offers valuable insights into the precarious positions of not-quite-white Irish immigrants to the United States and the fate of working-class abolitionism. It contributes significantly to ongoing debates surrounding the 1619 Project and critical race theory, offering a sober and thought-provoking examination of these critical issues.

Weight: 227g
Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839768309