Teaching Economic Inequality and Capitalism in Contemporary America

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Introduction

   • Walda Katz-Fishman

   Pages 1-10

3. Making the Personal Political: The Stories of Capitalism

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

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   2. ‘Teaching Naked’ in Late Capitalism: Instructors’ Personal Narratives and Classroom Self-disclosure as Pedagogical Tools

      • Danielle Docka-Filipek

      Pages 13-25

   3. Untold Stories: Bringing Class into the Classroom

      • Adj Marshall, Betsy Leondar-Wright

      Pages 27-40

   4. ‘Self-made’ Success on the Private Dole: An Illustration of the Reproduction of Capitals

      • Roxanne Gerbrandt, Ann Strahm

      Pages 41-53

   5. Financial Stumbles, Consumer Bankruptcy, and the Sociological Imagination

      • Deborah Thorne

      Pages 55-66

4. Making Marxist Theory Real

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 67-67

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   2. Capitalism 101: Teaching First-Year Students How to View the Social World Through the Lens of Marxist Theory

      • Laura Earles

      Pages 69-79

   3. Teaching Global Inequality Through the World of Commodities

      • Eric M. Edwards

      Pages 81-90

   4. Radical Pedagogical Homesteading: Returning the ‘Species’ to Our ‘Being’

      • Phoebe Godfrey

      Pages 91-101

   5. Socialist Grading

      • David I. Backer

      Pages 103-109

5. Applied Pedagogical Strategies for Course Development

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Overcoming Students’ Fear: Scaffolding to Teach Money and Society

      • Stephanie L. Bradley

      Pages 113-124

   3. Capitalism in the Classroom: Confronting the Invisibility of Class Inequality

      • Charlotte A. Kunkel

      Pages 125-130

   4. Experiencing the Outcomes of Economic Inequality in the Day-to-Day Workings of the Classroom

      • Susan Machum

      Pages 131-143

   5. Teaching Economic Inequality and Capitalism in Contemporary America Using Resources from the Federal Government

      • Andrew E. Kersten

      Pages 145-156

   6. Teaching Social Inequality Through Analysis of Hidden Assumptions in Non-Academic Publications

      • Pidi Zhang

      Pages 157-167

   7. Participatory Action Research as Problem-Based Learning: A Course Study of Rural Poverty, Low-Income Housing, and Environmental Justice

      • Leontina Hormel, Cynthia Ballesteros, Haylee Brister

      Pages 169-182

   8. Inequality and Violence

      • Barbara H. Chasin

      Pages 183-195

This book discusses pedagogical solutions that enable students to see how capitalist processes and economic inequalities intersect and shape our assumptions and behaviours. The contributors provide thoughtful reflections on the struggles and opportunities instructors face in teaching about these topics while competing against the invisibility of capitalist forces and prevalent social myths, such as “anyone who works hard can achieve”. This book will not only help instructors empower students to recognize economic injustice and its interaction with capitalist organization, but also develops and acts on transformative solutions. Through analysis of the classed dimensions of the current political, economics, and cultural climate, as well as presenting novel lesson plans and classroom activities, this book is of great value for college and university professors.

• Social Class Inequality
• Teaching in Late Capitalism
• Hegemonic Ideology of Meritocracy
• Teaching Economic Inequality
• Pedagogical Techniques in Teaching Courses
• Techniques Teaching Capitalism and Economic Inequality
• Radical Pedagogical Homesteading
• Reviewing Scaffolding
• Sociology of Conflict and Violence in the US
• Challenging Hegemonic Ideas on Poverty
• Class Inequality
• Impact of Economic Inequality on Students
• Teaching Science and Technology Studies (STS)
• Transnational Comparison
• Teaching Global Social and Economic Inequality
• Black Student Protest
• Developing Politically Engaged Citizens
• Capitalism and the Cost of Textbooks

• Department of Sociology, University of Idaho, Moscow, USA

  Kristin Haltinner, Leontina Hormel

Kristin Haltinner is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho. Her research is on right-wing ideology and social movement organizations; racial formation and discourse; and social inequality. She has previously conducted research on the Tea Party Patriots and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Her current research projects include a grounded study of climate change skepticism and another on traumatic child birth experiences. Haltinner teaches a variety of classes on topics related to diversity and inequality including: Diversity and Stratification, Racial and Ethnic Relations, and the Sociology of Gender.




Leontina Hormel is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho. Her areas of research and teaching include political economy, community action research, and environmental inequalities. Currently, Leontina is working with a low-income, mobile home park residents whose experiences intersect with environmental justice and rural housing insecurity. She has conducted research with Nez Perce activists in northern Idaho, while other fieldwork has taken her to various parts of Idaho to examine community trust in science. Leontina’s courses include Global Sociology: Gender, Race, and Class Around the World; Economic (In)Justice in the United States; and Environment, Policy, and Justice.

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