Growing up Working Class

1. Introduction.- 2. Where Does the Concrete End?: The Local Context of the Hidden Injuries of Class.- 3. Education: The Hidden Injuries of Class Begin.- 4. The Injuries Continue Into Adulthood.- 5. Friends and Sports: The Injuries Escalate and Become Personal.- 6. Structure and Culture: The Macro Context of Growing Up Working Class.- 7. Facebook: A Reunion of Angry (and Not so Angry).- 8. Conclusions: Hard and Settled Living, Self-Confidence, and The Development of Angry (and Not so Angry) White Working-Class Men and Women.

Thomas J. Gorman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College, The City University of New York, USA.

"The book provides rich potential to explore the nuances of racially homogenous class experiences and related perspectives around self-esteem, education, relationship formation, family trauma (e.g., alcoholism), and other hidden injuries of class." (Meghan Burke, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 48 (5), September, 2019)
"Nostalgia rolled back to me faster than the B-express train as I read Queens College sociologist Thomas J. Gorman's Growing Up Working Class. ... the book is erected around a compelling thesis: How the 'hidden injuries of class' follow working-class kids into adulthood ... . what I admire most in Gorman's book are his astute autobiographical observations. He successfully evokes the claustrophobic, frustrating, exhilarating, painful, sometimes menacing, and just plain loud world of working-class New York." (Alfred Lubrano, Journal of Working Class Studies, Vol. 3 (2), December, 2018)

"Gorman's book ... is an autoethnography embedded in sociological theories and concepts (including Sennett and Cobb's [1972] hidden injuries of class). The premise of this well-written book is simple: the author shows how sociology has allowed him to look back and understand what happened in his life. ... Gorman gathered rich and differentiated material which comprises memories, informal interviews, social media hangouts, and biographical materials, such as a letter cited in full and a complete study program." (Kamil Luczaj, Acta Sociologica, 2018)