By Betsy Leondar-Wright

Published by New Society Publishers,05

This book is, quite simply, a "must-read" for middle-class and owning-class activists!

Betsy Leondar-Wright, or "blw" as she refers to herself throughout, has spent years struggling for economic justice in grassroots mixed-class movements. Early in her activist career she set herself the task of understanding classism in the United States, and undoing the training of entitlement she had received in her own middle- to upper-middle-class family of origin. Blw would probably be the first to say that she hasn't finished yet - and this book is an exciting marker along the way.

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Class Matters: Cross-Class Alliance Building for Middle-Class Activists

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This isn't an autobiography, though. Blw interviewed 40 other activists, from a variety of classes, ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, genders, regions of the country, and ages. She weaves their words - occasionally contradictory, always thought-provoking - into each section of the book. There are quotations from other books and articles on class and classism in the US, and pictures of people's struggles on every page. She examines the interplay of class and race, class and gender, class and religion, and class and sexual orientation. She specifically examines the place of working-class white men in social change movements, and the myths about their bigotry and sexism. Each section is brief and lively, so that the reader can dip in and out without losing their place or the thread of the book.

Which is a good thing, because the reading is often uncomfortable, and the reader needs breaks! Blw has done an excellent job of avoiding shame and blame, and yet the subject is unavoidably challenging and painful. In one particularly squirmy section, "Classism from Our Mouths", blw invites the reader to "top these!". She lists three classist things she's said and done in the course of her social activism, and assures us, "if I can admit mine, you can admit yours". She follows this with a page of examples of classist things said by activists. Ouch!

And, at the bottom of the same page, she states the first principle of movement-building: "Anyone who steps out of political passivity to give time to any progressive effort deserves to be honored, appreciated, and treated with complete respect. Disagreements, mistakes, and oppressive behavior call for supportive feedback; they are not justification for abandoning a respectful stance. Solidarity is our only strength." She repeats this principle several more times, at points when the middle-class and owning-class reader may very well be feeling that the best thing they could do for social change is to get out of it entirely.

In fact, one of blw's main themes is that people from every economic/social class background bring unique contributions to the project of dismantling or reforming capitalism. The middle-class or owning-class activists does not have to become working-class or low-income in order to be valuable to the movement - and blw believes that trying to disguise our class origin is a mistake. She outlines the strengths that low-income and owning-class people both bring (remarkably similar), and the strengths that middle-class and working-class people both bring (again, remarkably similar). At the foot of every other page, she also places one-liners from the activists she's interviewed, explaining what they value about middle-class activists, as well as what drives them crazy about us. In one of the final sections, called "The Ally's Balancing Act", she specifically cautions against "throw[ing] out everything we've ever thought ... [and starting] to believe that only working-class and low-income people have the answers to how to make social change." Instead, she urges us to become Informed Allies, and to "look for the best thinking both in less privileged people and in ourselves and other more privileged people."

There are many wonderful nuggets in this book. One is a list of six ways that middle-class activists can overcome their inner barriers to meaningful cross-class alliances. It starts with "moving from pretense to authenticity," and proceeds on to "moving from politeness and caution to openness and humor," and concludes with "moving from individual achievement anxiety to community interdependence." To find out the other three, you'll have to read the book!

As blw says in the overview, "class is a huge topic, and there are many aspects that this book is not about. It's not about economic systems. It's not about strategy for a cross-class movement. It's not about how to win over non-activists.... This book's ... goal is to help us get together better across class differences." To that end, she also includes a discussion guide for a six-session study group on the book, and a sample agenda for a classism workshop.

Much more could be said, but don't take my word for it - just read the book! And discuss it with other people! Whether you like everything or not, whether you agree with everything or not, it's an extremely valuable jumping-off point for further thinking and growth.

- Reviewed by Betsy Raasch-Gilman (a middle-aged, European-American activist who grew up middle-class with owning-class echoes, and is now working-class)

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