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From ‘Underclass’ to ‘Undercaste’: Some Observations about the Future of the Postindustrial Economy and its Major Victims
Author(s) -
GANS HERBERT J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2427.1993.tb00224.x
Subject(s) - underclass , post industrial society , sociology , memphis , media studies , anthropology , law , political science , botany , biology
When in 1963 Gunnar Myrdal took an old-fashioned Swedish word for ‘lower class’ to describe a new American ‘underclass’, little did he know what immense effects his brief, seemingly offhand, new conceptualization would have on America’s view and treatment of the poor. Indeed, had he known, I am sure he would have chosen another term, if only because some subsequent distortions of his idea ignored his crucial insight into the future of the US economy and those whom he saw as its newest victims. My chapter is devoted to some observations about that insight 30 years after the publication of his new concept, and about two other topics: variations in how the victims of the post-industrial economy are chosen in different countries; and cross-national variations in the definitions and uses of the term ‘underclass’. But before discussing these topics, a brief history of what happened to Myrdal’s concept in America is in order.