Latinos relative to their non-military peers.
4. Currently, 18% of active military personnel are African American and
11% are Hispanic. However, African Americans and Hispanics are
over-represented in lower-ranking support positions.
B. Women in the Military
1. The proportion of women in the military has reached an all-time
changing.
C. Gays and Lesbians in the Military
1. The Obama administration ended the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on
lesbians and gays in the military. However, it remains unclear whether
fighting units.
D. Military Veterans
1. The total number of veterans in the United States is 22 million.
2. The changed nature of combat in the two Iraq and Afghanistan wars has
LECTURE/DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS
1. Follow the Money. Introduce students to the website of the Center for Responsive
2. Interest Groups. Select a nationally based interest group that represents a particular
constituency and demonstrate through its strategies and achievements how interest
3. Voting. Use voting patterns in your state, as well as the composition of your state
4. Working Poor and the Unemployed. The National Employment Law Project
5. Unions. Introduce students to the websites of major unions like the AFL-CIO
6. Unemployment. Present your students with official employment and unemployment
figures from your state employment bureau and ask them to analyze how these fit or
depart from national trends, and what kind of work and unemployment are not
included or accurately portrayed by these figures.
7. A Marxian Revolution. Now that the students have an understanding of the conflict
8. Technology and the Workplace. The working poor earn their means of survival from
manual labor and jobs that require little technical expertise. As our society is
becoming more and more technologically sophisticated, more and more manual labor
9. Authority. Students are often unclear how authority is manifested in an organization.
10. Occupational Prestige. Poll your class on which occupations should receive the most
11. The Financial System. The New York Times has a great website, “Flipped”
12. Women in Politics. Check out Rutgers Eagleton Institute for Politics website for the
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
1. Have students organize a debate about whether the permeability of national borders
produced through agreements like NAFTA or the FTAA results in a more democratic
or less democratic world. This debate might be organized as an online discussion.
2. Interest Groups. Ask students to select interest groups, and examine how they
influence the exercise of power in the United States. In their analysis, in papers, on a
3. Employment Outlook. Have students investigate the employment outlook for the
occupation they plan to enter. They can start with the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Outlook Handbook (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/)
4. Economic Restructuring. Have students investigate the impact of
deindustrialization and economic restructuring on the local job market. Depending on
6. Corporate Influence on Politics. Reclaim Democracy (reclaimdemocracy.org) and
7. Theoretical Perspectives of Work and Economy. Divide the class into four groups
or teams and have each of them select one of the theoretical perspectives (including
8. Militarization of America. Take a field trip to a shopping mall with stores such as
Target, Payless, Walmart, or Old Navy, and see how many items in the sportswear
9. Job Opportunities. Invite a representative from the campus career-counseling center
to give a presentation on job opportunities and emerging job trends. Afterward,
10. The Elite Model of the State. Students often have an innate understanding of power
11. Americans with Disability Act. The ADA is an important policy allowing
individuals to integrate within mainstream society. Have students discuss the ADA in
terms of their experiences. Ask them to address the friends they have with disabilities
and how the policy has shaped their lives.
12. The Great Recession. NPR’s “Giant Pool of Money” episodes
13. Promoting Democracy. In recent years, several grassroots organizations advocating
for democratization of the U.S. political process have promoted a variety of reforms
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS (Videos with a * next to them have corresponding activities
below.)
V for Vendetta (2005, 132 min.)
This film, based on a comic book series, explores the dynamics of a fictional, future,
fascist British government. This film could provide a starting point for a discussion on
deviance, social control, or collective behavior.
Waging a Living PBS (2006, 85 min.)
This PBS special from P.O.V. makes a nice companion to Barbara Ehrenreich’s book,
Chasing Madoff gives us another insightful view about what has caused America’s
economic woes during the Great Recession. The film shows that an investigator named
Harry Makopolos discovered Bernie Madoff’s enormous Ponzi scheme and repeatedly
reported it to authorities for decades before Madoff was indicted. Had Makopolos’s
from hedge funds.
Zimbabwe: Shadows and Lies (2006, 60 min.)
Frontline/World goes undercover in Zimbabwe to reveal what has happened to a
Black Gold (2006, 78 min.)
This documentary follows the path of coffee beans from grower to drinker, highlighting the
exploitative nature of the traditional coffee markets and describing the benefits of fair trade
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009, 127 min.)
An examination of the social costs of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense
of the public good.
Walmart, the High Cost of Low Prices (2005, 95 min.)
This documentary about the world’s largest retailer points out ways that Walmart is
damaging our environment, our economy, our communities, our health, and our
The Persuaders (2004, 90 min.)
This PBS Frontline special looks at the business of advertising and the shaky foundation
Granny D Goes to Washington (2006, 27 min.)
This short documentary follows the story of 89-year-old Doris Haddock as she walks
Call It Democracy (2005, 85 min.)
This bipartisan documentary critiques the Electoral College system by pointing out
Clean Elections: Changing the Face of America (2005,14 min.)
This short film (narrated by Bill Moyers) about campaign finance reform highlights
North Country (2005, 123 min.)
This movie is based on the book Class Action: the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual
Harassment Law, which tells of a landmark 1989 case in which a female miner
* Maquilapolis: City of Factories (2006, 68 min.)
Maquilapolis shows the factory systems set up on the Mexico-United States border due to
* Inside Job (2010, 110 min.)
The Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary, Inside Job, directed by Charles
VIDEO ACTIVITIES
Have students view North Country and write a reaction paper addressing the following
issues: Why were steps not taken earlier to prevent this behavior towards Josie? Why do
Josie’s complaints to management exacerbate the situation rather than helping? What are
the cultural pressures that both keep Josie working in this hostile situation and tolerating
the harassment and permit the harassment to continue? What would you have done?
INTERNET EXERCISES
2. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
3. The U.S. Department of Labor website (https://www.dol.gov) provides a wealth of
information and is continually updated with new reports and data. Investigate a
4. Center for Responsible Politics (www.opensecrets.org). This site provides a wealth of
information about political action committees (PAC) and lobbyist groups. The site
5. Americans for Tax Reform (https://www.atr.org/) and the U.S. Department of the
Treasury (https://home.treasury.gov/) These sites will help students understand the
6. Duke University’s Non-governmental Organizations Database (NGOs) allows
SUGGESTED READINGS
Albert, Michael. 2003. Parecon: Life After Capitalism. London; New York: Verso.
Albert, co-founder of South End Press and Z Magazine, seeks to answer the question of
what progressive critics of corporate globalization would propose as an alternative—
participatory economics.
structure and distribution of power in the United States, within corporations, nonprofits,
and politics. See the author’s website: https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu
Edison/Mikofsky. 2004. National Survey, New York Times (Nov. 4), p. 4.
Gaventa, John and Gregory, Barrett. 2010. So What Difference Does It Make? Mapping
the Outcomes of Citizen Engagement. (Online Paper Series for the Institute for
Development Studies) This paper focuses on how citizen engagement can change the
system operating beyond the party system and power fields.
The document can be accessed at:
Johnson, Allan G. 2006. Privilege, Power, and Difference. Second edition. New
York: McGraw Hill. Johnson provides an easily applied theoretical model for
thinking about systems of power in society and guidelines on how to turn beliefs in
justice and equality into practice.
MacKinnon, Catherine A. 2006. “Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: An
Agenda for Theory.” Pp. 829–868 in D. Kennedy and W. F. Fisher, The Canon of
American Legal Thought, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press. This
classic study indicates that not much has changed in terms of politics and corporate
power in the last six decades.
Newman, Katherine S. 1999. No Shame in My Game: The Working Poor in the Inner City.
First Vintage Books/Russell Sage Foundation Edition. New York: Vintage Books. This
study of the working poor examines all aspects of the workers’ jobs, family lives, and
dreams.
Presser, Harriet B. 2003. Working in a 24/7 Economy: Challenges for American
Families. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Presser focuses on the impact of
nonstandard work schedules of men and women, families and childcare, and examines
the social policy implications.
Sorkin, Andrew Ross. 2011. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and
Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. New York: Penguin.
Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account
of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global
democracies.
WEBSITE SUGGESTIONS
See website suggestions throughout this chapter.