Limbo Critical Book Review Presented to Jennifer Saxton Arkansas Tech University

1. Limbo Critical Book Review Presented to Jennifer Saxton Arkansas Tech University ____________________ PS 4003 Capstone Project ____________________ by Leah Golden

2. Author Alfred Lubrano • Author, Alfred Lubrano, of Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams, identifies the dilemmas faced by many within the conflicting cultures of a blue-collar upbringing and a white-collar lifestyle.

3. American Dream Discrepancies • Lubrano’s purpose in Limbo is to enlighten the reader to the internal dilemma felt by millions caught between their blue-collar birth and their white collar American dream • By exposing this internal dilemma, he sheds light on the struggle, which illuminates the discrepancies in the American Dream and the devaluing of the blue-collar worker • Through the many stories of him and others, Lubrano reveals cultural mindsets that have set our country up for failure. • One of the most valid points in Limbo is in chapter one when Lubrano exposes that blue-collar workers often make considerably more than a white-collar worker, are skilled, usually have vocational training and certificates, yet their value is still diminished because of the type of work they do.

4. Rising from a Blue-Collar Birth • Individuals find that… • The values of the working class have ill-prepared them for the task of navigating the white-collar world • Undeclared practices are driven by upper-class values • They are caught between two worlds were the mindsets, cultures, and environmental values clash • They are also caught between how they were raised and what they desire to be • Never feeling fully accepted or understood in either place

5. Blue-Collar versus White-Collar Realities • A blue-collar person can often make more money than a white-collar professional • An example would be an electrician that makes six figures annually compared to a therapist who makes substantially less than that • According to Lubrano, it's not about the income; it's about perception generated from an individual's educational level and what type of career they chose • A white-collar person typically has a four-year degree or higher and works using their brain and intellect • Ablue-collar worker might have some education or vocational training but works with their hands providing service to others

6. The Straddler Identified • Lubrano demonstrates the issue of class disparities in the definition of the straddler • By growing up in a blue-collar home, the straddler is developed through their environment by the lessons they are taught about their position in life. • This initiates thought processes, ideas, and perceptions that are solidified throughout society. T • The straddler learns early on that working hard will get you what you want. He/she believes this to the fiber of their core, and bases all other choices on this. • Most straddlers also develop an innate distrust of upper management, undying loyalty to community and fellow workers, places high priority on obedience and conformity, patriotism, speaking the truth and doing what’s right, all while never hiding true emotions.

7. Limbo’s Strengths • Lubrano exposes how our environment affects our perceptions • How social/economic class affects our opportunities not only because of finances, but also because of our learned perceptions, and how we process • According to Lubrano, many people rising out of the blue-collar home will continually second guess themselves long after they have become successful • He also explains how blue-collar parents often set their children up for failure when sending them off to college because they give them wrong information from lack of knowledge of the white-collar world • And how many fear that their children will surpass them in knowledge and abilities and no longer need their guidance.

8. Limbo’s Weaknesses • The only limitation the book has is that it doesn’t recognize that people from all classes of society can be trapped in self-doubt and the mindsets of their environments. • All people collect baggage from the environments they grow up in. Even the most privileged can fall victim to false realities, and crippling mindsets from the nurture they receive.

9. Limbo’s Bias • Lubrano’s perception that growing up in a blue-collar home is the only precursor to lacking self-identity or struggling to fit into differing or conflicting worlds appears limited. • For example, a child born into a white-collar world could end up pursuing a blue-collar job to reject his upbringing. He would also find himself in a cultural dilemma. • We are creatures of our environment: All of us. Each of us comes with baggage regardless of poverty or privilege. This baggage effects how we see others and ourselves.

10. Conclusion • Lubrano exposes how our culture promotes white collar work as the American Dream. Even the media promotes the idea of education and white-collar work as the epitome of success. • Lubrano’s work in Limboilluminated these discrepancies even more. • People have intrinsic value, regardless of the economic class they are born to, regardless of what career they chose, and regardless of their education. • Lubrano exposes the societal discrepancies and mindsets that hold millions of Americans in self-doubt and societal deprecation.

11. References • Lubrano, A. (2004). Limbo: Blue-collar roots, white- collar dreams. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.