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Book Cover for: The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy, Lisa Dodson

The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy

Lisa Dodson

Called a "fascinating exploration of economic civil disobedience" by Publishers Weekly, Lisa Dodson's stunning book The Moral Underground features stories of middle-class managers and professionals who refuse to be complicit in an economy that puts a decent life beyond the reach of the working poor. Whether it's a nurse choosing to treat an uninsured child, a supervisor padding a paycheck, or a restaurant manager sneaking food to a worker's children, these unsung heroes reach across the economic fault line to restore a sense of justice to the working world.

This vivid account of working-class America is based on Dodson's eight years of research and conversations with hundreds of Americans about the need to create ethical alternatives to rules that ignore the humanity of working parents and put their children and risk.


Book Details

  • Publisher: New Press
  • Publish Date: Dec 8th, 2009
  • Pages: 240
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.43in - 5.71in - 0.88in - 0.85lb
  • EAN: 9781595584724
  • Categories: Labor & Industrial RelationsPolitical EconomyPoverty & Homelessness

About the Author

Lisa Dodson worked as a union activist, an obstetrical nurse, and the director of the Division of Women's Health for the state of Massachusetts before becoming a professor of sociology at Boston College. She is the author of The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy (The New Press) and Don't Call Us Out of Name. She lives in Auburndale, Massachusetts.

Praise for this book

Praise for The Moral Underground:
"Lisa Dodson tracks a new civil disobedience [with]... fascinating... wrenching stories."
--The Boston Globe

"If only this book had been published in 2007.Then the hundreds of people interviewed by Lisa Dodson would have been able to pass along an important piece of advice: What's good for business is not necessarily good for America."
--Time

"Important, encouraging reporting."
--Kirkus

"[A]n intriguing record of the economic crisis and how some are choosing to survive it."
--Booklist

"Highly recommended."
--Choice

"The documentary tradition at its very best."
--Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Coles