The Middle-Class New Deal (Paperback)

A. Mechele Dickerson

ISBN 10: 0520423399 / ISBN 13: 9780520423398

Published by University of California Press, Berkerley, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. An expansive policy blueprint for meaningfully expanding the middle class for the first time in a century The US middle class was a product of state and federal policies, enacted in the wake of the Great Depression. But since the 1980s, lawmakers have undermined what they once built, shredding the social safety net and instituting laws that virtually guarantee downward mobility for all but the most privileged. How can we restore what has been lost? Rigorous and highly readable, The Middle-Class New Deal breaks down the policies that have decimated working families and proposes reforms to reverse this trend. As Mechele Dickerson shows, part of the problem is that politicians disingenuously conflate the middle class with the "White lower rich." Such propaganda hides how state and federal lawmakers consistently favor education, labor, housing, and consumer-credit laws that erode the bank accounts of lower- and middle-income peopleespecially those who are not White and don't have college degrees. Weaving together the latest research with the personal stories of Americans struggling to make ends meet, Dickerson provides a clarion call for political leaders to enact a bold agenda like the one that created the middle class almost a century ago. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780520423398

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Middle-Class New Deal (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of California Press, Berkerley
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520423399
• ISBN 13: 9780520423398
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

New York Times bestseller
As seen on The Daily Show
“This book is music to my ears.”―Jon Stewart

A bold, accessible story about how the American middle class was built and what we can do to save it.

The American middle class didn’t happen by accident―it was built through government action in the wake of the Great Depression. But over the past forty years, many of those policies have been rolled back or weakened, leaving working families with less security and fewer opportunities to get ahead. What would it take to reverse course?

In The Middle-Class New Deal, A. Mechele Dickerson breaks down the changes in education, labor, housing, and consumer-credit policy that have steadily eroded the economic stability of lower- and middle-income Americans―especially people of color and those without college degrees. Blending the latest research with personal stories from her own family, Dickerson shows how local and federal politicians have disingenuously used rhetoric to mask how their policies consistently favor the privileged class. Clear and compelling, the book lays out a bold path to meaningfully rebuild the middle class and expand opportunity for everyday Americans.

About the Author

A. Mechele Dickerson is Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and author of Homeownership and America’s Financial Underclass.