For many working-class folks, the job can become an integral part of who they are, a reason to be. Yet when pressed to share his views on jobs as identity, Newman cuts against the grain, saying “I try to separate the idea of work and jobbing. Jobbing is what most of us do to pay the bills. Work is what keeps us alive and sane. Writing is work. Cooking dinner is work. Gardening is work. Work is a creative task that is essential.
Clashes around censorship have pitted parents against educators, and against each other, while outside funding raises the stakes.
As union halls closed and membership numbers dwindled, other networks and community group influences, often propelling more conservative values and messages, have become more central to the daily lives of workers and residents.
A Pennsylvania bill that would limit fracking near homes and schools was shelved this summer right before a scheduled committee vote. In a small town in shale country, accounts of misery and discord show the stakes.