Middle Class Meltdown in America

Kevin T. Leicht is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at The University of Iowa. His research examines the relationship between globalization, economic change, and social inequality in a variety of contexts. His work has appeared in the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces and the Academy of Management Journal and former editor of The Sociological Quarterly and Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. Currently he serves as President-Elect of the Midwest Sociological Society. Scott T. Fitzgerald is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. His research examines social and economic inequality, social movements, public policy and religion and has appeared in Social Forces Mobilization: An International Journal Sociological Spectrum and Policy Studies Journal. He is currently the Political Sociology co-editor of Sociology Compass.

1. The Illusion of Middle Class Prosperity in the United States / 2. The Struggling Middle Class / 3. Macroeconomics and the Income/Credit Squeeze / 4. Robbing the Productivity Train / 5. Where Did All That Credit Come From? / 6. From Washington to Wall Street: Marketing the Illusion / 7. The Great Recession of 2008-2009: The Illusion Exposed / 8. The Consequences of Middle Class Meltdown / 9. What Can We Do? A Manifesto for the Middle Class / Appendix: Exhibits