The Feeding and Proper Care of Your Underclass: How a Society Maintains Poverty

We all say that we want to abolish poverty. But we all know that our society works very hard to maintain its poverty class. Let’s talk about some of the practices that are inherent to Western society that keep the poverty class poor and hopeless. And since this is WisCon, let’s talk about the books/stories that examine this issue.

M: Beth Plutchak. L J Geoffrion, Michael J. “Orange Mike” Lowrey, Karon Crow Rilling

Class Culture and Values in SF&F

Class isn’t just how much money you have or what work you do; it also involves cultural beliefs, values, and attitudes that are expressed in how you talk, what you do in your free time, and all sorts of less tangible elements. (See Barbara Jensen’s book Reading Classes: On Culture and Classism in America, due out in mid-May.) The SF&F writing and fannish communities are mainly middle-class folks, which makes the class values of SF&F works mostly middle class, too. What works and creators explore classes outside the mainstream, white, European, middle-class value systems? What class markers tend to show up most, or least, often? Do these works show the non-middle classes positively? negatively? realistically?

M: Debbie Notkin. Eleanor A. Arnason, Alyc Helms, Danielle Henderson, Rose Lemberg

How to Make WisCon Affordable

WisCon is an empowering event, and more people should get to participate. But journeying to Madison, finding a place to stay, and affording membership are all difficult, much less being able to buy a dessert ticket. How have we been able to make it affordable for ourselves? In what ways could WisCon become more accessible for poor people?

M: Benjamin Billman. L J Geoffrion, Jesse the K, Rachel Kronick, Laurenn McCubbin

Gender and Class in Gaming

This panel uses Dragon Age II, Mass Effect and classic tabletop games as a starting point to discuss class and gender issues that have been raised by players. We’ll discuss the ways in which class and gender are used in past and current games. How are gender and class issues used in the plot of the game? Does this detract or add to the gaming experience? Is it possible to be a feminist gamer?

M: Tanya D.. Lisa C. Freitag, Alyc Helms, Jessamyn, Heather Porter

Do let us know if any online commentary — live-blogging, panel write-ups — about these panels.  See you at WisCon!

I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and all I got was this chip on my shoulder”: Uplift, Downsizing, and Other Changes of Class

In the US, everyone is expected to want to move up in class—but if we do, we are likely to find that we can’t leave our former experiences behind and we might not want to. Similarly, many formerly well-off people have slipped down the class ladder in the economic downturn, but may not realize the kinds of privilege they maintain or the kinds of survival knowledge they lack. In this panel, we’ll talk about the challenges we’ve experienced in changing class in any direction, and work to build narratives that fit our lives better than the standard ones.

M: Alexis Lothian, Julie Hayes, Kiini Salaam, Fred Schepartz, Vanessa Vega

You Got Race On My Class! You Got Class On My Race!!

Race and class are two identities that exist in tandem, one never really trumping the other. What are the ways they intersect, diverge, conflict? What happens when our internal race/class state differs from an external race/class assignment—and what factors go into forming internal/external states in the first place? This panel will look at the realities of how we exist within and negotiate race and class without privileging either concept.

Saladin Ahmed, Eileen Gunn, Nisi Shawl, Chris Wrdnrd

Untangling Class

What do we mean when we talk about class? Is it about how much money we have? How much education? How we grew up? Our position with respect to a global capitalist world system? There have been a lot of WisCon panels in the past focused on speculative fiction that “does class well”—but how can we know whether something’s being done well if we don’t even know what it is? This panel brings together WisCongoers with expertise and experience in talking about class to hammer out (if not actually decide upon) some definitions.

M: Jess Adams, BC Holmes, Alexis Lothian, Chris Wrdnrd

As always, we’ll collect links to any live-blogging and write-ups and post them on the website.  Please let us know of any relevant commentary!

How does centralized planning divide our cities along lines of race and class? Subsidized housing, elevated freeways, new condos, zoning regulations: who decides where these are placed, and for what purposes? From Tyrion Lannister scouring King’s Landing during war to Ariane Emory programming the populations of Cyteen and Gehenna, these issues affect our fictional worlds too. Let’s talk about how power and urban planning interact.

M: Steven Schwartz, Ian K. Hagemann, Katharine Kerr, Vylar Kaftan

• phi: liveblogging

In late 2010, Eric Fisher used Census data to map out the top 40 cities in the United States by race. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624812674967/detail/) The one commonality of every map was that segregation existed, often in stark and predictable patterns — one race dominating this side of a busy avenue, a different race dominating that side. Or poor neighborhoods being dominated exclusively by people of color, while wealthy ‘hoods are white. How often do we see this pattern realistically depicted in SFnal cities? Do most cities in speculative fiction simply ignore race and class, or do they more often depict an idealistic — if unrealistic — even mix? Do we *want* to see realistic segregation in our fantastic cites, or is it too troubling to be reminded of our world’s problems when we’d rather just “escape”?

M: Mary Anne Mohanraj, Eric Fischer, Jaym Gates, Marie Brennan

In fiction, lower and working class individuals and groups are often depicted in broadly drawn stereotypes. Where are the stories that depict the working class and the poor accurately and with dignity? Where are the stories that challenge class and classism, or present workable solutions to the problems of class difference? Let’s spend our time not thinking about how often class goes wrong in fiction, but focusing on where it’s gone right. Afterward, we’ll post the list online to spread the wealth.

M: Liz Henry. Eleanor A. Arnason, Rachael Lininger, Geoff Ryman, Jef a. Smith

• badgerbag:  moderator response @Dreamwidth / @LiveJournal

It’s not been easy for the SF community to come to terms with class. In a society where the working poor and the unemployed are growing in number, and the middle class is being destroyed, it’s vital that we discuss class. Let’s build on our discussions of class at WisCon 34, which included a powerful Class Basics panel, to discuss class and class warfare in SF as well as the real world.

M: Eleanor A. Arnason. Jess Adams, Alexis Lothian, Beth Plutchak, Fred Schepartz

• B.C. Holmes:  audience member response @Dreamwidth / @LiveJournal
• Josh @ Aqueduct Press’s blog:  audience member response

Created when Capitalism supplanted feudalism, the middle class is a relatively new development, and in some ways is an artificial construct. But what does it really mean to be middle class? Perhaps it’s a state of being or a certain level of prosperity, but given the fluidity of its nature, does the middle class even exist, or is it really a glorified strata of the working class? Can SF/F imagine a world that has a real and strong middle class?

M: Fred Schepartz. Chris Hill, Beth A. Plutchak, Talks-with-wind

How are social classes depicted in SF/F? Can we do better? What are the problems?

M: Betsy Lundsten. Laurel Amberdine, Cynthia Gonsalves, Theodora Goss, Jef a. Smith

Picking up from from WisCon 33′s Marxism and Beyond 101, this panel discusses class both in theory through Marxist analysis and practice through personal story.

M: Karen Babich. BC Holmes, Alexis Lothian, Polly Peterson, Chris Wrdnrd

Of all the “isms” and oppressions in the United States, class is one of the least explored and least understood, and yet having an understanding of how class issues affect people here and around the world is vital. As with race, ability, and other issues, it is not the job of people who grew up dealing with class barriers to educate the rest of us, but sometimes we find folks who are generous enough to give their time to teaching. If you feel like you don’t know enough about class, classism, and how class background and class privilege inform the world around you, come join us. Serious information, given with patience and humor.

M: Debbie Notkin. Nisi Shawl, Jennifer K. Stevenson, Chris Wrdnrd

• unusualmusic:  audience member response
• B.C. Holmes:  audience member response
• futuransky:  audience member response
• maryread:  audience member response

SF writers are supposed to be good at building compelling and believable worlds. So why is it so hard to build a world featuring working class characters in working class settings, especially given that a lot of SF writers come from that kind of background? What has worked, for you? What hasn’t? Who clearly hasn’t tried? Who has tried, but failed spectacularly? SF fans have done a good job of demanding better–written women and minorities in SF; what about their working class counterparts?

M: Fred Schepartz, Eleanor A. Arnason, Chris Hill, Michael J. Lowrey, Diana Sherman

• takumashii:  liveblogging
• maryread:  liveblogging
• firecat:  liveblogging
• badgerbag:  liveblogging
• B.C. Holmes: response @Dreamwidth / @LiveJournal

Talking about class at WisCon is hard. Where should we start? What can we say? Sometimes this discussion goes horribly wrong – how can we avoid that?
M: Chris Wrdnrd, Jane Acheson, Jess Adams, Chris Hill, BC Holmes

liveblogging by:  littlebutfierce
originally posted:  2009/5/24

Typos & all; I might correct them later. Quick & dirty version below:

Chris Hill: working class background, middle class now, not from US, people say he can’t be working class b/c of his accent

BC Holmes: Canadian, wanting to change something about work place, doing social justice stuff with Haitians in Toronto (activists there approach that from anti-imperialist Marxist eye, but difference in how struggle is imagined there versus in Haiti, w/liberation theology). Traveling to Haiti opened up eyes re: wealth distribution.

Jane Acheson: on panel b/c she went to Choate (college prep school that Kennedy et al. went to). From northeast, spent a lot of time hanging out among richest of the rich, tho’ doesn’t consider herself part of that milieu, but also spent time in milieus where she felt higher up in class structure than others, thinking about how to address that (?)

Jess Adams: Didn’t think about class much until WisCon, had been to a few class panels that produced flames of rage. Couldn’t figure out why I had that reaction. Grew up middle class, parents working class. Didn’t know for a long time what working/middle/etc. class meant. Until saw bad convos here at WisCon, didn’t realize it was important to have these kinds of conversations not go down in flames.

Chris Wrdnrd: Always sort of been thinking about class issues (realized recently). Background: even as schoolkid, knew where official poverty line was, was above her immediate family. Always been thinking about these issues from a sense of lack, friends had things she couldn’t, etc. Frustrated w/some of the discussions at WisCon, b/c it felt as though people who were raised poor in the US were sort of invisible–people talk about “the poor” w/antiquated view of what poverty looks like, more nuanced & complex in reality. Subtitle was “assembling class discussion toolbox”–want to do that. What are terms we can use to talk about class, what do they mean, etc.? What about class, is economics always the basis, etc.?

BCH: Conversations about class backgrounds, scripts about class, from family–emotional & behavioral legacy that isn’t completely related to economics, other factors in there.

CH: Economics comes into it of course but also a lot about expectation–first person in family to go to uni, own my own home. Came to it almost accidentally, timing is v. important wrt what happend to uni education in UK. Aspirational things come into it.

CW: Aspirations good frame, always for me expectation that you go to college to get better job.

JA: At same time, for me, piece of the puzzle is connected to economics, I heard “you go to college to get better job to earn more money.” Money provides access to status markers that inform other people how we’re doing in the world. Not sole concern but factored into equation. How easy is it to divorce those two things?

JAcheson: Long line of college-educated, wasn’t aspiration, was expecttion–if I didn’t go something would’ve been wrong w/me. Not economics for me but maintaining status. Heaven forfend I go to a technical college, had to get a bachelor’s, even if bachelor’s of arts & physics.

CW: Class distinction w/getting English degree? Wkg class sees that as useless.

JAcheson: I was told that too.

CW: Mom told me to go to journalism school b/c it was practical.

JA: Told to take extra credit in something not as useless as creative writing, to get teacher certification.

CH: Uni was so way out of our league it wasn’t even a consideration, hadn’t gotten as far as that convo.

BCH: Impt to my parents to go to uni, but they didn’t know what that mean. No guidance, no sense of what kind of programs they offer.

Aud: Raw economics permeates most of this, part of lower class is day-to-day just getting by mentality. Middle class is delayed gratification aspirational capital accumulation. Going to college you’ll do better in later life. Other aspects.

CW: Using words like middle/wkg class–what does panel mean when they use these terms?

CH: Formal defintion of owning means of production, a time when that was a strict definition that could be used. Now it’s more complicated. I work in IT, I don’t own my means of production, I could be fired tomorrow (w/some recourse), but that is considered a middle class job in the UK. Tie b/t strictly means of production isn’t as clear as it used to be. Stuff around power that you have around that production maybe that’s more part of this. Dad was a farmworker, cold’ve been fired w/no recourse.

BCH: Agree & disagree. Classical definition of Marxism applicable to a place like Haiti–systems to make sure that Haitians have nothing but labor power to provide, only 1/2 of them are employed so wages don’t get too high. In North America I grok what you’re saying.

CW: Useful to give quick idea of Marxism?

Aud: Marx distinguished b/t someone who owned a shop vs. factory

Jacheson: Working my first union job, secretary, no privacy or no control over what I do, making the most money I’ve ever made. Used to work in publishing, had more power but no money. Work pink-collar job, that gets eliminated first, making the most money I’ve ever made.

CW: Marxism incomplete b/c you’re making more money, but is secretary seen as a different class as working in publishing?

Jacheson: Yes, long trad of pubishing being seen as only get a job if you know someone. Secretary, you apply, interview old-fashioned way.

BCH: Partner started first non-union job, used to work in biology lab now working in bank call center. Weird to her, bank is doing things to make her feel comfortable, but ppl who’ve been hired at different times make v. different salaries & no one knows b/c you’re not supposed to talk about that.

JA: Union vs. non-union job—I’m basically a secretary now, prior to that I worked service-sector job, coffee shop manager, bookstore. Worked for big box bookstore that seemed to have the most interesting fear of unionization. I hadn’t given unions a lot of thought, but my dad’sbeen n police officers’ union for years, now that I moved into management, discussion about what to do if employees are discussing unionization, who to talk to if someone has the urge in your store. On the one hand, company fairly good to us, about as good as a big box cold be, but otoh, a lot of things sucked, & if empoyees could get together that’d begood. One store unionized & it was massive scandalcatastrophe to management. Notion of blue or white collar or service sector jobs, but in US some overlap. US doesn’t much seem to value unions, lots of misunderstanding around this, is that function of changing economy?

CH: Astonished by stories like that about American unions, in UK power of unions now weakened (Thatcher) but to my knowledge no particular issue w/unions. We tend to have broad unions that covers particular job roles across companies.

J Acheson: In grad school, some unis were unionizing grad students & my uni they ended up in Teamsters.

CH: Any sort of legal requirements for consultation w/unions re: pay cuts?

Aud: only if it’s in the contract.

CH: Minimum length of consultation required in UK (re: making certain percentage redudant b/f Christmas)

Aud: random comments about unions

CW: Layoffs at my employer, union tried to be in discussion but employer could’ve basiclly done wht theywanted to. Concrete ideas about poor/middle class (definitions?)?

J Acheson: Diff b/t broke & poor. One not the same as the other. Broke, may not have any money, but you have a good idea of where money may come from next. Poor, don’t nec. Know where you can get money or that it will come in two weeks.

CH: In terms of revenue streams. My fam was paid in cash fortnightly but if we ran out of money there was nowhere we could get more from. Jcouldn’t get a bank loan (late ’70s or early ’80s). When boss went on holiday & left checks for pay, that was a prob b/c we couldn’t acc4ess the money for 3 or 4 days.

CW: Zine!!! In dealer’s room & Andy sells them. $2.50 or flexible.

Aud: Can we pay more to supplement sliding scale? (yes)

BCH: Idea of poverty—what it means to be poor, has diff meaning in diff contexts. Acceptable definitions can be come up w/in Canada & US, & are meaningful. But some people establish ideas of what class strata look like based on North America, can’t see that it doesn’t tranlate well elsewhere. Spent time in Haiti working w/microcredit group, try to measure effects on poverty of microcredit. Different questions than, say, John Scalzi asks in his piece. World Bank ays $2/day poverty, living on$1/day extreme poverty. We can’t wrap our heads around that. Spends about 80% of that on food, when food prices doubled real problem in Haiti. In US/Canada, 10% is large to spend on food.

JA: Want to be careful b/c I don’t want to make assumptions about what poverty is here in US as well. Mothers fam from Appalachia, half my relatives had no running water or electricity in my childhood. Eyeopening for me, how do you live w/o toilet? Places still in continental US where we are facing kind of poverty we often assume happen elsewhere.

CH: True in UK as well.

J Acheson: that kind of poverty is double invisible in the US. Ordinary sub/urban poor, ppl have had news reports about or Reganomics rhetoric about, but rural really poor you don’t even get the deeply concernred articles about them.

CW: Class mobility: is it truly possible? I’m not poor anymore & solid middle class, does moving up economic scale always change your class? When you change your economics do you default change your social class?

JA: As Americans , for a culture that doesnt liket o acknowledge class structures, we have a lot of fantasy life wrapped up in examination of—for the zine, I talked about literature as my entry point for talking about this. Ideas of American Dream, doesn’tmatter where you started, you can ascend, own your house or be a congressman, etc. Also lots of narratives, like the Gatsby problem, someone has to all appeaances achieved American Dream but unable to escape class problems of their birth & in a lot of ways it becomes their undoing. Class mobility possible but we are who we are, the places that we come from have shaped us. Is it a question of economics?

J Acheson: Not solely question of economics, some ppl have arrived in upper middle class & consciously changed their behavior to conform. (not having a mullet, etc.) Figuring out what the upper upper mid class ppl wear, where they shop, what they call things. Aioli & mayonnaise same thing basically.

CH: You may personally be reasonably mobile but that doesn’t help the rest of my family, my parents are extremely working class still, own little, only diff is that I can provide an alternative revenue stream for them. Don’t hve to worry about being out in th street anymore. Unless you’re v. callous you don’t leave your own dependents behind you.

CW: One thing not discussed often re: mobility, as I turned middle class, how much my attitudes & expectations were formed in concrete when I was growing up w/v. Little money. Vom marlowe’s piece in zine about needing new computer, can’t make herself buy it, feel that I dont deserve it etc. I feel like I can make do w/what I have, etc. I make do w/something basically broken & I should really buy a new one, & I buy it & think why did I wait 3 years? Economically I moved up but mentally I’m still where I grew up at. Coworkers—stain on clothses, goes to Goodwill, I think, why not wash it?

J Acheson: Intersections—race & class, Reagan’s version of welfare queen. Seemed to be common language, didn’t use air quotes: poor black woman who had kids to get more welfare money (tho’ it doesn’t work that way). One of those phrases centers on economics as code for race. Expressing racism in code.

CW: Hesitant to discuss too much intersections of class & race too much, b/c I am white & don’t want to screw that up.

J Acheson: Welfare queen example ubiquitous, common language of white culture, didn’t unpack that, was part of every dayspeech.

Aud: Also makes white poverty invisible.

CW: Also a value judgment, to invisibilize race conversations.

J Acheson: divides different parts of poverty,

BCH: Same in colonialism, pit our working class against ‘their’ working class, why are we exporting jobs? Keeps you from asking why CEOs make millions.
Chris Hill: working class background, middle class now, not from US, people say he can’t be working class b/c of his accent

BC Holmes: Canadian, wanting to change something about work place, doing social justice stuff with Haitians in Toronto (activists there approach that from anti-imperialist Marxist eye, but difference in how struggle is imagined there versus in Haiti, w/liberation theology). Traveling to Haiti opened up eyes re: wealth distribution.

Jane Acheson: on panel b/c she went to Choate (college prep school that Kennedy et al. went to). From northeast, spent a lot of time hanging out among richest of the rich, tho’ doesn’t consider herself part of that milieu, but also spent time in milieus where she felt higher up in class structure than others, thinking about how to address that (?)

Jess Adams: Didn’t think about class much until WisCon, had been to a few class panels that produced flames of rage. Couldn’t figure out why I had that reaction. Grew up middle class, parents working class. Didn’t know for a long time what working/middle/etc. class meant. Until saw bad convos here at WisCon, didn’t realize it was important to have these kinds of conversations not go down in flames.

Chris Wrdnrd: Always sort of been thinking about class issues (realized recently). Background: even as schoolkid, knew where official poverty line was, was above her immediate family. Always been thinking about these issues from a sense of lack, friends had things she couldn’t, etc. Frustrated w/some of the discussions at WisCon, b/c it felt as though people who were raised poor in the US were sort of invisible–people talk about “the poor” w/antiquated view of what poverty looks like, more nuanced & complex in reality. Subtitle was “assembling class discussion toolbox”–want to do that. What are terms we can use to talk about class, what do they mean, etc.? What about class, is economics always the basis, etc.?

BCH: Conversations about class backgrounds, scripts about class, from family–emotional & behavioral legacy that isn’t completely related to economics, other factors in there.

CH: Economics comes into it of course but also a lot about expectation–first person in family to go to uni, own my own home. Came to it almost accidentally, timing is v. important wrt what happend to uni education in UK. Aspirational things come into it.

CW: Aspirations good frame, always for me expectation that you go to college to get better job.

JA: At same time, for me, piece of the puzzle is connected to economics, I heard “you go to college to get better job to earn more money.” Money provides access to status markers that inform other people how we’re doing in the world. Not sole concern but factored into equation. How easy is it to divorce those two things?

JAcheson: Long line of college-educated, wasn’t aspiration, was expecttion–if I didn’t go something would’ve been wrong w/me. Not economics for me but maintaining status. Heaven forfend I go to a technical college, had to get a bachelor’s, even if bachelor’s of arts & physics.

CW: Class distinction w/getting English degree? Wkg class sees that as useless.

JAcheson: I was told that too.

CW: Mom told me to go to journalism school b/c it was practical.

JA: Told to take extra credit in something not as useless as creative writing, to get teacher certification.

CH: Uni was so way out of our league it wasn’t even a consideration, hadn’t gotten as far as that convo.

BCH: Impt to my parents to go to uni, but they didn’t know what that mean. No guidance, no sense of what kind of programs they offer.

Aud: Raw economics permeates most of this, part of lower class is day-to-day just getting by mentality. Middle class is delayed gratification aspirational capital accumulation. Going to college you’ll do better in later life. Other aspects.

CW: Using words like middle/wkg class–what does panel mean when they use these terms?

CH: Formal defintion of owning means of production, a time when that was a strict definition that could be used. Now it’s more complicated. I work in IT, I don’t own my means of production, I could be fired tomorrow (w/some recourse), but that is considered a middle class job in the UK. Tie b/t strictly means of production isn’t as clear as it used to be. Stuff around power that you have around that production maybe that’s more part of this. Dad was a farmworker, cold’ve been fired w/no recourse.

BCH: Agree & disagree. Classical definition of Marxism applicable to a place like Haiti–systems to make sure that Haitians have nothing but labor power to provide, only 1/2 of them are employed so wages don’t get too high. In North America I grok what you’re saying.

CW: Useful to give quick idea of Marxism?

Aud: Marx distinguished b/t someone who owned a shop vs. factory

Aud: rec Karma of Brown Folk.(Vijay Prashad)

BCH: Audiene in workingclass characters panel, way we talk about representation of ppl in fiction at WisCon, but can we talk about what that means What are the apparatus that bolsters these class distinctions. Convos w/activists in Toronto who see everything as function of class. (racism not important to them, etc.)

JA: Classic derail.

J Acheson: internet law about that.

CW: How have class discussions gone wrong at WisCon & beyond?

JA: Highly specified examples? The Trailer Trash panel a few years ago, idea was stories of hero’s journey, where’s the guy who’s just in it for the money? Trailer trash is pretty landmine term, my grandmother lives in a trailer. Never thought there was anything wrong w/that until I heard the phrase. At the panel, ppl compared wkg class to Jerry Springer episode, class snark, etc. Surprised that there was no sensitive thought around language, basic idea was a good one for panel, but language & way it went shocking.

CW: Trailer trash as object to talk about not real people.

JA: Dehumanization of wkg class. Diddn’t seem to beanyone on the panel from that bckground. Some ppl in audience from that background who spoke up. Panel said, “Oh we didn’t mean it like that!”

CH: Couple of panels, one I walked out on recently, about writing working class characters, incredibly patronizing. Also one with “more working class than thou” one-downmanship going on among panelists.

J Acheson: Subtler online derail I’ve seen, social class & some TV shows, discussions sidetrack onto everyone’s individual stories, we’re affirming your story, isn’t it great, has nothing to do w/analysis of what we’re talking about. Going into personal so not to have to confront actual issues.

BCH: Union discussion isfraught w/derail, dicussing unions w/ppl who haven’t had relaationships w/them, the number of stories about wasteful, bad unions, etc. Deification of the iimportance of the free market.

J Acheson: In US campaign: Weekends: brought to you by unions.

BCH: New Democratic Party, never formed a government, its role to move the center. People say I’ll waste my vote, but they brought us socialized health care etc.

CW: How can we have this class convo at WisCon to be productive?

JA: We’ve had some stuff going on coming out of WisCon (cultural approp, RaceFail), panels of utter ailure have often gone on to open up useful conversational spaces. Why does door not get opened for class? Is it b/c many of us are US?

Aud: US has unique mythologies about class.

More aud; No they don’t.

Aud: No one says they’re upper class, where is upper class? Upper class I see as laughing at us from above.

JA: If you are able to achieve a certain status, does class not matter to you? (throwing money at a problem)

BCH: Want to go back to question about having convo at WisCon? I think the structure benefits from past derails, seeing that. Ppl pick out panelists that seem to be able to speak to a cetain topic, i’ve been to cons where anyone gets on a panel. Having panels converse about a topic w/o opening it up to the audience.

J Acheson: Certain amount of continuity b/c some ppl come to WisCon every year.

BCH: In previous panel that asked is goal to have fail-free universe? No, to have tools to handle it.

CH: Focus important. Panel on writing workingclass characters worked b/c made clear by moderator at beginning what we’d focus on, what we’re not going to discuss, etc.

CW: When you’re having discussions about class, have to be comfortable about where you are personally. Move beyond that to talk to ppl w/other class bkgrounds & be willing to listen. Hard to hear that we might be part of the problem. Also have to get used to hearing that “you’ve said something thats mssed up,” & not to get reactive & ujust to think.

J Acheson: & also think that I come from diff bakground & Im trying not to oppress you right now.

CW: Wrapup before questions: anything else?

BCH: Top 225 richest ppl combined income of half of humanity.

Aud: What % is Western?

BCH: Dont know

CW: questions about myth of no class? Questions not comments, also trying to get to everyone

Aud: Opinion polls, US mostly say they’re middle class—tends to mean upper working class. US has own special relationship w/race & class.

Aud: WTF SHUT UP W/AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM.

Aud: My professor asked how many of you think you’re middle class, thought that meant that you can live off your investments. What do you think?

Panel; outdated.

Aud: People moving up, didn’t address people moving down on panel. My family was v. wealthy, then after partiion, refugee camp. My experience has been trying to climb up to where we “should” be—is this common in US pop culture?

JA: There are some examples, tend to be tragic narratives. (House of Mirth) Idea of ruination, seen as debasement, kind of death.

J Acheson: Myth of genteel poverty, I come fromgreatness, I dont hae money now, I can bask in past greatness. A bit antiuated.

Aud: Talk of symptoms of classism, less of the overarching structures. Can we talk about racism/classism/mobility, written on our bodies (welfare queen, fat & black), can’t escape our bodies, etc.

CH: really good panel for next year, too big for time we have left.

JA: Suggests to me that maybe we accomplished what we hoped, b/c there are so many discussions that come out of this foundation, how do we lay the foundation so these questions can happen.

CW: Would also benefit from having more diverse panel for class panel.

BCH: WisCon has history of talking about -isms, haven’t seen panel about colonialism, imperialism, capitalism. We tend to talk about impact on ppl w/o structures.

Aud: Race convo—helpful to have small group breakout sessions—maybe breakout sessions by class, then come to panel. I’m upper middle class, question bout education. I’m a professor, heard as undergrad that uni edu gets you into working class. Cultural capital I gained from upper class boarding school, even tho’ fam at the time was middle class. Function of education?

CH: Education doesn’t nec move you anywhere but it gives you the tools. In UK it’s becoming less of aa factor b/c financing uni changing, less likely that someone from my background will go to uni.

BCH: Class passing, role of edu in that.

This list was begun by Chris Wrdnrd in 2009.  Friends of Dennis took it on as a project in 2011.  This is (to the best of our ability) an annotated list, so you’ll find comments about why a work has been suggested as well as a note (i.e., the italicized information in parentheses) of who suggested it.  Links on a title or author’s name take you to Powell’s Books.

general recommendations

China Miéville has compiled a list of Fifty Fantasy & Science Fiction Works that Socialists Should Read. Maybe not *quite* what you’re looking for *g* but there may be some there to add to your list. (from carenejeans)

novels

Burndive. Lowachee, Karin. (New York: Aspect, 2003.)

Use[s] changing class as part of the plot. (affreca)

Finity’s End. Cherryh, C.J. (New York: Warner, 1997.)

Use[s] changing class as part of the plot. (affreca)

The Kappa Child.  Goto, Hiromi.  (Calgary: Red Deer Press, 2001.)

I really loved The Kappa Child because it’s one of the few times i saw the rural working class / poor depicted in a way that was … real.  (Chris Wrdnrd)

Tales of Neveryon. Delany, Samuel R. (New York: Bantam, 1979.)

Has quite a bit to say about slavery vs court life, powerlessness and power…  (carenejeans)

Slow River. Griffith, Nicola. (New York: Ballantine, 1995.)

(deifire)

series

Gormenghast. Peake, Mervyn.

Was Steerpike challenging the class structure, or was he just “the poster boy for amoral social climbers”? (Chris Wrdnrd & Phredd)

Disc World. Pratchett, Terry.

Terry Pratchett certainly addresses class a LOT in his books. The trajectory of Sam Vimes from drunk to Duke is fascinating (and of course, funny), and pointed observations about class are always, always present in Pratchett’s books. (carenejeans)

Miles Vorkosigan Adventures. Bujold, Lois McMaster.

It’s true she focuses on the upper classes, but she doesn’t ignore the lower ones — for instance, “At the Mountains of Mourning.” (carenejeans)

“Cat” novels. Vinge, Joan.

I can’t think of many sf/f books that deal with class by examining one class. However, quite a few use changing class as part of the plot. The first ones that come to my mind are Joan Vinge’s Cat books, especially in Cat’s Paw. Cat is both limited in his choices by his upbringing, and able to take different paths. (affreca)

This comp zine is composed of 11 pieces that investigate aspects of class ideas from various angles.  Contents include a brief overview of Marxist theory, a bibliography of class-related reading, and a bingo card of typical dismissals of class discussion, all punctuated by deeply personal essays of individual class situations.  We are also delighted that John Scalzi allowed us to reprint his oft-cited “Being Poor” post from the Whatever.  The zine is rounded out by an abridged version of Karl Marx’s “Wage, Labor, and Capital.”

The zine is available for purchase from Crabby Media for $2.50(US), which covers the printing costs.  It’s also available at that link as a free PDF download.

Nominate someone else or nominate yourself. Tell us why the potential recipient would be a good person to attend WisCon and give us an idea of what funds would be needed–are you local and you just need a membership? Do you have a membership but need help with travel costs? Got your transportation covered, but even though you’re sharing a room, you need money for the hotel? Need help with all three? Depending on the number of nominations and the amount of donations, the scholarship committee will try to help out as many people as possible who would like to come to WisCon but need some support to do so.

Details on how to apply are on the WisCon Scholarships webpage.

Con or Bust helps fans of color/non-white fans attend SFF cons.

While Con or Bust began as an auction to assist fans of color attend WisCon in 2009, it has recently expanded to become an assistance fund to assist fans of color/non-white fans attend many conventions throughout the year.  Follow the LiveJournal for current convention information and for details about upcoming auctions.  This post provides information on how to request assistance.

by:  John Scalzi
posted:  September 3, 2005

Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.

Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.

Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn.

Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.

by:  carenejeans

Enough is a space for conversations about how a commitment to wealth redistribution plays out in our lives: how we decide what to have, what to keep, what to give away; how we work together to build sustainable grassroots movements; how we challenge capitalism in daily, revolutionary ways.

Working-Class Perspectives offers weekly commentaries on current issues related to working-class people and communities. Contributors discuss a variety of issues, from what class means to how it intersects with race and gender to how class is shaping American politics. New posts appear every Monday.

Thank you so much, SF3!