Introduction to Smith Studies in Social Work: Special Issue on Social Work and Social Class

Abstract

Smith Studies has devoted a certain number of journals to “special interests,” highlighting theoretical models, diversity, end of life challenges, and other contemporary topics in the field of social work. These special issues complement the mission of the School and the Smith Studies Journal, which is to educate social workers in clinical practice, grounded in theory, research, professional ethics, social justice and the School’s commitment to antiracism. This special issue of Smith Studies addresses social class as an important component of the various contextual components of diversity, a recurring theme in social work literature (Strier, 2009). Karl Marx developed the concept of social class in the nineteenth century to explain the impact of political and economic structures on social life. Class centered power relations are part of America’s political legacy from Great Britain’s class system and inherited ideas about poverty. In America, racial and class dominance are intertwined, and political and economic power is held by the white ruling elite. The structural issues of poverty, race, ethnicity, gender, and cultural inequality are all tied to the dynamics of class. Institutional forces maintain differential access to resources, and constitute the personal and structural consequences of classism, such as access to a privileged school or a safe neighborhood (Coleman 2012; Isenberg, 2016). A disproportionate number of the working poor and unemployed are persons of color. (Coleman, 2012; Cherlin, 2014). Historically, there has also been a poor and working-class population of whites (Isenberg, 2016; Vance, 2016). As Isenberg (2016, p. xv) notes: “Our class system is hinged on the evolving political rationales used to dismiss or demonize (or occasionally reclaim) those white rural outcasts seemingly incapable of becoming part of the mainstream society,” disparagingly referred to as “white trash”.’ It is noteworthy; however, that there are assets and privileges associated with being White in the United States which enables: “White folks in the lower stratums of household wealth to distinguish themselves from communities of color and instead identify with white individuals who are most advantaged by the economic assets of whiteness” (Clark & Spanierman, 2019, p. 141).