Scontras Center Teaching Fellow Co-Edits New Edition of “Real World Labor”

Scontras Center teaching fellow Kevin Van Meter is one of a group of labor scholars who contributed to the new edition of Real World Labor, a very readable and engaging guide book with information and analysis on issues impacting workers and unions today. The fourth edition of Real World Labor, whichis published by the economic news and analysis nonprofit collective Dollars and Sense, introduces students and workers to current labor struggles. It also explains the role of unions and how to organize one, as well as what workers are fighting for and visions for the future.

As Van Meter, one of the editors of this book, notes in the new edition’s introduction, “[t]hroughout this volume, you find materials to help workers and students develop economic literacy and critical thinking, discover ways to organize, and envision the future. The book’s approach is an ecumenical one, based in real-world economics, and grounded in the mission to provide economic news and analysis to union members and workers in the United States and across the planet.”

On Monday, the Scontras Center for Labor & Community Education hosted an online presentation of the new edition of Real World Labor featuring Van Meter along with co-editors Chris Sturr, Ben Beckett (who is also a co-editor of Dollars & Sense), Kari Lydersen and Robert Ovetz. You can watch the 40-minute presentation here.

Contributors include: David Bacon, Barry Eidlin, Nick French, Jayati Ghosh, Peter Olney, Alex N. Press, Rand Wilson and many more. Previous editions of Real World Labor have been widely praised by union leaders and labor academics.Contributors include: David Bacon, Barry Eidlin, Nick French, Jayati Ghosh, Peter Olney, Alex N. Press, Rand Wilson and many more. Previous editions of Real World Labor have been widely praised by union leaders and labor academics.

“For any labor studies course, Real World Labor is the most comprehensive and accessible book available today,” wrote Thomas J. Kriger, former provost National Labor CollegeWritten by authoritative scholars of the labor movement in the United States and worldwide, no book compares to this work in its breadth of coverage and scope of analysis. This is the only collection that provides an in–depth overview of labor issues in an accessible manner to anyone interested in understanding the most significant issues facing workers and the contemporary labor movement. I highly recommend this book to all!”