Strangers in Paradise: Academics from the Working Class

In this second edition, twenty-four college professors, with roots in the working class, discuss the experience of significant upward mobility and the problems of adjustment to life in the academy. This collection of stories provides revelations about the social class system and academic life in the United States. Each of the autobiographies is prefaced with thoughtful discussions of how certain historical forces have affected the experiences of working class academics and how the United States’ social class system is tied to higher education. The book connects these twenty-four personal experiences with three themes. First is the dual estrangement theme, whereby the upwardly mobile person lives in two very different worlds. The second theme explores internalized class conflict, where in many cases the different worlds are in serious conflict with each other. Finally the impostor phenomenon theme describes the event of an upwardly mobile person surviving the new environment by becoming someone else all the time. Strangers in Paradise will provide excellent text for courses and seminars in sociology, economics, and education. In addition, almost any person in the academy with working class roots will find some personal interest in this probing and relevant analysis.