The introduction initiates with the importance of social scientists in the history of American Labor. The author also stresses that the history of these workers has been arduous. Especially when the working class tends to be classified in terms of racial poverty. Hispanics, blacks and Native Americans tend to be described as poor only in America. This undermines their significance and their overall contribution to the working class. This introduction delineates how the author undertook the task of studying the working class district by personally seeking answers in real life situations. This method is called “participant observation” (Susser 79), where the participant actively studies the community by going to town meetings, festivals and other significant reunions.
It is also vital to note that plenty of time has passed since the initial study of Greenpoint-Williamsburg. The original timeframe of 1975-1978 focused on the neighborhood movements and the collective protests that occurred then. This occurred because of the labor exploitation that was common in an industrialized society, where skilled labor was no longer valuable. The poor working class who used “disruption and rioting” (Susser 74) to defend themselves backed these labor movements.
Political action is also relevant to the worker’s union because Greenpoint Williamsburg was a place with a strong community that advocated worker’s rights and as a result. Back then, these were the issues in Greenpoint-Williamsburg that rose with the fiscal crisis and depression that followed. However, the author makes a note of the changes that the city has undergone since then. Eventually, instead of a poor working class, there has been a transition to middle class employed by businesses (Susser 76). This hasn’t all be positive though as the social programs for the poor have been cut back since the first time the neighborhood was studied.
Now, today, in the twenty first century, the neighborhood of Greenpoint-Williamsburg has changed again. The gentrification continued, making it a “model of the global city” (Susser 4). Homelessness also continued, but so did the renovation of buildings in the town by the community. The fiscal crisis was also replaced by the global economic crisis in 2010. Other small but monumental changes were also made to the neighborhood, like the G and L train line construction. Its been a community that has undergone major societal changes over these thirty years, but there are certain aspects, like community involvement that never changes.
