Absence of Paid Work: William Julius Wilson's and Kellogg's Arguments

“Kellogg’s Six-Hour Day: A Capitalist Vision of Liberation through Managed Work-Reduction” Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt recounts the history of Kellogg’s six-hour day. He argues that the six-hour day represents a different way to think about work, freedom, and progress. To understand this argument, answer the following questions:
1) Why did managers implement the six-hour day?;
2) Why did workers and the union agree to the six-hour day?;
3) How did the six-hour day work, explain the logistics;
4) When and why did management decide to return to the eight-hour day?;
5) Which workers decided to return to the eight-hour day?;
6) Why did those workers decide to return to the eight-hour day?;
7) Which workers wanted to keep the six-hour day, and why did they want to keep it? ;
8) How did managers try to motivate the eight-hour workers? Were they successful? ; and
9) How did public space – parks, etc.- change when the six-hour day was implemented; when the eight-hour day was implemented?
10) Would you be an eight-hour worker, or a six-hour worker? Explain your choice. What would you give up and why would you give it up?
“When Work Disappears: New Implications for Race and Urban Poverty in the Global Economy” William Julius Wilson argues that policy makers must reframe their understanding of inner city poverty and its implications for the disappearance of work itself – not the loss of a job, but the loss of all meaningful opportunities to work. Urban challenges do not stem from poverty, they stem from joblessness. In the 1950s, black Americans lived in segregated inner cities, were poor, and were working. By the 1990s, black Americans continued to live in segregated neighborhoods, continued to be poor, but had lost access to stable jobs. Approaching policy from the perspectives poverty alone will hide the real problem – a lack of stable employment. Worse, policies that focus solely on poverty will play into “the new racism”. To understand this argument, answer the following questions:
1) What is the “formal labor market” and what are some of the benefits of working in the formal labor market?;
2) Why did unskillled factory work disappear from cities?;
3) Explain what happens to an inner city neighborhood by explaining: d) “high levels of social integration”, and ii) “low levels of informal controls.”;
4) Describe some of the negative attitudes of employers who decide whether to hire someone from a segregated city community?
5) William Julius Wilson argues that the disappearance of work created conditions for the emergence of “the new racism” or “laissez faire racism”. What is "laissez faire racism"?
You should answer the questions listed in the "Class Assignment" and then all you need to do is be prepared to "facilitate" a discussion. How to Facilitate Discussions : https://blink(dot)ucsd(dot)edu/HR/training/instructor/tools/discussions.html