“So Long, Dental Plan!” Unions, Labor Relations and Class Struggle…As Seen On TV
Edited by Shaun Richman
We’re excited to announce that “So Long, Dental Plan” Unions, Labor Relations and Class Struggle…As Seen On TV is scheduled to be published in April 2027 by SUNY Press. Pre-orders will begin around Christmas time.
The book will be published initially in hardcover and as an ebook, with a paperback edition to follow six months later. The hardcover will be priced for the academic library market, but the ebook will be released at the same time and will be available to individuals at a more affordable price through Amazon Kindle, Google Play, and other ebook vendors.
Here are the chapters and authors:
Introduction by Shaun Richman
The Simpsons and the Working Class: Clintonian Liberalism Meets American Popular Culture By Erik Loomis
A Workers’ State Without Workers? By David A. Banks
The Nanny as Labor Activist: Fran Fine, Fran Drescher, and Working-Class Solidarity By Fred B. Jacob
“I’m the Business Agent.” Garden (State) Variety Union Corruption in The Sopranos By Shaun Richman
Pushing Agitators Out of Airlocks: The Class Politics of Battlestar Galactica By Ben Burgis
Krusty Krab Unfair: Labor in Kids’ Shows Matters By Alina Sipp-Alpers
“Your [Organizing] Matters. It’s What Got Me Here.” One Tree Hill’s Brooke Davis as a Role Model for Millennial Union Workers By Maria DiPasquale
Monday Night (Labor) Wars: Representation of Union Movements in Televised Professional Wrestling By Paul Gagliardi
“Everybody Hates Minimum Wage”: An All-too-realistic Depiction of What Happens When Low-Wage Workers Assert Their Rights By Terri Gerstein
“We Strike at Midnight Tomorrow”: Workers as NPCs in House of Cards By Jenny Hunter
The Class Struggle at Superstore By Eric Dirnbach
“We Feed You, Now Help Feed Us”: Depictions of FGLI Students at Elite Institutions and the Essex College Food Workers Strike on The Sex Lives of College Girls By Kelly Diaz
Workers of Mars Unite: Shop Floor Struggle on For All Mankind By Olivia Wood
The Portrayal of Labor Unions and Strikes in The Simpsons By Andy Hodder and Benjamin Hopkins