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The Political Economy of the Living Wage: A Study of Four Cities
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Living wage campaigns are frequently presented as a quest for economic justice by the labor movement. Often missed, however, is that the living wage is very much a political issue at the local level, and that the typical living wage campaign needs to be understood within the context of urban theory.
In this in-depth study Oren M. Levin-Waldman explains what factors led to the adoption of living wage laws in four cities: Los Angeles, Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Analyzing each of these cases through the disciplinary lens of political science, the author shows that the movements were the results of policy failures at the local level. This scholarly approach shows clearly that the successful movements grew out of the failure of local policymakers to adequately address changes in the urban economic base and growing income inequality.
Selected Contents:
List of Tables and Figure
Preface
1. Introduction
2. The Meaning of the Living Wage
3. Contemporary Urban Theory
4. Four Cities I: Economic Factors
5. Four Cities II:The Politics
6. The Changing Face of the Urban Political Landscape
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Review(s): ... a thoughtful, informed book that unfortunately finds prospects for progressive reform in today's cities severely constrained. ... Recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. Choice
The groundwork material is quite well done. ...The coverage of the economic and political factors present in the four cities is informative and clearly presented. ... Levin-Waldman offers a useful discussion of regime theory, and excellent analysis of the dynamics of living-wage policies, a helpful critique of recent urban development policies, and some interesting details regarding living-wage politics in four of our major cities. Perspectives on Politics, Vol.4, No.1
...is a timely investigation of a very significant topic for labour and urban politics. Urban Studies Journal
The groundwork material is quite well done. ... the best discussion I have seen on this topic. The coverage of the economic and political factors present in the four cities is informative and clearly presented. ... Levin-Waldman offers a useful discussion of regime theory, an excellent analysis of the dynamics of living-wage policies, a helpful critique of recent urban development policies, and some interesting details regarding living-wage politics in four of our major cities. Perspectives on Politics
    
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