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SAGE Journal User Guide

Article 1.

Dreier, P. (2014). The battle over the minimum wage, city by city. New Labor Forum, 23(3), 85-88. doi:10.1177/1095796014542615

This article describes the living wage movement and the recent efforts to demand increase in the minimum wage in cities and states across the U.S. 

Questions:

1. What factors are responsible for increased attention to the inadequacy of the minimum wage? 
2. What is the “living wage movement,” and what are its central accomplishments? 
3. How have economists responded to arguments that raising the minimum wage will force employers out of business? 

Article 2.

Williams, C. L. (2013). The glass escalator, revisited: Gender inequality in neoliberal times, SWS feminist lecturer. Gender & Society, 27(5), 609-629. doi:10.1177/0891243213490232

Building on her earlier work exploring gender inequality in employment, the author revises the original concept of the “glass escalator” through adopting intersectionality and exploring the effects of neoliberalism on the organization of work.    

Questions:

1. Explain the concept of a “glass escalator” with respect to gender and employment. 
2. What are the central critiques of this concept?
3. How does intersectionality respond to these critiques?  What examples from the text illustrate the benefits of an intersectional analysis of gender and work? 
4. How does the reorganization of work and the new economy affect new expressions of gender inequality?