Earl Lewis, Alford Young, Jr., Justin Shaffner and Julie Arbit are the authors of a chapter in the forthcoming book The Great Skills Gap: Optimizing Talent for the Future of Work, edited by Jason Wingard and Christine Farrugia. 

The CSS chapter "Back to the Future" will look at research from a longitudinal study of low income, working African-Americans in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a former “single-industry” city home to two automobile manufacturing plants throughout much of the mid- to late twentieth century. Specifically, the chapter discusses how these residents' “back to the future” approach to historical transformations makes them not just expendable but already obsolete for meeting the demands and requirements of the future world of work. The authors illuminate the normative frameworks and questions posed about this topic, especially around issues pertaining to race, class and gender, opening up new lines of inquiry for American higher education.

Current available for pre-order, the book is expected to be published on June 8, 2021 by Stanford Business Books.