Michael Yates

Three one-act plays by Michael Yates. A REAL CUSHY NUMBER: It's the night shift at a major hospital and the porters sip their hot tea and talk about life as they wait for a patient to die. ALL GOOD MEN: Party conference time - and the sudden death of the prime minister triggers a power struggle as young speech-writer Simon goes to war with ambitious minister Darius and sexy, ruthless power-broker Lady Bridgewater. LUVVIES: A failed playwright and a bit-part actress invite a young couple home for heavy drinking and ritual humiliation - but the tables could be turned! "Clever, well-written. The punchy, bitchy dialogue is great fun with an undercurrent of tragedy. It kept me hooked," said the Write Now Liverpool Drama Festival judge.

Short Shorts Volume 2

Three one-act plays by Michael Yates. LIFE SENTENCE: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned - especially when she has a meat cleaver in her hand! A dark comedy about the violent games lovers play. Winner of the Stanley Arnold Trophy at Sheffield One-Act Play Festival. TILL MY EYES BLEED: Loyal Mel hires the theatre to host a wake for his best friend Adrian. But it becomes apparent - to everyone except Mel - that Mel's wife had enjoyed a passionate affair with Adrian. Will Mel guess the truth before the end of the night? SUNDAY AFTERNOON AGAIN: Eight-year-old Lenny has two big worries: His mum and dad are always fighting, and there's a wicked witch living next door! A poignant play about growing up, chosen for Liverpool's Write Now One-Act Play Festival, and described by critic Laurence Raw as "sharply observed... vividly demonstrates how the past exerts a powerful influence over the present."

Short Shorts

Labor Fights Back

Wisconsin Uprising

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina exposed to the world what many U.S. politicians and pundits have long been able to ignore. The media images that commanded our attention spoke loudly of the class and racial divisions that still exist in the United States today. Despite the stock market gains of the 1990s, which increased the ranks of millionaires and created greater wealth for those already wealthy, U.S. society has witnessed a dramatic increase in class inequality over that last two decades. A host of newly available research indicates that the United States is afar more classbound society than was previously supposed. The rich are becoming both relatively and absolutely richer while the poor are becoming relatively, if not absolutely, poorer. More Unequal: Aspects of Class in the United States is a sobering examination of the dynamics of class relations today. John Bellamy Foster, William K. Tabb, David Roediger, Stephanie Luce, and Mark Brenner— among others—contribute essays that challenge many of our assumptions about class and provide a multilayered analysis. Topics include the impact of social and economic policy on class; wealth and prospects for the working poor; undocumented workers and their exploitation in the U.S. informal economy; race and class struggles post-Hurricane Katrina; women and class over the last forty years; and education reform and the devastating effects for public schooling. Editor, Michael D. Yates shares a personal story of his working-class life and values, the shaping of his political consciousness, and the people and ideas that inspired his teaching. For the vast majority of us, a strong work ethic and desire to see the next generation in better circumstances are no longer enough. The barriers separating classes are hardening. Class inequality manifests itself in wealth, income, and occupation, but also in education, consumption, and health. More Unequal: Aspects of Class in the United States demonstrates that an analysis of society as a whole—its relationships of power, conflict, and potential for social change— is not possible without a thorough investigation of the role and meaning of class.

Aspects of Class in the United States

More Unequal

Jeremy Brecher

The book effectively deals with the legacy of the Reagan-Bush era: unemployment, underemployment, and the diminishing legal rights of union organizers. It also criticizes intrinsic weaknesses of traditional union organizing and the scape-goating of women, immigrants, and minority workers for the problems confronting U.S. society today.

Michael Yates

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