Laboring in the Shadows - by Bianca J Baldridge

About the Book

"Youth workers are essential to the fabric of society. Schools, families, and many of our social institutions rely heavily on their work, yet their contributions often go unrecognized. Laboring in the Shadows explores the critical role of Black youth workers, especially in the lives of vulnerable youth, and the challenges they face in their unstable, underappreciated position. Bianca J. Baldridge situates the experiences of Black youth workers within the broader context of anti-Blackness and historical inequities. Drawing on rich interview data from across the United States, Baldridge offers a nuanced analysis of how the precarity of this work--marked by high turnover rates, low wages, and housing insecurity--compounds the challenges these workers face. She highlights how Black youth workers resist these structural harms by adopting and implementing innovative pedagogical practices alongside practices of "freedom dreaming" and joy as forms of resistance and pathways to agency for youth despite their precarious roles. Positioning Black youth workers within a broader network of informal care workers in the United States, Baldridge underscores the significance, fragility, precarity, and power of these dedicated professionals, their essential work, and the possibilities they create for youth"--

Book Synopsis

Youth workers are essential to the fabric of society. Schools, families, and many of our social institutions rely heavily on their work, yet their contributions often go unrecognized. Laboring in the Shadows explores the critical role of Black youth workers, especially in the lives of vulnerable youth, and the challenges they face in their unstable, underappreciated position.

Bianca J. Baldridge situates the experiences of Black youth workers within the broader context of anti-Blackness and historical inequities. Drawing on rich interview data from across the United States, Baldridge offers a nuanced analysis of how the precarity of this work--marked by high turnover rates, low wages, and housing insecurity--compounds the challenges these workers face. She highlights how Black youth workers resist these structural harms by adopting and implementing innovative pedagogical practices alongside practices of "freedom dreaming" and joy as forms of resistance and pathways to agency for youth despite their precarious roles.

Positioning Black youth workers within a broader network of informal care workers in the United States, Baldridge underscores the significance, fragility, precarity, and power of these dedicated professionals, their essential work, and the possibilities they create for youth.

Review Quotes

"Bianca Baldridge's sensitive, riveting exposé of the exploitativeandessential character of Black youth work offers a fresh take on how neoliberal education continues to reproduce deep racial and class inequalities, and what we can do to change it.Hint: passion and sacrifice are not enough." --Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

"In this beautifully crafted portrait of how youth workers from marginalized backgrounds provide critical labor in nonprofits, Bianca Baldridge brings to life their voices and hopes. Nonprofit labor will never look the same after you have read this book." --Woody Powell, Stanford University

"Using rich, descriptive profiles, Bianca Baldridge highlights the unwavering commitment and the structural challenges that youth workers navigate--reminding us of their vital roles in sustaining community and nurturing hope for an anti-racist future." --Prudence L. Carter, Brown University

About the Author

Bianca J. Baldridge is Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University. She is the author of Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youthwork (Stanford, 2019)