The Moral Underground

How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy

The untold story of a silent movement for economic justice as featured on Marketplace, in the Boston Globe, and in the American Prospect

“A book you’re going to want.” —The Huffington Post

Called a “fascinating exploration of economic civil disobedience” by Publishers Weekly, Lisa Dodson’s stunning book The Moral Underground features stories of middle-class managers and professionals who refuse to be complicit in an economy that puts a decent life beyond the reach of the working poor. Whether it’s a nurse choosing to treat an uninsured child, a supervisor padding a paycheck, or a restaurant manager sneaking food to a worker’s children, these unsung heroes reach across the economic fault line to restore a sense of justice to the working world.

This vivid account of working-class America is based on Dodson’s eight years of research and conversations with hundreds of Americans about the need to create ethical alternatives to rules that ignore the humanity of working parents and put their children and risk.

Praise

“Lisa Dodson tracks a new civil disobedience [with] . . . fascinating . . .wrenching stories.”
The Boston Globe
“The documentary tradition at its very best.”
—Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Coles
“[A]n intriguing record of the economic crisis and how some are choosing to survive it.”
Booklist
“If only this book had been published in 2007. Then the hundreds of people interviewed by Lisa Dodson would have been able to pass along an mportant piece of advice: What’s good for business is not necessarily good for America.”
Time
“Important, encouraging reporting.”
Kirkus Reviews
“[A] fascinating, necessary book.”
Corduroy Books

Books by Lisa Dodson

Getting Me Cheap
How Low-Wage Work Traps Women and Girls in Poverty

Amanda Freeman, Lisa Dodson

Goodreads Reviews