Externality equates with marginalization, in that institute and sociocultural divisions in Millennials question the strategic role of social capital within the institutional constructs of class, race, and cultural identity. Gest clarifies that human capital creates agents who become more productive through their acquisition of knowledge, cultural interaction, and increased skills. However, in East London and Youngstown, the death of the industrialization was and is also the death of social capital and advancement of the current generation. The abandonment of industry equates to the decimation of education, class and ethno-racial opportunities in both East London and Youngstown. In addition, Gest also finds the lack of and/or no occupational identity equates to lower class ethno-racial identity in both locations. …show more content…
Gest’s candid discussion about his time in East London and Youngstown was a once in a lifetime experience. The opportunity to speak to the author about his text intrigued and solidified my thought process on how working class individuals have been represented and forgotten. The insight he provided, as to how and why sociocultural and institutional division politics interact within identity politics, was an eye-opening experience. Dr. Gest informed us that, “Many white working class individuals — vote with their cultural interests. This brings to question, why aren’t you voting for your interests? Champagne socialists want working-class folks to vote within their cultural interest and bourgeoisie concepts. “These comments support that social capital is a very real sociocultural