FIR Book Review: Intern Nation by Ross Perlin

Intern NationIntern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, by Ross Perlin, is reviewed by guest reviewer Kris Gallagher. From the book description:

“Every year, between one and two million Americans work as interns. They famously shuttle coffee in a thousand newsrooms, congressional offices, and Hollywood studios, but they also deliver aid in Afghanistan, build the human genome, and pick up garbage. They are increasingly of all ages, and their numbers are growing fast—from 17 percent of college graduates in 1992 to 50 percent in 2008. A huge and increasing number of internships are illegal under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and this mass exploitation saves firms more than $600 million each year. Interns enjoy no workplace protections and no standing in courts of law—let alone benefits like health care. Ross Perlin has written the first exposé of this world of drudgery and aspiration. In this witty, astonishing, and serious investigative work, Perlin takes the reader inside both boutique nonprofits and megacorporations such as Disney (which employs 8,000 interns at Disney World alone). He profiles fellow interns, talks to academics and professionals about what unleashed this phenomenon, and explains why the intern boom is perverting workplace practices in locations all around the world. “

Get this podcast:

Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy by Ross Perlin

Publisher: Verso
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published May 2011
ISBN-10: 1844676862
ISBN-13: 978-1844676866
(No Kindle version)

Purchase at Amazon US, Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK.

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This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 02/02 at 10:53 AM

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