ABSTRACT
In 1962 Gunnar Myrdal provided the first systematic discussion of the emergence of an underclass in the United States in his book, The Challenge to Affluence. Myrdal argued that the word "under-class" [sic] does not seem to be used in English, and that its absence from common usage is understandable because most Americans consider American society classless. The word seems to have been virtually invented by Myrdal, because there is no evidence of significant, prior scholarly usage, and in Swedish it is an obscure term which translates literally to lower class (Gans 1990a). 1
Myrdal used the term underclass to refer to an emergent group of per manently unemployed, unemployable, and underemployed. Ironically, Myrdal viewed the creation of the underclass as a consequence of economic develop ment. He argued that over the last few generations a process had been underway that, while it opened more opportunities to more people, it also closed opportun ities to some. Moreover, he argued that the process, "threatens to split off a true 'under-class' that is not really an integrated part of the nation but a useless and miserable substratum" (Myrdal 1962, p. 35).
