Constructing an Ethical Narrative

Abstract

This chapter presents an ethical narrative of upward mobility that is more honest about the true nature of the ethical costs of moving up and the responsibility borne for those costs. It discusses how to craft an honest, alternative narrative of upward mobility. The chapter provides not answers, but rather a framework that can help strivers confront the questions they will face in a reflective way. It also situates ethical costs in the proper socioeconomic context in a way that recognizes the extent to which they disproportionately burden strivers. The chapter navigates the competing pressures on a person's identity that upward mobility creates.