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News and Announcements
From time to time the section receives information that may be of special interest to its members. We will post that information here for your convenience.
(To post information to the ASA-SREM website, please contact:Shirley A. Jackson at jacksons1@southernct.edu )
Research Assistance Needed
I am currently engaged in a study of financial services and neighborhood crime with my colleague Charis Kubrin and we're looking for some assistance. If you have access to, or know someone or some institution that has access to, tract-level index crime data (part I) for any or all cities (not metro areas) for 2006 and 2007, please let me know. We are not asking anyone to provide us the data at this point, just where we might be able to get them once we decide which cities we will focus on in our work. Gregory D. Squires Department of Sociology 801 22nd Street NW Phillips Hall, Room 409 George Washington University Washington DC 20052 Phone: 202-994-6894 Fax: 202-994-3239 squires@gwu.edu www.gwu.edu/~soc/faculty/squires.cfmInformation Literacy Standards for Sociology Students
by the ALA / ACRL / ANSS (Anthropology and Sociology Section) Instruction and Information Literacy Committee Task Force on IL Standards Introduction Information literacy related to specific disciplines involves defining an information need in the context of the discipline, finding and evaluating the kinds of data, materials, and information required to research a subject in that field, and using and synthesizing the information to accomplish assigned and creative tasks, add to knowledge, and participate in the discourse of that discipline. Similar to other social sciences in some respects, anthropology and sociology pose particular challenges for the researcher stemming from their unique attributes as scholarly disciplines. For example, when anthropology students write about people in other culture areas, they need to find and understand the context for ethnographies in addition to other kinds of writings. When sociology students research such topics as immigration or inequality, they need both theoretical works and social science data from appropriate sources, and they need skills to interpret the data. When students in either discipline do field research with human subjects, or when they examine the results of this kind of research, they need certain evaluative approaches to help them understand and accurately describe the context, ethics, and limitations of the end product. The ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards document http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/ acrlstandards/standards.pdf defines information literacy in higher education and presents broadly applicable indicators and student learning outcomes. The ANSS Information Literacy Standards for Anthropology and Sociology Students http://www.lib.utexas.edu/subject/ss/anssiil/background.html , although based on the ACRL document, has the perspective of the research processes, knowledge base, methodologies, and search tools used in anthropology (including its four fields of cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology, and archaeology) and sociology (including criminology and demography). The ANSS IL standards describe what students need to do in order to be effective researchers in these fields and the key behaviors for success that information literate students demonstrate.NEW PUBLICATION!
The Black Academic's Guide to Winning Tenure Without Losing Your Soul Kerry Ann Rockquemore and Tracey Laszloffy Lynne Rienner Publishers For an African American scholar, who may be the lone minority in a department, navigating the tenure minefield can be a particularly harrowing process. Kerry Ann Rockquemore and Tracey Laszloffy go beyond standard professional resources to serve up practical advice for black faculty intent on playing—and winning—the tenure game. Addressing head-on how power and the thorny politics of race converge in the academy, The Black Academic's Guide is full of invaluable tips and hard-earned wisdom. It is an essential handbook that will help black faculty survive and thrive in academia without losing their voices, or their integrity. "This book should be required reading in the professional development courses offered by most graduate programs. It deftly addresses the subtle abuses of power and the always challenging-to-address racial politics that pervade all aspects of society, including academia."—Romney Norwood, Georgia State University “A critical resource for black junior faculty who are attempting to negotiate the politics of promotion and tenure at their institutions. Both sensible and effective."—Rainier Spencer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas “Provides valuable information and practical tips.... This book outlines concrete steps any junior faculty member can and should take to help them win tenure—but it is especially valuable for faculty of color."—Krista Johnson, Agnes Scott CollegeNEW PUBLICATION!
The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism Rosalind Chou and Joe Feagin Rowman & Littlefield Publishers http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=186966 In this pathbreaking book sociologists Rosalind Chou and Joe Feagin examine, for the first time in depth, racial stereotyping and discrimination daily faced by Asian Americans long viewed by whites as the "model minority." Drawing on more than 40 field interviews across the country, they examine the everyday lives of Asian Americans in numerous different national origin groups. Their data contrast sharply with white-honed, especially media, depictions of racially untroubled Asian American success. Many hypocritical whites make sure that Asian Americans know their racially inferior "place" in U.S. society so that Asian people live lives constantly oppressed and stressed by white racism. The authors explore numerous instances of white-imposed discrimination faced by Asian Americans in a variety of settings, from elementary schools to college settings, to employment, to restaurants and other public accommodations. The responses of Asian Americans to the U.S. racial hierarchy and its rationalizing racist framing are traced—with some Asian Americans choosing to conform aggressively to whiteness and others choosing to resist actively the imposition of the U.S. brand of anti-Asian oppression. This book destroys any naïve notion that Asian Americans are universally "favored" by whites and have an easy time adapting to life in this still racist society. "The authors show how the 'model minority' is a myth, too inaccurate to be useful. They reveal how it reflects invidious assumptions and is abused for political purposes. Anyone who cares about Asian Americans—indeed, who is interested in the dynamics of diversity—should be interested in this detailed critique. Very highly recommended." —Frank H. Wu, author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White "Through a compelling analysis of white racism experienced by Asian Americans in their everyday lives, Chou and Feagin offer a powerful examination of the psychological and emotional burdens imposed by racism in contemporary society." —Leland T. Saito, University of Southern California "Most Americans believe Asian Americans are content, do not suffer from discrimination, and are all in the path to whiteness. Bravo to the authors for bringing to the fore the racial oppression endured by Asian Americans!" —Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke University "This book captures how individual Asian Americans encounter racial hostility and discrimination in a variety of social and institutional spaces, and the distinct ways they strategically respond to such treatment. Some respondents resign themselves to situations while others challenge and actively resist stereotyping, inequitable treatment, and harassment. But as Chou and Feagin convincingly argue, all are both blessed and cursed with the 'double consciousness' shaped by a pervasive 'white racial frame.'" —Michael Omi, University of California–Berkeley "As an often invisible and silent minority, Asian Americans can at last find voice in this brilliant book that recognizes the reality of their experience. The courage, nobility, and honesty of the authors will assist all involved in the struggle for equity and inclusion." —Edna B. Chun, Broward Community CollegeNEW PUBLICATION!
Non-Married Women and Asset Ownership: The Effects of Marital Status and Social Class on Wealth Accumulation Lori Latrice Sykes Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Description Using census based data, this study examines whether or not differences in asset ownership for non-married women can be explained by race alone or whether other social and demographic variables help explain observed differences. Reviews “. . . the [work] is both explanatory and predictive in examining the determinant of not only asset ownership but the levels of assets, in particular, the levels of the key components of the average American’s portfolio.” – Dr. Hayward Derrick Horton, Professor of Sociology, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany “This study not only brings the issue of racialized gender economic inequality into focus but also highlights many areas for future fruitful research.” – Dr. C. Jama Adams, John Jay College of Criminal Justice “The book has important methodological, theoretical, and social policy implications.” - Dr. David I. Rudder, Adjunct Faculty in M.S. in Strategic Leadership Program, Neumann College Table of Contents Foreword by Hayward Derrick Horton Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Ain’t No Making It: Socioeconomic Status and Wealth in Historical Perspective 2 Trends in Net Worth and Wealth Composition 3 Explaining Difference 4 Perspectives on Wealth Inequality 5 A Home of Her Own 6 Living Single and In Business for Themselves 7 The Great Divide: Savings, Stocks, and Real Estate 8 Non-Married Female Baby Boomers and Asset Ownership 9 Conclusion Bibliography Appendix: Notes on Data and Methods Index ISBN10: 0-7734-5371-7 ISBN13: 978-0-7734-5371-5 Pages: 156 Year: 2008NEW PUBLICATION!
Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons, and the Racial Enclave Economy Adia Harvey Wingfield Rowman & Littlefield Publishers The book argues that studies of entrepreneurship generalize from the experiences of immigrant men and thus overlook the ways racism and sexism are systemic, intersecting processes that create different entrepreneurial experiences for racial minority women. Given this, Harvey Wingfield argues that Black women's entrepreneurial ventures can best be described as "racial enclave economies" that are fundamentally shaped by the systemic gendered racism these women encounter in numerous settings. Focusing on Black women hair salon owners, "Doing Business with Beauty" considers how systemic gendered racism influences Black women's motivations for becoming entrepreneurs, business decisions, and interactions with customers and stylists.NEW PUBLICATION!
Race Relations: A Critique Stephen Steinberg Stanford University Press Stephen Steinberg offers a bold challenge to prevailing thought on race and ethnicity in American society. In a penetrating critique of the famed race relations paradigm, he asks why a paradigm invented four decades before the Civil Rights Revolution still dominates academic and popular discourses four decades after that revolution. On race, Steinberg argues that even the language of "race relations" obscures the structural basis of racial hierarchy and inequality. Generations of sociologists have unwittingly practiced a "white sociology" that reflects white interests and viewpoints. What happens, he asks, when we foreground the interests and viewpoints of the victims, rather than the perpetrators, of racial oppression? On ethnicity, Steinberg turns the tables and shows that the early sociologists who predicted ultimate assimilation have been vindicated by history. The evidence is overwhelming that the new immigrants, including Asians and most Latinos, are following the footsteps of past immigrants into the melting pot. But even today, there is the black exception. The end result is a dual melting pot-one for peoples of African descent and the other for everybody else. Race Relations: A Critique reveals unsettling truths that call into question the nature and the future of American nationality. "Biting, lucid, wise, and humane: this is a premier scholar's manifesto. With more twists and conceptual reversals than a double helix, Stephen Steinberg puts paid to the stale tales of 'race relations' dogma." -Eric Lott, author of The Disappearing Liberal Intellectual "A compelling critique of the development of the sociology of race. The book makes clear that we still have much to learn, not only about the structural foundations of racism, but also about how careerism can subtly twist our perspectives so that we fail to rise to the intellectual and moral challenges of the sociological project. Steinberg has done us a great service." -Frances Fox Piven, President, American Sociological Association, author of Why Americans Still Don't Vote, And Politicians Like It That Way "Stephen Steinberg, a racism truth-teller par excellence, explores in vivid writing that shocks as it enlightens, the evolution of the term Race Relations. Crafted a century ago by sociologists, it uses false objectivity to obscure the continuing reality of racial oppression in America." -Derrick Bell, Visiting Professor, NYU School of Law, author of Faces at the Bottom of the Well, and Ethical Ambition Learn more... http://www.sup.org/cgi-bin/book.cgi?book_id=5326%205327&promo=Steinberg Cloth ISBN: 08047-5326-1 $45.00 Paperback ISBN: 08047-5327-X $17.95NEW PUBLICATION!
Blue-Chip Black Karyn Lacy The term *black middle class* conjures up a monolithic image of blacks whose everyday lives do not differ significantly from that of their working class or poor black neighbors as they struggle to make ends meet, to negotiate crime-ridden neighborhoods, to cope with grossly underperforming schools and poor municipal services. We have an exceedingly narrow perception of what it means to be black and middle class in America, but as Karyn Lacy*s innovative work in the suburbs of Washington, DC reveals, there is actually a continuum of middle-classness among blacks, ranging from lower-middle class to middle-middle class to upper-middle class. Focusing exclusively on the latter two groups, Lacy explores an increasingly important social and demographic phenomenon: middle-class blacks who live in distinctly middle-class suburbs where lower class blacks are not present. These *blue-chip black* suburbanites earn well over $50,000 annually and work in predominantly white professional environments. Some have never had to endure economic hardship. Peering into their lives reveals a world largely unknown * to either social scientists or the average person. Blue-Chip Black shows that although some middle class blacks enjoy lifestyles that closely resemble their white counterparts, there is one crucial distinction: middle-class whites fit the public image of the middle class and may therefore take their middle-class status for granted, but similarly situated blacks believe that they must work harder and more deliberately and consistently to make their status known to others. Using ethnographic observation and interviews with black couples and families living in the Washington, DC suburbs, Lacy examines the complicated sense of identity these groups craft to manage interactions with lower-class blacks, middle-class whites, and other middle-class blacks as they seek to reap the benefits of their middle-class status. The result is a clear, insightful, and innovative addition to urban ethnography and cultural sociology, as well as a singular contribution to the ongoing debate about black identity. Karyn Lacy is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan.Announcing the Publication of the Agenda for Social Justice, Solutions 2008 The SSSP is pleased to offer you the Agenda for Social Justice, Solutions 2008, which represents an effort by our professional association to nourish a more "public sociology" that will be easily accessible and useful to policy makers. It is also a way to give something back to the people and institutions that support our scholarly endeavors. We hope that you find it helpful in your challenging work of crafting successful solutions to contemporary social problems. In all, it contains 11 pieces by SSSP members, covering a variety of social problems in three sections: global issues, Americans at risk, and health & welfare. This is an effort on the part of scholars at the Society for the Study of Social Problems to disseminate the findings in social problems research as freely and as widely as possible. The web page for the project is located here: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/323. On that page, you can download the full version, and you can link directly to the one-page briefs and individual chapters. The chapters are available for free download, and may be suitable as cost-effective supplementary readings in many social problems-related courses.
NEW PUBLICATION!
Immigrants and Modern Racism: Reproducing Inequality Beth Frankel Merenstein Lynne Rienner Publishers With rising numbers of immigrants of color in the United States, sheer demographic change has long promised—falsely, it now seems—to solve the "race problem." Directly connecting the issues of race relations and immigrant incorporation, Beth Merenstein sheds light on what the changing contours of the US's racial and ethnic makeup mean for our dearly held concept of "equal opportunity for all."NEW PUBLICATION!
Deliverance and Submission: Evangelical Women and the Negotiation of Patriarchy in South Korea Kelly Chong Harvard University Press South Korea is home to some of the largest evangelical Protestant congregations in the world. This book investigates the meaning of—and the reasons behind—a particular aspect of contemporary South Korean evangelicalism: the intense involvement of middle-class women. Drawing upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Seoul that explores the relevance of women’s experiences to Korean evangelicalism, Kelly H. Chong not only helps provide a broader picture of the evangelical movement’s success in South Korea, but addresses the global question of contemporary women’s attraction to religious traditionalism. In highlighting the growing contradictions ¬between the forces of social transformation that are rapidly liberalizing modern Korean society, and a social system that continues to uphold patriarchal structures and relations on both the societal and familial levels, Chong captures the missing dimension of gender in her analysis of Korean evangelicalism. By focusing on the spiritual and institutional dynamics of women’s religious participation, this study reveals how such religious practices serve as crucial channels through which women can navigate, negotiate, and even resist the restrictions and ambiguities of contemporary Korean family and gender relations.NEW PUBLICATION!
Imperial Citizens: Koreans and Race from Seoul to LA Nadia Y. Kim Stanford University Press Asians and Latinos comprise the vast majority of contemporary immigrants to the United States, and their growing presence has complicated America's prevailing White-Black race hierarchy. Imperial Citizens uses a global framework to investigate how Asians from U.S.-dominated homelands learn and understand their place along U.S. color lines. With interviews and ethnographic observations of Koreans, the book does what others rarely do: venture to the immigrants' home country and analyze racism there in relation to racial hierarchies in the United States. Attentive to history, the book considers the origins, nature, and extent of racial ideas about Koreans/Asians in relation to White and Black Americans, investigating how immigrants engage these ideas before they depart for the United States, as well as after they arrive. The author shows that contemporary globalization involves not just the flow of capital, but also culture. Ideas about American color lines and citizenship lines have crossed oceans alongside U.S. commodities. Editorial Reviews "Nadia Kim writes cogently and compellingly about Korean and Korean American attitudes, beliefs, and concerns about race, gender, and much more. In providing a transnational and historical perspective, Imperial Citizens is a model of enlightened and engaged scholarship." —John Lie, University of California, Berkeley "In a compelling analysis of the varied ways that racial categories and racial meanings are formed in both South Korea and the United States, Nadia Kim expands ourunderstanding of how race "travels." She demonstrates the global, hegemonic reach of U.S. racial ideology and captures the ways Korean American immigrants position themselves in distinctive racial contexts. Attentive to class, gender, and generational differences, Kim shows us how Korean Americans come to learn, and to resist, dominant patterns of racialization." —Michael Omi, University of California, Berkeley "A masterful demonstration of the globalization of white racism! Nadia Kim's interviews with Korean immigrants and their children reveal integral links between U.S. global hegemony and immigration. This book depicts the human tragedy of Korean American hyper-conformity in a nation that perpetuates white supremacy: preference for white beauty leading to plastic surgery; women preferring white men who exoticize or abuse them; and Korean internalization of white-racist attitudes toward Americans of color." —Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M UniversityNEW PUBLICATION!
Living Through the Hoop: High School Basketball, Race, and the American Dream Reuben A. Buford May NYU Press "A powerful and sober analysis of the lives of poor young people and coaches who sustain themselves with meaningful relationships and impossible dreams. May is an outstanding participant observer and interviewer who takes his reader into a social world, unpacks its meaning, and shows off the power of a vivid sociological imagination." --Mitchell Duneier, author of Sidewalk and Slims Table "Moving and memorable, Living Through the Hoop offers an unflinching account of black male ballplayers lives. Immersing himself in the lives of players on a high school basketball team, leading ethnographer May eloquently describes the impact of their hoop dreams. May's profound analysis shows basketball playing can often lead to success in not so flamboyant ways, as young men learn to avoid lures of mean streets, develop teamwork and fairness values, and counter omnipresent barriers of a racist society." --Joe R. Feagin, author of Systemic Racism When high school basketball player LeBron James was selected as the top pick in the National Basketball Association draft of 2003, the hopes of a half-million high school basketball players soared. If LeBron could go straight from high school to the NBA, why couldnt they? Such is the allure of basketball for so many young African American men. Unfortunately, the reality is that their chances of ever playing basketball at the professional, or even college, level are infinitesimal. In Living Through the Hoop, Reuben A. Buford May tells the absorbing story of the hopes and struggles of one high school basketball team. With a clear passion for the game, May grabs readers with both hands and pulls them onto the hardwood, going under the hoop and inside the locker room. May spent seven seasons as an assistant coach of the Northeast High School Knights in Northeast, Georgia. We meet players like Larique and Pooty Cat, hard-working and energetic young men, willing to play and practice basketball seven days a week and banking on the unlimited promise of the game. And we meet Coach Benson, their unorthodox, out-spoken, and fierce leader, who regularly coached them to winning seasons, twice going to the state tournaments Elite Eight championships. Beyond the wins and losses, May provides a portrait of the players hopes and aspirations, their home lives, and the difficulties they face in living in a poor and urban area -- namely, the temptations of drugs and alcohol, violence in their communities, run-ins with the police, and unstable family lives. We learn what it means to become a man when you live in places that define manhood by how tough you can be, how many women you can have, and how much money you can hustle. May shows the powerful role that the basketball team can play in keeping these kids straight, away from street-life, focused on completing high school, and possibly even attending college. Their stories, and the double-edged sword of hoop dreams, is at the heart of this compelling story about young African American mens struggle to find their way in an often grim world.NEW PUBLICATION!
So Much Reform, So Little Change:The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools Charles M. Payne Harvard Education Publishing Group http://www.hepg.org/hep/book/82 This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today’s urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods. Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools. Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as “guardedly optimistic.” He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale. Drawing on a striking array of sources—from the recent history of various urban school systems, to the growing sophistication of education research, to his own experience as a teacher, scholar, and participant in reform efforts—Payne paints a vivid and unmistakably realistic portrait of urban schools and reforms of the past few decades. So Much Reform, So Little Change will be required reading for everyone interested in the plight—and the future—of urban schools. Advance Praise: “A brilliant, thoughtful, and provocative analysis. Charles Payne shows why almost thirty years of school reform has brought so little change to urban public schools. Rooted in the reality of the Chicago Public Schools, Payne’s book contains lessons that are relevant to schools everywhere.” —Pedro Noguera, New York University “Charles Payne’s book is likely to anger teachers and administrators, conservatives and liberals, school reformers and the foundations that fund them. All will see themselves depicted as naïve about what it takes to improve urban schools. Many will see themselves depicted as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. At the same time no reader who has spent much time in urban schools will deny the accuracy of Payne’s insights—for example, about why improving high schools has proved so much more difficult than improving elementary schools, why more resources alone won’t produce successful urban schools, and why the choice of a particular whole school reform program is not the critical decision. While his analysis is deeply sobering, Payne shows that improvement in urban schools is possible—and indeed that significant improvements have already taken place.” —Richard J. Murnane, Harvard Graduate School of Education “This is a wonderful book, absolutely essential reading for educators, policymakers, and community and civic leaders who are committed to creating schools that promote high achievement for Black and Latino students. Payne helps us understand the challenges and possibilities for the transformation of urban schools. This is a smart book—one that should change our conversation about the reform of urban schools.” —Theresa Perry, Simmons CollegeNEW PUBLICATION!
Teach Freedom: Education for Liberation in the African-American Tradition Charles M. Payne and Carol Strickland, editors,(Teachers College Press) http://store.tcpress.com/0807748722.shtml “One of the basic lessons of the southern civil rights movement is that you cannot predict what spark will light a fire.” —From the Foreword by Charles E. Cobb Jr., senior writer and diplomatic correspondent for allAfrica.com “One of the guiding principles has to be that we cannot lead a struggle that involves masses of people without identifying with the people and without getting people to understand what their potentials are, what their strengths are.” —Ella Baker, Advisor, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee The self-conscious use of education as an instrument of liberation among African Americans is exactly as old as education among African Americans. This dynamic anthology is about those forms of education intended to help people think more critically about the social forces shaping their lives and think more confidently about their ability to react against those forces. Featuring articles by educator-activists, this collection explores the largely forgotten history of attempts by African Americans to use education as a tool of collective liberation. Together these articles explore the variety of forms those attempts have taken, from the shadow of slavery to the contradictions of hip-hop. Contributors address “Lessons from the Past” and discuss Citizenship Schools in the south, Ella Baker and the Harlem Y, Mississippi Freedom Schools, and Black Panther Liberation Schools. Contemporary models are covered as well, demonstrating the depth and tenacity of the tradition in such efforts as the Freedom Schools established by the Children’s Defense Fund. Contributors: Chris Myers Asch • William Ayers • Charles E. Cobb Jr. • Sekou M. Franklin • Jonathan Gayles • Hollyce C. Giles • Deanna M. Gillespie • Steven Hahn • Michael G. Hayes • Charles E. Jones • Carol D. Lee • David Levine • Ernest Morrell • Robert C. Morris • Daniel Perlstein • Randolph G. Potts • Fannie Theresa Rushing • Gale Seiler • Susan Wilcox. Charles M. Payne is the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. His books include the award-winning I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle. Carol Sills Strickland has served as associate editor for the journal New Schools, New Communities, and on the editorial boards of the Harvard Educational Review and Afterschool Matters.NEW PUBLICATION!
They Always Said I Would Marry a White Girl": Coming to Grips with Race in America Robert M. Moore, III Hamilton Books Discounted Price: $19.51 (15% off) List Price: $22.95 Paper 0-7618-3727-2 / 978-0-7618-3727-5 Apr 2007 136pp Robert Moore, whose African American identity today may be questioned by some because of his very light skin color, grew up in an all-white suburb of Philadelphia in the 1960s when the push to assimilate was blatant. An examination of the life experiences of people sometimes felt to be at the perimeter, serves to point out that the racial categories of White and Black in America remain strong and impenetrable. The book spans nearly fifty years beginning in the author's youth to a contemporary period when he is a sociology teacher in a university classroom.NEW PUBLICATION!
God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape Peggy Levitt The New Press, 2007 Immigration is the big story of the 21st Century, with more arrivals on America’s shores now than at any time since Ellis Island was in full swing. Immigrants and their U.S. born children make up a quarter of the U.S. population. But much of the rhetoric surrounding immigration is based on outdated views of what immigrants come here seeking and of what nationality means in a globalized world. With cheap international travel, the Internet, international banking, and other forms of communication and commerce, immigrants now keep one foot in their countries of origin. According to Peggy Levitt’s God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape this is significant, though for reasons that neither liberals nor conservatives understand. Levitt argues that anyone who truly wants to understand immigration must first understand the impact of religion. Like economics and politics, she argues, American religion is being globalized through immigration, creating a more pluralistic and cosmopolitan American society at home, and at the same time replenishing and exporting the country’s core values of family, community, and hard work. We used to believe that immigrants came to America to “become American”, or at least to become hyphenated Americans.~ This is no longer the case.~ America is increasingly becoming home to millions of people whose values are made around the world, and who are making the U.S. a place of astonishing religious and cultural diversity – a truly cosmopolitan nation.~ It is no longer meaningful to talk about “us against them”, “English-only”, or to view America as~a Judeo-Christian nation.~ The ground has shifted beneath our feet, and God Needs No Passport is the first book to bring the new landscape into view. "Peggy Levitt puts a human face on the globalization of religion. This remarkable book goes beyond political rhetoric and stereotypes about immigration and religious diversity to uncover the fascinating realities of faith that crosses borders. A wise and indispensable guide to understanding twenty-first-century American society." Mary Waters, Harvard University "A significant contribution to our understanding of the connections between American religion and immigration. This engaging books will be of great value to scholars interested in the ways in which American culture is being reshaped by globalization." Robert Wuthnow, Princeton UniversityCongratulations!
Congratulations goes out to Joseph O. Jewell who has been appointed interim director of Texas A&M University's Race & Ethnic Studies Institute. For more on the Institute (which include a broad race/ethnicity focus), please visit http://resi.tamu.eduNEW PUBLICATION!
Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-Generation South Asian Americans Traverse a Transnational World Bandana Purkayastha is Associate Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. Focusing upon second-generation South Asian Americans, the children of highly educated post-1965 immigrants, her book offers fresh insights into the experience of race, ethnicity, and social class in an increaingly diverse America.NEW PUBLICATION!
Making Sense of Race, Class, and Gender: Commonsense, Power, and Privilege in the United States by Celine-Marie Pascale, American University Routledge 2007 Making Sense of Race, Class, and Gender focuses on how these categories are culturally produced as matters of “commonsense.” Using arresting case studies of how ordinary people understand the concepts of race, class, and gender, Celine-Marie Pascale shows that the peculiarity of commonsense is that it imposes obviousness—that which we cannot fail to recognize. What sets commonsense knowledge apart from other forms of knowledge is its extraordinary ability to eclipse competing accounts of reality. As a result, how we negotiate the challenges of inequality in the 21st century may depend less on what people consciously think about “difference” and more on what we inadvertently assume. As well, Pascale demonstrates the productive force of language. By drawing from ethnomethodological and poststructural sensibilities to analyze local practices within the context of established cultural discourses, she shows how the weight of history bears upon the present moment, both enabling and constraining possibilities. Pascale develops a sociological analysis of language and representation that pushes the formal boundary between social theory and empirical analyses as she brings new insights into the (re)production of culture, knowledge and power. By exploring the assumptions of commonsense knowledge, the book offers new avenues for conceptualizing social change.NEW PUBLICATION!
Race, Social Reform, and the Making of a Middle Class: The American Missionary Association and Black Atlanta, 1870-1900 with Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. The work examines links between race and class identity in late nineteenth century reform. The link to the publisher's website is: http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/Singlebook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0742535460NEW PUBLICATION!
Emotional Bridges to Puerto Rico: Migration, Return Migration, and the Struggles of Incorporation, www.rowmanlittlefield.com/ISBN/0742543242 By Elizabeth Aranda Emotional Bridges to Puerto Rico examines the experiences of incorporation among two groups of middle-class Puerto Ricans: one that currently lives in the U.S. mainland and one that has resettled in Puerto Rico. The analysis focuses on their subjective interpretations of incorporation and the conditions under which they decide to move back and forth between the mainland and island. Findings reveal that migration to the mainland results in educational, occupational and economic gains in the U.S., which also help return migrants re-enter Island labor markets. U.S. settlement brings its own set of struggles. Puerto Ricans see themselves as members of transnational families, yet the struggles of leading dual lives result in settlement decisions that reflect desires to live locally with roots in one place instead of feeling split between the two. Experiences with U.S. racism complicate these decisions, given Puerto Ricans' struggles with racial identity and exclusion in spite of their economic, occupational, and residential integration into mainland society. This study illustrates the conditions under which various patterns of attachments to place-or emotional anchoring-develop, and how these feelings impact future Puerto Rican settlement.NEW PUBLICATION!
Privileged Places:Race, Residence, and the Structure of Opportunity Gregory D. Squires and Charis E. Kubrin “What is most compelling about this book is [the] emphasis on howing how real policies have worked to benefit neighborhoods and how other policies could work as well.... It should be read by everyone in hopes that somehow the political will to ‘sever the linkages among place, race, and privilege’ can be found.” —Nancy Denton, Coauthor of American Apartheid “Privileged Places blends clear theory, powerful analysis, and bold policy prescription to provide an eye-opening portrait of how race and class are written onto our cities and how, in turn, those places perpetuate race and class inequalities.” —Mary Pattillo, Author of Black Picket Fences “For those who believe race no longer matters, this is a must read.” —James Austin, Coauthor of It’s About Time In the United States today, quality of life depends heavily on where one lives—but high levels of racial segregation in residential communities make it frustratingly difficult to disentangle the effects of place from those of race. Gregory Squires and Charis Kubrin tackle these issues head-on, exploring how inequities resulting from the intersection of race and place, coupled with the effects of public policy, permeate and shape structures of opportunity in the United States. Gregory D. Squires is professor of sociology at George Washington University. His publications include Color and Money: Politics and Prospects for the Community/ Reinvestment Movement in Urban America and Capital and Communities in Black/ and White: The Intersections of Race, Class, and Uneven Development. Charis E. Kubrin is associate professor of sociology at George Washington University. She is coeditor of /Crime and Society /(2nd edition) and has published numerous articles on race and crime. By telephone or fax: Titles may be ordered directly with a credit card (Visa or MasterCard) by telephone 303-444-6684; or fax 303-444-0824. Please mention code NBA when ordering.SEEKING CONTRIBUTORS TO RACE AND ETHNICITY ENCYCLOP0EDIA
Sage Publications is publishing a three-volume encyclopedia entitled Race, Ethnicity and Society. The reference book’s General Editor Rick Schaefer is seeking enquiries from sociologists and other social scientists who would like to prepare entries for this comprehensive work. The entries, which number several hundred, will generally be 1,000 to 2,000 words in length and covers a vast range of topics such as: --groups ranging from Afghan Americans to Zuni --topics covered from a perspective or race and ethnicity such as Glass Ceiling, Mental Illness, Head Start, military --Organizations such Congress of Racial Equality and Japanese American Citizens League --Topics and terms such as authoritarian personality or race card or cultural relativism or kosher or refugees --individuals historical and contemporary such as Dolores Huerta, Vine Deloria Jr., and Franklin Frazier --race and ethnicity in other countries/region such as Brazil or Caribbean or Ireland --historical events and legislation such as Chinese Exclusions Act and Grutter v. Bollinger Contributors who do at least three entries receive complimentary copies of the full three-volume set. Please send your areas of interest and/or C.V. to the General Editor Rick Schaefer at rschaefe@depaul.edu [note address is “rschaefe”). All queries will receive a quick response.NEW PUBLICATION!
The Trouble Between Us: An Uneasy History of White and Black Women in the Feminist Movement (Oxford University Press, Wini Breines, Department of Sociology, Northeastern University Inspired by the idealism of the civil rights movement, the women who launched the radical second wave of the feminist movement believed, as a bedrock principle, in universal sisterhood and color-blind democracy. Their hopes, however, were soon dashed. To this day, the failure to create an integrated movement remains a sensitive and contested issue. In The Trouble Between Us, Winifred Breines explores why a racially integrated women's liberation movement did not develop in the United States. Drawing on flyers, letters, newspapers, journals, archival records, and oral histories, Breines dissects how white and black women's participation in the movements of the 1960s led to the development of separate feminisms. Herself a participant in these events, Breines attempts to reconcile the explicit professions of anti-racism by white feminists with the accusations of mistreatment, ignorance, and neglect by African American feminists. Many radical white women, unable to see beyond their own experiences and idealism, often behaved in unconsciously or abstractly racist ways, despite their passionately anti-racist stance and hard work to develop an interracial movement. As Breines argues, however, white feminists' racism is not the only reason for the absence of an interracial feminist movement. Segregation, black women's interest in the Black Power movement, class differences, and the development of identity politics with an emphasis on "difference" were all powerful factors that divided white and black women. By the late 1970s and early 1980s white feminists began to understand black feminism's call to include race and class in gender analyses, and black feminists began to give white feminists some credit for their political work. Despite early setbacks, white and black radical feminists eventually developed cross-racial feminist political projects. Their struggle to bridge the racial divide provides a model for all Americans in a multiracial society. Discusses still controversial issue in the feminist movement. Evenly balances discussion of black women and white women's experiences. Blurbs:"No one has written more searchingly or comprehendingly of the painful rifts, the painstaking junctures, the easy blindnesses and difficult illuminations composing the 'failed community' of black and white women activists from the 1960s to the 1980s than Wini Breines. Her local study reveals this checkered history to be far more complex than national generalizations suggest."--Nancy Cott, author of The Grounding of Modern Feminism "The women's liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, the largest and most influential movement in U.S. history, was born from the civil rights movement. Despite these origins, black feminists often felt disrespected and excluded by white feminists and established independent black feminist organizations. This racial alienation weakened the movement and continues to this day, but has rarely been explored by scholars. Sociologist Wini Breines bravely opens this topic to examination, a painful but necessary discussion in which all feminists and antiracists should participate."--Linda Gordon, New York University "Sure to be controversial, especially her analysis of the origins and impact of black feminism, Wini Breines' The Trouble Between Us is an important discussion of radical second wave feminism among both African American and white activists and the complicated relations among them. It raises compelling questions about the possibility or impossibility of building an inclusive feminist movement, even among women committed to radical social change, because of the politics of race and class. Breines' study is a must read for scholars attempting to rewrite the history of the women's liberation movement in the United States."-- Beverly Guy Sheftall, co-author of Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities "The Trouble Between Us makes a significant contribution to understanding the central role race has played in the history of U. S. feminism. Breines also offers useful insights for those who continue to work to challenge racial, gender, and economic injustice across the divides of difference."--Barbara Smith, author of The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom
Academic Freedom! Scholars At Risk Network Are you interested in promoting the academic freedom of scholars worldwide? Are you interested in defending the human rights of scholars worldwide? Scholars at Risk Network, housed at the Human Rights Program at The University of Chicago, provides important information on helping our colleagues around the world who are at risk. The program arranges temporary positions for scholars who are displaced and persecuted in their home countries. SAR helps to provide positions for these scholars at participating SAR institutions. For more information, go to the Scholars at Risk website: http://www.scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu.