This engaging reader consists of 57 edited articles organized according to seven unifying themes. Part I establishes the importance of examining race as a contemporary social issue. Part II introduces the analytical frameworks that are now being used to think about race in society. Part III examines the most immediately experienced dimensions of race: beliefs and ideology. Part IV examines racial identity and interracial relationships, topics that are especially interesting to students. Part V analyzes the importance of the political economy of race, showing how the economic exploitation of racial groups is buttressed by political arrangements in the state. In particular, the racial division of labor is supported by concepts of citizenship that deny full rights of citizenship to certain groups. Part VI details the consequences of race and racism as manifested in different social institutions, including work, family, health, housing, education, and social justice. Part VII focuses on social movements and social change. Each section includes articles examining the outcomes within social institutions that stem from the reality of racial inequality in society.
Author Biography:
Elizabeth Higginbotham (B.A., City College of the City University of New York; M.A., Ph.D., Brandeis University) is Professor of Sociology, Black American Studies, and Women's Studies at the University of Delaware. She is the author of TOO MUCH TO ASK: BLACK WOMEN IN THE ERA OF INTEGRATION (University of North Carolina Press, 2001) and co-editor of WOMEN AND WORK: EXPLORING RACE, ETHNICITY, AND CLASS (Sage Publications, 1997; with Mary Romero). She has also authored many articles in journals and anthologies on the work experiences of African American women, women in higher education, and curriculum transformation. While teaching at the University of Memphis, she received the Superior Performance in University Research Award for two consecutive years. Along with colleagues Bonnie Thornton Dill and Lynn Weber, she is a recipient of the American Sociological Association Jessie Bernard Award and Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award for the work of the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis. She also received the Robin M. Williams Jr. Award from the Eastern Sociological Society, given annually to one distinguished sociologist. She served a term as Vice President of the Eastern Sociological Society and has held many elected leadership positions in the American Sociological Association. Margaret L. Andersen (B.A., Georgia State University; M.A., Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst) is the Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Sociology at the University of Delaware, where she has also served in several senior administrative positions, including most recently as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity. She holds secondary appointments in Black American Studies and Women and Gender Studies. She is the author of several books, including (among others) THINKING ABOUT WOMEN, recently published in its tenth edition; the best-selling anthology, RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER (co-edited with Patricia Hill Collins, now in its ninth edition); LIVING ART: THE LIFE OF PAUL R. JONES, AFRICAN AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR; and ON LAND AND ON SEA: A CENTURY OF WOMEN IN THE ROSENFELD COLLECTION. She is a member of the National Advisory Board for Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, the Past Vice President of the American Sociological Association, and Past President of the Eastern Sociological Society, from which she received the ESS Merit Award. She has also received two teaching awards from the University of Delaware and the American Sociological Association's Jessie Bernard Award.
