Race in Society is a comprehensive, but brief, book that introduces readers to current research scholarship on race, emphasizing the socially constructed basis of race and the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. institutions. The book is anchored in contemporary social science scholarship and is written in a narrative style that makes it accessible to students and a general readership.
The book is intended as an upper division text, primarily for courses in the sociology of race and ethnicity, but it can also be used in other social science and interdisciplinary courses and programs. Its brief character will make it attractive to instructors who want to pair it with other books and/or anthologies. Given the broad public interest in race, the book has the potential to cross into the trade market.
Four themes guide the organization of the book, including:
1.the social construction of race and ethnicity, as they evolve within systems of power and privilege;
2.the social dynamics of prejudice, bias and racism, including colorblind racism;
3.the multiple dimensions of racial stratification in U.S. social institutions;
4.differing strategies for social change, especially as the United States becomes increasingly diverse by race and ethnicity.
Author Biography
Margaret L. Andersen is the Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Sociology at the University of Delaware where she also holds joint appointments in Black American Studies and Women's Studies. She is a member of the National Advisory Board for Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and is the Past-Vice President of the American Sociological Association and Past President of the Eastern Sociological Society from which she received ESS Merit Award.
Professor Andersen has received The Eastern Sociological Society Merit Award for career contributions and the American Sociological Association's Jessie Bernard Award, an award given for expanding the boundaries of sociology to include women. She is the author of several bestselling textbooks, including Thinking about Women, 10th edition, Race, Class and Gender (co-edited with Patricia Hill Collins; 9th ed.), Race and Ethnicity in Society: The Changing Landscape (co-edited with Elizabeth Higginbotham; 4th edition), and Sociology: The Essentials (co-authored, Howard F. Taylor, 9th ed.).
