Class,
Race,
and Gender in the U.S. Economy (Econ250/ES250) Reading
Asssignments
Spring 2005 Updated April 18, 2005 |
I.
INTRODUCTION
(Weeks 1 & 2)Readings: *
required, o recommended
1) PURPOSE OF COURSE: HONORABLE DISCUSSION On
Reserve/Handout:
*Rehumanizing Society,
Gonzales & Rodriguez
2) A STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
On Reserve:
*
Let
America Be America Again,
Langston Hughes
* The
Stream, Leonel I. Castillo, Studs
Terkel
* We’ve Been Here
Before, George F. Will
* A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki o From Individual to
Structural Discrimination, Fred L. Pincus
Rothenberg, p 186 - 196:
* The Problem:
Discrimination, The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
3)
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY and DIFFERENCE4) FRAMEWORK: THE ECONOMICS OF STRATIFICATION On Reserve/Handout:
*The Market and Economic
Stratification, P. Martinez
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II.
CLASS
(Weeks 3 & 4) 1)
EXPERIENCE OF CLASS
On Reserve
o The Men We Carry in
Our
Minds, Sanders
Rothenberg,
* C.P. Ellis,
Studds
Terkel
2)
WHAT IS “CLASS”?
On Reserve:
o Literature, Class, and
Culture: Introduction, Lauter & Fitzgerald
A.
Sociological
Analysis
i.
De-classe American Myth:
"Everyone is middle class."
Rothenberg:
* Class in America: Myths
and Realities (2000), Gregory Mantios
o Media Magic: Making Class
Invisible, Gregory Mantios
ii.
Self-identification: Aspirations,
Consumption Patterns
iii.
Other
Characteristics: Cultural Values,
Education, etc.
B. Economic Analysis i.
Neo-Classical Analysis: Market
Rewards for
Abilities
ii.
Classical Analysis: Labor Theory of
Value (Quesnay, Ricardo,
& Marx)
iii.
A Divided Labor Market
3)
STATISTICAL DISPARITIES: Income, Wealth
and Poverty
A.
Indicators: Education,
Attainment of parents, Race, Immigrant Status, Divorce,
Rothenberg:
*Part IV: The
Economics of Class, Gender, and Race in the US
* 47 Imagine a Country - 2003, Holly Sklar * 48 Number of Peolpe Living in Poverty Increase in the US, Robert Pear * 49 CEOs: New Century, Same Story B.
Poverty in Oregon
Required Web Articles
from OSU
Extension Service:
*A
Portrait of Poverty
in
Oregon, OSU Extension Service
*Minimum
wage
fails to keep up
*Minimum
Wage Graph
*Women
and
children most likely to be poor
C. Income and Wealth Data
Required Web Sites:
ºDivided
Decade,
Collins, Hartman, & Sklar; United for a Fair Economy
http://www.ufenet.org/press/archive/1999/Divided_Decade/DivDec.pdf *Economic Apartheid Data Center, UFE (updated figures for Divided Decade) http://www.faireconomy.org/research/Economic_Apartheid_Data.html#top Federal Reserve: Racial Wealth Gap Has Grown http://www.ufenet.org/research/SCF_Race_2003.html 4) INSTITUTIONS AND CLASSISM: EDUCATION Video, in Class: * The
Secrets of
the SAT, Frontline, PBS video, in class
On Reserve:
* SATs skewed by shoddy
disability, LATimes, Jan. 9, 2000
* Among Affluent Students,
A Culture of Disengagement
Chronicle
of
Higher Education, Nov. 27, 1998
º The Economic Root of
Low Test Scores, LATimes, Mar. 26, 2000
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III.
Race
(WEEK 5 & 6) 1) EXPERIENCE OF RACISM
Rothenberg:
* Part
III: Discrimination in Everyday Life & Part VI: How It Happened
Students
are
encouraged to read any
and all articles in these sections.
However, for the current topic, only the following articles are required. *22.
The Problem: Discrimination, The US Civil Rights Commission
*23.
Racial Disparities Seen as Pervasive in Juvenile Justice
*24. "White"
Names Give Job Seekers an Edge
*39.
Minority Health Care Found Lacking, Disparity Seen in
Testing, Surgery
*40. Study
Finds the Nation's Public School Districts Are Resegregating by Race
2)
DEFINING RACISM
Rothenberg: *1. Racial Formations, Michael Omi and Howard Winant *3.
Constructing Race, Creating White Privilege
* 20 White Privilege:
Unpacking the Invisible
Knapsack,
McIntosh*4 How Jews Became White Folks *12 Defining Racism: Can We Talk?, Tatum, p.100 3) STATISTICAL DISPARITIES & ECONOMIC EVIDENCE OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Rothenberg: *58
Census 2000 Shows America's Diversity
*50
Still at the Periphery: The Economic Status of African-Americans*59 America 2000: A Map of the Mix *51
Being Black, Living in the Red: Wealth Matters
*53
The Wage Gap: Myths and Facts, National
Committee on Pay Equity
a) Income, Wealth, Wage Differentials b) Unemployment Differentials c) Occupational Differentials d) Educational Differentials 4) MODELS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION On Reserve:
*Black-White
Income Differences, Michael Reich
*Ch14,
Theories
of Labor Market Discrimination, McConnell, et
al
*Evidence on
Discrimination in Employment, Darity & Mason
*Detecting
Discrimination, Heckman
A) Neo-Classical Supply-Side
Inequality of
Opportunity/Access
Inequality of Education
Demand-Side
Taste,
Market Power,
Statistical, Employee, Consumer
B)
Radical
Social
Movements
Social
Structures
of Accumulation
Rothenberg:
5) INSTITUTIONS & RACISM: EDUCATION & BANKING A) Banking On Reserve:
*
Lending Insights: Hard Proof that Banks Discriminate, Jim Campen
º Study
Discerns
Disadvantage for Blacks in Home Mortgages,
Dedman
B) EducationRothenberg:
º Resegregation
in American Schools, Orfield & Yun
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IV. Ethnicity (WEEKS 7 & 8) 1)
WHAT IS “RACE”? WHAT IS “WHITENESS”?
A) A Biological Basis for
Race?
- phenotype
- genotype
- multiracial, multiethnic,
multicultural
Reserve:
*A Growing Number of
Scientists Reject the Concept of Race, David
Wheeler
*Ever
adaptive,
humans defy easy stereotype
B) Race Is Socially Constructed: Race is a social category, not a biological category. - Self-selection & self-identification
-
How those “outside”
define
- How those
“inside” defineRothenberg * 1 Racial
Formation, Michael Omi & Howard Winant, Buck
* 3 Constructing Race Creating White Privilege, º 4 How
Jews Became White Folks, Brodkin
* 126 Child of the Americas, Aurora Levins Morales
Reserve:
* Legal Alien, Pat Mora * Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People, Maria P.P. Root, PhD. C) Why The Government Defines Race And Collects Data. Reserve: * Race
classification causes census debate, William Hershey
º
Who’s a
minority? Welcome to affirmative action debate, David Lauter
* We Need
New and
Critical Study of Race and Ethnicity, Manning Marable
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V.
Gender
(WEEKS 9-10) 1)
EXPERIENCE
Rothenberg * 17 Patriarchy, Allan
Johnson
* 53 The Wage
Gap, National Committee on Pay Equity
* 54 Her Next Step, Crenshaw 2) Statistical Disparities & Economic Evidence Gender Discrimination: *Ch.15,
Women,
Blacks & the Labor Market,
McConnell, et al
a) Unemployment
Differentials
b) Wage Differentials *The
Comparable
Worth Debate, Sorensen
c) Educational
Differentials d) Employment Differentials 3) Models of Human Capital, Occupational & Earnings Differences VI. Remedies
(TIME PERMITTING) 1. The Social Safety Net: The Minimum Wage & Other Social Services A. Progressive vs. regressive re-distribution B. Minimum Wage 2. Taking Affirmative Action to Promote Economic Equity *Ch 8,
Affirmative Action & Employment Discrimination, Farai Chideya
*Affirmative Action’s
Impact on Academe Has Been Minimal,
Journal of Higher Education, March 24, 2000 3. Managing Diversity * Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity, Thomas
& Ely
4. Taking Personal Responsibility Rothenberg *What white Folks Must Do, Harlan L. Dalton, p.616 *Combating intentional bigotry and Inadvertently Racist Acts, Fletcher Blanchard VII.
The Over-Determination of Stratification
Case Study: U.S. Immigration Policy (TIME PERMITTING) 1) Class Criteria of Immigration - $1million or 10 jobs lets you in - educational/professional status - “bracero” programs 2) Race Criteria - Quotas based on origin - Differential Application of INS Rules 3) Ethnic Criteria - Phenotype: “Indio” vs “Ladino” - Point of Origin - Language 4) Gender - Male heads of families - Female, undocumented immigration rising |