Everyday Equalities

A timely new look at coexisting without assimilating in multicultural cities If city life is a “being together of strangers,” what forms of being together should we strive for in cities with ethnic and racial diversity? Everyday Equalities seeks evidence of progressive political alternatives to racialized inequality that are emerging from everyday encounters in Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney, and Toronto—settler colonial cities that, established through efforts to dispossess and eliminate indigenous societies, have been destinations for waves of immigrants from across the globe ever since. Everyday Equalities finds such alternatives being developed as people encounter one another in the process of making a home, earning a living, moving around the city, and forming collective actions or communities. Here four leading scholars in critical urban geography come together to deliver a powerful and cohesive message about the meaning of equality in contemporary cities. Drawing on both theoretical reflection and urban ethnographic research, they offer the formulation “being together in difference as equals” as a normative frame to reimagine the meaning and pursuit of equality in today’s urban multicultures. As the examples in Everyday Equalities indicate, much emotional labor, combined with a willingness to learn from each other, negotiate across differences, and agitate for change goes into constructing environments that foster being together in difference as equals. Importantly, the authors argue, a commitment to equality is not only a hope for a future city but also a way of being together in the present.

This comprehensive work, along with its companion volume (see listing below), provides a thorough review of modern capitalism by some of today's most knowledgeable scholars. Contributors include: Peter L. Berger, Boston University; Samuel McCracken, Boston University; Jeffrey G. Williamson, Harvard University; Edgar K. Browning, Texas A & M University; Walter D. Connor, Boston University; Alan M. Kantrow, Harvard Business Review; Laura L. Nash, Harvard University's Center for Business and Government; Richard John Neuhaus, Rockford Institute's Center on Religion and Society; Stephen Miller, author of Special Interest Groups in American Politics; Marc F. Plattner, author of Rousseau's State of Nature; Delba Winthrop, Harvard University. Co-published with the Institute for Educational Affairs.

Stories of couples around the world whose everyday decisions about housework, childcare, and paid work achieve equality at home.

Inclusive Equality explores the legal meaning of equality, examining both the substantive conditions of inequality and the dynamic institutional and structural processes that reproduce it. It provides a critical review of evolving conceptions of equality and systemic discrimination in Canada, tracing developments in both the legislative and constitutional domains.

Equality Dancesport uses a queer feminist lens to examine the materialisation of gender and sexuality through moving and dancing bodies, by taking readers through the initiation journey of becoming an equality dancesport competitor. A recent shift in the media representation of ballroom dancing on British televised entertainment shows such as Strictly Come Dancing inspired active media discourse around same- sex dance partnerships. Questions arise as to whether and how such partnerships should be screened on television, and the extent to which gender and sexual norms around traditional ballroom dancing should be maintained in its representation. Drawing on autoethnographic research and interviews with dancers in the United Kingdom’s LGBT+ ballroom dance culture, this book illustrates identity work to involve a complex process of striking a balance between transgressing, reinterpreting and reinstating gender norms and heterosexual intimacy in traditional ballroom dancing. It offers an alternative framework for examining performing bodies as sites for discursive and embodied displays, informing future action towards a recognition of more diverse, embodied lives. Contributing to our thinking around sex, gender and sexuality, this book highlights the work involved in the production and performance of gendered and sexual bodies. It will be of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences, in particular those studying sociology, gender, sexuality, queer theory, sports studies, cultural politics, dance and leisure consumption. It will also be of interest to non-academics such as Strictly enthusiasts, dance educators and dancers.

While religious conflict receives plenty of attention, the everyday negotiation of religious diversity does not. Questions of how to accommodate religious minorities and of the limits of tolerance resonate in a variety of contexts and have become central preoccupations for many Western democracies. What might we see if we turned our attention to the positive narratives and success stories of the everyday working out of religious difference? Rather than 'tolerance' and 'accommodation', and through the stories of ordinary people, this book traces deep equality, which is found in the respect, humour, and friendship of seemingly mundane interactions. Deep Equality in an Era of Religious Diversity shows that the telling of such stories can create an alternative narrative to that of diversity as a problem to be solved. It explores the non-event, or micro-processes of interaction that constitute the foundation for deep equality and the conditions under which deep equality emerges, exists, and sometimes flourishes. Through a systematic search for and examination of such narratives, Lori G. Beaman demonstrates the possibility of uncovering, revealing, and recovering deep equality—a recovery that is vital to living in an increasingly diverse society. In achieving deep equality, identities are fluid, shifting in importance and structure as social interaction unfolds. Rigid identity imaginings, especially religious identities, block our vision to the complexities of social life and press us into corners that trap us in identities that we often ourselves do not recognize, want, or know how to escape. Although the focus of this study is deep equality and its existence and persistence in relation to religious difference, deep equality is located beyond the realm of religion. Beaman draws from the work of those whose primary focus is not in fact religion, and who are doing their own 'deep equality' work in other domains, illustrating especially why equality matters. By retelling and exploring stories of negotiation it is possible to reshape our social imaginary to better facilitate what works, which varies from place to place and time to time.

This book combines history, sociology, psychology and educational policy in research on a 40-year, crucial phase of development of ethnic identity, ethnic relations and educational and social policies for children in England, from pre-school to secondary school. The authors show how nursery children of different ethnicities interact in beginning their identity journeys in a culture of both inequality, and evolving ethnic relationships and patterns of harmony, in Britain’s developing multicultural society. In looking at self-concept development in secondary school children through the lens of various kinds of child maltreatment, Alice Sawyerr and Christopher Bagley argue that ethnic minority children are psychological survivors, and African-Caribbean girls especially are making strong identity steps – it is the “poor whites” who will make up the precariat, the reserve army of labour, who are left behind in structures of inequality.

Anthropologist Michael Blim identifies equality as the key global issue of our time, the value above all others that will improve human well-being. Using it as a measure for policy, he demonstrates how equality can be operationalized and change how our economies function, both in the United States and worldwide. The author argues for the development of universal welfare remedies, believing that such fundamental problems of human existence can only be solved by utilizing the full resources of the planet. He analyzes successful attempts by regions, communities, and social movements around the world to improve the human condition. Equality and Economy creates a foundation for social science inquiry and critical thinking, particularly about global justice and transnational issues. It is valuable for instructors in anthropology, development and labor studies, sociology and political science.