Race Class And Community Identity

The inaugural volume of the new book series Radical Philosophy Today is an anthology of the best papers read at the 1996 Radical Philosophy Association conference. Divided into three sections--"The Production of Race and Ethnicity"; "Past, Present, and Future of Class Analysis"; and "Community Identity, Violence, and the Neoliberal State"--this important, topical collection focuses on the current interests of philosophers within a broad range of leftist orientations. Despite the intransigent nature of many of the problems discussed, the contributors to this volume demonstrate the possibilities for developing a viable alternative politics. Part one attempts to broaden and deepen discussions of race in philosophical terms, including a critical discussion of "whiteness." Part two critically examines Marxism with an eye toward adapting it more carefully to contemporary "First World" (U.S. society in particular) problems, and shows how Marxist analysis can be expanded to include spiritual and ecological considerations. The final section of the book looks at the radical potential of the communitarian critique of liberalism, discusses insidious violence in relation to the liberal state, and concludes with a critique of Francis Fukuyama's contention that neoliberalism is the only workable political state formation. The contributors include John Brentlinger, Frank Cunningham, Stephen Hartnett, Thomas M. Jeannot, Joel Kovel, Xiaorong Li, Steve Martinot, Charles W. Mills, Patrick Murray, Richard Peterson, Jeanne Schuler, Tony Smith, and Gabriel Vargas.

In this ethnographic examination of Mexican-American and white girls coming of age in California’s Central Valley, Julie Bettie turns class theory on its head, asking what cultural gestures are involved in the performance of class, and how class subjectivity is constructed in relationship to color, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. A new introduction contextualizes the book for the contemporary moment and situates it within current directions in cultural theory. Investigating the cultural politics of how inequalities are both reproduced and challenged, Bettie examines the discursive formations that provide a context for the complex identity performances of contemporary girls. The book’s title refers at once to young working-class women who have little cultural capital to enable class mobility; to the fact that analyses of class too often remain insufficiently transformed by feminist, ethnic, and queer studies; and to the failure of some feminist theory itself to theorize women as class subjects. Women without Class makes a case for analytical and political attention to class, but not at the expense of attention to other social formations.

This book offers both a philosophical and sociological model for understanding the constitution of identity in general, and black social identity in particular, without reverting to either a social or racial deterministic view of identity construction. Using a variant of structuration theory (phenomenological structuralism) this work, against contemporary postmodern and post-structural theories, seeks to offer a dialectical understanding of the constitution of black American and British life within the class division and social relations of production of the global capitalist world-system, while accounting for black social agency.

This new book is a vital resource for any teacher or administrator to help students tackle issues of race, class, gender, religion, and cultural background. Authors Martha Caldwell and Oman Frame, both lifelong educators, offer a series of teaching strategies designed to encourage conversation and personal reflection, enabling students to think creatively, rather than stereotypically, about difference. Using the Transformational Inquiry model, your students will learn to explore their own identities, share stories and thoughts with their peers, learn more through reading and research, and ultimately take personal, collaborative action to affect social change in their communities. You’ll learn how to: Facilitate dynamic classroom discussions in a safe and empathetic environment Encourage students to think and talk objectively about complex and sensitive issues such as race, gender, and social class Help students cultivate valuable communication, critical thinking, and writing skills while developing their identities in a healthy way. Develop your teacher identity in a positive way to better support your students’ growth and self-discovery The strategies in this book can be adapted for any middle school or high school curriculum, and each chapter includes a variety of lesson plans and handouts that you can use in the classroom immediately. These resources can also be downloaded from the authors’ website: www.ichangecollaborative.com.

Three recent and dramatic national events have shattered the complacency of many people about progress, however fitful, in race relations in America. The Clarence Thomas—Anita Hill hearings, the O. J. Simpson trial, and the Million Man March of Louis Farrakhan have forced reconsideration of their assumptions about race and racial relations. The Thomas-Hill hearings exposed the complexity and volatility of perceptions about race and gender. The sight of jubilant blacks and despondent whites reacting to the 0. J. Simpson verdict shook our confidence in shared assumptions about equal protection under the law. The image of hundreds of thousands of black men gathering in Washington in defense of their racial and cultural identity angered millions of whites and exposed divisions within the black community. These events were unfolding at a time when there seemed to be considerable progress in fighting racial discrimination. On the legal side, discrimination has been eliminated in more and more arenas, in theory if not always in practice. Economically, more and more blacks have moved into the middle class, albeit while larger numbers have slipped further back into poverty. Intellectually, figures like Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Patricia J. Williams are playing a central role as public intellectuals. In the face of these disparate trends, it is clear that Americans need to rethink their assumptions about race, racial relations, and inter-racial communication. Color • Class • Identity is the ideal tool to facilitate this process. It provides a richly textured selection of readings from Du Bois, Cornel West, Derrick Bell, and others as well as a range of responses to the particular controversies that are now dividing us. Color • Class. Identity furthers these debates, showing that the racial question is far more complex than it used to be; it is no longer a simple matter of black versus white and racial mistrust. A landmark anthology that will help advance understanding of the present unease, not just between black and white, but within each community, this book will be useful in a broad range of courses on contemporary U.S. society.

This book offers both a philosophical and sociological model for understanding the constitution of identity in general, and black social identity in particular, without reverting to either a social or racial deterministic view of identity construction. Using a variant of structuration theory (phenomenological structuralism) this work, against contemporary postmodern and post-structural theories, seeks to offer a dialectical understanding of the constitution of black American and British life within the class division and social relations of production of the global capitalist world-system, while accounting for black social agency.

Publisher description

Widely stereotyped as anti-immigrant, against civil-rights or supporters of Trump and the right, can the white working class of America really be reduced to a singular group with similar views? Based on extensive interviews across five cities at a crucial point in US history, this significant book showcases what the white working class think about many of the defining issues of the age - from race, identity and change to the crucial on-the-ground debates occurring at the time of the 2016 US election. As the 2020 presidential elections draw near, this is an invaluable insight into the complex views on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and the extent and reach they have to engage in cross-racial connections.