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Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study
At a time when issues of identity, diversity, and inequality are at their most complex and divisive--and very much on student's minds--Rothenberg's anthology is as of-the-moment, authoritative, and thought-provoking as ever. Now in a rigorously updated new edition, this longtime bestseller is again the ideal catalyst for sparking lively class discussions on variety of difficult subjects, helping students think critically about categories of class, race, and sexuality, and how they operate and interact in the U.S. today.
The new edition features 46 new readings (see table of contents), including writings from the founders and leaders of key contemporary social movements (Tarana Burke on the metoo movement; Alicia Garza on Black Lives Matter; Chief Arvol Looking Horse on Standing Rock; and Gaby Pacheco on the Dreamers). This edition also features new pedagogy designed specifically to help students make connections across topics, identify key ideas, and understand the real-world context of each selection.
The new edition features 46 new readings (see table of contents), including writings from the founders and leaders of key contemporary social movements (Tarana Burke on the metoo movement; Alicia Garza on Black Lives Matter; Chief Arvol Looking Horse on Standing Rock; and Gaby Pacheco on the Dreamers). This edition also features new pedagogy designed specifically to help students make connections across topics, identify key ideas, and understand the real-world context of each selection.
1691 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1992
65 people are currently reading
595 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 8, 2017
Okay as a source reader - though some subjects are covered too briefly. I just don't think it would make a good composition reader, which was why it was sent to me.
February 8, 2017
For anyone willing to tackle a 700 page textbook, I highly recommend this book.
It is a compilation of essays, articles, interviews, and history lessons divided according to theme. I definitely feel like I learned a lot and I appreciated the brevity of the chapters.
This isn't light reading (duh) but it isn't all completely heavy material.
Recommend.
It is a compilation of essays, articles, interviews, and history lessons divided according to theme. I definitely feel like I learned a lot and I appreciated the brevity of the chapters.
This isn't light reading (duh) but it isn't all completely heavy material.
Recommend.
November 12, 2010
Maybe this would have been great for an Intro to Women's Studies class. In fact, I'm sure it would have been great for that. But not for me. Not right now. It was just a super simplistic review of everything I've ever read before in life.
March 26, 2019
Amazing! Profound! In a way a life changing book! I will not deny that reading made me depressed at times. But it is a nessesaary struggle one needs to go through to understand social realities we all live in.
April 11, 2009
This book is a collection of articles. It can be a bit tedious at times, but some of the articles are really interesting.
March 18, 2017
This compilation blew my world apart in 1995. I still use it as a reference on the history of the -isms in the US.
December 9, 2017
Did I read every article in this anthology? No.
Did I read enough and spend enough time with it to mark it as read regardless? Heck yes.
Did I read enough and spend enough time with it to mark it as read regardless? Heck yes.
June 26, 2023
I got an A, in my Research class which used this textbook. This text is the first I’ve read of its kind. The authors compiled a lot of great research, and gave coverage to some important under appreciated research topics. I feel amazed that this book can still be distributed in Colleges, because it has been there will be more like it to come, I feel that this book in particular will help us fight the fires of prejudice threatening to leave us all bereft. A tough job, one I know there are many attending to in this confusing and great time we are now surviving.
December 8, 2019
Love this book full of intriguing, eye-opening short stories. Intelligence meets sadness, the white man has put us all on some overly detrimental paths. Stretches your open-mindness and critical thinking as you hear from some brave people, heart-wrenching stories and get to apply that to your life in however you desire. I’ve never been more challenged in my thinking from another book thus far. I read this for my degree and thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 13, 2020
The only textbook I’ve ever read from cover to cover.
May 22, 2020
I read this for SocW 411 at UIC.
December 17, 2013
I would perhaps have given this more stars, under different circumstances. That might seem unfair, but the circumstances in which I read this are probably the same for most readers. As it was for a lot of people, this was a required text in my sociology class. The problem is that it was the only text for the class. As a supplement, sure, it would have been useful, but it's woefully inadequate as a textbook. My complaints are as follows:
I had the 2014 edition (somehow, even though it was only mid 2013) and yet the collected entries were usually published significantly before that. In some articles that makes sense; if you want a first person account of the effects of Jim Crow laws, or Indian boarding schools, by all means find the oldest source you can. However, if your trying to illuminate the injustices of the world today, the best articles for the job certainly did not come out in the 80's. I'm not saying the world isn't equally or even more unjust since then, only that one would have very little clue whether it was by reading this book. Even then, although I can imagine the editor picking older entries specifically because they still apply, I can't help but think that it's more about nostalgia or laziness.
Further, there is an issue with the quantitative aspects of the book. The more qualitative or first-hand, 'how-it-makes-you-feel,' entries are fine. If one hasn't been on the receiving end of racism, or homophobia, etc, then these articles really do help bridge that gap a little. But there are too many of them. If you break it down, the book is three things: personal accounts, meta analyses with circular, jargon-filled explanations that make arbitrary distinctions, and attempts at actual quantitative analysis. This last category is sadly underrepresented, and the few articles that do rely heavily on numbers often contradict each other. Is that a consequence of when the research was done? Different methodologies? Misuse of data? Who knows; the readers will just have to look that up on their own, or more likely, not even notice.
Notice that neither of these complaints would really matter if this was supplementary material. The main textbook would then ideally cover terminology, handling data, following up on sources, identifying bias in the media, etc. In other words, things the reader could apply when perusing these articles.
I had the 2014 edition (somehow, even though it was only mid 2013) and yet the collected entries were usually published significantly before that. In some articles that makes sense; if you want a first person account of the effects of Jim Crow laws, or Indian boarding schools, by all means find the oldest source you can. However, if your trying to illuminate the injustices of the world today, the best articles for the job certainly did not come out in the 80's. I'm not saying the world isn't equally or even more unjust since then, only that one would have very little clue whether it was by reading this book. Even then, although I can imagine the editor picking older entries specifically because they still apply, I can't help but think that it's more about nostalgia or laziness.
Further, there is an issue with the quantitative aspects of the book. The more qualitative or first-hand, 'how-it-makes-you-feel,' entries are fine. If one hasn't been on the receiving end of racism, or homophobia, etc, then these articles really do help bridge that gap a little. But there are too many of them. If you break it down, the book is three things: personal accounts, meta analyses with circular, jargon-filled explanations that make arbitrary distinctions, and attempts at actual quantitative analysis. This last category is sadly underrepresented, and the few articles that do rely heavily on numbers often contradict each other. Is that a consequence of when the research was done? Different methodologies? Misuse of data? Who knows; the readers will just have to look that up on their own, or more likely, not even notice.
Notice that neither of these complaints would really matter if this was supplementary material. The main textbook would then ideally cover terminology, handling data, following up on sources, identifying bias in the media, etc. In other words, things the reader could apply when perusing these articles.
August 4, 2008
When a friend's rehashing of an article aimed to debunk the "myth" of the gender wage gap got my dander up, I realized I didn't have a good foundation from which to argue. So I got a lot of books out at the library. I didn't expect to read all 757 pages of this one, but that's what happened. The articles were well-selected and interesting (except, I confess, in the economics chapter. I have an allergy to percentages). I didn't agree with all of everything (I rarely do) but overall most of the views seemed moderate to me--although to a far-right person they may seem radical. I feel as though there should be a required class on these issues for everyone who enters college. Or senior year of high school. But, my brain being what it is, I still can't train myself to spout verbatim the data from the essays relevant to why I started reading in the first place. Maybe I wasn't cut out to be a debater. But I know where to point someone the next time the subject comes up.
February 19, 2010
I am such a fan of compilation essay books!
Let's be honest, being white and middle-class doesn't necessarily introduce you to the world of racial and class discrepencies, so it was nice to hear first-person analyses of these discordances in the United States.
It took me a while to finish this book... mostly because it's easy to put down after you have finished an essay. Most of the essays are relatively short and to the point, which is why I gave the book five stars.
Let's be honest, being white and middle-class doesn't necessarily introduce you to the world of racial and class discrepencies, so it was nice to hear first-person analyses of these discordances in the United States.
It took me a while to finish this book... mostly because it's easy to put down after you have finished an essay. Most of the essays are relatively short and to the point, which is why I gave the book five stars.
April 12, 2008
This book will really open your eyes to inequality in the world. At times it can be shocking to realize how privileged you may be. Warning: reading passages aloud from this book may cause you to fight with your white, male, middle-class, young boyfriend because he can't admit how privileged he is.
July 12, 2011
A collection of essays on the topics of race, gender and class. They can be a bit Male WASP bashing, at times, but that's kind of the point. There's a little bit of everything in there, which is why so many teachers and professors use this book to stimulate debate and discussion.
Want to read
January 2, 2012Bought this book for a class I need to renew my teaching license, but seeing as I don't have a teaching job and haven't been able to get one in the 4 years of looking, I decided to save my money until (if & when) teaching jobs are easier to secure again. But I still have my copy just in case.
October 23, 2007
a little academic but still very useful; many subtopics.
September 10, 2008
Yep, another text book. But it's a good one!
Read
March 10, 2009You will learn a lot.
November 15, 2011
I am reading this book for the Social Work Graduate class I am currently teaching at West Chester University. So it will be on here all semester! =]
May 16, 2020
Very fun to read and insightful. Offers a variety of perspectives in short, readable chunks.
August 7, 2014
There are some really excellent essays in this book. These topics are fascinating, and the book is formatted in a logical and sensible manner. Excellent for a class. I was truly impressed.
September 23, 2014
Some stories in here are a great way to teach politics narratively.
January 23, 2016
Good selection of works to get a perspective on what goes on every day in this country and what problems we might try to address.
January 27, 2015
Read it for my women studies class.
April 7, 2015
This book was my introduction to race, class and gender relations not only in the US, but as also broader concepts for a class. Great textbook and anthology of Essays
February 26, 2023
There's some good content, but I'm very disappointed in the discussion of trans individuals. The terminology is wrong and even harmful in some places.
December 2, 2012
Should also be required reading for all Americans.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews