Countervailing Forces in African-American Civic Activism, 1973-1994

ISBN-13: 9780521614139 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 190 str.

Fredrick C. Harris; Brian McKenzie; Valeria Sinclair-Chapman

Opis

The changes in black activism since the civil rights movement can be characterized by a tug-of-war between black political power on one side and economic conditions in black communities on the other according to this study. As blacks gain greater access and influence within the political system, black participation in political activities increases while downward turns in the economic conditions of black communities produce less civic involvement in black communities. Examining changes in black activism from the early 1970s to the 1990s, this tug-of-war demonstrates that the quest for black political empowerment and the realities of economic and social life act as countervailing forces.

Recenzje

"This brilliant work is an exceptional piece of scholarship on a rarely considered but highly important and quite interesting topic: how far can political power move a people in a downward spiraling and declining economy? The book contains a persuasive empirical answer. This makes the book significant not only for the current moment in time but historically when African Americans gained political power with the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870. With such an empirical answer, these young scholars can enter the current public dialogue about the limits of public policy reform with the mere granting of political power." Hanes Walton, Jr., University of Michigan

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 2. Good times and bad: trends in the economic, social, and political conditions of African Americans in the post-civil rights era; 3. Studying group activism: toward a macro approach to black civic participation; 4. Echoes of black civic activism: historical foundations and longitudinal considerations; 5. Shifting forces: modeling changes in post-civil rights black activism; 6. From margin to center: bringing structural forces into focus in the analysis of black activism.