discrimination

The Economics of Discrimination (Economic Research Studies)
$19.00
nearly 50 years after Becker wrote it, this book still serves as a cornerstone for the economics of discrimination. it is still as insightful and controversial as it was when it was published. Becker's ability to apply economics in areas where it is not traditionally used makes this work a must read for anyone interested in discrimination.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination
$80.00
This book is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn about prejudice and disrimination. It is comprehensive, covering a wide range of topics. It is also very interesting to read. A must for anyone who wants to learn about prejudice then and prejudice now. It is a misconception that prejudice and discrimination is a thing of the past or something that was dealt with in the sixties. This book will show you how racism still exists today in a much more subtle ( and sometimes not so subtle ) form. I recommend this book to professors who are teaching classes on prejudice and discrimination.

The Face of Discrimination: How Race and Gender Impact Work and Home Lives
$25.95
The Face of Discrimination documents the extent, character, and implications of race and sex discrimination at work and in housing, drawing from a rich body archived discrimination suits themselves. It moves beyond traditional social science research on the topic and grounds the reader in the reality of discrimination as it is played out in the actual jobs, neighborhoods, and lives of real people.

When Is Discrimination Wrong?
$39.95
"Isn't discrimination always wrong?" That's what people say when they see the deliberately provocative title of this book. Of course in reality the issue isn't so simple. Is it wrong for the FDA to approve a particular drug for African Americans specifically if it addresses a health problems of that population? Is it wrongful discrimination for a nursing home for women to only hire women as attendants? Most of us know wrongful discrimination when we see it: separate but equal; blacks forced to sit at the back of the bus; ethnic quotas on immigration; glass ceilings, etc... But what is it precisely that makes wrongful discrimination wrong? How does that apply to the vague and thorny gray areas where all the trouble lies?

Deborah Hellman does a terrific job of framing the problem, summarizing existing scholarship and legal theory on the subject, and then coming to her own conclusions. She very clearly puts each theoretical argument in its place and then draws an all encompassing frame around them - a bedrock principle that cuts to the heart of the issue and neatly addresses its core. She states it clearly at the conclusion of Chapter 1: "Discrimination is wrong when it demeans. To demean is to treat another as less worthy." She spends the rest of the book precisely defining her terms (for example membership in a stigmatized group matters) and carefully examining alternatives and counter arguments. By bringing everything back to a simple moral principle her work feels in spirit akin to those of the framers of the constitution. It's that kind of clear and powerful thinking: reduction to first principles; simple truths that we hold to be self evident.

Hellman's analysis is deep. She addresses case law, sure, but also sociology and philosophy (both semantics and moral). We hear from Irving Goffman John Hart Ely, Owen Fiss, Catherine McKinnon, Ronald Dworkin, Christopher McCrudden, Brian Leiter, and many others. She addresses the issue of the role of group identity (both in terms of history of mistreatment and social disadvantage and to how it relates to offense against the individual versus just the group as a whole). She addresses the question of merit as a form of positive discrimination - devotes a whole chapter to it, defining the limits of the various approaches and how her central thesis puts limits on how drawing merit distinctions should be used. This is a short, dense, book. Hellman's language is economical. The subject requires abstract thinking quite often, which is difficult. Hellman bends over backwards to help you keep the fine distinctions in focus, frequently summarizing, reviewing, and restating her conclusions.

To say that this book influenced my perception of the issue is an understatement. It certainly educated me on the issue of wrongful discrimination and I will never again be able to view the issue without considering her analysis. However, her argument is so pervasive and well organized that its instructional power extends beyond just the topic at hand - it is really a clinic on how to think about any moral issue. Highly recommended.