Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2014 -

A rising star in the field of race and ethnicity, sociologist Jung (Univ. of Massachusetts) delivers a tour de force on the origins and consequences of US racism.  This work of rigorous historical and sociological thought built on empirical data dives into the sundry and varied ways in which white supremacy has been established in the US, particularly as forces of racial domination played out along the black-white color line and amid Latino, Asian, and Native populations.  In three parts, Jung deconstructs the dominant and common sense assumptions regarding the definition and function of racism, the legal and political dynamics that established a racialized social contract in de jure and de facto practice, and the ideological mechanisms and material practices that coerce people into accepting racialized atrocities and mass suffering.  Jungs work is deeply impressive.  This book is a must read for any serious student of race, ethnicity, and racism given the sophistication of the argument, which also refuses to reduce the lived experiences of people of color to fodder for can(n)onical theorizing.Summing Up: Essential. All academic levels/libraries.

In an absorbing, impeccably researched book, Cooper (sociology, Stanford) analyzes the effect of large-scale economic and social transformations on families in the US.  She chronicles the shift from shared prosperity to the age of insecurity and explains how New Deal policies that supported families began to face challenges during the economic downturn of the 1970s.  As a result, many families were cut adrift and left to struggle without an adequate safety net (as the title so aptly captures).  Cooper's groundbreaking work finds that families are "doing security" through strategies that involve a significant amount of emotion work, and these strategies vary by social class.  Studying 50 families over two years (with follow-up interviews several years later), Cooper identified four distinct security projects: downscaling for low- and middle-income families (i.e., handling economic struggles by adjusting downward the requirements to feel secure while remaining optimistic), upscaling for upper-income families (i.e., worrying constantly about amassing wealth while preparing children to be globally competitive), holding on for low- and middle-income families (a highly gendered strategy in which families tried to stay afloat despite challenging economic situations), and turning to God for low-income families.  A highly readable, must-have book for any library.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

The significant demographic changes taking place in the US during the past two decades have been in urgent need of analysis and interpretation, particularly in one volume, and including the geographic perspective.  This important contribution fills that gap, providing the depth and analysis to greater understanding of demographics in the US.  Though a demographer by training, Frey (Michigan) provides a spatial contemporary look at the country's population.  A plethora of maps and graphs, some in full color, complements the 12 chapters that take readers through a journey of the country's ethnic patterns.  The author evaluates recent processes with predictions that, although obvious, need to be stated.  The future will bring extraordinary diversity, creating further cultural adjustments as the country ages and new immigrants continue to introduce their values, while the white population heads toward minority status.  The author asserts that the US is heading in a new direction and must embrace the changes that are inevitable.  Numerous examples provide a variety of pragmatic explanations to real problems the country will face.  Clearly interdisciplinary in approach, the geographic analysis is unmistakable.  The book addresses all social scientists and the general public. The notes section contains a rich bibliography.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.

Sometimes a volume appears at a time at which its contribution to the global conversation seems the most appropriate.  This is one of those times.  Individuals in and out of academia continue to voice strong beliefs about immigration and those who immigrate.  Scholars and students alike are paying attention.  The important contribution that Bankston (Tulane) makes with his book is to thoroughly synthesize research across fields and then apply that research to outcomes for immigrant groups, both globally and in the US.  Bankston clearly defines his goal in the book's introduction: to look beyond the experience of the individual immigrant and instead examine the impacts of social capital and social networks (pre- and post-migration) on immigrant communities.  Easy to read yet comprehensive, this book explores the roles these factors play in community outcomes and illuminates established social theory.  Bankston explores the relations among individuals, workers, and institutions and asks why different immigrant groups in similar geographic areas tend to experience a variety of outcomes.  An important addition for students and scholars who are interested in immigration, social policy, and public policy.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

This book is a real pleasure.  The author offers sharp analyses of four moral crusades against popular culture in the USmovies, pinball, comic books, and musicto provide deeper understandings of the underlying fears and forces animating them.  In the process, she provides insights into the social construction of deviance, the political power of moral panics, and the persistent problem of the popular.  Sociologist Sternheimer (Univ. of Southern California), an established expert in the study of popular culture, exhibits a strong command of the subject and theoretical approaches to it, presenting her discussion throughout in clear, accessible prose.  Two features of special note: the introduction offers helpful explication of key terms; and each of the case studies has the same structurean overview of the crusade and its key advocates, discussion of context and conditions giving rise to it, and the lessons to be learned from it.  Together, they facilitate engagement with the material and foster comparison.  This text should appeal to a wide readership.  Its accessibility and analyses make it a solid choice for undergraduate collections in popular culture.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

Duncan's book was an important contribution to the rural community literature when it was published in 1999 (CH, Nov'99, 37-1852).  This revision, based on fieldwork in 2013, will be welcomed by rural sociologists and poverty researchers alike.  Duncan writes clearly and passionately, often in the voices of locals, and creates portraits of three persistently poor communities, reminding readers that place matters when it comes to opportunity and social mobility.  The three communitiesin coal country Appalachia, cotton plantation South, and factory-dependent New Englandhave all changed over the passing 20 years.  Duncan argues that persistent poverty is a legacy of the relationship between class structure and civic culture.  Her analysis is informed by the work of Robert Putnam et al.'sMaking Democracy Work (CH, Jul'93, 30-6408) and William Julius Wilson'sThe Truly Disadvantaged (CH, Apr'88).  She argues that the lack of a middle class and the lack of investment in community institutions (particularly education) create such obstacles to change that breaking the cycle of poverty seems impossible.  Where she sees hope is in intervention from outside the community and from educational improvements, as well as indigenous community activism.  A powerful book.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.