Comments on William Wilson\u27s The Truly Disadvantaged: A Limited Proposal for Social Reform

This is an important book which has already had a major impact on discussions of poverty, race and public policy in the United States. Wilson is to be commended for his willingness to step boldly into the arena of public discourse in an effort to blaze a new trail between the rock of conservative thinking on the underclass and the hard place of contemporary liberal perspectives. His project-the refocusing of the liberal perspective and the definition of a bold new public policy agenda is inherently controversial. Wilson is quite correct in his assertion that the conservative perspective captured public attention and policy initiatives in the Reagan era, and that that agenda has resulted in a real deterioration in the living conditions of the urban poor

Panel Two: Who\u27s Minding the Baby?

This publication is a transcript of remarks made by multiple law professors discussing the relationship between race, gender, and class and focusing on feminism and the challenges faced by working mothers

Panel Two: Who’s Minding the Baby?

This publication is a transcript of remarks made by multiple law professors discussing the relationship between race, gender, and class and focusing on feminism and the challenges faced by working mothers

Panel Two: Who’s Minding the Baby?

This publication is a transcript of remarks made by multiple law professors discussing the relationship between race, gender, and class and focusing on feminism and the challenges faced by working mothers

Walking the Talk: Toward a Values-Aligned Academy

Walking the Talk: Toward a Values-Aligned Academy is the culmination of 18 months of research interviews across the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA). Conducted by the HuMetricsHSS Initiative as an extension of their previous work on values-enacted scholarly practice, the interviews focused on current systems of evaluation within BTAA institutions, the potential problems and inequalities of those processes, the kinds of scholarly work that could be better recognized and rewarded, and the contexts and pressures evaluators are under, including, as the process progressed, the onset and ongoing conditions of COVID-19. The interviews focused primarily on the reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) process. Interviewees outlined a number of issues to be addressed, including toxicity in evaluation, scholars’ increased alienation from the work they are passionate about, and a high-level virtue-signaling of values by institutions without the infrastructure or resources to support the enactment of those values. Based on these conversations, this white paper offers a set of recommendations for making wide-scale change to address systematic injustice, erasure, and devaluation of academic labor in order to strengthen the positive public impact of scholarship

Study of Female-Headed Households in the Rural Mid South, 1989-1991

This study builds on a one-year pilot project conducted in a single county in Northern Mississippi and funded by the Ford Foundation which examined the social factors underlying the formation, coping and survival strategies of female-headed households in the rural south. This study expands the pilot study to include four rural counties in the United States. It examines the lives of low-income female-headed households in these counties, including the support network of the participants, job opportunities available to them, their coping mechanisms, their relationships with men, the organization and administration of the local public welfare and social service delivery system, and the political and civic environment of a rural community. Participants were asked to describe aspects of the community in which they live, the state-supported services available to them, and the work opportunities available. Approximately 18-24 Black and White women heads of households in this study were selected from each of two counties in Mississippi and two counties in Tennessee. They were between 20 and 40 years of age, and of mixed socioeconomic backgrounds. Social service agency heads, fathers, school superintendents, and business leaders were also interviewed. Participants were located through local headstart programs, through schools, referrals from social service agencies, and through the participants themselves. Data were collected through semi-structured, open ended life history interviews with the women, and extensive interviews with local political and civic leaders, managers and owners of local businesses, politicians, and welfare department directors and staff members. Variables assessed include family background, household composition, education, children, childcare, networks, religious organizations and activities, childbearing and goals and practices, employment, ways to supplement income, relationships, marital plans and values, fertility, health care, food and diet, housing, community and volunteer organizations, politics, income and income distribution, public aid/welfare department, race relations, and life events. A questionnaire was administered to the fathers assessing demographics, employment, family background, children, child support, extended family networks, marriage, religion, and the relationship with the child's mother. Social service agency heads were asked about the organizational structure of their jobs, how the agency was funded, the main problems in the community, the most important public and service organizations in the community, how effective their agency was in providing services to the community, how local businesses and industries respond to community needs, what they believed to be the most important cause of poverty in America, and they were asked typical community concern questions. The business leaders were asked to describe opportunities, obstacles, and prospects for different kinds of economic development in the county, the kind of labor force available and the skill level required, and their views on the problem of poverty in the county. School superintendents were asked about the special needs of the children from female headed households, about funds available for special programs, about teaching staff, mentors, drug problems in the schools, and receiving support from the school board members. Lastly, welfare department personnel were asked about the main problems in the community, how the local businesses and industries were responding to community needs, and if enough money was being spent on unemployment, housing, healthcare, and the general welfare of the community. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (audiotape and electronic text files of the interviews). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data. Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 442 audio files available

Study of Work and Family Among Black Female Domestic Servants, 1989-1991

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of work and family among Black women who were employed as private household workers for a major portion of their working lives. This study focuses on the strategies these women use to manage work, family and the interpersonal relationships involved in each. It also examines the ways women conceptualize and experience social structural factors such as race, class, poverty, and a low status occupation. The participants were American born women, interviewed between the ages of 60 and 81, who worked as private household workers in New York or Philadelphia for most of their working lives. All participants had raised their own children during their years of employment and had worked in domestic service for at least ten years. The Murray Archive holds original record paper transcripts of the in-depth qualitative life history interviews of 26 Black female domestic servants, and audiotapes of the interviews. If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data. Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 82 audio files available