Constructing "Race" and "Ethnicity" in America: Category-making in Public Policy and Administration

by Yanow,Dvora

• ISBN13: 9780765608017
• ISBN10: 0765608014
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-08-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

What do we mean in the U.S. today when we use the terms "race" and "ethnicity"? What do we mean, and what do we understand, when we use the five standard race-ethnic categories: White, Black, Asian, Native American, and Hispanic? Most federal and state data collection agencies use these terms without explicit attention, and thereby create categories of American ethnicity for political purposes.

Davora Yanow argues that "race" and "ethnicity" are socially constructed concepts, not objective, scientifically-grounded variables, and do not accurately represent the real world. She joins the growing critique of the unreflective use of "race" and "ethnicity" in American policy-making through an exploration of how these terms are used in everyday practices. Her book is filled with current examples and analyses from a wealth of social institutions: health care, education, criminal justice, and government at all levels.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	xv
Part I. Laying the Groundwork: Giving a(n) (Ac)Count	1	(44)
Constructing Categories: Naming, Counting, Science, and Identity	3	(32)
Toward an American Categorical ``Science'' of Race and Ethnicity: OMB Directive No. 15	35	(10)
Part II. Making Race-Ethnicity Through Public Policies	45	(68)
Color, Culture, Country: Race and Ethnicity in the U.S. Census	47	(40)
Identity Choices? Agency Policies and Individual Resistance	87	(26)
Part III. Making Race-Ethnicity Through Administrative Practices	113	(68)
Ethnogenesis by the Numbers, Ethnogenesis by ``Eyeballing''	115	(38)
Constructing Race-Ethnicity Through Social Science Research: Managing Workplace Diversity	153	(28)
Part IV. Telling Identities: The Contemporary Legacy	181	(50)
Public Policies as Identity Stories: American Race-Ethnic Discourse	183	(22)
Changing (Ac)Counting Practices: Meditation on a Problem	205	(26)
References	231	(16)
Index	247