Discrimination in an Unequal World

by Centeno, Miguel Angel; Newman, Katherine S.

• ISBN13: 9780199732173
• ISBN10: 0199732175
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Is globalization making our world more equal, or less? Proponents of globalization argue that it is helping and that in a competitive world, no one can afford to discriminate except on the basis of skills. Opponents counter that globalization does nothing but provide a meritocratic patina on a consistently unequal distribution of opportunity. Yet, despite the often deafening volume of the debate, there is surprisingly little empirical work available on the extent to which the process of globalization over the past quarter century has had any effect on discrimination. Tackling this challenge,Discrimination in an Unequal Worldexplores the relationship between discrimination and unequal outcomes in the appropriate geographical and historical context. Noting how each society tends to see its particular version of discrimination as universal and obvious, the editors expand their set of cases to include a broad variety of social relations and practices. However, since methods differ and are often designed for particular national circumstances, they set the much more ambitious and practical goal of establishing a base with which different forms of discrimination across the world can be compared. Derived from a broad array of methods, the book draws many important lessons on the new means by which the world creates social hierarchies, the democratization of inequality, and the disappearance of traditional categories.

Author Biography

Miguel Angel Centeno is Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Katherine S. Newman is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I: Studying Global Discrimination
1. Discrimination in an Unequal World, Miguel Angel Centeno
2. Reflections on Globalization, Discrimination, and Affirmative Action, Thomas Weisskopf
3. Measuring Discrimination, Devah Pager
Part II: Case Studies
4. Racial and Class Discrimination in Assessments of Desert in Post-Apartheid Cape Town, Jeremy Seekings
5. Race and Trust in a Segmented Society, Justine Burns
6. Race and Opportunity in the Transition from School to Higher Education in South Africa, Michael Cosser
7. Class, Race, and Social Mobility in Brazil, Carlos Antonio Costa Ribeiro
8. Trends of Sex Discrimination in Japan, 1965-2000: The Gender Gap in Wage and the 'Marriage Bar', Kunihiro Kimura
9. Male-Female Wage Differentials in Japan, Koyo Miyoshi
10. Roadblocks at the High End: The Role of Caste in Post-University Employment, Katherine Newman and Ashwini Deshpande
11. The Language of Globalization: Meritocracy, Productivity and the Persistence of Caste-Based Stereotypes among Indian Employers, Katherine S. Newman and Surinder S. Jodhka
12. Caste is not Past: The Persistence of Discrimination in India's Formal Labor Market, Paul Attewell and Sukhadeo Thorat
13. The Price of Globalization: Wage Penalties and Caste Inequality in Liberal India, Paul Attewell and S. Madheswaran