Ethnicity, Social Mobility, and Public Policy Comparing the USA and UK

The causes and consequences of social mobility are a central area of study within the social sciences and the differing levels of economic development between ethnic groups is an issue of major concern for policy-makers. Written by leading scholars with a wide range of expertise, this book is the first to provide a comparative analysis of these and related issues within the US and the UK and includes such topics as education, work and employment, political mobilization and social networks.

This major comparative study of the social mobility of ethnic minorities in the US and UK argues that social mobility must be understood as a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon, incorporating the wealth and income of groups, but also their political power and social recognition. Written by leading sociologists, economists, political scientists, geographers, and philosophers in both countries, the volume addresses issues as diverse as education, work and employment, residential concentration, political mobilisation, public policy and social networks, while drawing larger lessons about the meaning of race and inequality in the two countries. While finding that there are important similarities in the experience of ethnic, and especially immigrant, groups in the two countries, the volume also concludes that the differences between the US and UK, especially in the case of American blacks, are equally important.

Introduction Glenn C. Loury, Tariq Modood and Steven M. Teles; Part I. Historical Overviews: 1. Ruling an empire, governing a multi-national state: the impact of Britain's historical legacy on the ethno-racial regime Mary Hickman; 2. American diversity and the 2000 Census Nathan Glazer; 3. Four modes of ethno-somatic stratification: the experience of blacks in Europe and the Americas Orlando Patterson; Part II. Informal Social Networks: 4. Ethnicity as social capital: community-based institutions and embedded networks of social relations Min Zhou; 5. Intergenerational mobility and racial inequality in education and earnings Linda Loury; 6. Social integration and social mobility: spatial segregation and intermarriage of the Caribbean population in Britain Ceri Peach; 7. Ghettos and the transmission of ethnic capital David Cutler, Edward Glaeser and Jacob Vigdor; 8. Family formulation in multi-cultural Britain: diversity and change Richard Berthoud; Part III. Formal Structures: 9. Educational progress for African Americans and Latinos in the United States from the 1950s to the 1990s: the interaction of ancestry and class Michael Hout; 10. The educational attainments of ethnic minorities in Britain Tariq Modood; 11. Why America's black-white school achievement gap persists Ronald Ferguson; 12. Networks and niches: the continuing significance of ethnic connections Roger Waldinger; 13. Non-white origins, anglo destinations: immigrants in the US and Britain Suzanne Model; 14. Ethnic differences in the British labor market: the role of education and social class origins Anthony Heath and Dorren McMahon; 15. Ethnic minorities, employment, self-employment and social mobility in post-war Britain Vaughan Robinson and Rina Valeny; Part IV. Political Institutions and Processes: 16. Ethnicity and political mobilisation in Britain Tariq Modood; 17. Political institutions and minority mobility in the United States Peter Skerry; 18. Race, state and policy: the development of employment discrimination policy in the United States and Britain Robert Lieberman; 19. Regime effects: ethnicity, social mobility and public policy in the US and Britain Steven M. Teles, Robert Mickey and Fawzia Ahmed; Part V. Normative Analysis: 20. Race, inequality and justice in the United States: some social-philosophic reflections Glenn C. Loury; 21. Achieving racial equality Bhikhu Parekh.

The causes and consequences of social mobility are a central area of study within social sciences, and the differing levels of economic development between ethnic groups is an issue of concern for policy-makers. This book provides a comparative analysis of these and related issues within the US and the UK.

Glenn C. Loury is Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute on Race and Social Division at Boston University.
Tariq Modood is Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy and founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol. He has published extensively and was awarded the MBE for services to social science and ethnic relations in 2001.
Steven M. Teles is Assistant Professor of Politics at Brandeis University. He has published books and articles on a wide range of topics including welfare, affirmative action, devolution in the UK and EU.