Diversity in America : Keeping Government at a Safe Distance
Editorial Reviews
Review
John T. Noonan, Jr., Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit : A celebration and a dissection of diversity that is so insightful, so finely balanced, so fair, that it will frustrate the ideologically obsessed and gratify, enhearten and instruct everyone who wants to make America work.
Nathan Glazer, author of We Are All Multiculturalists Now : Peter Schuck has written the most comprehensive book to date on diversity, what about it might be good for society or alternatively bad for it, and how we might possibly resolve conflicts over diversity. This will be the most authoritative book available on the diversity issue and how it is played out in various policy areas. It is well-written and perfectly accessible, and very well-researched. Schuck seems to have missed nothing on the diversity debate and on the specific issues he takes up.
John Skrentny, author of The Minority Rights Revolution : Peter Shuck has done the scholarly community and perhaps the nation a favor in writing this book. He has written a far-reaching analysis of the basic operating value or principle of an increasing number of American institutions-diversity. There is no other book that offers such a thorough analysis. Moreover, and more importantly, Schuck does not rehearse the familiar arguments. His position is iconoclastic, and therefore interesting, courageous, and provocative.
Aristide Zolberg, co-editor (with Peter Benda) of Global Migrants, Global Refugees: Problems and Solutions : Shuck explores the diversity of diversity with tough-minded wit, combining the lawyer's analytic precision with the social theorist's breadth.
Book Description
America is the first society in history to make ethno-racial diversity an affirmative social ideal rather than viewing it as a fearful menace, as almost all other societies still do. Since the 1960s, America has pursued this ideal in many forms--not only to remedy past discrimination against minorities but also to increase diversity for its own sake.
It is high time for an accounting. How diverse are we now and what can we expect in the future? Why do we, unlike the rest of the world, think that diversity is desirable and that more of it is better? What risks does diversity pose? What are the roles of law, politics, and informal social controls in promoting diversity? How can we manage diversity better?
In this magisterial book, Peter H. Schuck explains how Americans have understood diversity, how we came to embrace it, how the government regulates it now, and how we can do better. He mobilizes a wealth of conceptual, historical, legal, political, and sociological analysis to argue that diversity is best managed not by the government but by families, ethnic groups, religious communities, employers, voluntary organizations, and other civil society institutions. Analyzing some of the most controversial policy arenas where politics and diversity intersect--immigration, multiculturalism, language, affirmative action, residential neighborhoods, religious practices, faith-based social services, and school choice--Schuck reveals the conflicts, trade-offs, and ironies entailed by our commitment to the diversity ideal. He concludes with recommendations to help us manage the challenge of diversity in the future.
Diversity in America : Keeping Government at a Safe Distance,Peter H. Schuck,Belknap Press,0674010531,Ethnic relations,General,Law,Minorities,Minority Studies - Ethnic American,Minority Studies - General,Multiculturalism,Pluralism (Social sciences),Public Policy - Cultural Policy,Race relations,Sociology,United States,Law / General
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