Separate Societies

Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities

William Goldsmith, Edward Blakely

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781439902929, 9781439902912
• eBook ISBN: 9781439902936
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

"Economic and political forces no longer combat poverty—they generate poverty!" exclaim William Goldsmith and Edward Blakely in their report on the plight of American's urban poor. In this revised and updated edition of their 1992 book Separate Societies,the authors present a compelling examination of the damaging divisions that isolate poor city minority residents from the middle-class suburban majority. They pay special attention to how the needs of the permanently poor have been unmet through the alternating years of promises and neglect, and propose a progressive turn away from 30 years of conservative policies.

Separate Societies vividly documents how the urban working class has been pushed out of industrial jobs through global economic restructuring, and how the Wall Street meltdown has aggravated underemployment, depleted public services, and sharpened racial and class inequalities.

The authors insist that the current U.S. approach puts Americans out of work and lowers the standard of living for all. As such, Goldsmith and Blakely urge the Obama administration to create better urban policy and foster better metropolitan management to effectively and efficiently promote equality.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations and Tables
• Foreword to the Second Edition, by President Bill Clinton
• Acknowledgments
• 1. The End of an Era: Divided We Fall
• 2. Separate Assets: Race, Gender, and Other Dimensions of Poverty
• 3. Separate Opportunities: Competition versus Inclusion—The International Dimensions of American Urban Poverty
• 4. Separate Places: The Changing Shape of the American Metropolis
• 5. Rebuilding the American City
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index