African Americans in the U.S. Economy

Cecilia A. Conrad, John Whitehead, Patrick L. Mason, James Stewart

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9780742568594
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Over the last several decades, academic discourse on racial inequality has focused primarily on political and social issues with significantly less attention on the complex interplay between race and economics. African Americans in the U.S. Economy represents a contribution to recent scholarship that seeks to lessen this imbalance.

This book builds upon, and significantly extends, the principles, terminology, and methods of standard economics and black political economy. Influenced by path-breaking studies presented in several scholarly economic journals, this volume is designed to provide a political-economic analysis of the past and present economic status of African Americans.

The chapters in this volume represent the work of some of the nation's most distinguished scholars on the various topics presented. The individual chapters cover several well-defined areas, including black employment and unemployment, labor market discrimination, black entrepreneurship, racial economic inequality, urban revitalization, and black economic development. The book is written in a style free of the technical jargon that characterizes most economics textbooks. While the book is methodologically sophisticated, it is accessible to a wide range of students and the general public and will appeal to academicians and practitioners alike.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Black Political Economy: An Introduction
• PART I Slavery and the Early Formation of Black Labor
• PART II Organized Labor and African Americans
• PART III Theories of Racial Discrimination, Inequality, and Economic Progress
• PART IV Current Economic Status of African Americans: Hard Evidence of Economic Discrimination and Inequality
• PART V Globalization and Its Impact on the Economic Well-Being of African Americans and Latinos
• PART VI Black Capitalism: Entrepreneurs and Consumers
• PART VII Education, Employment, Training, and Social Welfare: Alternative Public Policy Approaches in the Struggle to Achieve Racial Equality
• PART VIII Understanding Black Reparations
• PART IX African American Economic Development and Urban Revitalization Strategies
• About the Editors