The political economy of the Reconstruction Era’s race riots

This paper analyzes the political economy of the Reconstruction Era’s (1865–1877) race riots through the economic logic of rules. The central argument is that the race riots were not an inevitable outcome at the end of the Civil War, but instead occurred because of the absence of effective rules to raise the cost of engaging in violence. We offer a general framework of ‘rule stickiness’ to analyze the process of rule reform. This framework offers insight into the conditions influencing the enforcement costs of formal rules, as well as the likelihood of third-party enforcers effectively monitoring and punishing rule breakers. The Memphis race riot of 1866 is provided as a case study to illuminate the explanatory power of the theoretical framework.     

Does race matter? The determinants and consequences of self-reports of discrimination victimization

Few empirical investigations have explored the determinants of discrimination. Even more rare are studies that explicitly link reports of discrimination to harmful consequences. This article investigates the determinants and consequences of self-reports of discrimination victimization. It addresses how likely different kinds of people are to say that they have been the victims of discrimination. After estimating who is likely to report being victimized by discrimination, the article presents estimates of the relationship of self-reports of discrimination victimization to the earnings of different social groups. Results indicate that African Americans, Latinos, and immigrants report being victimized more frequently than whites with rates that exceed twice the national average. For African Americans, the “cost” of felt discrimination exceeds $6,200; for Latinos, the “cost” exceeds $11,300. Such findings suggest that reports of discrimination are not just the product of the imaginations of overly sensitive, raceconscious, victim-minded individuals. Rather, these reports appear to represent real experiences that negatively and demonstrably impact the quality of their lives.     

Tariff liberalization and product standards: Regulatory chill and race to the bottom?

Does tariff liberalization cause regulatory chill by putting downward pressure on health, safety, and environmental standards? Or does it cause a race to the top as governments seek to use standards as nontariff barriers to trade? There remains remarkably little empirical evidence to answer these long-debated questions. We seek to address this lack by analyzing annual country-by-industry data on notifications of changes in sanitary and phytosanitary standards by world trade organization members. Our results suggest that the impact of increased trade pressure depends on whether domestic producers are likely to gain or lose from a change in standards. Regulatory chill is the dominant response in most countries, but countries in which producers can adapt to standards relatively cheaply appear to race to the top. Consequently, tariff liberalization encourages divergence in standards across countries.     

Does mobility matter? The neighborhood conditions of housing voucher holders by race and ethnicity

Abstract

Mobility is one mechanism used to address the federal goals of deconcen‐trating poverty and minorities. The Housing Choice Voucher Program relies on participants to make residential location decisions consistent with these goals. Our research investigates the level and impact of mobility on the neighborhood quality of voucher holders, their neighborhood conditions by race and ethnicity, and perceived obstacles to mobility within the jurisdiction of a Southern California housing authority.

About one‐third of the sample moved during the study, and moving resulted in improved neighborhoods for only one subset of movers. Minorities live in more impoverished, overcrowded neighborhoods than nonminorities, even when controlling for mobility status, contract rent, and other factors. Further, most voucher holders see the lack of rental units as a major obstacle to mobility. These findings suggest that current policy is not uniformly achieving deconcentration and that real and perceived barriers to mobility exist, especially for minorities.     

Defending the white race: White male faculty opposition to a “white racism” course

The structures and processes of curriculum censorship are a microcosm of the racial organization and dynamics of America and other modern societies. They offer valuable insights into how the issue of systemic white racism is kept off organizational agendas. Whether successful or unsuccessful, censorship efforts typically become visible only in those rare instances when they are challenged publicly. In this paper arguments made against and for an intensely opposed “White Racism” course are examined to delineate the relationship between power, voice, and social change. This curriculum conflict is the analytical vehicle through which we explore the role of race-defensive denial in the persistence of systemic white racism. This case study also reveals effective ways of overcoming such denial and placing white racism at the center of social discourse.     

Bleaching out the color line?: The skin color continuum and the tripartite model of race

Bonilla-Silva [Skin Deep: How Race and Color Matter in the “Color-Blind” Era, IRRPP and University of Illinois Press, Chicago and Urbana-Chapaign, IL, 2004, pp. 224–239] argues that “the U.S. is developing a tri-racial system with “Whites” at the top, an intermediary group of “honorary Whites,” and a non-White group or the “collective Black” at the bottom. His thesis provides a new, provocative explanation of how race will operate in 21st Century America. Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, this article provides an analysis of propositions derived from three models of race as they relate to stratification outcomes: the “binary” (Black/White) model of race, Bonilla-Silva’s tripartite model of race, and a multi-ethnic model of race and ethnicity. The analysis points out that Whites and Blacks differ significantly on several stratification outcomes (e.g., education, occupational prestige, earnings, and family income), irrespective of the model of race that is used. The binary, Black/White model of race is still important in identifying baseline differences in who gets what. The results of the analysis further suggest that Bonilla-Silva’s tripartite model of race makes some apparent improvements on the binary model. In particular, the bivariate results were fully consistent with Bonilla-Silva’s tripartite model. Nevertheless, there are other stratification outcomes that do not strictly conform to the expectations of the tripartite model. The implications of these findings are examined briefly.     

From the outside lane: issues of ‘race’ in South African athletics in the twentieth century

In her introductory essay to this special issue on refugees and xeno­phobia--in which the articles focus primarily on asylum-seekers,2 mostly in the United Kingdom, but also in France and Ireland--guest editor Liza Schuster draws on the work of the contributors and on her own research in Britain, France, Germany and Italy to address the treatment of asylum-seekers by European states. European liberal democracies share a common commitment to granting asylum to those in need of protection, a commitment made legally binding by signing the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. They also share a commitment to principles of equality and non-discrimination. However, in recent years European states have embraced practices that permit discrimination against and unequal treatment of asylum-seekers, and recent British government proposals threaten the 1951 Convention itself. Schuster interrogates some of the underlying assumptions of asylum policies in the United Kingdom in particular, but also with reference to other European states, arguing that common-sense assertions of the ‘need for control’, which underlie the differential treatment of asylum-seekers in particular, are expressions of a racism at the heart of European states. She further argues that, at the border, racism intersects in a complex and shifting way with class and gender, creating a hierarchy of the excluded. Following a discussion of racism and these other modalities of exclusion, Schuster examines practices through which this racism is articulated.     

‘Everybody else just living their lives’: 9/11, race and the new postglobal literature

ABSTRACT

López's essay focuses on three questions or concerns: globalization, its aftermath and how those on the bottom survive it. During globalization's rise through the 1990s even the most virulent critics treated its eventual hegemony over the planet as a fait accompli; the only relevant questions were how it would change us, and whether those changes were desirable. Today the question is how to live now that globalization has failed us. As the aftermath of each of the global cataclysms of the last decade have amply demonstrated, it is the poor, the disenfranchised and marginalized who bear the brunt of the suffering and anxiety set in motion by the economic, political and cultural changes unleashed by globalization at the level of neighbourhoods and communities. What López calls the ‘postglobal’ emerges precisely at those moments when globalization as a hegemonic discourse stumbles, when it experiences a crisis or setback. The first section of his essay consists of a detailed exposition of the term ‘postglobal’ and its efficacy for the study of contemporary literature and culture. The rest focuses on Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane as an exemplar of what he calls the new postglobal literature.     

A horse race around a Möbius strip: A review and a test of utility-maximizing and organizational-process models of public expenditure decisions

This article shows how we might choose between utility-maximizing and organizational-process models of public expenditure decisions and concludes we ought not to try. Both contribute to our understanding of public expenditure outcomes. Furthermore, an integrated approach could better explain public expenditure decisions, than could either approach taken alone.The ideas and their presentation in this paper are the responsibility of Fred Thompson. Richard Williams carried out the data collection and editing and the statistical analysis described herein. Indebtedness to Patrick Larkey of Carnegie-Mellon University is very great. He gave many long hours to discussions of the points raised in this paper. Without his contribution it is doubtful that it would have been written. It is not simply egotism, however, which prevents our sharing authorship with him. The fact is, that after many long hours of discussion and exchange of drafts, we continue to find ourselves irreconcilably divided as to the respective merits of the two models. The paper also benefited from extensive comments by Jim Stephenson and Aiden Vining of UBC, Kristen Monroe of NYU and William Zumeta of UCLA.Now Senior Research Consultant, Regulation Reference, Economic Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.Now at Behavioral Research Institute, University of Colorado.     

Comment on Victoria Basolo and Mai Thi Nguyen's “Does mobility matter? The neighborhood conditions of housing voucher holders by race and ethnicity”

Abstract

Creating the opportunity for minorities to move away from poor, racially concentrated neighborhoods to better ones is an important goal of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. However, mobility is not its only—or even its primary—objective. Rather, it aims to reduce severe rent burdens for very low income families and individuals.

Basolo and Nguyen imply that the voucher program by itself can overcome entrenched patterns of racial discrimination. This is unrealistic, even when families receive search assistance. Instead, the test is whether a minority family with a voucher is more likely to live in a low‐poverty, low‐minority neighborhood than the same family without a voucher. The program passes that test. However, Basolo and Nguyen's analysis points to the need for more research on voucher use in localities like Santa Ana where overcrowded housing is an issue, in neighborhoods with a mixed minority population, and in specific metropolitan areas.     

Weighing the “burden of ‘acting white’”: Are there race differences in attitudes toward education?

Recent reports by ethnographic researchers and media sources suggest that many African American students view academic success as a form of “acting white,” and that peer pressure reduces their level of effort and performance. This article analyzes the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 to answer three questions: (1) do blacks experience greater alienation toward school than non-Hispanic whites?; (2) do blacks incur social penalties from their peers for succeeding academically?; and (3) if so, are these “achievement penalties” greater than those for whites? Our analysis suggests the answer to each of the three questions is “apparently not.”