Du[a]ling Quotes #4 - Two perspectives on Race and Inequality

“What is commonly called ‘race relations’ does not consist of relationships among men who are genetically different” (54).
   -from Ethnic Stratification, Shibutani and Kwan, 1965.


“Communities such as Beltway ... remind us how class and inequality are at the center of many of the complex problems we often subsume under the category of race” (161).
   -from Working Class Heroes by Kefalas, 2003.

Du[a]ling Quotes #3 - Justifying Inequality

“Social inequality is thus an unconsciously filled evolved device by which societies insure that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons” (243).
   - Davis and Moore in “Some Principles of Stratification,” 1945

“Deviations from economic equality must be shown to be beneficial, placing the burden of proof on those who advocate inequality” (32).
   - Lester Thurow in Generating Inequality, 1975.

Interesting Links, 8/10/11

I have been travelling a lot recently, but have accumulated several interesting links the last couple of weeks. Let's get caught up a bit here...

Any effort involving bicycles, the rust belt, and art sounds cool to me. This one will be fun to follow.  Speaking of cool efforts, have you ever wondered about the color of your city?  And speaking of color, one assumes that greener cities are more pleasant to live in, but this article explains how a park helped stimulate private investment in Greenville, South Carolina.

Hosting the Olympics is an event that promises the host city a rebuilt infrastructure and a stimulated economy. Here is an article reflecting on the short and long term effects of hosting the Olympics in Atlanta, GA 15 years later.  Last year's ASA conference was in Atlanta, and I walked through the park.  It is nice.

Here are a couple of links about inequality. First, while the current economic situation may be a recession for whites, it has been effectively a depression for blacks and latinos.  Next, research by social scientist Dacher Keltner finds that lower class people are more empathetic, prosocial, and more compassionate than higher class folks.

Here are a few interesting articles on re-arranging, re-sizing, and re-purposing things in an urban context.  First, some folks are turning Hummers into Homes.  Next, there will be a lifesize boardgame at MoMA.  Finally, folks are repurposing empty shipping containers, turning them into retail stores and other business.

Finally, let's make a quick sports diversion - the Pittsburgh Pirates currently hold the record for the most consecutive losing seasons by a professional sports team in North America. They were playing very well this season, prompting NPR to ask Pittsburghers if the strong season would last.  Unfortunately, the Pirates went on a 10 game losing streak shortly after this story was published.  

Du[a]ling Quotes #1 - Education and Life Chances in the City

This will be the first post in a series called Du[a]ling Quotes. I'll be posting two quotes that are related in some way. Sometimes they'll be very similar, sometimes they will contrast a bit.


“Cities within the United States and more radically across the world are highly unequal in the life chances they offer residents, which in turn shapes those residents’ capacities to participate in the surroundings systems of power and privilege. Although the numbers have changed since the 1980’s, inequality among places persists in radical degree” (xi).

   -in Urban Fortunes by Logan and Molotch, 1987.

“The recent shift to a knowledge-based information economy has further accelerated the rate of investment in post-graduate education, research, and lifetime training. In advanced market societies, a critical responsibility of government is to ensure levels of education and training that not only will permit citizens to participate effectively in a growing array of complex markets but also will promote the sustained growth of income and the continued creation of wealth in a competitive global economy” (25).
   -in Categorically Unequal by Massey, 2007