Customer Reviews

Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Rothenberg puts together an excellent collection of writings addressing issues of class, gender, and race. I have used this for classes in courses addressing social problems and diversity issues with much success. Students enjoy the variety of writing styles and viewpoints and are often anxious to respond. I strongly recommend this as a text and a resource.

A colleague of mine introduced me to this book in 1991 while we were teaching courses in women's issues and human diversity. I have since used this book -- every single edition -- as a required text in human diversity at three major universities. Currently I am teaching in a graduate social work program in a rural setting at a small state university and will be using this text again for the third consecutive year. The students have consistently rated this book highly because of the interesting articles that Ms. Rothenberg has included. They actually enjoy reading the book. The articles are informative, provocative and timeless and give the students an excellent historical context and lens through which they can analyze and understand some of the most burning and divisive contemporary issues. I am reminded of Howard Zinn. I hope Ms. Rothenberg continues to publish this rich material. She tells the true story!

Rothenberg's book is an excellent resource. I've used it for years and it simply gets better. Many of the authors are people engaged in race, class, and gender struggles as activists, policy-makers, scholars, and cultural workers who are familiar with the issues up close and personal. Unlike the right-in this country that engages in armchair analysis of these issues from overtly ideological perspective they deny and refuse to acknowledge as such, the authors in this anthology provide you with their politics upfront and then with an analysis or description of an issue that is always incisive and grounded in historical and cultural understandings about the multiple systems of domination that are so alive and present in U.S. society. Its diversity and range of perspective challenges you to redefine your approach to the categories of analysis and experience covered.

Some of the articles are well argued, insightful, historically grounded, and modest in their assertions, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule.

The main problem I have with this book is that it offers no caveats about the ACTUAL complexity of American society. Many of the essays are personal stories and although true they are only a handful of stories among many. Students who have lived a privileged, sheltered life usually don't have the personal experience to know that life at the bottom may not always be as it is described in the book.

One example that comes to life is the story of a gay man's experiences of homophobia in Catholic schools. I was in a very similar situation when I went to Catholic schools so I was interested to see what his experience was. It turns out he had it quite a bit harsher than I ever did. I thought it might just be that my classmates were nicer people or something naive and implausible like that. Then I checked the publishing date. The essay was published in 1985 and this guy was looking back at his life. My estimate is that he went to high school in the sixties. When it comes to sexual orientation a lot has changed in since then but you would never know that from reading this book. No mention is ever made of the historical context behind any of the essays. A significant portion of the essays on sexual orientation and specifically homophobia were written YEARS ago, before gays started to become more open and accepted in the mid to late nineties. Anybody reading this book without a critical eye can be easily misled.

Most of the problem with this book though is with what I don't know. I don't know the political background of most of the writers. I don't know how rigorous their method was. I don't know if their representation of poverty in America accurately represents lived reality. It would be too easy slip in some very misleading stuff and have most people not notice it. After all, what do a bunch of upper-middle class mostly white students know about welfare? The book becomes particularly suspicious when every thing in it fits nicely into a narrow lowest common denominator left-wing view of the world.

Should I believe much of anything out of this book? I don't know but I honestly doubt it.

I had to get this book for my Identity class for graduate school for Intercultural Relations. It's the best text book out of 6 that I have, it gives you first hand accounts of peoples' lives in essays as chapters. It's a great read and I highly recommend it to people when trying to understand who you are and what your identity is.

I bought this book for a class I am taking. Given the fact that I had no choice in the book to buy, I would still say this is a good book for those interested in the subject matter. The book is broken down into sections, and the publications in each section range from theoretical pieces to current event newspaper articles, etc. It is an informative book that I would recommend to those interested in gender studies, discrimination, and the like in the United States.

Purchased this book @ the last minute. Book was in great conditions only a few markings and received my book in less than 1 week.!

I loved this book, got it for a Race, Gender, Class and Ethnicity class at school. I will keep it forever, its just a great book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject, it has case studies and thoughts on each by the author.

I read this book for my Human Diversity and Societal Oppression class in graduate school. I found it to be an easy read with some very well written pieces. I enjoyed the format of the book which broke up the sub sections into manageable pieces (which was nice considering this book is pretty stout in size). All in all... an interesting read that will open your eyes to the struggles of others.

I enjoyed this book and found it very informative concerning ethnicity and racism issues