
Democracy Remixed
Black Youth and the Future of American Politics
Cathy J. Cohen(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 21. October 2010
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-19-537800-9 (ISBN)
Description
Since at least the 1960s, the impact of black youth on American politics has been dramatically disproportionate to its small population size and lack of electoral clout. Their influence likes in their undeserved status as the stand-in image for the larger pathologies of American culture and society: teenage pregnancy, street crime, the crack epidemic, the urban crisis, and "gangsta" culture, to name a few. That image has been central to some of the bitterest battles
between left and right in recent times. They have factored heavily in contests over welfare policy, affirmative action, busing, the culture wars, and the fallout from the social turmoil of the 1960s. And despite whatever racial progress there has been in recent years, the status of black youth
remains for many a bellwether indicator of social decline. But it is not just whites who adhere to this view; older blacks like Bill Cosby do as well. As Cathy Cohen demonstrates, these misconceptions are not merely inaccurate; they have also undermined the struggle for racial equality. For the past few years, Cohen has been running the Black Youth Project, a groundbreaking and sophisticated national survey of the opinions and experiences of black youth in America. She will discuss the
very real social problems that do exist in the social worlds of young blacks, but her primary purpose is to paint the most complex and nuanced portrait of this population to date. Taking us through the election of Barack Obama, Cohen shows us how young blacks really live, what they really think about
politics and society, and how the entrenched structural barriers they face-and which often go unmentioned by those who see America as 'postracial'-are the real problem. Featuring vivid stories and and a hard-hitting argument, Cohen's book will change how we think about black youth in America.
between left and right in recent times. They have factored heavily in contests over welfare policy, affirmative action, busing, the culture wars, and the fallout from the social turmoil of the 1960s. And despite whatever racial progress there has been in recent years, the status of black youth
remains for many a bellwether indicator of social decline. But it is not just whites who adhere to this view; older blacks like Bill Cosby do as well. As Cathy Cohen demonstrates, these misconceptions are not merely inaccurate; they have also undermined the struggle for racial equality. For the past few years, Cohen has been running the Black Youth Project, a groundbreaking and sophisticated national survey of the opinions and experiences of black youth in America. She will discuss the
very real social problems that do exist in the social worlds of young blacks, but her primary purpose is to paint the most complex and nuanced portrait of this population to date. Taking us through the election of Barack Obama, Cohen shows us how young blacks really live, what they really think about
politics and society, and how the entrenched structural barriers they face-and which often go unmentioned by those who see America as 'postracial'-are the real problem. Featuring vivid stories and and a hard-hitting argument, Cohen's book will change how we think about black youth in America.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
8 black and white line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
576 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-537800-9 (9780195378009)
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Book
04/2012
1st Edition
Oxford University Press Inc
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E-Book
02/2012
1st Edition
OUP eBook
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E-Book
09/2010
1st Edition
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Person
Cathy J. Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Cohen is the author of the book The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (University of Chicago Press, 1999) and the co-editor with Kathleen Jones and Joan Tronto of Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader (NYU, 1997). Her work has been published in numerous journals and edited volumes including the
American Political Science Review, GLQ, NOMOS, and Social Text. Cohen is also editor with Frederick Harris of the Oxford series "Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities." Her general field of specialization is American politics, although her research interests include African-American
politics, women and politics, lesbian and gay politics, and social movements.
American Political Science Review, GLQ, NOMOS, and Social Text. Cohen is also editor with Frederick Harris of the Oxford series "Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities." Her general field of specialization is American politics, although her research interests include African-American
politics, women and politics, lesbian and gay politics, and social movements.
Author
David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and the CollegeDavid and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and the College, University of Chicago