Mississippi's Mess
Political Inequality, Stratification Economics, and Inadequate Economic Development
Will be published approx. on 12. November 2026
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-6669-6686-2 (ISBN)
Description
Mississippi's Mess: Political Inequality, Stratification Economics, and Inadequate Economic Development challenges readers to question the status quo of economic development and the foundation of inequality that economic development efforts are built upon. Marvin King suggests we give economic development efforts too much credit because we do not view economic development holistically. We must place economic development efforts within the full context of state political and economic systems. King recognizes that economic inequality does not exist in a vacuum as the manifestation of generations of political inequality is economic inequality. In Mississippi's case, the state's political and economic system rests on a foundation of discrimination and inequality.
Mississippi's Mess answers why economic development efforts fail to meaningfully change the economic status quo for millions of Black people. This failure to change the status quo is due to the state's devotion to neoliberal economic principles favoring hostility to workers, lower taxes, and less government regulation. King's analysis is based on his use of Stratification Economics, which stresses how power imbalances lead to inequality. Using Mississippi as a case study, Marvin King explains how economic development organized under neoliberal principles inevitably leads to stratified economic outcomes.
Mississippi's Mess answers why economic development efforts fail to meaningfully change the economic status quo for millions of Black people. This failure to change the status quo is due to the state's devotion to neoliberal economic principles favoring hostility to workers, lower taxes, and less government regulation. King's analysis is based on his use of Stratification Economics, which stresses how power imbalances lead to inequality. Using Mississippi as a case study, Marvin King explains how economic development organized under neoliberal principles inevitably leads to stratified economic outcomes.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
12 b/w figures and 6 b/w tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6669-6686-2 (9781666966862)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Marvin King is associate professor of political science and African American studies at the University of Mississippi with 20 years of teaching experience in African American politics, politics of the American South, and American federalism at the University of Mississippi.
Content
Introduction
Book Outline
Chapter 1 - Black Political Inequality
The Constitution
Three-Fifths Clause
Slave Tradea
Fugitive Slave Clause
Dred Scott
Why Civil War
Civil War Amendments
Reconstruction
Jim Crow
Voting
Conclusion
Chapter 2 - Political Inequality in Mississippi
Mississippi Politics After the Civil War
Mississippi's Constitution
Deportation and Violence
Race Massacres
Mississippi Racism
Resistance to Integration - Higher Education
Conclusion
Chapter 3 - Black-White Mississippi Partisanship
Black Voters as Democratic Partisans
Realignment in Mississippi
Conclusion
Chapter 4 - Historic Black Economic Inequality
Stratified Economic Inequality
Profitability of Slavery
Land Loss
Housing
Labor Legislation
Organized Labor
Conclusion
Chapter 5 - Contemporary Black Economic Inequality
Labor Force Participation
Education
Incarceration and the Labor Force
Health
Tax Inequality
Income Inequality
Wealth Inequality
Conclusion
Chapter 6 - Neoliberalism and Economic Development
Neoliberalism
Keynesianism
A Shift Away From Keynesianism
Conclusion
Chapter 7 - Economic Development in Mississippi
Black-White Economic Bifurcation in 1960s-2020s Mississippi
Mississippi's Economy in Relative Perspective
Economic Outcomes in Mississippi
Organized Economic Development in Mississippi
Neoliberalism in Mississippi's Economic Development
Conclusion
Chapter 8 - Political Responsiveness in Mississippi
Systemic Racism
Responsiveness Research
Legislative Non-Responsiveness in Mississippi
Policy Responsiveness
Punishing Jackson
Conclusion
Chapter 9 - Fixing Economic Development in Mississippi
A New Philosophical Approach
Solutions
Conclusion
Afterword
References
About the Author
Book Outline
Chapter 1 - Black Political Inequality
The Constitution
Three-Fifths Clause
Slave Tradea
Fugitive Slave Clause
Dred Scott
Why Civil War
Civil War Amendments
Reconstruction
Jim Crow
Voting
Conclusion
Chapter 2 - Political Inequality in Mississippi
Mississippi Politics After the Civil War
Mississippi's Constitution
Deportation and Violence
Race Massacres
Mississippi Racism
Resistance to Integration - Higher Education
Conclusion
Chapter 3 - Black-White Mississippi Partisanship
Black Voters as Democratic Partisans
Realignment in Mississippi
Conclusion
Chapter 4 - Historic Black Economic Inequality
Stratified Economic Inequality
Profitability of Slavery
Land Loss
Housing
Labor Legislation
Organized Labor
Conclusion
Chapter 5 - Contemporary Black Economic Inequality
Labor Force Participation
Education
Incarceration and the Labor Force
Health
Tax Inequality
Income Inequality
Wealth Inequality
Conclusion
Chapter 6 - Neoliberalism and Economic Development
Neoliberalism
Keynesianism
A Shift Away From Keynesianism
Conclusion
Chapter 7 - Economic Development in Mississippi
Black-White Economic Bifurcation in 1960s-2020s Mississippi
Mississippi's Economy in Relative Perspective
Economic Outcomes in Mississippi
Organized Economic Development in Mississippi
Neoliberalism in Mississippi's Economic Development
Conclusion
Chapter 8 - Political Responsiveness in Mississippi
Systemic Racism
Responsiveness Research
Legislative Non-Responsiveness in Mississippi
Policy Responsiveness
Punishing Jackson
Conclusion
Chapter 9 - Fixing Economic Development in Mississippi
A New Philosophical Approach
Solutions
Conclusion
Afterword
References
About the Author