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Social Science Discrimination & Race Relations

Culture of Prejudice

Arguments in Critical Social Science

by (author) Judith C. Blackwell, Murray E.G. Smith & John S. Sorenson

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2008
Category
Discrimination & Race Relations, General, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, General, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442600034
    Publish Date
    Sep 2008
    List Price
    $39.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551114903
    Publish Date
    Jun 2003
    List Price
    $34.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442602106
    Publish Date
    Apr 2013
    List Price
    $32.95

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Description

Contesting the putative "even-handedness" of many introductory social science texts, this innovative book presents strong and provocative arguments on contemporary social issues that will stimulate readers to think critically. The principal theme of the book is that social science is at its best, and most exciting, when it confronts and refutes "cultures of prejudice"—intricate systems of beliefs and attitudes that sustain many forms of social oppression and that are, themselves, sustained by ignorance and fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar. Such a critical social science, it is argued, can make an important contribution to promoting human freedom and extending human capacities.

Discussions range from the personal to the political, the national to the global, encompassing social policy analysis (law, health, and welfare), the status of women, and animal liberation, as well as nationalism, racism, political ideology, the global economy, and terrorism. This passionately argued book is an excellent supplementary text for undergraduate social science students, as well as a stimulating read for all those open to hard-hitting confrontations with conventional wisdom. Beginning each chapter with an aphorism, anecdote, or quotation that reflects, illustrates, or challenges particular prejudices, the authors offer concise critical discussions of the issues, informed by some of the best research and thought in the social scientific literature.

About the authors

Judith C. Blackwell is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Brock University. She is the co-editor of Illicit Drugs in Canada: A Risky Business (Nelson). She has also served as an advisor on drug laws and drug policy in Canada and England.

Judith C. Blackwell's profile page

Murray E.G. Smith's profile page

John S. Sorenson is Associate Professor of Sociology at Brock University. He is the author of Ghosts and Shadows: Construction of Identity and Community in an African Diaspora (University of Toronto Press); Imagining Ethiopia: Struggles for History and Identity in the Horn of Africa (Rutgers); and editor of Disaster and Development in the Horn of Africa (Macmillan).

John S. Sorenson's profile page