While there is considerable information on job opportunities and employment patterns, or lack thereof, for African Americans in the new economy, there is virtually no information on how African Americans view the world of work and how they attempt to navigate that world. This work will look at how one group of African Americans conceptualize the world of work, including the types of jobs that may be available and the skills and talents needed to find and do such jobs. Based on interviews with 100 low-income African Americans in a suburb of Detroit, this study will focus on how people on the margins take stock of their situations and attempt to function in them. It will address the questions of what do they think are the "good" jobs, how they assess their own skills, and how they connect the two. It will also explore how these individuals experience social categories such as race, class, and gender and how these impact their understanding of the world of work.

About the Author
Alford Young, Jr. (Ph. D., Chicago) is associate professor of sociology at Michigan where he has a joint appointment with the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies. His research focuses on how African Americans understand themselves and their society and the implications for public policy. A former student of Charles Lemert, he has just published The Minds of Marginalized Black Men with Princeton UP. He has published numerous articles, contributed chapters to a number of books, and has a co-authored book in progress with Paradigm. He is a much sought after rising star I've been after for years.


Book Information
ISBN 9780742570108
Author Alford Young, Jr.
Format Paperback
Page Count 204
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 290g
Dimensions(mm) 226mm * 154mm * 13mm