Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles (Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871541297 ISBN 13: 9780871541291

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000

Synopsis

This book cuts through the powerful mythology surrounding Los Angeles to reveal the causes of inequality in a city that has weathered rapid population change, economic restructuring, and fractious ethnic relations. The sources of disadvantage and the means of getting ahead differ greatly among the city's myriad ethnic groups. The demand for unskilled labor is stronger here than in other cities, allowing Los Angeles's large population of immigrant workers with little education to find work in light manufacturing and low-paid service jobs.

A less beneficial result of this trend is the increased marginalization of the city's low-skilled black workers, who do not enjoy the extended ethnic networks of many of the new immigrant groups and who must contend with persistent negative racial stereotypes.

Patterns of residential segregation are also more diffuse in Los Angeles, with many once-black neighborhoods now split evenly between blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other minorities. Inequality in Los Angeles cannot be reduced to a simple black-white divide. Nonetheless, in this thoroughly multicultural city, race remains a crucial factor shaping economic fortunes.

A Volume in the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality

About this title

About the Author

LAWRENCE D. BOBO is professor of sociology and Afro-American studies at Harvard University.

MELVIN L. OLIVER is vice president of the Ford Foundation. He is responsible for overseeing the Asset Building and Community Development Program.

JAMES H. JOHNSON JR. is William Rand Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Management, Sociology, and Public Policy and director of the  Urban Investment Strategies Center in the Kenan Institute in the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ABEL VALENZUELA JR. is assistant professor of urban planning and Chicana/o studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also associate director of the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, Institute for Social Science Research.

From Library Journal

Many scholars have noted that racial minorities will soon form the majority in the United States. How has the growth of the minority population affected the country? How do those who immigrated here many years ago feel about those immigrating now? How do minorities feel about discrimination? Seeking to answer some of these questions, this fascinating study focuses on the growth and changes in Los Angeles and examines the city's history as well as its population changes as a result of migration and immigration. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of life in the prismatic metropolis, including residential segregation, salary inequalities, and workplace issues. Unlike many studies of racial issues, this book looks not only at African American and white issues but also at interactions among Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and legal and illegal immigrants. The survey is based on data gathered from 4000 households and 800 employers, and readers will appreciate the extensive statistical information, detailed endnotes, and bibliographies following each chapter. This book will find a home in academic libraries and those with demographics, ethnic and cultural studies, American studies, sociology, and urban studies collections. Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0871541297
• ISBN 13: 9780871541291
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 625
• Editor: Bobo Lawrence D., Oliver Melvin L., Johnson Jr. James H., Valenzuela Abel Jr.