Handbook of Employment Discrimination Research: Rights and Realities

There is much to understand about employment discrimination law as a social system. What drives the growing trend toward litigation? To what extent does discrimination persist and why does it vary by organizational and market context? How do different groups perceive discrimination and what, if anything, do they do about it? How do employers respond to discrimination law? What is the effect of broader political and legal currents? What is the relationship between anti-discrimination law and social inequality? This book presents answers, from a distinguished group of scholars, and social scientists, offering a broad reconsideration of employment discrimination and its treatment in law.

There is still much to learn about fundamental aspects of employment discrimination law as a social system. What drives the growing demand for litigation? To what extent does discrimination persist in subtle but pervasive forms and what explains how it varies by organizational and market context? How do different groups of workers perceive the extent to which they are discriminated against and what, if anything, do they do about it? How have employers responded to discrimination law? How is employment discrimination law affected by broader political and legal currents? What is the relationship between anti-discrimination law and patterns of social inequality?

The chapters in this unique collection grapple with many of these issues. Questions of this scope require interdisciplinary scholarship; and this book includes original contributions from many of the legal scholars, economists, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and historians who are at the forefront of new research on discrimination and law. The Handbook of Employment Discrimination Research encompasses critical discussions across different social science disciplines, as well as between legal scholars and social scientists. As a collection, it suggests a broad reconsideration of employment discrimination and its treatment in law.