|
|
|
|
|
Books : The American Dream and the Power of Wealth: Choosing Schools and Inheriting Inequality in the Land of Opportunity |
List Price: $29.95Amazon.com's Price: $26.95 You Save: $3.00 (10%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 339.220973
EAN: 9780415952392
ISBN: 0415952395
Label: Routledge
Manufacturer: Routledge
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 248
Publication Date: August 04, 2006
Publisher: Routledge
Sales Rank: 514733
Studio: Routledge
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In contemporary America, the racial wealth gap is growing, with families transmitting race and class inequalities from generation to generation. Yet Americans continue to hold deep-rooted beliefs in the principles of individualism, equal opportunity, and meritocracy. Education, the "Great Equalizer," is supposed to level the playing field, ensuring that every child-regardless of family of origin-gets an equal chance at success. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 200 black and white families, The American Dream and the Power of Wealth starkly reveals the enormous extent to which parents defend their beliefs in the values that lie at the heart of the American Dream. Yet the way wealth is acquired and the way it is used categorically puts children from different families on vastly different educational trajectories, leaving them with uneven sets of opportunities.
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
Wake up America! Ask yourself a couple of questions: 1) Do you believe that the American Dream is alive and well in the 21st century? In other words- is America the land of equal opportunity, where we succeed or fail based on the work and effort we put into our daily lives? 2) Is there a "Power of Wealth" that exists in our society? Stated another way, do some people have an advantage based on intergenerational transfers of wealth- gifts received from parents/grandparents throughout life or at certain important life milestones? Your answers: probably YES and YES, if you're with the 260 families-- Black and White, Lower and Upper Class-- interviewed by Johnson in this thought-provoking study, which takes a very big contradiction (The American Dream vs. the Power of Wealth) and shows how it plays out in a smaller arena: the process of deciding on, and sending, our children to the best possible schools. This book should almost be mandatory reading for anyone with kids, anyone who votes, anyone who has money, or anyone who doesn't!
Rating: -
The American Dream and the Power of Wealth is a must read for anyone interested in critically looking at our public school system. Johnson takes the idea of equal opportunity and common American ideologies and exposes the myth of the American Dream for many childern. The most interesting aspect of Johnson's research is her in-depth interviews with families across the economic spectrum. Not only do we see how the American Dream plays out for poor childern, but Johnson extends her research to see how people think about the American Dream in middle-class homes and even some upper class homes. The patterns she draws are well explained and written very clearly to allow all levels of interest, from the sociologist to the first-level student, to understand the problems in American Schools.
Check out the chapter on buying in and opting out.
Browse for similar items by category:
|
