Diversity these days is a hallowed American value, widely shared and honored. That's a remarkable change from the Civil Rights era—but does this public commitment to diversity constitute a civil rights victory? What does diversity mean in contemporary America, and what are the effects of efforts to support it?Ellen Berrey digs deep into those questions in The Enigma of Diversity. Drawing on six years of fieldwork and historical sources dating back to the 1950s and making ex...

Gerry Handley faced years of blatant race-based harassment before he filed a complaint against his employer: racist jokes, signs reading "KKK" in his work area, and even questions from coworkers as to whether he had sex with his daughter as slaves supposedly did. He had an unusually strong case, with copious documentation and coworkers' support, and he settled for $50,000, even winning back his job. But victory came at a high cost. Legal fees cut into Mr. Handley's winnings, and tensions s...

Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work -- but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, Bowling Alone*,* which The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans' changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures -- whether they be PTA, church,...

On the surface, Riverview High School looks like the post-racial ideal. Serving an enviably affluent, diverse, and liberal district, the school is well-funded, its teachers are well-trained, and many of its students are high achieving. Yet Riverview has not escaped the same unrelenting question that plagues schools throughout America: why is it that even when all of the circumstances seem right, black and Latino students continue to lag behind their peers? Through five years' worth of inte...

A helpful guide for all those now mediating family disputes, as well as for those who hope to become family mediators.

Today’s justice system and the legal profession have rendered the “lawyer-warrior” notion outdated, shifting toward conflict resolution rather than protracted litigation. The new lawyer’s skills go beyond court battles to encompass negotiation, mediation, collaborative practice, and restorative justice. In The New Lawyer, Julie Macfarlane explores the evolving role of practitioners, articulating legal and ethical complexities in a variety of contexts. The result is a thought-provo...

Disciplining the Poor explains the transformation of poverty governance over the past forty years—why it happened, how it works today, and how it affects people. In the process, it clarifies the central role of race in this transformation and develops a more precise account of how race shapes poverty governance in the post–civil rights era. Connecting welfare reform to other policy developments, the authors analyze diverse forms of data to explicate the racialized origins, operati...

In recent years, stories of reckless lawyers and greedy citizens have given the legal system, and victims in general, a bad name. Many Americans have come to believe that we live in the land of the litigious, where frivolous lawsuits and absurdly high settlements reign.Scholars have argued for years that this common view of the depraved ruin of our civil legal system is a myth, but their research and statistics rarely make the news. William Haltom and Michael McCann here persuasivel...

The New Lawyer analyzes the profound impact changes in client needs and demands are having on how law is practised. Most legal clients are unwilling or unable to pay for protracted litigation and count on their lawyers to pursue just and expedient resolution. These clients are transforming the role of lawyers, the nature of client service, and the principles of legal practice. In this fully revised edition of the now classic text, Julie Macfarlane outlines how lawyers can meet new...

Though most conceptions of the rule of law assume equality before the law – and hence equal access to the justice system – this basic right is not being met for many low and middle income Canadians. This book focuses on the problem of civil access to justice for middle income earners – those whose household income is high enough to disqualify them from legal aid but not high enough to cover the costs of litigation.Featuring contributions by leading Canadian and international schola...

This volume is an essential, cutting-edge reference for all practitioners, students, and teachers in the field of dispute resolution. Each chapter was written specifically for this collection and has never before been published. The contributors--drawn from a wide range of academic disciplines--contains many of the most prominent names in dispute resolution today, including Frank E. A. Sander, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Bruce Patton, Lawrence Susskind, Ethan Katsh, Deborah Kolb, and Max Bazerma...

Now in its fifth edition! An indispensable reference for anyone concerned with the future of American colleges and universities.Whether it is advances in information technology, organized social movements, or racial inequality and social class stratification, higher education serves as a lens for examining significant issues within American society. First published in 1998, American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century offers a comprehensive introd...