Summary
Contents
Subject index
Published in Cooperation with the American Sociological Society Sociology has had a long and convoluted relationship with the public policy community. While the field has historically considered its mission one of effecting social change, in recent decades this has become only a minor part of the sociological agenda. The editor of this volume, MacArthur Fellow and former ASA President William Julius Wilson, asserts that sociology's ostrich-like stance threatens to leave the discipline in a position of irrelevance to the world at large and compromises the support of policymakers, funders, media, and the public. Wilson's vision is of a sociology attuned to the public agenda, influencing public policy through both short and long-range analysis from a sociological perspective. Using a variety of policy issues, perspectives, methods, and cases, the distinguished contributors to this volume both demonstrate and emphasize Wilson's ideas. Undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and academics in sociology, political science, policy studies, and human services will find this argument for sociology's civic duty to be both compelling and refreshing. “The eighteen chapters on issues ranging from cultural and historical definitions of citizenship to American welfare policies and American corporate mergers are strong examples of solid social research, where authors draw out policy implications and, based on their research, make policy proposals. … Sociology and the Public Agenda is an insightful book for scholars of social policy, and also those interested in research design issues. The book is very relevant for political scientists engaged in policy research, interested in innovative research designs, and wondering about the ‘place’ of the social scientist in setting public agendas.” -Policy Currents
Employment as a Human Right
There are few economic problems that cause as much suffering as unemployment. It has been linked to increased suicide rates, criminal activity, morbidity, mortality, mental illness, and to a variety of negative social psychological effects (Platt 1984; Taggart 1981; Stern 1983; Brenner 1973, 1977; Kelvin and Jarrett 1985). More generally, because it is a primary cause of poverty (Sawhill 1988), it is implicated in the full range of social problems that flow from material want and economic marginalization.
Given the seminal role of unemployment in the etiology of so many of the social ills that beset modern society, social welfare policy researchers have good reason to interest themselves in strategies to combat it. And so they have. ...
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