Hierarchical Structures and Social Value : The Creation of Black and Irish Identities in the United States - Richard Williams

Hierarchical Structures and Social Value

The Creation of Black and Irish Identities in the United States

By: Richard Williams

Hardcover | 20 May 1991

At a Glance

Hardcover


RRP $112.95

$109.90

or 4 interest-free payments of $27.48 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 7 to 10 business days

Through a combination of theoretical and historical analysis, the author develops the thesis that the concepts of "race" and "ethnicity" are socially constructed. With case studies of the incorporation of Blacks and Irish immigrants into the social structure of the United States, Richard Williams demonstrates that the social values that have been placed on these groups result from their placement into specific labor categories rather than from attributes inherent to the groups. The author first analyzes the process by which the social identities of Blacks and Irish developed in their native lands. Turning to an analysis of the social structure in the United States at the nation's founding, he argues that the society was hierarchical from its inception and that Black slave laborers and Irish wage laborers were demanded to fill positions created by that hierarchical structure. The conceptions of their racial and ethnic identities developed through a transfer of the value assigned to their social positions to the groups themselves. Racial and ethnic identities represent, the book argues, the legitimization of social stratification based on power relations.
Industry Reviews
"...scholars comprise the most appropriate audience for William's insightful theoretical analysis." Suzanne Model, Social Forces

More in Biographies

Undeniable : How to Reach the Top and Stay There - Cameron Hanes

RRP $36.99

$27.95

24%
OFF
Ocean : Earth's Last Wilderness - Sir David Attenborough and Colin Butfield

RRP $34.99

$24.00

31%
OFF
Notes to John - Joan Didion

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$26.95

23%
OFF
The River : A Journey through the Murray-Darling Basin - Chris Hammer
Uptown Girl : A Memoir - Christie Brinkley

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Fearless Beatrice Faust : Sex, Feminism and Body Politics - Judith Brett
Inconvenient Women : Australian radical writers 1900-1970 - Jacqueline Kent
Always Home, Always Homesick - Hannah Kent

RRP $36.99

$25.00

32%
OFF
Karen : A Memoir - Kelsey Grammer

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
1945: The Reckoning : War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World - Phil Craig
Mumming : A Year of Trying (and Failing) to Be a Better Parent - Victoria Vanstone
My Next Breath - Jeremy Renner

RRP $34.99

$24.00

31%
OFF
Frog : The secret diary of a paramedic - Sally Gould

RRP $36.99

$24.95

33%
OFF
The Warrior : Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay - Christopher Clarey
Night Divides The Day : The Doors Anthology - The Doors

RRP $115.00

$83.75

27%
OFF