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UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Last updated: July 7, 2015 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS EC 95 The Political Economy of Race Fall 2015 Professor S. Seguino COURSE DESCRIPTION This course critically examines the causes and consequences of racial disparities as well as economic policies to address those disparities. Central to this topic is the relationship between group identity and power. We therefore adopt a political economy perspective, which underscores the role of power, often transmitted through public policy, in influencing the economic and social welfare of a group or groups. We investigate racial disparities in various socioeconomic indicators such as education, labor markets, housing, and wealth. We then explore the merits and limitations of various approaches to explaining these persistent disparities. Finally, we explore a variety of policy proposals designed to overcome intergroup disparity by race/ethnicity. While much of the course focuses on the U.S. context, I will at times broaden the discussion to countries outside the US for comparative purposes. The course is divided into four parts: (1) an introduction to the biological and social construction of race and the problem of racial disparity, (2) conservative, liberal and alternative paradigms that explain racial disparity, (3) an examination of racial disparity in education, labor markets, health, and mass incarceration, and (4) affirmative action, reparations, and other policies to address racial disparities. ________________________________________________________________________ GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS I have three major goals for the course. Introduce the “Other” into economics. This course will develop your knowledge of the research in economics on the status of African Americans and the growing literature on Latinos, Asian Americans and other groups. At the end of the semester, you should be better able to 1) Locate data on the socioeconomic status of demographic subgroups of the US population; 2) Interpret summary measures of segregation and racial and ethnic disparity; 3) Describe the role of discrimination vs. other factors in explaining racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic status; 4) Assess the impact of public policies designed to reduce racial inequality in economic status. Develop and sharpen economic reasoning skills. Economists and economic analysis have a major influence on social policy and it is important, regardless of your career choice, to understand the assumptions that underlie economic arguments and to be able to evaluate economic evidence with some independence of thought. Model a rational discourse about race, ethnicity and economic disparity. This course emphasizes a scientific evidence-based analysis of race and ethnicity. We will make distinctions between speculative hypotheses and conclusions based on a careful analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. At the end of the semester, you should be better able to 1) Avoid assessments based on stereotypes; 2) Support a position with references to empirical evidence; 3) Express disagreement by challenging the logical consistency or the evidentiary basis of an opponent’s statement. ______________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTOR: Stephanie Seguino, Professor of Economics CONTACT INFO: Phone: (802) 656-0187 Room 340 Old Mill E-mail: [email protected] 1 Last updated: July 7, 2015 CLASS TIMES: Tuesday and Thursday, 115 – 230pm CLASS LOCATION: 302 Lafayette OFFICE HOURS: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 245 - 400pm ____________________________________________________________________________________ REQUIRED READING AND PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITIES Class discussion will be based on the readings listed in the Course Outline (below) for that day, unless otherwise noted. Readings listed for September 8, for example, should be completed BEFORE class begins on that day. Because there is a wide array of academic experience in this class and because there is so much literature on this topic, I will include optional readings in the syllabus for those who wish to pursue topics in more depth. It is imperative that members of the class read the assigned readings in a timely manner (i.e., by the time class meets) and in a professional or thorough fashion. This will necessitate you downloading the articles, making margin notes to highlight the key points, and being prepared to write a paragraph on the main points of the articles in class. Purchase a dedicated journal to summarize your readings in response to a weekly discussion question that will be posted on BB by the Friday before readings are due. See COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING in the latter part of this syllabus for more details on journals. My teaching style favors a combination of discussion, lecture, debate, and very careful analysis of assigned readings. For that reason, it is essential you bring all of the assigned readings to class. I also ask that you come to class with your mouth, ears, heart, and mind open; that you listen to and respect each other; and that you challenge yourself, your classmates, and me to do our very best. ______________________________________________________________________________________ REQUIRED TEXTBOOK Rothenberg, Paula and Kelly Mahew. 2012. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (ninth edition). Worth Publishers. [Abbreviated as RCG in syllabus]. Readings followed by BB are available on Blackboard under “Course Materials.” _____________________________________________________________________________________ COURSE OUTLINE PART I THE BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE Week 1 Sept. 1 (No class meeting on Sept. 3 but there is an assignment for that day. See below). The Concept and Measurement of Race 109746 Duster, Troy. 2001. “Buried Alive: The Concept of Race in Science.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 14. [BB] Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. 2012. “Racial Formations.” In RCG, pp. Film (See below. Part I shown during class, 1 hour. View Part II on your own). Race: The Power of an Illusion (Three Part Series from PBS). Parts I: The Difference Between Us and Part II: The Story We Tell. The film can be accessed through Bailey-Howe Library at the following link. http://voyager.uvm.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=100&recCount=50&recPointer=1&bibId=3 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 2 Sept. 8 and 10 2 Last updated: July 7, 2015 Where We Stand Today: Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Well-Being U.S. Census Bureau. “Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010.” http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf American Human Development Project, 2010. A Century Apart: New Measures of Well-Being for U.S. Racial and Ethnic Groups. http://ssrc-static.s3.amazonaws.com/moa/A_Century_Apart.pdf Sklar, Holly. 2012. “Imagine a Country.” RCG, pp. 324-334. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART II THEORIES OF RACIAL/ETHNIC INEQUALITY Week 3 Sept. 15 Explanations for Racial Differences in Economic Outcomes: Neoclassical and Liberal Theories Whitehead, John. 2005. “Racial Economic Inequality and Discrimination: Conservative and Liberal Paradigms Revisited.” [BB] Guenier, Lani. 2006. “The Meritocracy Myth.” http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/guinier/publications/dollars_sense.pdf ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weeks 3 and 4 Sept. 17 and 22 Explanations for Racial Differences in Economic Outcomes: Heterodox Theories Bohmer, Peter. 2005. “Marxist Theory of Racism and Racial Inequality.” [BB] Stewart, James and Major Coleman. 2005. “The Black Political Economy Paradigm and the Dynamics of Racial Economic Inequality.” [BB] King, Mary. 2005. “’Keeping People in Their Place’: The Economics of Racial Violence” in African Americans in the U.S. Economy.” [BB] Optional Reading Bates, Timothy. 2005. “The Crowding Hypothesis.” [BB] Darity, Jr. William. 2005. “Stratification Economics: The Role of Intergroup Inequality” Journal of Economics and Finance, 29(2): 144-153. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02761550#page-1 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weeks 4 and 5 Sept. 23 and 29 Economics of Identity, Norms, and Stereotypes Buck, Pem Davidson. 2012. “Constructing Race, Creating White Privilege.” In RCG, pp. 33-38. Snyder, Mark. 2012. “Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes.” In RCG, pp. 579-584. Blumer, Herbert. 1958. “Prejudice as a Sense of Group Position.” [BB] Youtube video. “Parents React to the Child Doll Test.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOVwrcTzRBs Implicit Association Test (IAT): https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html. Choose two from the following IAT tests to take prior to class and write a brief (1-2 pages) summary of your results: Race or Skin Tone; Native or Asian. To take the test, click on the bottom of the home page link to accept terms, and then proceed with the tests. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PART III TESTING THE THEORIES: EVIDENCE OF RACIAL/ETHNICTY DISPARITY Week 5 Oct. 1 3 Last updated: July 7, 2015 Discrimination U.S Civil Rights Commission. 2012. “The Problem: Discrimination.” In RCG, pp. 263-273. Associated Press., 2012. “Abercrombie Settles Class Action Suit.’ In RCG, pp. 274-275. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 6 Oct. 6 and 8 Race and Educational Inequality Kozol, Jonathan. 2012. “Still Separate, Still Unequal.: America’s Educational Apartheid.” In RCG, pp. 627-640. Steele, Claude. 1992. "Race and the Schooling of Black Americans." The Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1992/04/race-and-the-schooling-of-blackamericans/306073/ Hannah-Jones, Nikole. 2014. “Segregation Now ...”. The Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/segregation-now/359813/ Darity, Jr., William, and Alicia Jolla. 2009. “Desegregated Schools with Segregated Education.” In Integration Debate: Competing Futures for America’s Cities. [BB] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 7 Oct. 13 an 15 Employment and Income Lui, Meizhu. 2012. “The Economic Reality of Being Asian American” and “The Economic Reality of Being Latino/a in the United States.” In RCG, pp. 362-374. Bertrand, Marianne and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2003. “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination.” [BB] Black Youth Project. 2014. “92% of black male teens unemployed in Chicago, 83% nationally.” http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2014/01/92-of-black-male-teens-unemployed-in-chicago-83nationally/ Weller, Christian and Jaryn Fields. 2011. “The Black and White Labor Gap in America. Why African Americans Struggle to Find Jobs and Remain Employed Compared to Whites.” Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/uploads/issues/2011/07/pdf/black_unemployment.pdf Optional Pager, D., B. Western, and B. Bonikowski. 2009. “Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment.” IZA Discussion Paper No. 4469. [BB] Goldsmith, A., D. Hamilton, and W. Darity, Jr. 2006. “Shades of Discrimination: Skin Tone and Wages.” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 96(2): 242-245. [BB] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 8 Oct. 20 and 22 Housing, Credit Markets, and Residential Segregation: The Impact on Wealth Inequality Kocchar, Rakesh, Richard Fry, and Paul Taylor. 2012. “Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics: Twenty-to-One.” In RCG, pp. 355-361. Dymski, Gary and Patrick Mason. 2005. “Racial Inequality and African Americans’ Disadvantage in the Credit and Capital Markets.” [BB] Lipsitz, George and Melvin Oliver. 2010. “Integration, Segregation, and the Racial Wealth Gap.” [BB] US Census Bureau, Interactive Graphics of Racial Residential Segregation, 2000 Census. http://www.censusscope.org/us/m1303/chart_dissimilarity.html Guest Lecture on October 22: Arthur Goldsmith, Washington and Lee University _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 9 Oct. 27 and 29 Race, Crime, and Punishment 4 Last updated: July 7, 2015 Waquant, Loic. 2002. “From Slavery to Mass Incarceration.” New Left Review 13: 41-60. [BB] Davis, Angela. 2012. “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex.” In RCG, pp. 641-645. Seguino, Stephanie and Nancy Brooks. 2014. “Have the Burlington Police Made Progress in Reducing Racial Disparities in Traffic Policing? A Comparison of 2009-10 and 2011-12 data.” http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/police/files/RDC%20%20Seguino%20and%20Brooks%20race%20data%202011-12-%20July%202014.pdf Hart, Carl. 2014. “Black Americans Arrested for Marijuana Possession at Far Higher Rate.” http://www.drcarlhart.com/black-americans-arrested-marijuana-possession-at-far-higher-rate/ Alexander, Michelle. 2012. The New Jim Crow. Chapters 2-3. [BB] Optional Mauer, Mark. 2010. “Two-Tiered Justice: Race, Class, and Crime Policy.” [BB] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Week 10 Nov. 3 and 5 Race, Health, and Medicine Associated Press. 2012. “More Blacks Live with Pollution.” In RCG, pp. 312-14. Williams, David. 2012. “Miles to Go before We Sleep: Racial Inequities in Health.” http://www.partnersforahealthiercommunity.org/sites/default/files/Miles%20to%20Go%20Before %20We%20Sleep%20JHSB%202012.pdf Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores, Theresa Osypuk, and Nancy McArcle. 2010. “Racial Ethnic Integration and Child Health Disparities.” [BB] In integration boo. Optional Smedley, Brian, Michael Jeffries, Larry Adelman, and Jean Cheng. “Race, Racial Inequality and Health Inequities: Separating Myth from Fact.” http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/assets/uploads/file/Race_Racial_Inequality_Health.pdf. Kawachi, Ichiro, Norman Daniels, and Dean Robinson. 2005. “Health Disparities By Race And Class: Why Both Matter.” http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/2/343.full ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weeks 11 – 12 Nov. 10, 12 and 17 Racial and ethnic inequality: The Role of Institutions Residential Segregation and the FHA (Nov. 10) Brodkin, Karen. 2012. “How Jews Became White Folks: And What That Says About Race in America.” In RCG, pp. 39-53. Social Policies (Nov. 12 and 17) Race: The Power of an Illusion (Part III. The House We Live In). http://voyager.uvm.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=100&recCount=50&recPointer=1&bibId=3 109746. TBA readings on children, welfare, and single mothers. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART IV POLICY SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME RACE-BASED INEQUALITY Weeks 12 – 13 Nov. 19, Dec. 1, 3, and 8 Public Policies to Address Racial Inequality 5 Last updated: July 7, 2015 Affirmative Action (Nov. 19) Darity, William. 2005. “Affirmative Action in Comparative Perspective: Strategies to Combat Ethnic and Racial Exclusion Internationally.” Residential Segregation (Dec. 1) Seitles, Mark. 1996. “The Perpetuation of Residential Racial Segregation in America: Historical Discrimination, Modern Forms of Exclusion and Inclusionary Remedies.” http://archive.law.fsu.edu/journals/landuse/vol141/seit.htm Guaranteed Employment Policies (Dec. 3) Darity, William. 2013. “How to Guarantee a Job for Every American.” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/how-to-guarantee-a-job-for-every-american/ Asset Accumulation: Baby Bonds (Dec. 3) Darity, William and Darrick Hamilton. 2010. “Can Baby Bonds Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America? http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com/pdf/WPC14_baby_bonds.pdf Reparations (Dec. 8) Darity, William and Dania Frank. 2005. “The Economics of Reparations.” [BB] _______________________________________________________________________ COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING 1. Class attendance and journals (25%). Class participation is crucial to one’s overall grade and will be assessed by attendance and ACTIVE participation in class discussions and activities. Merely showing up is not enough. See below for attendance policy. You should come to every class expecting to contribute to the learning environment – by adding your voice to the class discussion, listening closely to your classmates, taking notes, and in general staying focused and generating positive intellectual energy. You should expect to speak up in every class session, but if we haven’t heard from you over the course of two or three classes, there’ll be reason to question your level of preparation and engagement. I expect you to read assigned materials before class unless otherwise instructed. I do not permit the use of laptops, cellphones, iPads, or any other digital/electronic devices in my classroom. These are my general grading criteria for class participation: A – Student comes to class prepared and participates actively, significantly enriching the intellectual environment of the class by engaging, supporting, and challenging other students. B – Student comes to class prepared and participates actively. C – Student attends regularly but rarely contributes or shows much interest. D– Student misses classes, rarely contributes, and generally appears unprepared and disengaged. F– Student misses many classes (i.e., more than two unexcused absences), doesn’t contribute to class, and shows no sign of familiarity with or interest in the class material. Discussions of race and ethnicity can be difficult and we are bound to have disagreements. Let us do so respectfully. I request that students follow the guidelines below. A discussion should be an exchange of ideas, one in which each party tries to, with persuasive argument, concrete examples and specific evidence, make others understand why they hold a certain point of view. A discussion is not an exchange between a single student and the faculty member. Students should speak directly to each other. 6 Last updated: July 7, 2015 Recognize limitations of personal experience or anecdotes as evidence. Avoid sweeping generalizations. Avoid outright judgments, accusatory language, and dismissal of others opinions. All arguments you make should be grounded in some form of textual evidence (it is not enough to say "I think that..." or "I believe that..." or “I feel…” ) without offering a reasonable basis for your claim. Be able to divorce yourself from your opinions so you can try to understand a point of view other than your own. I may ask you to do this in a class discussion. The class must be a safe place for someone to “test” a hypothesis without being labeled or condemned. If you don’t agree with a hypothesis, challenge the underlying analysis, ask for supporting evidence, but do not engage in a personal attack. I may ask both parties to a disagreement to bring additional research to a subsequent class. Do not expect an individual student to represent the views of an entire racial or ethnic group. Journal entries will respond to a weekly question that the readings address. This requirement of the course is aimed at ensuring lively and insightful discussion. Your journals are your ticket to class, and you should also bring all readings. Journals will be turned in on a regular basis and graded. These reading journals will be graded for relevance to question, organization, argument, evidence, grammar, completeness in citing all of the readings, and correct citations. Journals will be graded on a simple scale: Grade ✓+ ✓ ✓- Points 95 75 50 0 0 Meaning Excellent Average/Good Sub-par Fail/Incomplete or Missing In cases where the work is really exceptional, I’ll award a check-plus-plus, so it’s equivalent to a 100. 2. “Exploring our racial identity” essay (15%). This essay will be an “intellectual autobiography” in which you will examine your own experience of race – especially your experience as a racialized (or “raced”) subject— in connection with the material covered in the first 3 weeks of class on race, the social construction of race, and identity. This assignment is due on BB on October 1, 2015. The essay should be double-spaced, with page numbers, 12pt font, and a minimum of 5 pages. Use in-text citations and provide a complete bibliography with the appropriate format. Guidelines for citations and bibliography will be posted on BB and should be followed carefully. Essays should be in Word (not pdf or rfg) and posted to the appropriate dropbox on BB. 3. Mid-term (20%). The mid-term exam is scheduled for October 15, 2015. Make-up exams are not given except in the case of a documented medical emergency. The mid-term exam will be based on lectures and readings covered up to the previous class. This exam is closed book and students will be given 75 minutes to write it. If you require alternate accommodation, you must provide me with documentation and make arrangements at least one week in advance of the exam. 4. Final exam (25%). The final exam will be held during the scheduled exam period and will be based on lectures and readings from the entire semester. This exam is closed book. If you require alternate accommodation, you must provide me with documentation and make arrangements at least one week in advance of the exam. Please note that there is no extra credit in EC 95. Late assignments will not be accepted. All grades are based on the grade scale you see below. If you feel like you are falling behind or need help with the material, please see me as soon as possible. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Last updated: July 7, 2015 COURSE GRADES Letter grades are assigned on a straight scale: A is 90-100 percent B is 80-89 percent C is 70-79 percent D is 60-69 percent F is 59 percent or less +/- will be assigned at the discretion of the professor. ______________________________________________________________________________________ POLICIES 1. There are no make-up exams or late submissions accepted. If you miss (or are going to miss) something important due to illness or other severe circumstance, contact me immediately (contact your Dean’s office for validation of serious matters and medical documentation is required in the case of illness). 2. Your presence and participation are expected every class meeting and you are expected to have done the assigned reading and be ready to engage with the material. You are entitled to 2 absences for whatever reason. More than 2 absences will result in a loss of a letter grade on the class participation portion of your final grade for each additional absence. 3. You are expected to do your own work. Cheating, plagiarizing, fabrication, collusion, and other forms of academic dishonesty are not tolerated at UVM. It is your responsibility to be familiar with the University’s policy on academic honesty at http://www.uvm.edu/cses. 4. If you are an ACCESS student, we will make every effort to accommodate necessary arrangements. I need ACCESS letters by September 15, 2015 to make these accommodations. 5. Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Students who foresee an absence for religious reasons should submit in writing their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester by September 15, 2015. I will make every effort to accommodate appropriately. 6. Please review UVM’s Student Rights and Responsibilities Policy document at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmppg/ppg/student/studentcode.pdf. ______________________________________________________________________________________ STUDENT RESPONSBILITY I have tried to give you a good idea of what the course involves and the timetable on which we will work through the material. I reserve the right to change readings, times, and other aspects of the syllabus as needed, however. You are responsible for reading your syllabus to keep abreast of the schedule, and staying current on any other changes to the syllabus, which will be announced in class and will also be communicated electronically to each of your UVM email addresses. 8