Talking about Race: Community Dialogues and the Politics of Difference (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)

It is a perennial question: how should Americans deal with racial and ethnic diversity? More than 400 communities across the country have attempted to answer it by organizing discussions among diverse volunteers in an attempt to improve race relations. In Talking about Race , Katherine Cramer Walsh takes an eye-opening look at this strategy to reveal the reasons behind the method and the effects it has in the cities and towns that undertake it. With extensive observations of community dialogues, interviews with the discussants, and sophisticated analysis of national data, Walsh shows that while meeting organizers usually aim to establish common ground, participants tend to leave their discussions with a heightened awareness of differences in perspective and experience. Drawing readers into these intense conversations between ordinary Americans working to deal with diversity and figure out the meaning of citizenship in our society, she challenges many preconceptions about intergroup relations and organized public talk. Finally disputing the conventional wisdom that unity is the only way forward, Walsh prescribes a practical politics of difference that compels us to reassess the place of face-to-face discussion in civic life and the critical role of conflict in deliberative democracy. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 1 Race, Dialogue, and the Practice of Community Life......Page 15 2 Unity and Difference in Civic Life......Page 28 3 Public Talk That Aims to Listen to Difference......Page 47 4 The Community Choice to Pursue Interracial Dialogue......Page 62 5 Choosing the Action of Talk......Page 86 6 Negotiating Unity and Difference......Page 113 7 Scrutinizing and Listening to Stories......Page 155 8 Authority and Legitimacy in Dialogue......Page 178 9 Public Officials and Residents in Dialogue......Page 213 10 Beyond Romance and Demons......Page 247 Methods Appendix......Page 266 Notes......Page 282 Bibliography......Page 318 Index......Page 346 Resource Added For The Psychology (includes Sociology) 108091 Courses. Race, Dialogue, And The Practice Of Community Life -- Unity And Difference In Civic Life -- Public Talk That Aims To Listen To Difference -- The Community Choice To Pursue Interracial Dialogue -- Choosing The Action Of Talk -- Negotiating Unity And Difference -- Scrutinizing And Listening To Stories -- Authority And Legitimacy In Dialogue -- Public Officials And Residents In Dialogue -- Beyond Romance And Demons. Katherine Cramer Walsh. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [305]-331) And Index.