The Age of Obama : The Changing Place of Minorities in British and American Society

As the world marvelled at a black family moving into the White House, arguments raged over whether America’s race relations had truly been transformed. This book looks at the hard facts of life for minorities on both side of the Atlantic, providing an illuminating comparative picture of diversity. -- . Drawing on collaborative research from a distinguished team at Harvard and Manchester universities, The age of Obama asks how two very different societies are responding to the tide of diversity that is being felt around the rich world. Guardian journalist Tom Clark, Robert D. Putnam – best-selling author of Bowling alone – and Manchester's Edward Fieldhouse offer a wonderfully readable account. Like Bowling alone, The age of Obama mixes social scientific rigor with accessible charts and lively arguments. It will be enjoyed by politics, sociology and geography students, as well as by anyone else with an interest in ethnic relations. Injustice, it turns out, still blight lives of many UK and US minorities – particularly African Americans. And there are signs the new diversity strains community life. Yet in both countries, public opinion is running irreversibly in favour of tolerance. That augurs well for the future – and suggests a British Obama cannot be ruled out. This volume asks how two very different societies are responding to the tide of diversity that is being felt around the rich world. The authors mix social and scientific rigor with accessible charts in order to argue that injustice still blight lives of many U.K. and U.S. minorities -- particularly African Americans. They maintain that there are signs the new diversity strains community life and they feel that in both countries, public opinion is running irreversibly in favor of tolerance. That bodes well for the future -- and suggests a future British leader like the U.S.'s Barack Obama cannot be ruled out Drawing On Callaborative Research From A Team At Harvard And Manchester Universities, This Book Asks How Two Very Different Societies Are Responding To The Tide Of Diversity That Is Being Felt Around The Rich World. 'the Age Of Obama' Mixes Social Scientific Rigour With Accessible Charts And Lively Arguments. Tom Clark, Robert D. Putnam & Edward Fieldhouse. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.