Ethnicity, Social Mobility, and Public Policy : Comparing the USA and UK

The causes and consequences of social mobility are a central area of study within social sciences, and the differing levels of economic development between ethnic groups is an issue of concern for policy-makers. This book provides a comparative analysis of these and related issues within the US and the UK.

This major comparative study of the social mobility of ethnic minorities in the US and UK argues that social mobility must be understood as a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon, incorporating the wealth and income of groups, but also their political power and social recognition. Written by leading sociologists, economists, political scientists, geographers, and philosophers in both countries, the volume addresses issues as diverse as education, work and employment, residential concentration, political mobilisation, public policy and social networks, while drawing larger lessons about the meaning of race and inequality in the two countries. While finding that there are important similarities in the experience of ethnic, and especially immigrant, groups in the two countries, the volume also concludes that the differences between the US and UK, especially in the case of American blacks, are equally important.