Invention of the 'Underclass'

A Study in the Politics of Knowledge

Inbunden, Engelska, 2022

AvLoïc Wacquant,Loic (University of California at Berkeley) Wacquant,, Wacquant

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At century’s close, American social scientists, policy analysts, philanthropists and politicians became obsessed with a fearsome and mysterious new group said to be ravaging the ghetto: the urban “underclass.” Soon the scarecrow category and its demonic imagery were exported to the United Kingdom and continental Europe and agitated the international study of exclusion in the postindustrial metropolis.In this punchy book, Loïc Wacquant retraces the invention and metamorphoses of this racialized folk devil, from the structural conception of Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal to the behavioral notion of Washington think-tank experts to the neo-ecological formulation of sociologist William Julius Wilson. He uncovers the springs of the sudden irruption, accelerated circulation, and abrupt evaporation of the “underclass” from public debate, and reflects on the implications for the social epistemology of urban marginality. What accounts for the “lemming effect” that drew a generation of scholars of race and poverty over a scientific cliff? What are the conditions for the formation and bursting of “conceptual speculative bubbles”? What is the role of think tanks, journalism, and politics in imposing “turnkey problematics” upon social researchers? What are the special quandaries posed by the naming of dispossessed and dishonored populations in scientific discourse and how can we reformulate the explosive question of “race” to avoid these troubles? Answering these questions constitutes an exacting exercise in epistemic reflexivity in the tradition of Bachelard, Canguilhem and Bourdieu, and it issues in a clarion call for social scientists to defend their intellectual autonomy against the encroachments of outside powers, be they state officials, the media, think tanks, or philanthropic organizations.Compact, meticulous and forcefully argued, this study in the politics of social science knowledge will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology, anthropology, urban studies, ethnic studies, geography, intellectual history, the philosophy of science and public policy.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2022-02-18
Mått142 x 221 x 25 mm
Vikt431 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor256
FörlagJohn Wiley and Sons Ltd
ISBN9781509552177

Tillhör följande kategorier

Sociologi och antropologi inom Samhälle och politik

Loïc Wacquant is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Researcher at the Centre de sociologie européenne, Paris. His books include Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality (2008), Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity (2009), and Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer (expanded anniversary edition, 2022).

List of FiguresAcknowledgementsProloguePART ONE ~ THE TALE1. Between concept and myth: genealogy of a shifty category2. “The tragedy of the underclass”: policy theater and scholarship3. The three faces of the “underclass” 4. The strange career of a racialized folk devil5. Implications for the social epistemology of urban marginalityPART TWO ~ LESSONS FROM THE TALEQuandaries and consequences of naming Forging robust conceptsEpistemic opportunity costsBandwagons, speculation, and turnkeysCoda: Resolving the trouble with “race” in the 21st centuryAppendix: The afterlives of the “underclass” BibliographyIndex

“Loïc Wacquant's exploration of the rise and decline of the 'underclass' concept features extraordinary archival research. This important and unique book is destined to become a standard reference in studies ranging from the sociology of knowledge to urban poverty.”William Julius Wilson, author of The Truly Disadvantaged“In this thoroughly historicized account, Wacquant dissects the politics, panic, and obscurantism that accompanied the ‘underclass’ debate in the closing decades of the twentieth century – at the expense of the communities the concept purported to represent. It is an essential guide to a more ethical, genuinely reflexive sociology.”Alice O’Connor, author of Poverty Knowledge''The Invention of the 'Underclass' is a must-read for specialists and students of urban poverty, social policy, and social theory.''Social Forces"there is much to enjoy and admire here. The investigation is focused, rich and detailed and thewriting is robust and engaging.... the book is an excellent addition to scholarship in this areaand will undoubtedly become an important reference point for future sociologicalwork on the construction of undeserving and marginalised groups.''Critical Social Policy"Wacquant has erected a critical yield sign that social scientists should heed but are likely to ignore. . . . if we are to learn anything from Wacquant’s must-read text, it should be that the line between use and abuse of a concept is perilously thin."Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"[A]n interesting exploration of an uncomfortable episode in the history of social science."Critical Criminology