Woodslane | Book - 9780252075940

Add to Cart Academic Inspection Copy

Political Use of Racial Narratives

ISBN-13: 9780252075940
Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
Imprint: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
By Richard A. Pride
Price: AUD $60.99
Stock: 0 in stock
Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
Local release date: 14/10/2008
Format: Paperback 328 pages Weight: 0g
Categories: Sociology [JHB]

Description
Reviews
Google Preview: Arguing that politics is essentially a contest for meaning and that telling a story is an elemental political act, Richard A. Pride lays bare the history of school desegregation in Mobile, Alabama, to demonstrate the power of narrative in cultural and political change. This book describes the public, personal, and meta-narratives of racial inequality that have competed for dominance in Mobile. Pride begins with a white liberal's quest to desegregate the city's public schools in 1955 and traces which narratives--those of biological inferiority, white oppression, the behavior and values of blacks, and others--came to influence public policy and opinion over four decades. Drawing on contemporaneous sources, he reconstructs the stories of demonstrations, civic forums, court cases, and school board meetings as citizens of Mobile would have experienced them, inviting readers to trace the story of desegregation in Mobile through the voices of politicians, protestors, and journalists and to determine which narratives were indeed most powerful. More than a retelling of Mobile's story of desegregation, The Political Use of Racial Narratives promotes the value of rhetorical and narrative analysis in the social sciences and history.; ''A splendid analysis of how racial narratives can influence the public's support for or opposition to school desegregation... Pride's work is a virtually flawless product of painstaking research. Moreover, his innovative examination of the impact of narratives makes his book valuable for students and researchers in the social sciences.'' American Historical Review ''A rich and interesting account of local political struggles in Mobile, Alabama, starting in 1954, against federally imposed school desegregation... This book is a valuable contribution to the field both conceptually in terms of our understanding of the political power of the narrative, and in terms of historical detail.'' Ethnic and Racial Studies; Google Preview content

Popular Subjects

Woodslane Online Catalogues

Political Use of Racial Narratives