American Dream and the Power of Wealth - Choosing Schools and Inheriting Inequality in the Land of Opportunity

Despite the overwhelming evidence against them, many people still believe they can overcome the economic and racial constraints placed upon them at birth. In the first edition, Heather Beth Johnson explored this belief in the American Dream with over 200 in-depth interviews with black and white families, highlighting the ever-increasing racial wealth gap and the actual inequality in opportunities. This second edition has been updated to make it fully relevant to today's reader, with new data and illustrative examples, including twenty new interviews. Johnson asks not just what parents are thinking about inequality and the American Dream, but to what extent children believe in the American Dream and how they explain, justify, and understand the stratification of American society. This book is an ideal addition to courses on race and inequality.

List of contents

1. The Wealth Gap and the American Dream 2. Meritocracy and "Good" Schools 3. Buying In and Opting Out 4. Making Do and Feeling Stuck 5. Wealth Privilege 6. Inequality and Ideology 7. An Unresolved Conflict

About the author

Heather Johnson

Product details

• Authors: Heather Johnson, Johnson Heather
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 19.12.2014
• EAN: 9780415832663
• ISBN: 978-0-415-83266-3
• No. of pages: 264
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; USA, EDUCATION / General, Education, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / Macroeconomics, Social Mobility, macroeconomics, United States of America, USA, Social classes, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity