Affirmative action controversies expose anxieties about the American dream more than policy mechanics

Evidence

The account provided by Small of the new morphology of racialized social relations in the United States is complemented and extended by Jennifer Hochschild’s vibrant account of the war of position about the politics of affirmative action in the United States. This contribution provides an insight into the cross-currents of public debate about this issue over the past two decades, focusing particularly on what current controversies tell us about the racial culture of American society. In many ways, argues Hochschild, recent controversies about affirmative action are symbolic of a crisis of confidence about the meaning, as well as the validity, of the “American dream” in the current environment. They tell us more about the levels of anxiety about the core ideologies of American society than about how affirmative action works in practice. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1642

Categorization

• XREF: Links Hochschild’s finding to the reader’s ongoing work on race as ideological signifier versus material practice (Omi & Winant racial formation). — connects to: Fears of affirmative action far exceed documented harms from it — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1994; Affirmative action debate is a proxy war over American identity, not policy — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1966; Affirmative-action debate is emotionally driven, not cost-benefit reasoning — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1996 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Affirmative action debate is a proxy war over American identity, not policy #corroborates (0.88) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1966
• The scale of affirmative action’s actual impact fails to explain the intensity of opposition #expands (0.83) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2030
• Affirmative-action debate is emotionally driven, not cost-benefit reasoning #corroborates (0.82) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1996
• Affirmative action’s symbolic importance vastly exceeds its measurable effects #corroborates (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1999
• The affirmative action debate has run on norms rather than facts #corroborates (0.80)
• Fears of affirmative action far exceed documented harms from it #complicates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1994
• People on both sides of affirmative action blur self-interest with principled ideology #complicates (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2013