The Assault on Equality

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^IThe Assault on Equality^R critiques the social theory underpinning the social policies of the new political right. It focuses on the attempt by Herrnstein and Murray in ^IThe Bell Curve^R to provide theoretical justification for social program cutbacks and coercive social policies. ^IThe Assault on Equality^R reanalyzes Herrnstein and Murray's own data and demonstrates that their conclusions are questionable results of polemic and ideology that ignore and contradict the fundamental findings and methods of 20th-century sociology and genetics. The policy proposals of Newt Gingrich are the political counterpart to the flawed social theory of ^IThe Bell Curve^R. Both scholarly and readable, this is an appropriate supplement in courses such as race relations, stratification, theory, policy, and research methods. It shows the contemporary relevance of basic theoretical and methodological insights of sociology contradicted by ^IThe Bell Curve^R and other works of the new political right. Appendices present the statistical issues and the theoretical background ignored by such works. From a multi-disciplinary perspective, the authors take issue with the social policy positions of the new right concerning affirmative action, education, family, race, social class, and welfare.

Reviews

This interesting, informative, and fiery contribution to important current debates in social science concerning the explanation for human differences is an all-out attack on Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell Curve and its exploration of the role of heredity in life achievement. Knapp and his colleagues insist that The Bell Curve serves right-wing interests seeking to benefit the richest five percent of the population at the expense of protection and equal opportunity for the rest....The authors of Assault on Equality believe that environmental conditions explain such problems as high illegitimacy and crime and that government action can remedy them. Their arguments are analytical, detailed, and determined. This is a scholarly work...It also delivers blistering denunciations of opponents, who include those its authors see as conservatives, racists, and sexists, among others. For those who agree, this book has much to offer.-Choice
"This interesting, informative, and fiery contribution to important current debates in social science concerning the explanation for human differences is an all-out attack on Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell Curve and its exploration of the role of heredity in life achievement. Knapp and his colleagues insist that The Bell Curve serves right-wing interests seeking to benefit the richest five percent of the population at the expense of protection and equal opportunity for the rest....The authors of Assault on Equality believe that environmental conditions explain such problems as high illegitimacy and crime and that government action can remedy them. Their arguments are analytical, detailed, and determined. This is a scholarly work...It also delivers blistering denunciations of opponents, who include those its authors see as conservatives, racists, and sexists, among others. For those who agree, this book has much to offer."-Choice

Author Bio

PETER KNAPP, a Professor of Sociology at Villanova University, is author of works on social theory such as One World, Many Worlds (1994). JANE C. KRONICK, Professor of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College, is a well known researcher in the area of social policy. R. WILLIAM MARKS, Associate Professor of Biology at Villanova University, specializes in genetics. MIRIAM G. VOSBURGH, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Villanova University, is a demographer focusing on family studies.