Synopses & Reviews
Popular discussions of professional women often dwell on the conflicts faced by the woman who attempts to andldquo;have it all,andrdquo; raising children while climbing up the corporate ladder. Yet for all the articles and books written on this subject, there has been little work that focuses on the experience of African American professional women or asks how their perspectives on work-family balance might be unique.
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Raising the Race is the first scholarly book to examine how black, married career women juggle their relationships with their extended and nuclear families, the expectations of the black community, and their desires to raise healthy, independent children. Drawing from extensive interviews with twenty-three Atlanta-based professional women who left or modified careers as attorneys, physicians, executives, and administrators, anthropologist Richandeacute; J. Daniel Barnes found that their decisions were deeply rooted in an awareness of black womenandrsquo;s historical struggles. Departing from the possessive individualistic discourse of andldquo;having it all,andrdquo; the women profiled here think beyond their own situationandmdash;considering ways their decisions might help the entire black community.
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Giving a voice to women whose perspectives have been underrepresented in debates about work-family balance, Barnesandrsquo;s profiles enable us to perceive these women as fully fledged individuals, each with her own concerns and priorities. Yet Barnes is also able to locate many common themes from these black womenandrsquo;s experiences, and uses them to propose policy initiatives that would improve the work and family lives of all Americans.
Review
andquot;In an exemplary application of intersectional analysis to Black womenandrsquo;s labor history, Branch convincingly demonstrates that the 100- year legacy of racial and gender exclusion explains Black womenandrsquo;s poverty today.andquot;
Review
andldquo;This is an important story to tell and Branchandrsquo;s Opportunity Denied makes a significant contribution to the study of black womenandrsquo;s work.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;This is a wonderful, well-written and carefully argued book. Branch does an excellent job of demonstrating how historical inequalities can take hundreds of years to remedy.andquot;
Review
andquot;Branch has done an excellent job analyzing a very complex and loaded topic. This book will surely required reading for scholars interested
in intersectionality and labor-market inequalities.andquot;
Review
andquot;Branchandrsquo;s thesis is a powerful one. What does opportunity and economic progress really mean for black women as mothers, sisters, partners, and caretakers? For Branch, and the majority of black women, it indicates an occupational structure that maintains and protects the status quo and offers little promise of change.andquot;
Review
andquot;Raising the Race is a fascinating and original study of the lives of professional black women that contributes significantly to theorizing about womenandrsquo;s negotiation of family and career. Barnes expands sociological approaches to class mobility and feminist approaches to marriage, motherhood, and work by revealing how race profoundly affects the domestic strategies of these women despite their upward social mobility.andquot;
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Review
andquot;Rich in narrative power and in theoretical complexity, this important book defines the terrain for a new generation in work-family studies that moves beyond the past focus on white women.andquot;
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Synopsis
Raising the Race is the first study to examine how black, married career women juggle their relationships with their extended and nuclear families, the expectations of the black community, and their desires to raise healthy, independent children. Including extensive interviews from women whose voices have been underrepresented in debates about work-family balance, Richandeacute; J. Daniel Barnes draws upon their diverse perspectives to propose policy initiatives that would improve the work and family lives of
all Americans.
Synopsis
Blacks and Whites. Men and Women. Historically, each group has held very different types of jobs. The divide between these jobs was starkandmdash;clean or dirty, steady or inconsistent, skilled or unskilled. In such a rigidly segregated occupational landscape, race and gender radically limited labor opportunities, relegating Black women to the least desirable jobs. Opportunity Denied is the first comprehensive look at changes in race, gender, and womenandrsquo;s work across time, comparing the labor force experiences of Black women to White women, Black men and White men. Enobong Hannah Branch merges empirical data with rich historical detail, offering an original overview of the evolution of Black womenandrsquo;s work.
From free Black women in 1860 to Black women in 2008, the experience of discrimination in seeking and keeping a job has been determinedly constant. Branch focuses on occupational segregation before 1970 and situates the findings of contemporary studies in a broad historical context, illustrating how inequality can grow and become entrenched over time through the institution of work.
About the Author
RICHandEacute; J. DANIEL BARNES is an assistant professor of cultural anthropology in the Africana Studies Department at Smith College. Her research has appeared in numerous scholarly journals and essay collections, including
The Changing Landscape of Work and Family in the American Middle Class and
The Gender, Culture, and Power Reader.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Hierarchies of Preference at Work: The Need for an Intersectional Approach
2. As Good as Any Man: Black Women in Farm Labor
3. Excellent Servants: Domestic Service as Black Women's Work
4. Existing on the Industrial Fringe: Black Women in the Factory
5. Your Blues Ain't Nothing Like Mine: Race and Gender as Keys to Occupational Opportunity
6. The Illusion of Progress: Black Women's Work in the Post-Civil Rights Era
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