This book review summarizes some of the most important points made by William Julius Wilson in his book, When Work Disappears. William Julius Wilson points out both institutional changes and personal shortcomings such as a lack of positive role models that have contributed to lasting poverty among minority groups, mainly African-Americans, within American inner-cities.
Institutional Changes
On one hand, Wilson takes into account the institutional changes in When Work Disappears. These institutional changes include the massive movement of affluent white residents from the cities to the suburbs, the resulting loss of political power and tax base in the inner-cities, and the eventual degradation of city services and lack of jobs as business and industry moves out of the inner-cities.
In recent years, many residents within these central city neighborhoods felt “that their neighborhoods had either stayed the same or had gotten worse,” according to Wilson. It is very hard for residents to find an avenue of upward mobility when their neighborhood enjoys no decent city services, there are no jobs available that require residents' skill sets even though such jobs may exist elsewhere (spatial mismatch), the schools in the area are poorly funded, drugs and crime have become a part of the accepted culture as a means of getting by, residents do not own cars, and they are being stigmatized by employers based on their race and class.
The Importance of Role Models
Though Wilson could have easily stopped here and written an entire book about the significant institutional barriers to upward mobility for residents living in the inner-city, he instead decided to expand upon other reasons that are important to consider when critically examining the causes of continuous poverty in these areas. One important cause that Wilson chose to examine is the lack of positive role models and personal responsibility within the inner-cities.
In these neighborhoods, William Julius Wilson claims that teenagers are “likely to witness violent acts and to have role models who do not adequately control their own violent impulses.” Beyond a lack of positive role models, many times there is no father figure at all in inner-city families, and it is important to address the personal shortcomings of a father who does not stay with a woman whom he impregnated to help raise their child with love and support.
The Challenge of Upward Mobility in When Work Disappears
This combination of personal shortcomings and institutional barriers makes the opportunity for upward mobility very hard to come by in the inner-city. What’s more is that many policies which attempt to address this problem of a lack of upward mobility among poor African-American residents in these neighborhoods are not working as well as they could.
For example, affirmative action has been taken advantage of by many middle- and upper-class African-American families in order to fill upper-level business positions and obtain higher-level educations that were not previously in reach of African-Americans due to prejudice and racial discrimination.
However, according to Wilson the income gap between the richest and poorest African-American families was able to expand due to affirmative action policies not helping the poorest families anywhere near as much. On top of that, affirmative action as a mere race-based policy increases animosity between members of different races.
William Julius Wilson's Contribution to Urban Sociology in When Work Disappears
Wilson brings up some excellent points in his defense for a revised affirmative action policy that takes into account aspects of both need and race as a means of lowering the income gap between not only poor and rich African-Americans, but between African-Americans and white Americans as well.
Wilson sheds a lot of light on just how complicated the problem is when work disappears in lower-income communities. The book provides a useful study and thoughtful analysis to help public officials and urban activists carefully craft much more of our urban public policy with a hope that the problems of urban poverty, a lack of formal low-skill jobs within inner-city areas, and racial inequality can still be addressed.
References:
- Wilson, William Julius. When Work Disappears. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1997. Print.
Additional Information:
David Boston - Hey! A bit about me: I'm a young American activist, researcher, student and aspiring writer, and I've met the love of my life, Caitlin. ...
