Immigration, integration and the myth of the European bootstrap.
Apr 8 2017
The main thing this book does in puncture the myth of the bootstrapping European immigrant. Around the time of the election last year, tons of right-wing pundits, candidates and so-called intellectuals were saying 'Our grandparents didn't rely on the welfare state, they became great, and made America great through their own bootstraps.' And this book totally punctures that myth.
The Radical Pessimist, Kevan Harris (with the help of Cybelle Fox's Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal) examines the role of state assistance in the integration of European immigrants into America and American politics, in contrast with the isolation of Hispanic immigrants in America's West.
Kevan's first book A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran is out this August. Proud of our boy.
Guest
Kevan Harris
Kevan Harris is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles.
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