Buchumschlag
The last plantation: racism and resistance in the halls of Congress
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Beteilige Person: Jones, James R. 1987- (VerfasserIn)
Format: Buch
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Princeton ; Oxford Princeton University Press [2024]
Schlagwörter:
USA > Congress
Rassismus
Diskriminierung
Mitarbeiter
Schwarze
United States / Congress / Officials and employees
United States / Congress / Officials and employees / Legal status, laws, etc
African American legislative employees
Service industries workers / United States
Racism in the workplace / United States
Employee rights / United States
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations
Abstract:"In the Last Plantation, James Jones uses the plantation metaphor to investigate how Congress operates as a racialized governing institution, a state body organized through racism that imposes the rules that structure our society along racial lines. He develops his argument in two parts by analyzing the career experiences of Black congressional workers. First, he shows how the congressional workplace produces inequality. Lawmakers' decisions to exempt themselves from the regulations that they impose on other employers have led to insular work processes that perpetuate racial inequality. They have created and managed an unequal workplace where positions are racially stratified, space is segregated, and identities and interactions are racialized. This hierarchy constrains the agency of non-White workers and leads to the credentialing of a White power elite. Second, he demonstrates how Black workers from legislative staffers to cafeteria servers have fought back against these unequal work processes and injustices on Capitol Hill. He shows how Black workers have reimagined Congress as a black capitol, a site of minority empowerment where they have used their institutional positions to promote racial justice. Examining these processes, The Last Plantation argues that Congress and its workplace operate both as sites of oppression and, through the labor of Black workers, as sites of resistance. By exploring the Last Plantation from "above" and "below," Jones shows both how racism is maintained by this governing institution and how racism is confronted. Through this argument, he develops a theory of legislative inequality to show how the unequal distribution of resources and rewards among workers influences the creation of public policy and the organization of the American political system. He draws on interviews with 75 congressional staffers, archival research, ethnographic observations, and statistical analysis of personnel records."
"A revealing look at the covert and institutionalized racism lurking in the congressional workplaceRacism continues to infuse Congress's daily practice of lawmaking and shape who obtains congressional employment. In this timely and provocative book, James Jones reveals how and why many who work there call Congress the "Last Plantation." He shows that even as the civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1960s and anti-discrimination laws were implemented across the nation, Congress remained exempt from federal workplace protections for decades. These exemptions institutionalized inequality in the congressional workplace well into the twenty-first century.Combining groundbreaking research and compelling firsthand accounts from scores of congressional staffers, Jones uncovers the hidden dynamics of power, privilege, and resistance in Congress. He reveals how failures of racial representation among congressional staffers reverberate throughout the American political system and demonstrates how the absence of diverse perspectives hamper the creation of just legislation. Centering the experiences of Black workers within this complex landscape, he provides valuable insights into the problems they face, the barriers that hinder their progress, and the ways they contest entrenched inequality.A must-read for anyone concerned about social justice and the future of our democracy, The Last Plantation exposes the mechanisms that perpetuate racial inequality in the halls of Congress and challenges us to confront and transform this unequal workplace that shapes our politics and society."
Umfang:xix, 223 Seiten 23 cm
ISBN:9780691223636

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