Agenda for Social Justice
President's Welcome
As an organization, the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) has a membership that is well-versed in a myriad of specific and broad problems facing the world. With the complexity and onslaught of crises worldwide, we can all be tempted to throw up our arms and get lost in a Netflix series, but as a social justice organization grounded in social science, we do not have that option. Instead, we engage in work that creates solutions toward a more just world. The SSSP was created and is sustained by individuals who have identified solutions to social problems. We are an organization of scholars who create dreams of transformation, guided and built upon our sociological imagination and research, sense of hope in humanity, and a belief in our ability to create change. We mobilize our sociological research and insight to inform policy and activism that will lead to the creation of more just worlds. Imagine for a moment, we could easily be the Society for the Study of Social Solutions! On behalf of the SSSP, I am honored to invite you to read the Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2020 and to thank Glenn Muschert and his team for their work on this superb volume.
Heather M. Dalmage, Roosevelt University
SSSP President, 2019-2020
The Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2020 provides accessible insights into some of the most pressing social problems in the United States and proposes public policy responses to those problems. It offers recommendations for action by elected officials, policymakers, and the public regarding key issues for social justice, including a discussion of social problems related to racism, health disparities, educational inequalities, criminal justice issues, and the environment.
Access Options
Click here to access a pdf verison of the Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2020 now.
Purchasing Options
The Agenda is available in hard copy and e-reader versions for a nominal fee. Please consider purchasing the Agenda to support the SSSP!
Click here for Policy Press purchasing information.
Table of Contents
Editors: Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, Michelle Christian, and Robert Perrucci
| Front Matter |
|
President’s Welcome |
| SECTION I Ethnicity, Race, and Gender |
|
Chapter 1. Islamophobia |
|
Chapter 2. Latinos are Each of Us: Fair and Just Immigration Policies for All |
|
Chapter 3. The Intersection of Gender and Race in the U.S. Family Law: Persistent Social Inequities and Rollback Reforms |
|
SECTION II Health and Families |
|
Chapter 4. Reproductive Rights |
|
Chapter 5. In Pursuit of Justice in the U.S. Health Care Policy: Pathways to Universal Coverage |
|
Chapter 6. The Problem of Unpaid Parental Leave |
|
SECTION III Education |
|
Chapter 7. Power, Privilege, and #MeToo in Academia: Problems, Policies, and Prevention around Sexual Misconduct |
|
Chapter 8. "They Tested with Stress": Solving Racial Injustice in Assessment by Acknowledging Adverse Childhood Experiences |
|
Chapter 9. Black Girls and School Suspension |
|
SECTION IV Crime and (In)Justice |
|
Chapter 10. Police Homicides: The Terror of "American Exceptionalism" |
|
Chapter 11. Crimmigration: The Presumption of Illegality and Criminalization of Immigrants |
|
Chapter 12. Alleviating the Mark of a Criminal Record: Prison Programming and Post-Incarceration Employment |
|
SECTION V Enduring Challenges |
|
Chapter 13. Ending the Persistence of Homelessness |
|
Chapter 14. Risks to Journalists’ Safety and the Vulnerability of 135 Media Freedom in the U.S. |
|
Chapter 15. Environmental Justice |
|
Chapter 16. Protecting and Rewarding Workers in the 21st Century |
| SECTION VI Looking Forward |
|
Chapter 17. The Contested Construction of Social Problems |
| Afterword: America on the Edge: Fighting for a Socially Just World Michelle Christian |
Endorsements
“Agenda for Social Justice continues to demonstrate that scholar activism is vital in producing knowledge that can champion change for a better world.”
Mary Romero, Former President of the American Sociological Association
“This useful volume proposes solutions to the most important social problems of our time.”
Luis A. Fernandez, Northern Arizona University, and SSSP President 2017-2018
"This book offers an accessible, engaging, and critical tool, drawing on cutting-edge social justice research to create positive social change."
Nancy J. Mezey, Monmouth University, and SSSP President 2018-2019
