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Race, Class and Gender: An Anthology. 4th ed. Margaret L. Anderson and Patricia Hill Collins, eds. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 2001. 592 pages. $43.95.
Anderson and Collins have done it again! In this fourth edition, they have continued their commitment to analyzing how race, class, and gender transcend our everyday lives. This anthology illustrates how race, class and gender are "interlocking systems of societal relationships" (p. xi), not merely separate entities shaping an individual's life experience. In doing so, they again produce a rich source for sociological insight into the historical, structural, and cultural context where race, class, and gender emerge. This position is critical to "understanding people's lives, institutional systems, contemporary social issues, and the possibilities for social change" (p. 3). Both teachers and students will find the anthology stimulating and meaningful.
The text follows a "matrix of domination" approach to show how race, class and gender are "manifested differently, depending on their configuration with the others" (p. 4). This point shows that when oppression, like sexism, is studied in the context of just one of these variables, like gender, it "encourages thinking that blames the victims" (p. 4). Students should think more inclusively, the text argues, and see that race, class, and gender are intertwined. This encourages a broader understanding of how "isms" are shaped in everyday relationships. Thus, students are able to focus on structural inequalities and systematic oppression.
The anthology consists of 69 selections, including 24 that are new to this edition, organized into five major headings: "Shifting the Center and Reconstructing Knowledge," "Conceptualizing Race, Class, and Gender," "Rethinking Institutions," "Analyzing Social Issues," and "Making a Difference." Part...