Uses the case study of the California Industrial Accident Commission to explore issues in sociological jurisprudence. It traces the progression of the Commission from a welfare agency with broad discretion in policymaking and interpretation into a relatively passive arbitrator of industrial accident claim disputes. The author examines the effect of the elaboration of legal rules and doctrines, the significance of the procedural aspects of law, and the interplay of the legal process and institutional change. He then notes the conditions which will either permit or restrain a legal process that will remain highly responsive to social needs.

PHILIPPE NONET is a sociologist on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley and associate of the Center for the Study of Law and Society.

"The thoughtful contributors to this useful volume have provided a unique and comprehensive vision for the study of poverty. Laboring Below the Line is one of the most important publications on poverty and low-wage work in the last several decades. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in confronting the problems and challenges of inequality."
-WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University

"This excellent volume is a welcome addition to the renewed stream of ethnographic examinations of the lives of America's poor. Laboring Below the Line concentrates on perennial issues of making a living by people in highly constrained circumstances, a subject not so central to many earlier ethnographies. It should be read by all those concerned with poverty policies as a corrective for the abstract and reductive models that dominate that field."
-LEE RAINWATER, professor of sociology emeritus, Harvard University

"Laboring Below The Line offers a much needed view of what people do to get by, raise families, get ahead, and grapple with issues of identity, esteem, and efficacy while laboring in a world that simultaneously demands and undervalues the work that they do. In establishing a dialogue between ethnographic and structural analysis, the authors remind us that the personal and the global can-indeed must-inform one another in research as well as in political action. They penetrate facile assumptions about the 'low-skill' nature of low-wage workers and work. They show how life chances are constrained by the growing inequities of global political economy, while recognizing the agency individuals do exercise in the workplace, the community, and in their own lives."
-ALICE O'CONNOR, associate professor of history, University of California, Santa Barbara

"For anyone hoping to move beyond the misleading stereotypes that dominate our culture, Laboring Below the Line offers rich portraits and analysis that take us deep into the everyday realities of labor and poverty in America. This indispensable book challenges conventional myths with accessible frontline research from the nation's leading scholars and shows new ways to confront and respond to America's enduring crisis."
-JOHN GILLIOM, associate professor of political science, Ohio University

As the distribution of wealth between rich and poor in the United States grew more and more unequal over the past twenty years, this economic gap assumed a life of its own in the popular culture. The news and entertainment media increasingly portrayed the lives of the poor with such stereotypes as the lazy welfare mother and the thuggish teen, offering Americans few ways to learn how the "other half" really lives. Laboring Below the Line works to bridge this gap by synthesizing a wide range of qualitative scholarship on the working poor. The result is a coherent, nuanced portrait of how life is lived below the poverty line, and a compelling analysis of the systemic forces in which poverty is embedded, and through which it is perpetuated.

Laboring Below the Line explores the role of interpretive research in understanding the causes and effects of poverty. Drawing on perspectives of the working poor, welfare recipients, and marginally employed men and women, the contributors—an interdisciplinary roster of ethnographers, oral historians, qualitative sociologists, and narrative analysts—dissect the life circumstances that affect the personal outlook, ability to work, and expectations for the future of these people. For example, Carol Stack views the work aspirations of an Oakland teenager for whom a job is important, even though it strains her academic performance. And Ruth Buchanan looks at low-wage telemarketing workers who are attempting to move up the economic ladder while balancing family, education, and other important commitments. What emerges is a compelling picture of low-wage workers—one that illustrates the precarious circumstances of individuals struggling with the economic conditions and institutions that surround them Each chapter also explores the capacity for economic survival from a different angle, with ancillary commentary complementing the ethnographies with perspectives from other fields of study, such as economics.

At this moment of governmental retrenchment, ethnography's complex, nonstereotypical portraits of individual people fighting against poverty are especially important. Laboring Below the Line reveals the ambiguities of real lives, the potential for individuals to change in unexpected ways, and the even greater intricacy of the collective life of a community.

FRANK MUNGER is professor of law and adjunct professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

CONTRIBUTORS: Frances Ansley, Ruth Buchanan, Aixa N. Cintron-Velez, Kathryn Edin, Michael Frisch, Joel F. Handler, Philip Harvey, Julia R. Henly, Sanders Korenman, Laura Lein, Timothy Nelson, Carl H. Nightingale, Saskia Sassen, Carol Stack, Lucie White.
 

With a population and budget exceeding that of many nations, a central position in the world's cultural and corporate networks, and enormous concentrations off wealth and poverty, New York City intensifies interactions among social forces that elsewhere may be hidden or safely separated. The essays in Power, Culture, and Place represent the first comprehensive program of research on this city in a quarter century.

Focusing on three historical transformations—the mercantile, industrial, and postindustrial—several contributors explore economic growth and change and the social conflicts that accompanied them. Other papers suggest how popular culture, public space, and street life served as sources of order amidst conflict and disorder. Essays on politics and pluralism offer further reflections on how social tensions are harnessed in the framework of political participation. By examining the intersection of economics, culture, and politics in a shared spatial context, these multidisciplinary essays not only illuminate the City's fascinating and complex development, but also highlight the significance of a sense of "place" for social research.

It has been said that cities gave birth to the social sciences, exemplifying and propagating dramatic social changes and proving ideal laboratories for the study of social patterns and their evolution. As John Mollenkopf and his colleagues argue, New York City remains the quintessential case in point.

JOHN HULL MOLLENKOPF is at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

CONTRIBUTORS: Thomas Bender,  James Beshers,  Amy Bridges Peter G. Buckley,  Norman Fainstein,  Ira Katznelson,  William Kornblum,  Diane Lindstrom,  John Hull Mollenkopf,  Martin Shefter, William R. Taylor,  Emanuel Tobier. 

"[T]his is a valuable guide to the current state of transnational research and theory, and as such should be considered essential
reading for immigration scholars."
-JOURNAL OF AMERICAN ETHNIC HISTORY

"Levitt and Waters have assembled, in this book, engaging, provocative approaches to transnationalism and the second generation that should be read by all scholars in these fields."
- CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

"In The Changing Face of Home, leading scholars integrate diverse methodologies and theoretical positions to investigate the extent to which the children of immigrants will retain ties to their families' countries of origin. Offering the best definition of the concept of transnationalism available, and drawing upon evidence collected from a wide array of brilliant case studies, it contributes significantly to our understanding of contemporary migrants' identities and behaviors. It is a must read for those who wish to keep abreast of the ways by which human movement continues to transform social life."
- STEVEN J. GOLD, Michigan State University

"This is one of these rare books that clears a wide and exciting path for future scholarship. By putting together such an impressive collection of insightful articles, Peggy Levitt and Mary C. Waters add considerable knowledge and precision to a disorderly interdisciplinary field that has attracted, and can only continue to attract, enormous interest. They and their coauthors are particularly sensitive to how transnationalism shapes definitions of personal and collective identities and imagined communities. As such, they help push the field of immigration toward a truly multidimensional understanding of the transnational lives of the second generation."
- MICHÈLE LAMONT, Princeton University

"A treasure trove anthology that includes chapters on a wide array of different immigrant groups, this book breaks new ground through comparative, nuanced analysis and searing research questions that offer readers a state-of-the-art summary while setting the stage for a new generation of scholarship. Provocative and pioneering, The Changing Face of Home shifts research on second generation immigrants in a critical new direction that will keenly interest policy makers, planners and academics alike."
- SARAH J. MAHLER, Florida International University

The children of immigrants account for the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population under eighteen years old—one out of every five children in the United States. Will this generation of immigrant children follow the path of earlier waves of immigrants and gradually assimilate into mainstream American life, or does the global nature of the contemporary world mean that the trajectory of today's immigrants will be fundamentally different? Rather than severing their ties to their home countries, many immigrants today sustain economic, political, and religious ties to their homelands, even as they work, vote, and pray in the countries that receive them. The Changing Face of Home is the first book to examine the extent to which the children of immigrants engage in such transnational practices.

Because most second generation immigrants are still young, there is much debate among immigration scholars about the extent to which these children will engage in transnational practices in the future. While the contributors to this volume find some evidence of transnationalism among the children of immigrants, they disagree over whether these activities will have any long-term effects. Part I of the volume explores how the practice and consequences of transnationalism vary among different groups. Contributors Philip Kasinitz, Mary Waters, and John Mollenkopf use findings from their large study of immigrant communities in New York City to show how both distance and politics play important roles in determining levels of transnational activity. For example, many Latin American and Caribbean immigrants are "circular migrants" spending much time in both their home countries and the United States, while Russian Jews and Chinese immigrants have far less contact of any kind with their homelands.

In Part II, the contributors comment on these findings, offering suggestions for reconceptualizing the issue and bridging analytical differences. In her chapter, Nancy Foner makes valuable comparisons with past waves of immigrants as a way of understanding the conditions that may foster or mitigate transnationalism among today's immigrants. The final set of chapters examines how home and host country value systems shape how second generation immigrants construct their identities, and the economic, social, and political communities to which they ultimately express allegiance.

The Changing Face of Home presents an important first round of research and dialogue on the activities and identities of the second generation vis-a-vis their ancestral homelands, and raises important questions for future research.

PEGGY LEVITT is assistant professor of sociology, Wellesley College.

MARY C. WATERS is professor of sociology, Harvard University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Merih Anil, Susan Eckstein, Yen Le Espiritu, Nancy Foner, Georges E. Fouron, Nina Glick-Schiller, Michael Jones-Correa, Philip Kasinitz, Nazli Kibria, Peggy Levitt, Andrea Louie, John H. Mollenkopf, Joel Perlmann, Ruben G. Rumbaut, Robert C. Smith, Thom Tran, Reed Ueda, Milton Vickerman, Mary C. Waters, and Diane L. Wolf.

As the United States wages war on terrorism, the country's attention is riveted on the Muslim world as never before. While many cursory press accounts dealing with Muslims in the United States have been published since 9/11, few people are aware of the wealth of scholarly research already available on the American Islamic population. In Muslims in the United States: The State of Research, Karen Isaksen Leonard mines this rich vein of research to provide a fascinating overview of the history and contemporary situation of American Muslim communities.

Leonard describes how Islam, never a monolithic religion, has inevitably been shaped by its experience on American soil. American Muslims are a religious minority, and arbiters of Islamic cultural values and jurisprudence must operate within the framework of America's secular social and legal codes, while coping with the ethnic differences among Muslim groups that have long divided their communities. Arab Muslims tend to dominate mosque functions and teaching Arabic and the Qur'an, whereas South Asian Muslims have often focused on the regional and national mobilization of Muslims around religious and political issues. By the end of the 20th century, however, many Muslim immigrants had become American citizens, prompting greater interchange among these groups and bridging some cultural differences.

African American Muslims remain the most isolated group—a minority within a minority. Many African American men have converted to Islam while in prison, leading to a special concern among African American Muslims for civil and religious rights within the prison system. Leonard highlights the need to expand our knowledge of African American Muslim movements, which are often not regarded as legitimate by immigrant Muslims. Leonard explores the construction of contemporary American Muslim identities, examining such factors as gender, sexuality, race, class, and generational differences within the many smaller national origin and sectarian Muslim communities, including secular Muslims, Sufis, and fundamentalists.

Muslims in the United States provides a thorough account of the impact of September 11th on the Muslim community. Before the terrorist attacks, Muslim leaders had been mostly optimistic, envisioning a growing role for Muslims in U.S. society. Afterward, despite a brave show of unity and support for the nation, Muslim organizations became more open in showing their own conflicts and divisions and more vocal in opposing militant Islamic ideologies.

By providing a concise summary of significant historical and contemporary research on Muslims in the United States, this volume will become an essential resource for both the scholar and the general reader interested in understanding the diverse communities that constitute Muslim America.

KAREN ISAKSEN LEONARD is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine.

"Preferences and Situations seeks to stimulate and promote mutual engagement between historical and rational choice institutionalisms. This is a great idea, and it is masterfully executed in a volume that features contributions by some of the leading lights from both traditions."
-KATHLEEN THELEN, Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University, and chair, Council for European Studies

"Preferences and Situations addresses those sectors of political science concerned with both theory building and the empirical applications of theoretical approaches. The editors provide a heroic synthesis of both the rational and historical institutionalist persuasions, pointing out where they triangulate on institutions and preferences and presenting a wide range of exemplars of the best work from both camps. Both sets of contributions are accessible to adherents of the other camp and avoid the paradigm warfare that often passes for debate in the social sciences. Preferences and Situations will go far to advance the integration of contemporary approaches in political science and beyond."
-SIDNEY TARROW, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government, Cornell University

"In Preferences and Situations Ira Katznelson and Barry R. Weingast assemble a top group of schol ars to address a central question in the social sciences: how does social context influence prefer ences? The provocative intuition that drives this volume is that fruitful answers can be produced by fostering an engagement between two approaches that are often considered at odds with one another-historical and rational choice institutionalism. The results are quite impressive. By iden tifying an array of ways in which context can affect preferences, the contributors to this volume provide a useful framework for future research that highlights the complementary strengths of the two approaches. Preferences and Situations constitutes a significant advance in our understanding of this complex question."
-JACK KNIGHT, Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government in Arts and Sciences, Washington University

A scholarly gulf has tended to divide historians, political scientists, and social movement theorists on how people develop and act on their preferences. Rational choice scholars assumed that people—regardless of the time and place in which they live—try to achieve certain goals, like maximizing their personal wealth or power. In contrast, comparative historical scholars have emphasized historical context in explaining people’s behavior. Recently, a common emphasis on how institutions—such as unions or governments—influence people’s preferences in particular situations has emerged, promising to narrow the divide between the two intellectual camps. In Preferences and Situations, editors Ira Katnelson and Barry Weingast seek to expand that common ground by bringing together an esteemed group of contributors to address the ways in which institutions, in their wider historical setting, induce people to behave in certain ways and steer the course of history.

The contributors examine a diverse group of topics to assess the role that institutions play in shaping people’s preferences and decision-making. For example, Margaret Levi studies two labor unions to determine how organizational preferences are established. She discusses how the individual preferences of leaders crystallize and become cemented into an institutional culture through formal rules and informal communication. To explore how preferences alter with time, David Brady, John Ferejohn, and Jeremy Pope examine why civil rights legislation that failed to garner sufficient support in previous decades came to pass Congress in 1964. Ira Katznelson reaches back to the 13th century to discuss how the institutional development of Parliament after the signing of the Magna Carta led King Edward I to reframe the view of the British crown toward Jews and expel them in 1290.

The essays in this book focus on preference formation and change, revealing a great deal of overlap between two schools of thought that were previously considered mutually exclusive. Though the scholarly debate over the merits of historical versus rational choice institutionalism will surely rage on, Preferences and Situations reveals how each field can be enriched by the other.

IRA KATZNELSON is Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University.

BARRY R. WEINGAST is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Ward C. Krebs Family Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Richard Bensel,  David W. Brady,  Charles M. Cameron, Jon Elster, John A. Ferejohn, Peter A. Hall,  James Johnson, Margaret Levi, James Mahoney,  Jeremy C. Pope.

"Most of the book's facts and interpretations will be familiar to American historians and sociologists, but they can be thankful to have them integrated in a single, well-organized survey."
-THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY

"In this richly documented history, Michael B. Katz and Mark J. Stern brilliantly capture the dynamics of change and continuity that have shaped American society since the beginning of the twentieth century. With narrative grace and analytic rigor, they tell a story that weaves large-scale structural forces into the fabric of everyday life, and that challenges comforting notions about what it is that separates us from the past. Above all, it is a story that opens our eyes to the new, and old, and in some ways hardening patterns of inequality that continue to divide the United States in the new millennium. For historians, social scientists, and general readers alike, One Nation Divisible is an invaluable resource for understanding the nature, consequences, and manifestations of enduring inequality in a society that claims to embrace opportunity as its defining theme."
-ALICE O'CONNOR, associate professor of history, University of California, Santa Barbara

"To know where you are going, you need to know where you have been. No other book to my knowledge so succinctly, yet so masterfully, teases out the patterns and processes for the 'American Century,' providing both guidebook and compass for our history and identity-and for what we must confront to realize the American Dream for all."
-MIKE ROSE, professor of education, University of California, Los Angeles

"In One Nation Divisible, Michael B. Katz and Mark J. Stern offer a masterful review of how the United States came apart socially, economically, and demographically in the early decades of the twentieth century, how government was instrumental in putting the nation back together again in the wake of the Great Depression, and how social changes and economic transformations after the 1970s have combined with passive government and weak public leadership to divide us once again. Let us hope that many read this book to learn that government is not antithetical to a healthy market economy, but essential to its short-term viability and long-term success."
-DOUGLAS S. MASSEY, professor of sociology and public affairs, Office of Population Research, Princeton University and codirector of the Mexican Migration Project

American society today is hardly recognizable from what it was a century ago. Integrated schools, an information economy, and independently successful women are just a few of the remarkable changes that have occurred over just a few generations. Still, the country today is influenced by many of the same factors that revolutionized life in the late nineteenth century—immigration, globalization, technology, and shifting social norms—and is plagued by many of the same problems—economic, social, and racial inequality. One Nation Divisible, a sweeping history of twentieth-century American life by Michael B. Katz and Mark J. Stern, weaves together information from the latest census with a century’s worth of data to show how trends in American life have changed while inequality and diversity have endured.

One Nation Divisible examines all aspects of work, family, and social life to paint a broad picture of the American experience over the long arc of the twentieth century. Katz and Stern track the transformations of the U.S. workforce, from the farm to the factory to the office tower. Technological advances at the beginning and end of the twentieth century altered the demand for work, causing large population movements between regions. These labor market shifts fed both the explosive growth of cities at the dawn of the industrial age and the sprawling suburbanization of today. One Nation Divisible also discusses how the norms of growing up and growing old have shifted. Whereas the typical life course once involved early marriage and living with large, extended families, Americans today commonly take years before marrying or settling on a career path, and often live in non-traditional households. Katz and Stern examine the growing influence of government on trends in American life, showing how new laws have contributed to more diverse neighborhoods and schools, and increased opportunities for minorities, women, and the elderly. One Nation Divisible also explores the abiding economic paradox in American life: while many individuals are able to climb the financial ladder, inequality of income and wealth remains pervasive throughout society.

The last hundred years have been marked by incredible transformations in American society. Great advances in civil rights have been tempered significantly by rising economic inequality. One Nation Divisible provides a compelling new analysis of the issues that continue to divide this country and the powerful role of government in both mitigating and exacerbating them.

MICHAEL B. KATZ is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History and research associate at the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

MARK J. STERN is professor of social welfare and history in the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania.

A Volume in the RSF Census Series

Winner of the 2000 Thomas and Znaniecki Award from the International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association

"This pathbreaking book will be required reading for both the specialist in immigration and the general reader wanting an introduction to the subject. The multidisciplinary authors provide an overview of the field, a synthesis of the theoretical approaches, and cutting edge new data. It is an engaging dialogue across disciplines on one of the most important issues in our society."
MARY WATERS, Harvard University

"Considering the recent prominence of immigration in the national consciousness and the vast literature now being published on immigration, now is the right time to take stock of our understanding of the central issues. The Handbook of International Migration will be an indispensable reference work on one of the next century's most important issues."
-DEMETRI PAPADEMETRIOU, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The historic rise in international migration over the past thirty years has brought a tide of new immigrants to the United States from Asia, South America, and other parts of the globe. Their arrival has reverberated throughout American society, prompting an outpouring of scholarship on the causes and consequences of the new migrations. The Handbook of International Migration gathers the best of this scholarship in one volume to present a comprehensive overview of the state of immigration research in this country, bringing coherence and fresh insight to this fast growing field.

The contributors to The Handbook of International Migration—a virtual who's who of immigration scholars—draw upon the best social science theory and demographic research to examine the effects and implications of immigration in the United States. The dramatic shift in the national background of today's immigrants away from primarily European roots has led many researchers to rethink traditional theories of assimilation,and has called into question the usefulness of making historical comparisons between today's immigrants and those of previous generations.

Part I of the Handbook examines current theories of international migration, including the forces that motivate people to migrate, often at great financial and personal cost. Part II focuses on how immigrants are changed after their arrival, addressing such issues as adaptation, assimilation, pluralism, and socioeconomic mobility. Finally, Part III looks at the social, economic, and political effects of the surge of new immigrants on American society. Here the Handbook explores how the complex politics of immigration have become intertwined with economic perceptions and realities, racial and ethnic divisions,and international relations.

A landmark compendium of richly nuanced investigations, The Handbook of International Migration will be the major reference work on recent immigration to this country and will enhance the development of a truly interdisciplinary field of international migration studies.

CHARLES HIRSCHMAN is professor of sociology at the University of Washington.

PHILIP KASINITZ is professor of sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

JOSH DEWIND is program director of the Social Science Research Council and professor of anthropology at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

CONTRIBUTORS: Charles Hirschman, Philip Kasinitz, Josh DeWind, Richard Alba, Susan B. Carter, Thomas J. Espenshade, Reynolds Farley, Walter C. Farrell Jr., Nancy Foner, Rachel M. Friedberg, Herbert J. Gans, Gary Gerstle, Nina Glick Schiller, Chandra Guinn, John Higham, Gregory A. Huber, Jennifer Hunt, James H. Johnson Jr., David E. López, Douglas S. Massey, John Hull Mollenkopf, Victor Nee, Joel Perlmann, Patricia R. Pessar, David Plotke, Alejandro Portes, Rebeca Raijman, Nestor Rodriguez, Rubén G. Rumbaut, George J. Sánchez, Richard Sutch, Marta Tienda, Roger Waldinger, Min Zhou, and Aristide R. Zolberg.

A Volume in the American Sociological Association’s Rose Series in Sociology

"This volume is distinguished by immense scholarship in economics and political science extending beyond the Social Security issue to the proper role of government in the economy. An important addition to the literature."
-CHOICE

"Melissa Hardy and Lawrence Hazelrigg clear the air on the Social Security debate. They set their sociological sights on the econometric battle over rescue strategies versus privatization, showing that arguments about efficiency are invariably colored by politics. In reviewing arguments and evidence for each side, they call for an open debate in which politicians and policy wonks put all their cards on the table. This lucid and even-handed book offers the non-expert an introduction to the issues that is engaging, yet never dumbed down. It challenges the expert to overcome partisan politics."
-FRANK DOBBIN, professor of sociology, Harvard University

"Melissa Hardy and Lawrence Hazelrigg bring an insightful and nuanced sociological perspective to the history and recent controversies surrounding Social Security and proposed changes in the system with an impressively broad (and deep) intellectual orientation that transcends sociology to include economics, history, philosophy, political science, and literature. They evaluate the 'toxic' political-economic climate surrounding Social Security in a clear-eyed fashion by distinguishing 'technical' from 'political' arguments. And, they make courageous public judgments about the political motives, voracity, and behaviors of public figures embroiled in these policy debates."
-ANGELA M. O'RAND, professor of sociology, Duke University

The rancorous debate over the future of Social Security reached a fever pitch in 2005 when President Bush unsuccessfully proposed a plan for private retirement accounts. Although efforts to reform Social Security seem to have reached an impasse, the long-term problem—the projected Social Security deficit—remains. In Pension Puzzles, sociologists Melissa Hardy and Lawrence Hazelrigg explain for a general audience the fiscal challenges facing Social Security and explore the larger political context of the Social Security debate.

Pension Puzzles cuts through the sloganeering of politicians in both parties, presenting Social Security’s technical problems evenhandedly and showing how the Social Security debate is one piece of a larger political struggle. Hardy and Hazelrigg strip away the ideological baggage to explicate the basic terms and concepts needed to understand the predicament of Social Security. They compare the cases for privatizing Social Security and for preserving the program in its current form with adjustments to taxes and benefits, and they examine the different economic projections assumed by proponents of each approach. In pursuit of its privatization agenda, Hardy and Hazelrigg argue, the Bush administration has misled the public on an issue that was already widely misunderstood. The authors show how privatization proponents have relied on dubious assumptions about future rates of return to stock market investments and about the average citizen’s ability to make informed investment decisions. In addition, the administration has painted the real but manageable shortfalls in Social Security revenue as a fiscal crisis. Projections of Social Security revenues and benefits by the Social Security Administration have treated revenues as fixed, when in fact they are determined by choices made by Congress. Ultimately, as Hardy and Hazelrigg point out, the clash over Social Security is about more than technical fiscal issues: it is part of the larger culture wars and the ideological struggle over what kind of social responsibilities and rights American citizens should have. This rancorous partisan wrangling, the alarmist talk about a “crisis” in Social Security, and the outright deception employed in this debate have all undermined the trust between citizens and government that is needed to restore the solvency of Social Security for future generations of retirees.

Drawing together economic analyses, public opinion data, and historical narratives, Pension Puzzles is a lucid and engaging guide to the major proposals for Social Security reform. It is also an insightful exploration of what that debate reveals about American political culture in the twenty-first century.

MELISSA HARDY is Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in Sociology and Demography and director of the Gerontology Center at the Pennsylvania State University.

LAWRENCE HAZELRIGG is professor emeritus at Florida State University and adjunct professor of sociology at the Pennsylvania State University.

"Together, the historical essays in this volume provide the best account of how the Foundation moved away from its roots as a policy think tank.... This book of essays is the only extended treatment of the Foundation's history that includes both its distinguished early years and its emergence after World War II as the principal private foundation devoted to strengthening basic research in the social sciences." —ERIC WANNER, president of the Russell Sage Foundation, in his foreword to the volume

DANIEL HAMMACK is Hiram C. Haydn Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University.

STANTON WHEELER was Ford Foundation Professor Emeritus of Law and the Social Sciences and professorial lecturer in law at Yale University.