"The contentious politics of the U.S. census, the data needs of social scientists, and America's changing racial sensibilities all come together in this rich and provocative volume. A remarkable array of contributors lay out the value considerations as well as the technical challenges raised by new modes of classifying races in a society marked by more and more interracial unions. Present dilemmas are put in broad historical perspective. Researchers, teachers, students, and the educated public will all find much of value in The New Race Question."
-Theda Skocpol, Harvard University

"For census 2000, the federal government made a historic decision to allow Americans to count themselves as members of more than one race. In this extraordinarily thorough and penetrating collection of essays, leading scholars explore the origins, implementation, and likely consequences of this crucial policy. An indispensable guide to the changing nature of race and racism in America."
-Gary Gerstle, University of Maryland

"The New Race Question is an indispensable guide for those perplexed by the complex societal and policy ramifications of the U.S. census's acknowledgment of racial mixture in 2000, perhaps the most momentous change in the measurement of race since the Civil War destroyed the equation of a black person who is not free with three-fifths of a white."
-Richard D. Alba, State University of New York at Albany

The change in the way the federal government asked for information about race in the 2000 census marked an important turning point in the way Americans measure race. By allowing respondents to choose more than one racial category for the first time, the Census Bureau challenged strongly held beliefs about the nature and definition of race in our society. The New Race Question is a wide-ranging examination of what we know about racial enumeration, the likely effects of the census change, and possible policy implications for the future.

The growing incidence of interracial marriage and childrearing led to the change in the census race question. Yet this reality conflicts with the need for clear racial categories required by anti-discrimination and voting rights laws and affirmative action policies. How will racial combinations be aggregated under the Census's new race question? Who will decide how a respondent who lists more than one race will be counted? How will the change affect established policies for documenting and redressing discrimination? The New Race Question opens with an exploration of what the attempt to count multiracials has shown in previous censuses and other large surveys. Contributor Reynolds Farley reviews the way in which the census has traditionally measured race, and shows that although the numbers of people choosing more than one race are not high at the national level, they can make a real difference in population totals at the county level. The book then takes up the debate over how the change in measurement will affect national policy in areas that rely on race counts, especially in civil rights law, but also in health, education, and income reporting. How do we relate data on poverty, graduation rates, and disease collected in 2000 to the rates calculated under the old race question? A technical appendix provides a useful manual for bridging old census data to new.

The book concludes with a discussion of the politics of racial enumeration. Hugh Davis Graham examines recent history to ask why some groups were determined to be worthy of special government protections and programs, while others were not. Posing the volume's ultimate question, Jennifer Hochschild asks whether the official recognition of multiracials marks the beginning of the end of federal use of race data, and whether that is a good or a bad thing for society?

The New Race Question brings to light the many ways in which a seemingly small change in surveying and categorizing race can have far reaching effects and expose deep fissures in our society.

JOEL PERLMANN is senior scholar and research professor at the Levy Economics Institute, Bard College.

MARY C. WATERS is professor of sociology, Harvard University.
Copublished with the Levy Economics Institute

A Volume in the RSF Census Series
 

"[N]ot only makes interesting reading, but also brings some clarifying historical insights to the immigration debate."
-Industrial and Labor Relations Review

"Will today's Mexican immigrants and their children follow the paths of the Italians and Poles of a century ago in moving up the economic ladder? Joel Perlmann's carefully drawn analysis tackles this much-debated question through a detailed and thoughtfully argued comparison of the Mexican second generation of today and the European second generation of the past. This insightful and stimulating book under scores the great value of past-present comparisons for understanding the trajectories of contemporary immigrants and their children."
-NANCY FONER, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York 

"Italians Then, Mexicans Now is essential reading for anyone who hopes to make sense of the prospects of today's immigrants and their children, especially for groups like the Mexicans that are trapped in low-wage labor."
-RICHARD ALBA, Distinguished Professor, State University of New York, Albany

According to the American dream, hard work and a good education can lift people from poverty to success in the "land of opportunity." The unskilled immigrants who came to the United States from southern, central, and eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries largely realized that vision. Within a few generations, their descendants rose to the middle class and beyond. But can today’s unskilled immigrant arrivals—especially Mexicans, the nation's most numerous immigrant group—expect to achieve the same for their descendants? Social scientists disagree on this question, basing their arguments primarily on how well contemporary arrivals are faring. In Italians Then, Mexicans Now, Joel Perlmann uses the latest immigration data as well as 100 years of historical census data to compare the progress of unskilled immigrants and their American-born children both then and now.

The crucial difference between the immigrant experience a hundred years ago and today is that relatively well-paid jobs were plentiful for workers with little education a hundred years ago, while today's immigrants arrive in an increasingly unequal America. Perlmann finds that while this change over time is real, its impact has not been as strong as many scholars have argued. In particular, these changes have not been great enough to force today’s Mexican second generation into an inner-city "underclass." Perlmann emphasizes that high school dropout rates among second-generation Mexicans are alarmingly high, and are likely to have a strong impact on the group’s well-being. Yet despite their high dropout rates, Mexican Americans earn at least as much as African Americans, and they fare better on social measures such as unwed childbearing and incarceration, which often lead to economic hardship. Perlmann concludes that inter-generational progress, though likely to be slower than it was for the European immigrants a century ago, is a reality, and could be enhanced if policy interventions are taken to boost high school graduation rates for Mexican children.

Rich with historical data, Italians Then, Mexicans Now persuasively argues that today’s Mexican immigrants are making slow but steady socio-economic progress and may one day reach parity with earlier immigrant groups who moved up into the heart of the American middle class.

JOEL PERLMANN is senior scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and the Levy Institute Research Professor at the college.

Copublished with the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

"The story is set in the thick forests of the Pacific Northwest, but the lessons about worker participation in decision-making and ownership are universal. Pencavel's rigorous, relevant, and engaging analysis will enrich tremendously our understanding of employee involvement at the workplace. This little book, rich in theory, history, and data, is not to be missed."
-Avner Ben-Ner, University of Minnesota

"Worker Participation is the most comprehensive and careful theoretical and empirical treatment to date of the issues relating to employee ownership of companies. Readers interested in polemics will have to look elsewhere. Although Pencavel clearly tells readers his own biases, he very carefully separates them from his dispassionate analyses of worker participation in corporate ownership and governance. Written in a style that is easily accessible to a general audience, the book builds on over a decade's research by Pencavel and his collaborators. Worker Participation is a book that I would be very proud to have been able to call my own."
-Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Cornell University

"Worker Participation is a fascinating mixture of economic and historical analysis of how cooperatives work in a near-ideal situation for worker participation. Biologists often search for the ideal "model"-fruitflies, yeast, ants-to understand general processes, but economists rarely do. Pencavel's analysis shows the power of such a procedure. He gives convincing support for the general model of worker-owned enterprises as income maximizers for members in the Northwest plywood sector, both in the statistics and case analysis."
-Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University

Once they accept a job, most Americans have little control over their work environments. In Worker Participation, John Pencavel examines some of those rare workplaces where employees both own and manage the companies they work for: the plywood cooperatives and forest worker cooperatives of the Pacific Northwest. Rather than relying on abstract theories, Pencavel reviews the actual experiences of these two groups of worker co-ops. He focuses on how worker-owned companies perform when compared to more traditional firms and whether companies operate more efficiently when workers determine how they are run. He also looks at the long-term viability of these enterprises and why they are so unusual.

Most businesses are constantly caught in the battle over whether to use the firm's profits to pay labor or to increase capital. Worker cooperatives provide an appealing case study because the interests of labor and capital are aligned. If individuals have a role in setting goals, they should have an added incentive to help meet those goals, and productivity should benefit. On the other hand, observers have long argued that, since any single employee in a co-op reaps only a small benefit from working hard, workers may shirk work, and productivity can flag. Furthermore, co-ops often have difficulty raising capital, since they are constrained by how much money the workers have, and banks are often reluctant to lend them money.

Using some fifteen years of data on forty mills in Washington State, Pencavel examines how worker co-ops really function. He assesses the practical problems of running a workplace where every employee is a boss. He looks at worker productivity, on-the-job injuries and financial risks facing owner-workers. He considers whether co-ops are inherently unstable and if they are plagued by infighting among the many worker-owners.

Although many of the co-ops he studied have closed or been replaced by conventional businesses, Pencavel judges them to have been a success. Despite the risks inherent in such operations, allowing workers to make the decisions that profoundly affect them produces many benefits, including workplace efficiency and increased job security. However, Pencavel concludes, if more Americans are to enjoy such a working arrangement, labor laws will have to be changed, participation encouraged, and a more vigorous public debate about worker participation must take place. This book provides an excellent place to start the discussion.

JOHN PENCAVEL is Levin Professor of Economics, Stanford University.

This casebook documents public reactions to health programs and health situations in sixteen widely differing communities of the world. Some of the studies record successes, others failures. Of interest to anyone concerned with preventive medicine, public health, community betterment, or cultural problems involving peoples of different backgrounds and beliefs.

BENJAMIN D. PAUL is professor of anthropology and director of the program in medicine and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.

Over the last thirty years, the U.S. penal population increased from around 300,000 to more than two million, with more than half a million prisoners returning to their home communities each year. What are the social costs to the communities from which this vast incarcerated population comes? And what happens to these communities when former prisoners return as free men and women in need of social and economic support? In Imprisoning America, an interdisciplinary group of leading researchers in economics, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, and social work goes beyond a narrow focus on crime to examine the connections between incarceration and family formation, labor markets, political participation, and community well-being.

The book opens with a consideration of the impact of incarceration on families. Using a national survey of young parents, Bruce Western and colleagues show the enduring corrosive effects of incarceration on marriage and cohabitation, even after a prison sentence has been served. Kathryn Edin, Timothy Nelson, and Rechelle Parnal use in-depth life histories of low-income men in Philadelphia and Charleston, to study how incarceration not only damages but sometimes strengthens relations between fathers and their children. Imprisoning America then turns to how mass incarceration affects local communities and society at large. Christopher Uggen and Jeff Manza use survey data and interviews with thirty former felons to explore the political ramifications of disenfranchising inmates and former felons. Harry Holzer, Stephen Raphael, and Michael Stoll examine how poor labor market opportunities for former prisoners are shaped by employers’ (sometimes unreliable) background checks. Jeremy Travis concludes that corrections policy must extend beyond incarceration to help former prisoners reconnect with their families, communities, and the labor market. He recommends greater collaboration between prison officials and officials in child and family welfare services, educational and job training programs, and mental and public health agencies.

Imprisoning America vividly illustrates that the experience of incarceration itself—and not just the criminal involvement of inmates—negatively affects diverse aspects of social membership. By contributing to the social exclusion of an already marginalized population, mass incarceration may actually increase crime rates, and threaten the public safety it was designed to secure. A rigorous portrayal of the pitfalls of getting tough on crime, Imprisoning America highlights the pressing need for new policies to support ex-prisoners and the families and communities to which they return.

MARY PATTILLO is associate professor of sociology and African-American Studies, Northwestern University.

DAVID WEIMAN is Alena Wels Hirschorn 1958 Professor of Economics, and chair, department of economics, Barnard College.

BRUCE WESTERN is professor of sociology, Princeton University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Kathryn Edin, Harry J. Holzer, Elizabeth I. Johnson, Leonard M. Lopoo, James P. Lynch, Jeff Manza, Sara McLanahan, Timothy J. Nelson, Anne M. Nurse, Rechelle Paranal, Stevel Raphael, William J. Sabol, Michael A. Stoll, Jeremy Travis, Christopher Uggen, Jane Waldfogel. 

The Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality
 

"For the first time, Urban Inequality brings together solid evidence on the intersecting effects of skills, job availability, geographic segregation, and racism on the socioeconomic outcomes of American minority groups. This landmark study should quickly become a classic, and should inform discussions about public policy for years to come."
- DAVID O. SEARS, UCLA

"This important book investigates urban inequality by looking in detail at the barriers of race, gender, and class in the United States. The team of leading scholars clearly shows us how the search for decent housing, a living wage job, or simply walking down the street differs dramatically between the urban haves and have-nots. Urban Inequality belongs on the bookshelves of mayors, community organizers, and advocates."
- HUGH B. PRICE, National Urban League

"W.E.B. DuBois said that the problem of the twentieth century would be the color line. How sad that we enter the twenty-first century with a racial hierarchy still intact, putting those of African descent at the bottom. But how encouraging that an interdisciplinary team has taken this comprehensive look at many of the factors holding the racial hierarchy in place. Urban Inequality and the larger Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality are major accomplishments."
- PAULA ENGLAND, University of Pennsylvania

"This is an important volume. Based on careful analyses of rich sources of original data, the authors of the various chapters in Urban Inequality provide fresh insights on the interlocking factors that generate and sustain inequality in our nation's metropolises. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the urban social and economic divide."
- WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Harvard University

"The Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality is one of the most innovative and important survey research projects of the 1990s. It moves simultaneously across disciplinary, geographic, and racial boundaries; it extends the range of behavioral social science into structures and cultures. This collection shows off the breadth, flexibility, and substantive value of the Multi-City data when they are in the hands of people who are among our best analysts."
- JENNIFER HOCHSCHILD, Harvard University

Despite today's booming economy, secure work and upward mobility remain out of reach for many central-city residents. Urban Inequality presents an authoritative new look at the racial and economic divisions that continue to beset our nation's cities. Drawing upon a landmark survey of employers and households in four U.S. metropolises, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles, the study links both sides of the labor market, inquiring into the job requirements and hiring procedures of employers, as well as the skills, housing situation, and job search strategies of workers. Using this wealth of evidence, the authors discuss the merits of rival explanations of urban inequality. Do racial minorities lack the skills and education demanded by employers in today's global economy? Have the jobs best matched to the skills of inner-city workers moved to outlying suburbs? Or is inequality the result of racial discrimination in hiring, pay, and housing? Each of these explanations may provide part of the story, and the authors shed new light on the links between labor market disadvantage, residential segregation, and exclusionary racial attitudes.

In each of the four cities, old industries have declined and new commercial centers have sprung up outside the traditional city limits, while new immigrant groups have entered all levels of the labor market. Despite these transformations, longstanding hostilities and lines of segregation between racial and ethnic communities are still apparent in each city. This book reveals how the disadvantaged position of many minority workers is compounded by racial antipathies and stereotypes that count against them in their search for housing and jobs.

Until now, there has been little agreement on the sources of urban disadvantage and no convincing way of adjudicating between rival theories. Urban Inequality aims to advance our understanding of the causes of urban inequality as a first step toward ensuring that the nation's cities can prosper in the future without leaving their minority residents further behind.

ALICE O'CONNOR is associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

CHRIS TILLY is University Professor of Regional Economic and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

LAWRENCE D. BOBO is professor of sociology and Afro-American studies at Harvard Universit

CONTRIBUTORS:  Irene Browne, Camille Zubrinsky Charles.  Sheldon Danziger,  Luis M. Falcon,  Reynolds Farley,  Roger B. Hammer,  Tom Hertz,  Harry J. Holzer,  Ivy Kennelly,  Joleen Kirschenman, James R. Kluegel,  Michael P. Massagli,  Edwin Melendez,  Philip Moss,  Julie E. Press, Leann M. Tigges.  Franklin D. Wilson.

A Volume in the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality

"For more than a hundred years, philanthropists have invested in social science because they thought the knowledge it produced would help solve social problems and improve the human condition. And indeed, social scientists sought to inform public debate and public action, pursuing agendas shaped by the famous 'social question" of labor and inequality. But, as Alice O'Connor shows in this splendid history, the relatienship between social science and philanthropy was not automatic. It could come unstuck when social scientists claimed their work was self-justifying as the pursuit of knowledge in itself, and also with political challenges to the idea of neutral (or liberal) expertise. O'Connor rightly reveals that this early history has shaped enduring orientations and oppositions, and she traces these into our era of think tanks and a new gospel of wealth. She also challenges us to ask again what social science is for in an era when inequality seems once again to be increasing, and to wonder whether its connection with philanthropy can be restored. Social Science for What? is important reading for twentieth-century history and it eloquently poses crucial questions for twenty-first century social science."
-CRAIG CALHOUN, Social Science Research Council

This discerning history celebrates an important legacy of the Progressive Era: the best advocates for social reform sought to maintain their objectivity. Then, as now, true idealists tried to steer clear of ideology. Everyone concerned about the relationship between the theory and the practice of social science should read Social Science for What?"
-NANCY FOLBRE, University of Massachusetts

"In this fine book, based on both insider knowledge and academic research, Alice O'Connor explains why the great liberal foundations have been bested by conservative 'think tanks.' And she argues, astutely, that there is only one way the liberal foundations can compete- by openly embracing the progressive values that animated early social science. Social Science for What? is a must for those interested in contemporary conservatism, philanthropy, and social science."
-LINDA GORDON, New York University

Much like today, the early twentieth century was a period of rising economic inequality and political polarization in America. But it was also an era of progressive reform—a time when the Russell Sage Foundation and other philanthropic organizations were established to promote social science as a way to solve the crises of industrial capitalism. In Social Science for What? Alice O’Connor relates the history of philanthropic social science, exploring its successes and challenges over the years, and asking how these foundations might continue to promote progressive social change in our own politically divided era.

The philanthropic foundations established in the early 1900s focused on research which, while intended to be objective, was also politically engaged. In addition to funding social science research, in its early years the Russell Sage Foundation also supported social work and advocated reforms on issues from child welfare to predatory lending. This reformist agenda shaped the foundation’s research priorities and methods. The Foundation’s landmark Pittsburgh Survey of wage labor, conducted in 1907-1908, involved not only social scientists but leaders of charities, social workers, and progressive activists, and was designed not simply to answer empirical questions, but to reframe the public discourse about industrial labor. After World War II, many philanthropic foundations disengaged from political struggles and shifted their funding toward more value-neutral, academic social inquiry, in the belief that disinterested research would yield more effective public policies. Consequently, these foundations were caught off guard in the 1970s and 1980s by the emergence of a network of right-wing foundations, which was successful in promoting an openly ideological agenda. In order to counter the political in-roads made by conservative organizations, O’Connor argues that progressive philanthropic research foundations should look to the example of their founders. While continuing to support the social science research that has contributed so much to American society over the past 100 years, they should be more direct about the values that motivate their research.  In this way, they will help foster a more democratic dialogue on important social issues by using empirical knowledge to engage fundamentally ethical concerns about rising inequality.

O’Connor’s message is timely: public-interest social science faces unprecedented challenges in this era of cultural warfare, as both liberalism and science itself have come under assault. Social Science for What? is a thought-provoking critique of the role of social science in improving society and an indispensable guide to how progressives can reassert their voice in the national political debate.

ALICE O’CONNOR is associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

A Volume in the the Russell Sage Foundation's Centennial Series

As anxieties about America’s economic competitiveness mounted in the 1980s, so too did concerns that the nation’s schools were not adequately preparing young people for the modern workplace. Spurred by widespread joblessness and job instability among young adults, the federal government launched ambitious educational reforms in the 1990s to promote career development activities for students. In recent years, however, the federal government has shifted its focus to test-based reforms like No Child Left Behind that emphasize purely academic subjects. At this critical juncture in education reform, Improving School-To-Work Transitions, edited by David Neumark, weighs the successes and failures of the ’90s-era school-to-work initiatives, and assesses how high schools, colleges, and government can help youths make a smoother transition into stable, well-paying employment.

Drawing on evidence from national longitudinal studies, surveys, interviews, and case studies, the contributors to Improving School-To-Work Transitions offer thought-provoking perspectives on a variety of aspects of the school-to-work problem. Deborah Reed, Christopher Jepsen, and Laura Hill emphasize the importance of focusing school-to-work programs on the diverse needs of different demographic groups, particularly immigrants, who represent a growing proportion of the youth population. David Neumark and Donna Rothstein investigate the impact of school-to-work programs on the “forgotten half,” students at the greatest risk of not attending college. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, they find that participation by these students in programs like job shadowing, mentoring, and summer internships raise employment and college attendance rates among men and earnings among women. In a study of nine high schools with National Academy Foundation career academies, Terry Orr and her fellow researchers find that career academy participants are more engaged in school and are more likely to attend a four-year college than their peers. Nan Maxwell studies the skills demanded in entry-level jobs and finds that many supposedly “low-skilled” jobs actually demand extensive skills in reading, writing, and math, as well as the “new basic skills” of communication and problem-solving. Maxwell recommends that school districts collaborate with researchers to identify which skills are most in demand in their local labor markets.

At a time when test-based educational reforms are making career development programs increasingly vulnerable, it is worth examining the possibilities and challenges of integrating career-related learning into the school environment. Written for educators, policymakers, researchers, and anyone concerned about how schools are shaping the economic opportunities of young people, Improving School-To-Work Transitions provides an authoritative guide to a crucial issue in education reform.
 
DAVID NEUMARK is professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, research associate at the NBER, and research fellow at IZA.

CONTRIBUTORS: Oscar A. Aliaga, Thomas Bailey, Charles Dayton, Laura E. Hill, Katherine L. Hughes, Christopher Jepsen, Melinda Mechur Karp, Gregory S. Kienzl, Andrew Maul, Nan L. Maxwell, Margaret Terry Orr, Ann E. Person, Deborah Reed, James E. Rosenbaum,  Donna Rothstein, David Stern, James R. Stone III, Christopher Wu.

"On the Job brings together top researchers in the field to try to achieve a consistent reading of the many fragmentary data sources. On the one hand, some areas of disagreement remain. On the other hand, the effort is an invaluable contribution to understanding the evolution of the American employment relationship. David Neumark is to be congratulated for pulling together this comprehensive look at a very important topic."
-David I. Levine, University of California, Berkeley

In recent years, a flurry of reports on downsizing, outsourcing, and flexible staffing have created the impression that stable, long-term jobs are a thing of the past. According to conventional wisdom, workers can no longer count on building a career with a single employer, and job security is a rare prize. While there is no shortage of striking anecdotes to fuel these popular beliefs, reliable evidence is harder to come by. Researchers have yet to determine whether we are witnessing a sustained, economy-wide decline in the stability of American jobs, or merely a momentary rupture confined to a few industries and a few classes of workers.

On the Job launches a concerted effort to reconcile the conflicting evidence about job stability and security. The book examines the labor force as a whole, not merely the ousted middle managers who have attracted the most publicity. It looks at the situation of women as well as men, young workers as well as old, and workers on part-time, non-standard, or temporary work schedules. The evidence suggests that long-serving managers and professionals suffered an unaccustomed loss of job security in the 1990s, but there is less evidence of change for younger, newer recruits. The authors bring our knowledge of the labor market up to date, connecting current conditions in the labor market with longer-term trends that have evolved over the past two decades. They find that  layoffs in the early 1990s disrupted the implicit contract between employers and staff, but it is too soon to declare a permanent revolution in the employment relationship.

Having identified the trends, the authors seek to explain  them and to examine their possible consequences. If the bonds between employee and employer are weakening, who stands to benefit? Frequent job-switching can be a sign of success for a worker, if each job provides a stepping stone to something better, but research in this book shows that workers gained less from changing jobs in the 1980s and 1990s than in earlier decades. The authors also evaluate the third-party intermediaries, such as temporary help agencies, which profit from the new flexibility in the matching of workers and employers.

Besides opening up new angles on the evidence, the authors mark out common ground and pin-point those areas where gaps in our knowledge remain and popular belief runs ahead of reliable evidence. On the Job provides an authoritative basis for spotting the trends and interpreting the fall-out as U.S. employers and employees rethink the terms of their relationship.

DAVID NEUMARK is professor of economics at Michigan State University and research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

CONTRIBUTORS: Steven G. Allen, Annette Bernhardt, Peter Cappelli, Robert L. Clark, Henry S. Farber, Peter Gottschalk, Mark S. Handcock, Daniel Hansen, Susan N. Houseman, David A. Jaeger, Alec R. Levenson, Robert A. Moffitt, Martina Morris, Anne E. Polivka, Daniel Polsky, Sylvester J. Schieber, Stefanie R. Schmidt, Mark A. Scott, Ann Huff Stevens, Jay Stewart, Robert G. Valletta.

"Nothing is more basic to the human condition than the capacity for commitment, and nothing is more important to the capacity than its biological underpinnings and evolution. Randolph Nesse, serving as editor and connecting essayist, and the other authors of Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment are among the leaders in and around this newly emerging field of scholarship."
-EDWARD O. WILSON, Harvard University

"If the genes of the self-serving are more likely to be perpetuated in succeeding generations, how is it that so many of us forgo self-interest in order to honor commitments, devote large portions of our lives to the quest for knowledge, defending animal rights, human rights, or remaining true to a cause past reason? We humans routinely behave better than conventional evolutionary theory predicts we should. Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment resolves this paradox and in doing so, extends sociobiological theory to more fully encompass idiosyncracies of the human heart. This is a revelatory book that carries us beyond premature conclusions about innate selfishness that, if accepted, erode human relationships based on any other premise. Anyone looking for a rigorous alternative to Darwin's 'universal acid,' should read this book."
SARAH BLAFFER HRDY, University of California at Davis

"In the 1970s, the word 'selfish' was kidnapped from common language to be applied to genes. This metaphor, however, did not say much about human psychology. Exploring the emotional make up of our species while firmly staying within an evolutionary framework, this volume spells out better than any before what is wrong with a narrow focus on human selfishness."
-FRANS B. M. DE WAAL, Emory University

"This is a very valuable contribution to our understanding of commitment which no serious student of the subject will wish to miss."
-ROBERT TRIVERS, Rutgers University

Commitment is at the core of social life. The social fabric is woven from promises and threats that are not always immediately advantageous to the parties involved. Many commitments, such as signing a contract, are fairly straightforward deals, in which both parties agree to give up certain options. Other commitments, such as the promise of life-long love or a threat of murder, are based on more intangible factors such as human emotions. In Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment, distinguished researchers from the fields of economics, psychology, ethology, anthropology, philosophy, medicine, and law offer a rich variety of perspectives on the nature of commitment and question whether the capacity for making, assessing, and keeping commitments has been shaped by natural selection.

Game theorists have shown that players who use commitment strategies—by learning to convey subjective offers and to gauge commitments others are willing to make—achieve greater success than those who rationally calculate every move for immediate reward. Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment includes contributions from some of the pioneering students of commitment. Their elegant analyses highlight the critical role of reputation-building, and show the importance of investigating how people can believe that others would carry out promises or threats that go against their own self-interest. Other contributors provide real-world examples of commitment across cultures and suggest the evolutionary origins of the capacity for commitment.

Perhaps nowhere is the importance of commitment and reputation more evident than in the institutions of law, medicine, and religion. Essays by professionals in each field explore why many practitioners remain largely ethical in spite of manifest opportunities for client exploitation. Finally, Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment turns to leading animal behavior experts to explore whether non-humans also use commitment strategies, most notably through the transmission of threats or signs of non-aggression. Such examples illustrate how such tendencies in humans may have evolved.

Viewed as an adaptive evolutionary strategy, commitment offers enormous potential for explaining complex and irrational emotional behaviors within a biological framework. Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment presents compelling evidence for this view, and offers a potential bridge across the current rift between biology and the social sciences.

RANDOLPH NESSE is professor of psychiatry and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

CONTRIBUTORS: Randolph Nesse, Eldridge S. Adams, Robert Boyd, Dov Cohen, Lee Alan Dugatkin, Robert H. Frank, Herbert Gintis, Oliver R. Goodenough, Jack Hirshleifer, William Irons, Peter J. Richerson, Michael Ruse, Thomas C. Schelling, Joan B. Silk, and Joseph Vandello.

A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Series on Trust