Understanding Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality: A Conceptual Framework

This is the first text in the rapidly growing study of the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the United States today. Using clear and accessible language, analysis of case studies, and a progression of questions for critical reflection, the text presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of the interlocking nature of race, class, gender, and sexuality systems of oppression. The framework illustrates that race, class, gender, and sexuality are: socially constructed, historically and globally specific power relations that are simultaneously expressed at the macro/institutional and the micro/individual levels. The analysis presented is complex, addresses the intersections of oppressive systems without rank ordering them, and points toward effective strategies to promote social justice.A leader in the development of race, class, gender, and sexuality scholarship, Weber has carefully devised the pedagogy of the text and the case studies to reflect the knowledge she has gained from almost twenty years of teaching and consulting with faculty and students across the country about the most effective ways to communicate these complex and sometimes emotionally charged ideas in ways that engage diverse audiences.

Table of Contents:
SECTION I: LAYING THE FOUNDATION1 Defining Contested Concepts 2 Historical Timeline of Indicators of Oppression SECTION II: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK – FIVE THEMES3 Margaret Welch: A Case Study4 Themes: Historically and Geographically/Globally Contextual, Socially Constructed Power Relations5 Themes: Macro Social Structure and Micro Social Psychological Levels, Simultaneously Expressed SECTION III: A RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION 6 Theo Wilson and Lynn Johnson: A Case Study7 Education and the American Dream8 Themes: Historically and Geographically/Globally Contextual, Socially Constructed Power Relations9 Themes: Macro Social Structure and Micro Social Psychological Levels, Simultaneously Expressed10 Envisioning Social JusticeAPPENDIX: HISTORICAL TIME LINE REFERENCESAPPENDIX 1L HISTORICAL TIMELINE REFERENCESREFERENCES

About the Author :
Lynn Weber has been the Director of Womens Studies and a Professor of Sociology at the University of South Carolina since 1996. She went to South Carolina after serving two years as Distinguished Professor in Race, Class, and Gender at the University of Delaware and having spent the previous thirteen years directing the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis. Founded in 1982, by Weber and others, the Center for Research on Women was the first in the nation to focus on women of color and the intersections of race, class, and gender. Over the years, Weber and others provided pioneering scholarship on race, class, and gender and served as a leader in innovative teaching and curriculum changed focus on race, class, and gender. For the pioneering research of the center, Weber and other affiliates received the Jessie Bernard Award of the American Sociological Association in 1993, and for innovative pedagogical work, received the ASAs Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award also in 1993a dual honor never before or since bestowed.