Affirmative Action: The Last Stand

Given these time constraints and the narrow ways in which affirmative action programs must be constructed to pass constitutional muster, what is to be done? Should liberals devote time and energy to advancing affirmative action policies when their long-term prospects appear dim? If so, what kinds of strategies should be deployed? These are the questions that animate Ira Katznelson's provocative and engaging book When Affirmative Action Was White . One of the nation's most distinguished political scientists, Katznelson has written incisively on a broad range of subjects, from the nature and history of liberalism to the peculiarities of Congress as a governing institution. Throughout his career, he has been drawn to the study of inequality in capitalist societies and has explored its causes, manifestations, and remedies. He has long understood that capitalist, or class, inequality in America has to be understood in relation to racial inequality, and he has devoted considerable energy toward exploring those relationships and their implications for American politics.