Manifesto for a Dream: Inequality, Constraint, and Radical Reform

In Manifesto for a Dream, Michelle Jackson argues that the social science community has failed to mobilize in response to the inequality problem in the United States and that we will never make strides toward equality if we do not start to think radically. She makes a scientific case for large-scale institutional reform, drawing on examples from other countries to demonstrate that reforms that have been unthinkable in the United States are considered to be quite unproblematic in other contexts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2020
Publisher: Stanford University Press

A scathing indictment of our current policy agenda, and a fervent plea for transformative change. While the United States is widely acknowledged to grapple with profound inequality, the social science community has tragically failed to rise to the occasion. Instead, social scientists have resorted to an unimaginative and narrow-minded approach to policy reform, purporting to be guided by scientific principles. This approach posits that our best hope lies in containing the problem, assuming that a complete resolution is an unachievable dream. It is taken for granted that we will forever be trapped in this cycle of inequality. In her manifesto, Manifesto for a Dream, Michelle Jackson boldly asserts that we will never make progress towards equality unless we begin to think radically. It is the very fabric of social institutions that perpetuates and sustains social inequality, and it is only by dismantling that structure that true progress can be achieved. Jackson presents a compelling scientific argument for large-scale institutional reform, drawing upon examples from other countries to showcase that reforms that seem unthinkable in the United States are considered commonplace in other contexts. She persuasively argues that a reinvigorated social science has a moral imperative to create and test the radical policies that would be required to ensure equality for all.

Weight: 316g
Dimension: 153 x 228 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503614154