Equal opportunity in the workplace is thought to be the direct legacy of the civil rights and feminist movements and the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yet; as Frank Dobbin demonstrates; corporate personnel experts--not Congress or the courts--were the ones who determined what equal opportunity meant in practice; designing changes in how employers hire; promote; and fire workers; and ultimately defining what discrimination is; and is not; in the American imagination. Dobbin shows how Congress and the courts merely endorsed programs devised by corporate personnel. He traces how the first measures were adopted by military contractors worried that the Kennedy administration would cancel their contracts if they didn't take "affirmative action" to end discrimination. These measures built on existing personnel programs; many designed to prevent bias against unionists. Dobbin follows the changes in the law as personnel experts invented one wave after another of equal opportunity programs. He examines how corporate personnel formalized hiring and promotion practices in the 1970s to eradicate bias by managers; how in the 1980s they answered Ronald Reagan's threat to end affirmative action by recasting their efforts as diversity-management programs; and how the growing presence of women in the newly named human resources profession has contributed to a focus on sexual harassment and work/life issues. Inventing Equal Opportunity reveals how the personnel profession devised--and ultimately transformed--our understanding of discrimination.
#980372 in Books Princeton University Press 2006-03-19Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x .81 x 6.10l; 1.04 #File Name: 069112602X344 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Rev. Dr. Norm's reviewBy Norman L. MartinThe book title well describes the book. I have read; studied; a number of books on the winning of religious freedom in the United States. It was not until 1833 when the last state; Connecticut; granted full religious freedom. The struggle of the dissenters (i.e. Baptists; Quakers; Methodist; etc.); and the ideas of the Enlightenment came together to become the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Jefferson with Madison and others lobbied by Baptists and other dissenters first put freedom of religion and separation of church and state in the Virginia Constitution which became something of a template for the U.S. 1st amendment. Lambert writes it a whole lot better in his book.In our day it would be difficult to see how Baptists of all denominations could possibly side with a person like Jefferson. Just read this book to find out the intelligence and wisdom of our founding fathers.Frank Lambert has another book out that specifically refutes those who are trying to rewrite history by distorting it to prove their own bias regarding the place of religion in America. As far as I know it is only in print not on Kindle. It is entitled: Separation of Church and State; Founding Principle of Religious Liberty.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. excellent historyBy TonyWell written and very informative0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I read this in connection with a discussion with friends ...By CustomerI read this in connection with a discussion with friends over the first amendment. The book is a very thorough and well-documented look at what the founding fathers - the original settlers as well as the framers of the Constitution - meant when they said "freedom of religion;" or words to that effect. It's very well written; but a bit academic; so give yourself time to read and think.
