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In This Section | |
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Brief | |
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Comprehensive | |
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Brief Table of Contents | |
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Political Economy of Social Problems | |
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The Sociological Approach to Social Problems | |
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Wealth and Power: the Bias of the System | |
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Problems of People, the Environment, and Location | |
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World Population and Global Inequality | |
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Threats to the Environment | |
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Demographic Changes in the United States: the Browning and Graying of Society | |
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Problems of Place: Urban, Suburban, and Rural | |
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Problems of Inequality | |
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Poverty | |
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Racial and Ethnic Inequality | |
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Gender Inequality | |
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Sexual Orientation | |
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Disability and Ableism | |
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Social Structure and Individual Deviance | |
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Crime and Justice | |
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Drugs | |
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Institutional Problems | |
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The Economy and Work | |
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Families | |
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Education | |
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The Health Care System | |
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National Security in the Twenty-First Century | |
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Solutions | |
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Progressive Plan to Solve Social Problems | |
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Comprehensive Table of Contents | |
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Political Economy of Social Problems | |
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The Sociological Approach to Social Problems | |
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History of Social Problems Theory | |
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Toward a Definition of Social Problems | |
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Types of Social Problems | |
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Norm Violations | |
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Social Conditions | |
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The Sociological Imagination | |
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Social Structure as the Basic Unit of Analysis | |
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Person-Blame Approach versus System-Blame Approach | |
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Reasons for Focusing on the System-Blame Approach | |
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Sociological Methods: the Craft of Sociology | |
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Sociological Questions | |
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Problems in Collecting Data | |
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Sources of Data | |
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Organization of the Book | |
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Wealth and Power: the Bias of the System | |
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U.S. Economy: Concentration of Corporate Wealth | |
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Monopolistic Capitalism | |
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Transnational Corporations | |
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Concentration of Wealth | |
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Political System: Links between Wealth and Power | |
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Government by Interest Groups | |
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Financing of Political Campaigns | |
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Candidate Selection Process | |
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Bias of the Political System | |
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Consequences of Concentrated Power | |
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Subsidies to Big Business | |
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Trickle-Down Solutions | |
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The Powerless Bear the Burden | |
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Foreign Policy for Corporate Benefit | |
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Reprise: the Best Democracy Money Can Buy | |
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Problems of People, the Environment, and Location | |
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World Population and Global Inequality | |
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World Population Growth | |
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Demographic Transition | |
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Family Planning | |
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Societal Changes | |
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Poverty | |
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Food and Hunger | |
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Sickness and Disease | |
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The New Slavery | |
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Concentration of Misery in Cities | |
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U.S. Relations with the Developing World | |
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Transnational Corporations | |
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United States in the Global Village | |
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Threats to the Environment | |
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Worldwide Environmental Problems | |
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Degradation of the Land | |
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Environmental Pollution and Degradation | |
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Global Environmental Crises | |
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Fossil Fuel Dependence, Waste, and Environmental Degradation | |
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Destruction of the Tropical Rain Forests and Other Forms of Deforestation | |
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Global Warming | |
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Sources of U.S. Environmental Problems | |
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Cultural Sources | |
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Structural Sources | |
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Solutions to the Environmental Crises | |
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Probusiness Voluntaristic Approach | |
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Egalitarian/Authoritarian Plan | |
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Control of Resource Use | |
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International Implications of Environmental Problems | |
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Demographic Changes in the United States: the Browning and Graying of Society | |
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Profile of the U.S. Population | |
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New Immigration and the Changing Racial Landscape | |
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Immigration and Increasing Diversity | |
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Consequences of the New Immigration | |
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Immigration and Agency | |
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Effects of Immigration on Immigrants: Ethnic Identity or Assimilation? | |
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The Aging Society | |
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Demographic Trend | |
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Demographic Portrait of the Current Elderly Population | |
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Problems of an Aging Society | |
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Social Security | |
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Paying for Health Care | |
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Elderly Abuse | |
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Responses by the Elderly | |
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Problems of Place: Urban, Suburban, and Rural | |
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Urban Problems | |
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Urban Job Loss | |
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Disinvestment | |
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Federal Abandonment | |
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Urban Poverty | |
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Urban Housing Crisis | |
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Decaying Infrastructure | |
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Transportation, Pollution, and the Environment | |
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Health and Health Care | |
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Urban Schools | |
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Crime, Drugs, and Gangs | |
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Suburban Problems | |
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Suburban Sprawl | |
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Automobile Dependency | |
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Social Isolation in the Suburbs | |
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Rural Problems | |
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Poverty | |
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Jobs in Rural Areas | |
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Environment | |
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Health Care and Delivery | |
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Small-Town Decline | |
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Crime and Illicit Drugs | |
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Problems of Inequality | |
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Poverty | |
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Extent of Poverty | |
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Racial Minorities | |
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Nativity | |
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Gender | |
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Age | |
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Place | |
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The New Poor | |
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The Working Poor | |
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The Near Poor | |
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The Severely Poor | |
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Myths about Poverty | |
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Refusal to Work | |
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Welfare Dependency | |
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The Poor Get Special Advantages | |
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Welfare Is an African American and Latino Program | |
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Causes of Poverty | |
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Deficiency Theories | |
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Structural Theories | |
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Costs of Poverty | |
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Elimination of Poverty | |
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Racial and Ethnic Inequality | |
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How to Think About Racial and Ethnic Inequality | |
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Racial and Ethnic Minorities | |
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Racial Categories | |
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Differences among Ethnic Groups | |
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Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Inequality | |
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Deficiency Theories | |
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Bias Theories | |
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Structural Discrimination Theories | |
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Discrimination Against African Americans and Latinos: Continuity and Change | |
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Income | |
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Education | |
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Unemployment | |
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Type of Employment | |
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Health | |
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Contemporary Trends and Issues in U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations | |
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Growing Racial Strife | |
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More Racially Based Groups and Activities | |
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Social and Economic Isolation in U.S. Inner Cities | |
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Racial Policies in the New Century | |
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Gender Inequality | |
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Women and Men Are Differentiated and Ranked | |
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Is Gender Biological or Social? | |
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Gender and Power | |
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What Causes Gender Inequality? | |
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Socialization versus Structure: Two Approaches to Gender Inequality | |
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Learning Gender | |
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Children at Home | |
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Children at Play | |
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Formal Education | |
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Socialization as Blaming the Victim | |
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Reinforcing Male Dominance | |
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Language | |
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Interpersonal Behavior | |
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Mass Communications Media | |
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Religion | |
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The Law | |
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Politics | |
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Structured Gender Inequality | |
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Occupational Distribution | |
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The Earnings Gap | |
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Intersection of Race and Gender in the Workplace | |
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Pay Equity | |
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How Workplace Inequality Operates | |
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Gender in the Global Economy | |
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Costs and Consequences of Sexism | |
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Who Benefits? | |
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The Social and Individual Costs | |
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Fighting the System | |
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Feminist Movements in the United States | |
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Women's Struggles in the Twenty-First Century | |
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Sexual Orientation | |
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Social Deviance | |
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Gay and Lesbian Community: An Overview | |
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Defining Homosexuality | |
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Roots of Homosexuality | |
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Numbers: How Many Gays and Lesbians? | |
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Interpersonal Relationships and Domestic Arrangements among Gays and Lesbians | |
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Discrimination | |
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Ideological Oppression | |
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Legal Oppression: the Law and the Courts | |
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Occupational Discrimination | |
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Fighting the System: Human Agency | |
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Disability and Ableism | |
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Definitions | |
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Individual Model of Disability | |
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Social Model of Disability | |
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Toward a More Complete Definition of Disability | |
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People with Disabilities as a Minority Group | |
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Defined as Different | |
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Derogatory Naming | |
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Minority as a Master Status | |
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Categorization, Stigma, and Stereotypes | |
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Exclusion and Segregation | |
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Matrix of Domination | |
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Discrimination | |
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Issues of Gender, Sexual Behavior, and Fertility | |
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Gender Stereotyping | |
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Sexual Relationships | |
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Physical and Sexual Abuse | |
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Abortion Issue | |
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Agency | |
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Disability Rights Movement | |
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Americans with Disabilities Act | |
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Conclusion | |
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Social Structure and Individual Deviance | |
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Crime and Justice | |
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Crime in Society | |
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What Is Crime? | |
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Crime Rates | |
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Demographic Characteristics of People Arrested for Crimes | |
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Categories of Crime | |
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Unjust System of Justice | |
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Laws | |
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Police | |
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Judicial Process | |
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Correctional System | |
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The Criminal Label | |
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Stopping the Cradle to Prison Pipeline | |
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Drugs | |
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The Politics of Drugs | |
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Historical Legality of Drugs | |
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Factors Influencing Drug Laws and Enforcement | |
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Drug Use in U.S. Society | |
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Commonly Abused Illegal Drugs | |
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Legal but Dangerous Drugs | |
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Drug Use Patterns by Class, Race, and Gender | |
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Why Use Drugs? | |
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U.S. Official Policy: A War on Drugs | |
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Consequences of Official Drug Policies | |
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Is the Drug War Racist? | |
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Alternatives | |
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Regulation of Trade or Use through Licensing and Taxation | |
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Noninterference | |
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Address the Social Causes of Drug Use | |
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Institutional Problems | |
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The Economy and Work | |
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Capitalism and Socialism | |
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Capitalism | |
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Socialism | |
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Mega Economic Trends | |
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The Structural Transformation of the Economy | |
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Globalization | |
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The Great Recession | |
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Work and Social Problems | |
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Control of Workers | |
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Alienation | |
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Worker Compensation | |
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Dangerous Working Conditions | |
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Sweatshops | |
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Unions and Their Decline | |
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Unemployment | |
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Job Insecurity | |
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Benefits Insecurity | |
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Increased Workload | |
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Worker Compensation | |
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Families | |
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The Mythical Family in the United States | |
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U.S. Families in Historical Perspective: the Family in Capitalism | |
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Stratification and Family Life: Unequal Life Chances | |
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Changing Families in a Changing World | |
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Economic Transformation and Family Life | |
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Today's Diverse Family Forms | |
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Balancing Work and Family with Few Social Supports | |
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Single Parents and Their Children | |
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Societal Response to Disadvantaged Children | |
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Divorce | |
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Consequences of Divorce | |
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Children of Divorce | |
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Violence in U.S. Families | |
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Violence and the Social Organization of the Family | |
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Intimate Partner Violence | |
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Child Abuse and Neglect | |
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Education | |
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Characteristics of Education in the United States | |
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Education as a Conserving Force | |
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Mass Education | |
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A Fragmented Educational System | |
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Local Control of Education | |
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A Lack of Curricular Standardization | |
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"Sifting" and "Sorting" Function of Schools | |
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Preoccupation with Order and Control | |
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Education and Inequality | |
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Financing Public Education | |
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Family Economic Resources | |
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Higher Education and Stratification | |
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Segregation | |
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Tracking and Teachers' Expectations | |
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Possibilities for Promoting Equality of Opportunity | |
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Provide Universal Preschool Programs | |
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Offer Free Education | |
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Set National Education Standards | |
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Reduce Funding Disparities Across States and Districts | |
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Reducing Class and School Size | |
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Attract and Retain Excellent Teachers | |
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Extend the School Day and Year | |
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Hold Educators Accountable | |
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Reform the Educational Philosophy of Schools | |
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Restructure Society | |
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The Health Care System | |
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The Crisis in Health Care: Cost, Coverage, and Consequences | |
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Rising Health Care Costs | |
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Does the High Cost of Health Care Translate into Good Health Consequences? | |
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The Health Care System in the United States | |
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Different Plans for Different Categories | |
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Private Insurance | |
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For Profit Hospitals | |
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Managed Care Networks | |
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Unequal Access to Health Care | |
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Social Class | |
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Race/Ethnicity | |
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Gender | |
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HIV/AIDS: the Intersection of Class, Race, and Gender | |
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Models for National Health Care: Lessons from Other Societies | |
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The Bismarck Model | |
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The Beveridge Model | |
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The National Health Insurance Model | |
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Reforming the Health Care System in the United States | |
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The Politics of Health Reform | |
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The Obama Plan | |
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National Security in the Twenty-First Century | |
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The U.S. Military Establishment | |
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The Size of the U.S. Military | |
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The Cost of Maintaining U.S. Military Superiority | |
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The Threat of Nuclear Weapons | |
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The Terrorism Threat | |
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Domestic Terrorism | |
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International Terrorism | |
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U.S. National Security and the War on Terror | |
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The Precipitating Event | |
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A Rush to War | |
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The War in Iraq | |
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The Iraq War: An Evaluation | |
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Consequences of the U.S. Responses to 9/11 | |
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The Costs of the War | |
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The Legacy of the War | |
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Strategies to Combat the New Terrorism | |
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Military Might Alone Does Not Make a Nation Secure | |
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Vengeance Is Self-Defeating | |
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The Solution to Terrorism Is to Address Its Root Causes | |
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In Planning for War, the Question Guiding the Plan Must Be, How Does the Conflict End? | |
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The U.S. Goal of Spreading Democracy in the Middle East Will Likely Fail | |
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The Path to the Moral High Ground Goes through International Organizations and International Law | |
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Solutions | |
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Progressive Plan to Solve Social Problems | |
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Sociology, Social Problems, and Social Change | |
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The Sociological Imagination and Social Problems | |
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Sociological Paradox: Structure and Agency | |
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Sociological Dilemma: Recognition and Rejection | |
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Progressive Principles to Guide Public Policy | |
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Is a Progressive Social Policy Possible? | |
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Should a Progressive Plan Be Adopted by U.S. Society? | |
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Financing the Progressive Agenda | |
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Is There Any Hope of Instituting a Social Agenda Based on Progressive Principles? | |
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Human Agency: Social Change from the Bottom Up | |
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Individuals Protesting and Organizing for Change | |