UCL Global Migration Symposia: Post-Modern Segregation in the United States - Patterns, Causes and Consequences in the 21st Century

13 January 2011, 17:30

University College London - Darwin Lecture Theatre

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/migration/symposia

Speaker: Prof. Douglas Massey, Princeton University

Discussant: Prof. Ceri Peach, University of Oxford

Abstract

Residential segregation in the United States was historically arranged so that most whites had little or no contact with racial-ethnic minorities, especially Blacks. Since the 1970’s segregation levels, in the case of African Americans, have declined while for other groups, such as Hispanics and Asians, segregation has not increased despite the large growth experienced in their population sizes. However, Massey argues that as racial-ethnic segregation has slowly but steadily moderated, new forms of residential differentiation have emerged, mainly along income and education levels. Socio-economic segregation is not only on the rise, but set in the context of the housing boom and bust over the last two decades this has had important and unforeseen consequences for social inequalities. Anti-density zoning laws and sub-prime predatory loan practices have increased Black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in White jurisdictions and concentrating foreclosures in Black neighborhoods. In this talk, Massey explains how “Post-Modern Segregation” is shaping new urban patterns of socio-spatial difference while perpetuating and exacerbating racial and class inequality in the United States.

Speaker

Prof. Douglas Massey is Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs

at Princeton University. Massey’s research focuses on international migration, race and housing, discrimination, education, urban poverty, stratification, and Latin America, especially Mexico. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, he is also the current president of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He is a member of the Committee on National Statistics of the National Research Council and the Immigration Advisory Board of the Russell Sage Foundation and is co-editor of the Annual Review of Sociology.

Organised by UCL Global Migration Network

Sponsored by UCL Grand Challenges

UCL Global Migration Symposia

Migration and its consequences are perhaps the key defining characteristics of contemporary global society. It is both a source of tremendous innovation and cultural cross-fertilisation, as well as frequently being a source of conflict and political debates. UCL is particularly well placed to make a significant contribution to such debates. 

These symposia are organised by the UCL Global Migration Network of UCL academics, comprising experts from the social, medical and physical sciences, along with the arts and humanities, to explore the many-sided dynamics of global migration. They aim to bring together stakeholders from across the wider academic, public policy and NGO communities to debate key issues of global migration.

The UCL Global Migration Symposia are supported by the UCL Research Challenges Fund and by UCL's Grand Challenge of Intercultural Interaction, an institution-wide programme which examines the causes and features of social and cultural diversity, assesses their implications, and devises novel strategies to address them.