Skip to main content

Sage Social Science Thesaurus

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

... > social science subjects > sociology > social problems > social problems encyc > economics and work > underclass debate
... > social science subjects > sociology > social problems > social problems encyc > poverty and social class > underclass debate

Preferred term

underclass debate  

Definition

  • The underclass debate refers to a scholarly and public debate during the 1970s through the 1990s about the origins, character, and appropriate response to the problems of concentrated urban poverty in the United States, particularly among African Americans. The sociologist William Julius Wilson brought attention to this issue in the 1970s and became a central figure in the debate that ensued between those who emphasized the values and choices of low-income people and those who emphasized economic conditions and government policy. [Source: Encyclopedia of Social Problems; Underclass Debate]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/underclass_debate

Download this concept:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD