Lieberman, Robert C. 1964-

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Lieberman, Robert C. 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born September 26, 1964. Education: Yale University, B.A.; Harvard University, M.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Political Science, International Affairs Bldg., 420 W. 118th St., 7th Fl., Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Columbia University, New York, NY, assistant professor of political science. Visiting scholar, Russell Sage Foundation.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Research fellowships from the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

WRITINGS:

Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1998.

Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2005.

Contributor to journals, including American Political Science Review, Studies in American Political Development, British Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, and Social Science History.

SIDELIGHTS:

Columbia University professor of political science Robert C. Lieberman is the author of Shifting the Color Line: Race and the AmericanWelfare State and Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective. His research work concentrates on the areas of U.S. political development, public policy, political institutions, race as it relates to politics, and social welfare policy and the welfare state. He writes about these issues in professional journals, including the American Political Science Review and the Political Research Quarterly.

Shifting the Color Line examines the ways in which racism has affected the design and implementation of the welfare system in America. "Nowhere is race more divisive and explosive than in the politics of welfare," Lieberman wrote in the book. "Popular rhetoric and symbolism surrounding welfare are overwhelmingly negative, and they rely heavily on racial imagery that is sometimes quite explicit. At the same time, however, this rhetoric severely distorts the reality of Americans' relationship with their welfare state. Despite constant expressions of dissatisfaction with welfare policy, the public and policymakers support the basic principle of the welfare state—government assistance to those unable to help themselves…. But the fact remains that not all the components of the American welfare state enjoy the same depth or breadth of popular support."

"Entirely conversant with the existing research on the U.S. welfare state," wrote Desmond King in the Political Science Quarterly, "Lieberman advances this scholarship decisively through a meticulous analysis of the way in which the major legislation of the 1930s—old age pensions, aid to dependent children, and unemployment insurance—were designed to respect and often reinforce racial cleavages." Carol Nackenoff stated in Polity: "In general, Lieberman feels that policies incorporating African-Americans alongside other beneficiaries, and which are administered in an egalitarian, nonracialized manner, have the greatest potential to erase the stigma of race, and to construct beneficiaries as worthy, deserving citizens." "At base this book … confirms the conventional wisdom that programs for poor people make poor programs," explained Edward D. Berkowitz in the Journal of Social History. "In examining the relative fates of old age insurance, aid to dependent children, and unemployment compensation, Lieberman finds that the design of social programs matters."

The programs examined in Shifting the Color Line had varying degrees of success. Old age insurance (OAI) has been relatively successful, unemployment insurance less so, and aid to dependent children (AFDC) has been such a disappointment that President Bill Clinton put an end to it in the 1990s. "Each of the programs has expanded from racial exclusion to racial inclusion, yet only old age insurance has done so in what might be described as a racially beneficial manner," Berkowitz pointed out. Nackenoff described the "somewhat different role" played by the national government "in the aftermath of Reagan" and added: "A Democratic president has ended AFDC. Tougher environmental standards often emanate from state and local governments rather than from the federal government," Nackenoff continued. "The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund changed its strategy in the late 1980s so as to try to keep employment discrimination cases out of the now-conservative federal court system." "Although Lieberman does little to stem the conventional wisdom," Berkowitz concluded, "… he does show that old age insurance has treated people fairly, regardless of race," and that it has made a real difference in the lives of all Americans. "Lieberman's study is widely informed, clearly written, and nondeterministic," Hugh Davis Graham wrote in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History; "that is, he agrees that the institutionalized racism surrounding OAI at its founding was eventually overcome by political forces supporting inclusive, race-blind policies."

In Ethics & International Affairs, Erik Bleich declared: "Shaping Race Policy, seeks to explain why racial incorporation is successful in some arenas of American public policy—such as in the employment sphere where affirmative action has significantly diversified the labor market—while it has failed in others—notably in the area of welfare, where policies have tended to marginalize minorities." Lieberman compares the situation in the United States to that in France and Britain, countries who also have significant minority populations differentiated by race. He contrasts the experiences of the French and the British (both of whom have relatively strong welfare programs with weak antidiscrimination guidelines) with the Americans (who have a weak welfare program but strong antidiscrimination guidelines). In France, North African immigrants from Algeria and the former French Mediterranean colonies suffer from discrimination, and riots broke out throughout the 1990s and 2000s as a result—riots that resulted in harsher suppression rather than accommodation. "The book begins by examining the legacies of slavery and colonialism on the early politics of social reform in all three countries," Bleich explained, "and then traces the history of different national policies such as social security, social insurance, public assistance, ‘welfare’ and employment discrimination through the present day."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Lieberman, Robert C., Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1998.

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, April 1, 2000, review of Shifting the Color, p. 570.

American Journal of Sociology, July 1, 1999, Yvonne Zylan, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 273.

Ethics & International Affairs, March 1, 2006, Erik Bleich, review of Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective, p. 133.

Journal of American Studies, December 1, 2000, Eileen Boris, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 527.

Journal of Economic Literature, March 1, 1999, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 306; March 1, 2000, Regina Werum, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 155.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, December 22, 1999, Hugh Davis Graham, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 535.

Journal of Politics, November 1, 1999, Beryl Radin, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 1170.

Journal of Social History, March 22, 2000, Edward D. Berkowitz, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 726.

Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, December 1, 1999, Jill Quadagno, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 184.

Political Science Quarterly, December 22, 1999, Desmond King, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 709.

Polity, June 22, 1999, Carol Nackenoff, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 683.

Prairie Schooner, December 22, 1999, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 709.

Reviews in American History, March 1, 2001, Alice O'Connor, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 111.

Social Forces, June 1, 1999, review of Shifting the Color Line, p. 1640.