This lecture will address the issues in Michèle Lamont's latest book with the same title. The book addresses what kinds of stigmatizing or discriminatory incidents individuals encounter in the United States, Brazil and Israel, how they respond to these occurrences, and what they view as the best strategy - whether individually, collectively, through confrontation, or through self-improvement - for dealing with such events. Based on four hundred in-depth interviews, it compares the discriminatory experiences of African-Americans, black Brazilians, and Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel. It contributes to the study of everyday racism and stigma management, the quest for recognition, and the comparative study of inequality and processes of cultural change.
Michèle Lamont is Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University. She has been named winner of the 2017 Erasmus Prize, which recognizes individual or group contributions to European culture, society, or social science.
Getting Respect: responding to stigma and discrimination in the United States, Brazil and Israel