Libraries

Causes in Common: Reproductive Justice & LGBT Liberation

Review #2 - 5/5 stars.

Positives: Incredibly informative on diverse issues - gender, sexuality, health, race, class, international implications, and reproductive options (adoption, sperm donation, education, contraception, etc.). Not just about abortion and same-sex intimacy.

Critiques: None, really, although, I'm curious to know how far their seeming mission statement extends, for example on questions of sex work and other "deviant" sexual spaces.

Quotes from the Report:

"The pro-choice and LGBT liberation movements refer most fundamentally to the freedom to manage the affairs of our bodies without the interference of government." (p.21)

"We affirm that individual human autonomy in the conduct of our sexual lives is integral to our liberty." (p.23)

Communities Working for Better Schools

Review #3 - 4/5 stars.

Positives: Great mini-examples of programs that worked (what/how/why), strong set of recommendations backed by shared experiences as well as "research".

Critiques: Lack of clarity about what programs work to address race/class issues and no concrete examples of capacity-building lessons to actually inform readers about ways to do it. Also, a little out of date (late 1990s), but still worthwhile.

Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation's Premier Public Universities

Review #1 - 4/5 stars.

Positives: Well-organized, dense, novel, info on financial aid distribution by SES of students.

Critiques: Assumptions about the worth of these institutions and the reasons for non-attendance/non-graduation (primarily financial).

Prostitution of Women and Girls In Metropolitan Chicago: A Preliminary Prevalence Report, The
Review #4 - 5/5 stars.

Positives: Very informative and comprehensive overview. Did exactly what it set out to do - determine the prevalence of female prostitution in Chicago.

Critiques: Why does the final number not seem to allow for overlap, which would acknowledge that some participants in one type of prostitution might participate in other types as well? Too, I'm curious about how this problem-oriented research would compare to work done on the sex workers rights movement and their efforts to make sex work safer.

Quotes from the Report:

On the "pimp" issue: "CIR received conflicting information about the level of control of strolls by pimps or gangs. … Historically, law enforcement and communities generally understood street-level prostitution to be controlled by pimps. Most law enforcement officials interviewed for this study believe that few pimps still exist. … In contrast, service providers are aware of individuals who both self-identify as pimps and those who carry out the actions of a pimp in neighborhoods across the city. … Service providers also report that gang members who control illicit street-level activity such as drug dealing in many areas also expect to receive a percentage of prostitution income made on the street, if only in the form of sexual access to women or girls." (p. 16-17)