Civil Society S.
1 primary work
Book 10
Charles Murray is one of America's most respected social policy analysts, whose ideas about the underclass, outlined in his classic "Losing Ground", entered the mainstream of the debate about poverty. Murray's thesis, that the underclass represents not a degree of poverty but a type of poverty, characterized by deviant attitudes towards parenting, work and crime, has been explosively controversial. It has also become more difficult to resist, as the deterioration of the social fabric has become increasingly obvious. In 1989 the "Sunday Times" brought Charles Murray to Britain to compare the British and US situations. In his article, subsequently published in book form as "The Emerging British Underclass", Murray described himself as "a visitor from a plague area come to see whether the disease is spreading". In 1993 he returned to check on its progress, and the resulting article, also for the "Sunday Times", was published as "Underclass: The Crisis Deepens". Both titles were published with commentaries by critics of Murray's thesis, thus presenting the reader with a range of views on the issue.
In the early part of 2000 the "Sunday Times" published a further update, allowing Murray to look back over ten years of the underclass debate in Britain. It is reprinted here with a commentary by "Sunday Times" columnist Melanie Phillips, whose books "All Must Have Prizes" and "The Sex-Change Society" have established her as a leading commentator on social and cultural trends.
In the early part of 2000 the "Sunday Times" published a further update, allowing Murray to look back over ten years of the underclass debate in Britain. It is reprinted here with a commentary by "Sunday Times" columnist Melanie Phillips, whose books "All Must Have Prizes" and "The Sex-Change Society" have established her as a leading commentator on social and cultural trends.