Roundtable on Community Change

Publications

Here you can find Roundtable publications and research on racial equity and check out our current featured publication. For our community change publications, click here.

FEATURED PUBLICATION: Race, Crime, and Punishment Edited by Keith O. Lawrence and featuring essays by Michelle Alexander, Eric Cadora, Blake Emerson, Ian Haney Lopez, Marc Mauer, Alan Mobley, Alice O’Connor, Jonathon Simon and Phil Thomson “More than 2.3 million people in America are in jail or prison. Sixty percent are African American and Latino. Of all the statistics portraying racial inequity in our country, this is the most alarming: it indicates the failure of so many of our society’s institutions; it predicts dire consequences for millions of children and families of color who are already at socioeconomic disadvantage; and it challenges the very definition of our democracy…”

Nine scholars contributed essays to this volume, which examines the nature and significance of the persistent linkage of race, crime, and punishment in the public mind.  It offers strategies for breaking that connection, and for reducing the severe racial disproportionalities in the criminal justice system.

Funding for this publication generously provided by the Open Society Foundations.

Racial Equity Publications:

• Race, Crime, and Punishment: Breaking the Connection in America, edited by Keith O. Lawrence, essays by Michelle Alexander, Eric Cadora, Blake Emerson, Ian Haney Lopez, Marc Mauer, Alan Mobley, Alice O’Connor, Jonathon Simon and Phil Thomson. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2011.
• Constructing a Racial Equity Theory of Change: A Practical Guide for Designing Strategies to Close Chronic Racial Outcome Gaps, by Keith O. Lawrence, et al. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2009.
• Community Change Initiatives to Address Racial Disparity, by Maggie Potapchuck. MP Associates, The Aspen Roundtable, National League of Cities Institute, 2007.
• Community Changes Processes and Progress in Addressing Racial Inequities, by Maggie Potapchuck. M.P. Associates and The Aspen Roundtable, 2007.
• Structural Racism and Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Implications, by the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2005.
• Structural Racism and Community Building, by the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2004.
• Training for Racial Equity and Inclusion: A Guide to Selected Programs, by Ilana Shapiro. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2002.

Working Papers and Reports:

• Curriculum from the Roundtable’s Racial Equity and Society Seminars is available upon request.
• Rethinking Crime and Punishment for the 21st Century: Can we develop a criminal justice paradigm that advances racial equity and democracy?, by Keith O. Lawrence. 2008.
• Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the 21st Century: Developing a Paradigm that Advances Racial Equity and Social Justice, by Keith O. Lawrence. Report on June 2-5, 2007 meeting at Aspen Meadows, organized by the Aspen Roundtable and sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the After Prison Initiative.

Race Project Background Papers: The following papers were produced for a planning conference for the Roundtable Race Project held in November of 1998. Please do not cite the papers without the authors' permission.

• Mapping Racial Attitudes at the Century's End: Has the Color Line Vanished or Merely Reconfigured? Lawrence Bobo.
• Community Development, Race & Ethnicity, and Urban Public Finance. Howard Chernick.
• Structural Shifts & Institutional Capacity: Possibilities for Ethnic Cooperation & Conflict in Urban Settings. Michael Jones-Correa.
• Race & Community Revitalization: Communications Theory & Practice. Michael X. Delli Carpini
• The Health of Urban African-American Men: Excess Mortality & Causes of Death. Arline Geronimus.
• Democracy & Citizen Participation in the U.S.: The Role of Local Government. Marilyn Gittell.
• Immigration, Race & Community Revitalization. Ron Hayduk.
• Education. Jane Junn.
• Building Bridges: the Challenge of Organized Labor in Communities of Color. Robin D.J. Kelley.
• Litigation & Structural Change in Low-Income Communities: Toward a New Conceptualization of the Role of National legal Campaigns. Marianne Engelman Lado.
• Race, Crime & Neighborhood Safety. Nancy Mahon.
• "Assert Myself to Eliminate the Hurt": Black Youth in Urban America. Marcyliena Morgan.
• Leaving Poverty Through Work: A Review of Current Employment Strategies. Elizabeth Mueller & Alex Schwartz.
• Historical Perspectives on Race & Community Revitalization. Alice O'Connor.
• The Role of Normative Developmental Process & Context: Character (Racism) on the Genesis of Racial Attitudes & Identity Formation: Schooling Implications. Margaret Spencer.
• Social & Cultural Theories of Poverty: Community Practices & Social Change. Carol Stack & Lisette Lopez.
• African American Youth as Actors in Community Change. Sharon E. Sutton.
• Race, Religion & Community Activism: Developing Strategies & Institutions to Address Structures of Racism. Mark Warren.
• Metropolitanism & Racial Inclusion. Margaret Weir.
• Future of the Color Line: The Demography of Race in the 21st Century. Tukufu Zuberi.