Achieving Social Equity: From Problems to Solutions by Mary E. Guy and Sean A. McCandless

Abstract

The recent publication of Achieving Social Equity: From Problems to Solutions, edited by Mary E. Guy and Sean A. McCandless (2020), sparks a move forward in the literature about social equity. To date, much of the literature on social equity has focused on its overall importance (see Frederickson, 2010), as well as the conditions of inequality within the discipline (see Bodkin & Fleming, 2019; Thomas, 2019) and within practice (see Blessett et al., 2019). Despite the attention that has been given to social equity, the National Academy of Public Administration recently included the need to foster social equity as one of the grand challenges for public administration (Gerton & Mitchell, 2019), suggesting it may be time to move the research on social equity into a new era. Guy and McCandless do just that. Rather than discussing the presence of social equity issues with public organizations, the text seeks to advance our understanding by connecting the literature on social equity with the practicality of the situations that administrators face. This is accomplished over a masterfully curated set of 13 chapters, each which focuses on a unique, but vital perspective on social equity.