Princeton University Press
At the center of the upheavals brought by emancipation in the American South was the economic and social transition from slavery to modern capitalism. Sociology professor Ruef examines how this institutional change affected individuals, organizations and communities in the late 19th century, as blacks and whites alike learned to navigate the shoals between two different economic worlds. Through a resolutely comparative approach, the author identifies profound changes between the economic institutions of the Old and New South and sheds new light on how the legacy of emancipation continues to affect political discourse and race and class relations today.