Announcing the 2023 Richard A. Lester Book Award Recipient

The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America.  New York: Mariner Books, 2023.

The authors of “The Injustice of Place” have developed an Index of Deep Disadvantage that goes beyond income measures to examine constraints on intergenerational mobility and health factors that contribute to poverty. The Index calls attention to three rural regions in the United States – Appalachia (defined as West Virginia, western Virginia, Easter Kentucky, Tennessee, west North Carolina, northern Georgia), the Cotton Belt (defined as eastern Virginia, North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana), and South Texas – that have been deeply impacted by local government corruption, unequal schooling, systemic racism, proliferation of violence, and a collapse in social infrastructure. The authors and their research team personally visited three-fourths of the 200 places their data identified as disadvantaged to conduct ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with families and community leaders. In addition to the first-person accounts, the authors read various government reports and notable historical sociological field research. The Index developed in this research challenges our understanding of the multifaceted and compounded issues of poverty in America. 

Members of the Section noted: “​​This analysis is an important complement to work in labor economics that deepens our understanding of how geographic labor market disadvantage is related to poverty and income inequality.” 

- Annotation by Charissa O. Jefferson, Labor Economics Librarian

About Richard A. Lester and the Annual Book Award

The Industrial Relations Section has both an annual book award (see below) and a fellowship named in honor of Richard A. Lester.

Richard A. Lester's ties with Princeton and the Industrial Relations Section began in 1929, when he enrolled as a graduate student in economics. Lester served as an instructor at Princeton (1934-38), and returned as Associate Professor and Research Associate of the Industrial Relations Section in 1945. He served as Chairman of the Economics Department from 1948 to 1955 and from 1961 to 1968, and as Dean of the Faculty from 1968 to 1973. Lester was one of the founders of the Industrial Relations Research Association and was elected its president in 1956. He served in Washington in various capacities between 1940 and 1944, and was vice-chairman of the President's Commission on the Status of Women from 1961 to 1963.

In recognition of Richard Lester's contribution to the fields of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations and his many years of service to the Industrial Relations Section, the Section has established in his name an annual award for the outstanding book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics. The award is presented to the book making the most original and important contribution toward understanding the problems of industrial relations, and the evolution of labor markets.

Nominations from authors or publishers are not solicited nor accepted; this is an independent selection process.