Current Issues, Hot Topics, & Controversies

Automation of Labor by Rachel Bozek There have been many benefits to automation, including affordable pricing and accessibility of goods through mass marketing, but its impact on the workforce also has the potential to cripple society. While automation saves billions of dollars for corporations, it also eliminates jobs from the workforce. Advancements in artificial intelligence mean that manufacturing jobs are not the only sector to fall victim to job displacement; experts predict that many white-collar jobs soon will be carried out by computers. In this resource, experts predict how the labor market will be restructured and how humans can successfully adapt to these changes.

Black Lives Matter by Marty Gitlin In 2012, a seventeen-year-old African American boy named Trayvon Martin was murdered in cold blood by a neighborhood vigilante. When the murderer was acquitted, shockwaves ran through African American communities across the United States. The frustration over the perceived lack of value of African Americans in the United States spurred #BlackLivesMatter. The activist group mobilized as a rash of killings of unarmed African Americans by police seemed to plague the country. But many whites didn't understand their cause and responded with All Lives Matter. The viewpoints in this resource ask important questions regarding race in the United States.

DNA Testing and Privacy by Barbara Krasner Home DNA testing companies, such as 23 and Me and AncestryDNA, are at peak popularity, fulfilling our desires to know where we come from and what our future might look like. Questions have arisen about who owns test results and whether testing companies have the right to sell customers' data to pharmaceutical companies and other outlets. Yet home DNA tests have been credited with catching criminals, such as the Golden State Killer. Containing viewpoints from diverse voices in the field, this volume helps readers to examine the controversies surrounding home DNA tests.

The #MeToo Movement by M. M. Eboch #MeToo gained much-needed traction when celebrities began sharing their horrifying experiences in an effort to bring down a powerful studio mogul. Revelations of sexual harassment are often met with smearing and victim blaming, but many believe the Hollywood spotlight has a real chance of effecting change. Still, many feel threatened by this movement. Has #MeToo gone too far? Is its mission clear? Has it failed to include more marginalized groups? Will it be abandoned when Hollywood moves on to its next cause? This volume presents diverse viewpoints that unpack the goals, triumphs, and shortcomings of this relatively young movement.