Laurie Taylor explores new research examining the motives of middle class parents who deliberately send their children to failing or under-performing schools.'White, Middle Class Identities in Urban Schools' is discussed by the paper's author Diane Reay, Professor of Education at Cambridge University and journalist Melissa Benn.

Laurie also talks to Dr Lee Miller, Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University in Texas, about her paper 'Hazards of Neo-Liberalism: Delayed Electric Power Restoration after Hurricane Ike'.

Producer Chris Wilson