SOCIAL INEQUALITY
Like past editions, this tenth edition of Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences is a user-friendly introduction to the study of social inequality. This book conveys the pervasiveness and extensiveness of social inequality in the United States within a comparative context, to show how inequality occurs, how it affects all of us, and what is being done about it.
This edition benefits from a variety of changes that have significantly strengthened the text. The authors pay increased attention to disability, intersectionality, immigration, religion, and place. This edition also spotlights crime and the criminal justice system as well as health and the environment. The tenth edition includes a new chapter on policy alternatives and venues for social change.
Charles E. Hurst is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the College of Wooster in Ohio. His work focuses on issues of social status, comparative poverty and inequality, and the uses of theory in understanding contemporary problems. Recently these interests also include studies of status in Amish communities in Ohio.
Heather M. Fitz Gibbon is Professor of Sociology and Chair of Urban Studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Her published research focuses on definitions of motherhood within the welfare system and on child care systems. She has also been an active community-based researcher, evaluating anti-poverty and family literacy community programs.
Anne M. Nurse is Professor of Sociology at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Author of two books and multiple articles on juvenile incarceration and its impact on families and communities, she is an expert on inequality and the criminal justice system. She also teaches courses in statistics, criminology, and research methods.
Tenth Edition
Social Inequality
FORMS, CAUSES, AND CONSEQUENCES
Charles E. Hurst, Heather M. Fitz Gibbon, and Anne M. Nurse
Tenth edition published 2020
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2020 Taylor & Francis
The right of Charles E. Hurst, Heather M. Fitz Gibbon, and Anne M. Nurse to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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First edition published by C.V. Mosby 1979
Ninth edition published by Routledge 2016
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hurst, Charles E., author. | Fitz Gibbon, Heather M., author. | Nurse, Anne, 1968 author.
Title: Social inequality : forms, causes, and consequences / Charles E. Hurst, Heather M. Fitz Gibbon, and Anne M. Nurse.
Description: Tenth Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2019. | Revised edition of the authors Social inequality, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019001156 (print) | LCCN 2019002841 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429275777 (Master Ebook) | ISBN 9780367225872 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367225889 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780429275777 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: EqualityUnited States. | United StatesSocial conditions.
Classification: LCC HN90.S6 (ebook) | LCC HN90.S6 H87 2019 (print) | DDC 305.50973dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019001156
ISBN: 978-0-367-22587-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-22588-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-27577-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Study of Social Inequality
Thinking about Social Inequality
Key Terms and Concepts
Organization of the Book
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections
PART 1 Extent and Forms of Social Inequality
Chapter 2 Class, Income, and Wealth
The Everyday Reality of Class
Two Views of the U.S. Class Structure
Emerging Issues in the Shaping of the U.S. Class Structure
Income and Wealth Inequality in the United States
U.S. Mobility Over Time
The Global Context and the Impact of Globalization
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 3 Poverty and Welfare
Historical Roots of U.S. Perspectives on Poverty
Cultural Values and the Poor
Myths About the Poor
Who Are the Poor?
Current Poverty Programs
Welfare Since the Reform Act of 1996
Perceptions of People on Welfare
U.S. Poverty and Welfare in Comparative Perspective
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 4 Status Inequality
The Theory of Social Status
Spheres of Status in the United States
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 5 Power
Portraits of National Power Structure
Distribution of Political Power
Interlinkage of Economic and Political Power
Ruling-Class Unity
Power Inequality in the Work Experience
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
PART 2 Causes of Inequality
Chapter 6 Classical Explanations of Inequality
Karl Marx (18181883)
Max Weber (18641920)
mile Durkheim (18581917)
W.E.B. Du Bois (18681963)
Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 7 Contemporary Explanations of Inequality
Inequality as Individual Difference
Categorical Inequalities
Identities, Interactions, and Inequalities
Theories of Intersectionality
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
PART 3 Winners and Losers
Chapter 8 Sex and Gender Inequality
Terms Relating to Sex and Gender
The Meaning and Creation of Gender
U.S. Gender Relations: An Historical Sketch
Gender Inequality Today
Mobility and Gender
Theories of Gender Inequality
Public Opinion About Gender
Globalization and Gender
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 9 Sexual Orientation and Inequality
The Complexity of Sexuality
Population
Historical Inequality Based on Sexuality
Inequality Based on Sexuality Today
Public Opinion
LGB People as Status Groups
The Law and Sexual Orientation
Globalization and Sexuality
Summary Critical Thinking Web Connections Film Suggestions
Chapter 10 Racial and Ethnic Inequality
The Meaning and Creation of Race
U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations: An Historical Sketch
Racial and Ethnic Inequality Today
