Social Inequality in a Global Age 9781412977913

Table of contents :
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART 1. ROOTS OF INEQUALITY
1. The Great Debate
The Historical Debate
Arguments From the Ancients
The Challenge From New Faiths
The Social Contract
The Sociological Debate
Karl Marx and Class Conflict
Max Weber and Life Chances
Emile Durkheim and the Search for Order
Conflict and Functionalist Approaches to the Debate
Moving Beyond the Debate: A New Synthesis
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
2. The Global Divide: Inequality Across Societies
Worlds Coming Apart and Coming Together
The Double Divide
The Gap Between Nations
The Gap Within Nations
The Global Debate
Modernization
Dependency
Neoliberalism
World Systems
Globalization: The Ties That Bind
Immigration: Seeking to Cross the Divide
The Market Paradox
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
PHOTO ESSAY: Honduras
PART II. DIMENSIONS OF INEQUALITY
3. The Gordian Knot of Race, Class, and Gender
Dimensions of an Unequal World
Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender in the United States
The Development of Inequality: Race, Class, and Gender Across Societies
Hunting and Gathering Societies
Horticultural and Herding Societies
Agrarian Societies
Life on the Edge: Frontiers and Ports
Industrial Societies
The Coming of Postindustrial Society
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
4. Class Privilege
Wealth and Property
Occupation
Income
Class Structure
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
5. Race and Class
A Debt Unpaid: Internal Colonialism
Native Americans
African Americans
Hispanic Americans
Irish Americans and New European Groups
Middleman Minorities and Ethnic Solidarity
The Analytic Debate. Cultures and Structures of Poverty
Colorful Language
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
PHOTO ESSAY: Navajoland
6. Gender and Class
When Men Were Men
Masculinity as Privilege
Masculinity as Vulnerability: The Harder They Fall
From Glass Slippers to Glass Ceilings
You've Come a Long Way, Maybe
Closing the Gaps
Work and Family: The Double Burden and the Second Shift
Gender and Class Around the World
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
7. Status Prestige
The Quest for Honor
Socialization: Acquiring Marks of Distinction
Association: Whom You Know and What You Know About Whom You Know
Lifestyles of the Rich and the Destitute
Residence
Fashion
Transportation and Leisure
Tastes in Transition
Meet the Bobos
The Millionaires Next Door
The Overspent American
Communities of Recognition
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
8. Power and Politics
People Power and Powerful People
Class Consciousness
Black Power?
Brown Power?
The Gender Gap
Religion, Region, and Values
The Politics of Economic Crisis
Who Rules? The Power Elite Debate
Changing the Rules: Campaign Finance Reform
Global Power: Who Really Rules?
Monopoly Power
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
PART III. CHALLENGES OF INEQUALITY
9. Moving Up: Education and Mobility
Getting Ahead
Social Mobility and Social Reproduction
Status Attainment
Education: Opening Doors, Opening Minds
Educational Access and Success
Unequal Education and "Savage Inequalities
No Child Left Behind
Ladders With Broken Rungs
Raising the Bar: Human Capital and Gatekeeping
On Track, Off Track, Dead in Your Tracks
Clearing the Bar: Career Trajectories
Blocked Opportunity: "Ain't No Makin' It
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
10. Abandoned Spaces, Forgotten Places: Poverty and Place
Urban Poverty: Abandoned Spaces
Deindustrialization and the Changing Metropolis
The Making and Unmaking of the Postindustrial City
Brain-Gain and Brain-Drain Cities
Suburban Poverty: The Urban Fringe
Rural Poverty: Forgotten Places
The Black Belt
American Highlands
The Barrio Border and the Rural Southwest
The Central Plains
Poverty in the Global Ghetto
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
PHOTO ESSAY: Deindustrialization
11. Reversing the Race to the Bottom: Poverty and Policy
From Welfare to Work
The Challenge of the Margins: Antipoverty Programs
The New Deal
The War on Poverty
The War on Welfare
The Return of Welfare Reform
Health Care Reform
Extreme Poverty: Homelessness and Hunger
Problems of Extreme Poverty
Fraying in the Safety Net
Homelessness
Hunger
Poverty Programs Among Advanced Industrial Nations
The Private World of Poverty
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
12. Challenging the System: The Globalization of Race, Class, and Gender
The Enduring Struggle: The Labor Movement
No Sweat: International Labor and Consumer Activism
Gender and Power: The Women's Movement
Race and Power: The Civil Rights Movement
No Dumping: The Environmental Justice Movement
The Happiest Place on Earth
One World After All
Key Points
For Review and Discussion
Making Connections
Glossary
References
Index
About the Author