Great Divides: Readings in Social Inequality in the United States by Shapiro, Thomas;

Long description:

Drawing from classic and contemporary scholarship, the 47 readings in this anthology illustrate basic theories, concepts, and findings associated with social inequality in the United States. Many selections feature cutting-edge sociological research, providing students with new concepts and theories that inspire thought-provoking class discussion.

Table of Contents:

Preface

About the Contributors

Introduction

Part I: Opportunity and Inequality in the United States

1: Why Inequality

2: Economic Restructuring and Systems of Inequality

3: A Half Century of Incomes

4: Social Immobility in the Land of Opportunity

5: Wealth in America: Trends in Wealth Inequality

Part II: How Social Stratification is Generated

Theories of Stratification

6: Manifesto of the Communist Party

7: Class, Status, Party

8: Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation by Sex

9: A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: The Split Labor Market

Stratification and Society

10: Sponsored and Contest Mobility and the School System

11: Some Principles of Stratification

12: The Uses of Undeservingness

Part III: Class

Impact of Globalization in the United States

13: A General Framework for the Analysis of Class

14: Mass Production in Postmodern Times

15: Globalization, Immigration, and Changing Social Relations in U.S. Cities

16: New Migrations, New Theories

Power, Division, and Class

17: The Structure of Power in American Society

18: Weeding out the Wealthy

19: The American Upper Class

20: Family Matters, Work Matters? Poverty Among Women of Color and White Women

21: Making Ends Meet at a Low-Wage Job

Part IV: Race and Ethnicity

Race in our Time

22: The Problem of the Twentieth-Century Is the Problem of the Color Line

23: Racial Formation

American Identity and Culture

24: Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?

25: Campaigning for Respect

26: A History of Multicultural America

Race and Ethnic Division

27: The Wages of Race: Color and Employment Opportunity in Chicago's Inner City

28: The Continuing Causes of Segregation

29: Black Wealth/White Wealth

30: Beyond the Melting Pot Reconsidered

31: Not Everyone is Chosen: Segmented Assimilation and Its Determinants

32: Racial Antagonisms and Race-Based Social Policy

Part V: Gender

Understanding Gender

33: Gender as Structure

34: White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies

35: Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism

36: Conceptions of Masculinity and Gender Transgressions in Sport Among Adolescent Boys: Hegemony, Contestation, and the Social Class Dynamic

Gendered Institutions

37: "Buddies" or "Slutties": The Collective Sexual Reputation of Fraternity Little Sisters

38: Women and Work: Exploring Race, Ethnicity, and Class

39: Why Does Jane Read and Write so Well? The Anomaly of Women's Achievement

40: Women, Men, and Work in the Twenty-First Century

Part VI: Class, Race, and Gender in an Institutional Context: Education and the Environment

41: The Vital Link: Prep Schools and Higher Education

42: The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York

43: Can Education Eliminate Race, Class, and Gender Inequality?

44: Environmental Justice for All

45: Toxic Waste and Race in the United States

46: Black, Brown, Red, and Poisoned

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