Changing Structures of Inequality: A Comparative Perspective: Volume 10 (Comparative Charting of Social Change) - Softcover

Lemel, Yannick; Noll, Heinz H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773526234 ISBN 13: 9780773526235

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Changing Structures of Inequality examines these questions in a new comparative perspective, covering five national societies - Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. The authors offer a deed analysis of country-specific research traditions in the fields of class analysis and social stratification, revealing important conceptual differences which have consequences for the diagnoses. They present the results of substantial compa-rative studies on different aspects of inequality in developed societies - the inequality of income and wealth; educational inequalities; status crystallization; migration and inequality; gender inequality and the structuring effect of social class - highlighting similarities as well as substantial differences between the societies under examination. The authors offer a nuanced con-clusion that puts in perspective the different topics of this contemporary debate. Developed societies are now characterized by more dynamic and pluralistic structures of inequalities, where classes have lost some of their previous importance, but to some extent still have a place. Contributors include Howard M. Bahr, Mathias Bos, Gary Caldwell, Salustiano del Campo, Theodore Caplow, Louis Chauvel, Michel Forse, Wolfgang Glatzer, Richard Huaser, Paul W. Kingston, Denise Lemieux, Laura Maratou-Alipranti, and Marion Mohle.

About this title

Synopsis

The international sociological community has recently engaged in a controversial discussion on social inequality. There is a vigorous debate on whether the traditional concepts of social class and social stratification are still useful. Some researchers argue that social classes still offer a key explanation to social inequalities while others challenge the long-standing tradition of class analysis. New approaches have been proposed to describe recent social changes in the stratification system: vanishing middle class, two-thirds societies, cosmographic inequality, and classless society, among others."Changing Structures of Inequality" examines these questions in a new comparative perspective, covering five national societies - Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. The authors offer a deed analysis of country-specific research traditions in the fields of class analysis and social stratification, revealing important conceptual differences that have consequences for the diagnoses.

They present the results of substantial comparative studies on different aspects of inequality in developed societies - the inequality of income and wealth, educational inequalities, status crystallization, migration and inequality, gender inequality and the structuring effect of social class - highlighting similarities as well as substantial differences between the societies under examination.The authors offer a nuanced conclusion that puts in perspective the different topics of this contemporary debate. Developed societies are now characterized by more dynamic and pluralistic structures of inequalities, where classes have lost some of their previous importance but still have some place. Contributors include Howard M. Bahr, Mathias Bos, Gary Caldwell, Salustiano del Campo, Theodore Caplow, Louis Chauvel, Michel Forse, Wolfgang Glatzer, Richard Huaser, Paul W. Kingston, Denise Lemieux, Laura Maratou-Alipranti, and Marion Mohle.

About the Author

Lemel is a sociologist and director of the Laboratoire de sociologic quantitative, INSEE, Paris.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773526234
• ISBN 13: 9780773526235
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440