Social Inequality Forms, Causes, and Consequences

752 Pages·2019·18.124 MB·English

by  Charles E. Hurst,  Anne M. Nurse, Heather M. Fitz Gibbon

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Social Inequality
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
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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 (1818–1883)
Max Weber (1864–1920)
Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963)
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
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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
Mobility
Class, Color, and Race
Theories of Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
Chapter 11 Immigration, Place, and Religion
Immigration and Inequality
Religion and Inequality
Place and Inequality
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
PART 4 Consequences of Social Inequality
Chapter 12 Inequality, Health, and the Environment
Physical Health
Psychological Health
Social Inequality and Environmental Equity
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
Chapter 13 Inequality, Crime, and Criminal Justice
Perspectives on Crime and the Law
The Measurement of Crime
Criminality
The Criminal Justice System
Mass Incarceration
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
PART 5 Social Change
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Chapter 14 Social Inequality and Social Movements
When Do Social Movements Arise?
The Labor Movement
The Civil Rights Movement
The Women’s Movement
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
Chapter 15 Policy Alternatives
Redistributive Policies
Developing the Capacity for Self-Su�ciency
Addressing Spatial Inequalities
Expanding and Guaranteeing Political Representation
Summary • Critical Thinking • Web Connections • Film Suggestions
Glossary of Basic Terms
References
Index
PREFACE
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 with an
intersectional perspective, to show how inequality occurs, how it
affects all of us, and what is being done about it.
This edition bene�ts from a variety of changes that have signi�cantly
strengthened the text. We pay increased attention to disability,
intersectionality, immigration, religion, and place. We also spotlight
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. In sum:
1. We have added a new chapter called “Policy Alternatives” (Chapter
15) at the end of the text. This chapter is designed to provide students
with an awareness of potential alternatives to our current systems,
and to imagine ways that we might bring about change.
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2. Intersectionality was introduced in the last edition, but we have
augmented the discussion and infused it throughout the text.
3. We have reworked the theory chapters and moved them earlier in
the book, providing a better framing for students’ analyses in later
chapters. We also added an elaboration of intersectionality in Chapter
7, “Contemporary Explanations of Inequality.” Chapter 6, “Classical
Explanations of Inequality” now features a section on W.E.B. Du Bois
in place of Herbert Spencer.
4. While the last edition contained some information about
immigration and religion, recent political events have made both of
these topics crucially important to an understanding of inequality in
the United States. We have created a new chapter called
“Immigration, Place, and Religion” (Chapter 11) that looks at how
exclusion and discrimination by citizenship, religion, and region
contribute to inequality.
5. Chapters 12 and 13 provide students with an in-depth look at how
health, the environment, and crime/criminal justice both are produced
by and cause inequality. These chapters are written from an
intersectional perspective.
The tenth edition is divided into �ve major parts. Part 1 examines the
scope of inequality, with a focus on issues such as income, wealth,
status, and power. Part 2 outlines general explanations of inequality.
The classical arguments included are those of Marx, Weber,
Durkheim, and Du Bois, while the contemporary theories discuss how
inequalities become durable and persistent. Speci�cally, we look at
functionalist and labor market theories, and then outline how material
and symbolic resources are hoarded. Finally, we address the
importance of micro-level processes, such as identities and
interactions. The chapters in Part 3 asks who bene�ts and who loses
by inequality: Chapters 8–11 discuss gender, sexuality, race, and
include a chapter combining immigration, religion, and place. Part 4
includes two chapters of intersectional case studies on inequality: the
�rst focuses on health and the environment, and the second on crime
and the criminal justice system. Finally, Part 5 addresses processes
of change and stability in the structure of social inequality through
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discussions of social movements and potential policy alternatives.
The book concludes with a glossary of many of the basic terms used
in the text.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Although any shortcomings in the book are our own responsibility, any
improvements in this edition are due in large part to others. These
include our friend and colleague Thomas Tierney at the College of
Wooster, plus our three outstanding research assistants, Olivia Proe,
Taylor Thomas, and Andrew White. We would like to give special
thanks to Kimberly Lauffer for her extremely helpful guidance on
Chapter 4. Thanks also to Samantha Barbaro at Taylor and Francis for
guiding us kindly and wisely through the publication process.
We would like readers to know that this book was originally written by
Charles Hurst, and he was the sole author for the �rst eight editions.
Two new authors were added in the last edition, but they can only be
credited with building off the incredibly strong foundation Chuck
created. We value not only Chuck’s sociological wisdom, but also his
friendship and sense of social justice.
We are all indebted to our families for their support during this
project. Chuck’s wife, Mary Ellen Hurst, has been there for all eight
editions of the book. From the Fitz Gibbon family, we thank Stewart,
Andrew, and Thomas, and from the Nurse/Thompson family, we are
grateful to John, Alexander, Jacob, and Gabriel.
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to the Study of Social
Inequality
Fernando was brought into the U.S. illegally by his mother when he
was 5 years old. He is now 29 and works as a lab technician in the
San Francisco Bay Area. A recipient of DACA (Delayed Action for
Childhood Arrivals, a program that allows people like Fernando to stay
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in the country and work legally), he is currently consumed with anxiety
because of attempts by the federal government to end the DACA
program. If he loses his DACA status, he would have to return to
Mexico, a country he barely remembers. He told a reporter:
I have no clue what they would do … Would they come knocking on my
door, putting me in detainment facilities, put me on a plane and have
someone else take care of my stuff? Would they round everyone up? I
would be afraid of losing everything, losing my friends, having to start
over again in a place I barely know. I can still speak Spanish, but as far
as living a life there, it wouldn’t be mine.
(Sanchez, 2018)
Heather is a small business owner in the Midwest. She was
interviewed about why she voted for President Trump. She said:
Trump understands and supports the American dream; no matter
what you have now, if you work hard you can better yourself and
positively shape your wealth and future. Clinton made it known that
she would continue Obama’s agenda of redistribution. What dream is
there in working to see your future gains chopped up by taxation and
welfare? Under Clinton I would have just held out my hand and
stopped dreaming. Under Trump the American Dream is revived!
(Fishwick, 2016)
Sarah is the founder of a sports media company. She is concerned
about barriers women and people of color face in starting businesses.
Citing data from a large-scale study of venture capital, she comments,
“The average black female founder with a company raises $36,000.” In
comparison, the average amount raised by white men who later had
their businesses fail was $1.3 million. She said that, as a Black female
entrepreneur, “You’re constantly walking this tightrope. Just
acknowledging that and then �guring out how to optimize that is
important.”
(O’Connor, 2017)
The stories above are all real stories drawn from recent news reports.
Fernando, Heather, and Sarah are all worried about the impact of
inequality in their own lives and in society more generally, but the
particular focus of their concerns differs, depending on their
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individual identities, experiences, and backgrounds. What issues of
inequality worry you? You might be thinking about the student loans
you have taken out to pay for your education. Or perhaps you are
concerned that American society has gone too far in granting rights to
particular minority groups. The aim of this book is to give you tools to
be able to think about these kinds of issues in a larger context. What
is inequality? Why does it exist? Is it good or bad? This chapter begins
with an introduction to the topic of inequality and is followed by the
terms and concepts you will need throughout the text. We then turn to
some key questions involving how we perceive inequality, the level of
inequality in the U.S. compared to other countries, and whether
inequality is inevitable.
THINKING ABOUT SOCIAL INEQUALITY
You need not look far to �nd articles in the popular press decrying the
rise of inequality in the United States and around the world. Many
have likened this era to the famous gilded age of the late nineteenth
century. Justin Fox in Bloomberg described the gilded age as an era
of “exploding economic inequality, stagnant living standards, growing
concern about monopolies, devastating �nancial crises … brazen
political corruption, frequent pronouncements that the American
republic was doomed, and seemingly unending turmoil over race and
national identity” (Fox, 2018). For many of us, including Fernando,
Heather, and Sarah pro�led above, this characterization sounds
disturbingly familiar. The share of the income that that 1 percent
controls is now as high as it was in the gilded age (see Figure 1.1),
and inequality is present and affects us at all stages of our lives.
Think of your own experiences. Even when young, we hear of people
as being from a “bad neighborhood,” as not being “our kind,” as being
“above” or “below” us. We hear epithets aimed at persons because of
their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. As youths, we notice
that because of the way they dress, where they live, and who their
parents are, some children are treated differently and have more or
fewer opportunities than others. We are also smart enough to see
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that there are class differences associated with different schools and
even churches. These economic differences show no sign of
disappearing, and in fact they are at a record high.
Economically, the gap between the top and the bottom has increased
and class mobility has stagnated in the last few decades. The middle
class has been particularly hard-hit, with the percentage of adults in
the U.S. living in middle-income households just over 50 percent in
2016, dropping from a high of 61 percent in 1971 (Kochhar, 2018).
This apparent decline of the middle class has signi�cant rami�cations
for a democracy. Scholars as far back as Aristotle have stressed the
importance of a large and prosperous middle class for the stability,
cohesiveness, and productivity of a society (Pressman, 2007). Yet
throughout the United States, the number of middle-class
neighborhoods has declined, while both poor and rich neighborhoods
have grown. Additionally, the middle class has declined most
precipitously in cities with high levels of income inequality (Bischoff
and Reardon, 2013). “With a median income nationally of $78,056 in
2000 and only $78,442 in 2016, the middle class has gained no
ground over the past several years” (Kochhar, 2018). Leicht and
Fitzgerald put the matter bluntly: “Middle-class prosperity in the late
twentieth and early twenty-�rst centuries is an illusion” (2006, p. 4,
italics in original).
As we see in Figure 1.1, the share of income controlled by the richest
members of our society dropped from the early part of the century to
the 1950s, then stayed relatively �at until the 1970s. Since that time,
the overall trend has been one of rapid growth. This phenomenon of
increasing income inequality is not unique to the United States.
Nicholas Bloom, a professor at Stanford, who was quoted in the New
York Times, said, “This is a truly global phenomenon, and I don’t know
any serious economist who would deny inequality has gone up. The
debate is over the magnitude, not the direction” (Schwartz, 2016).
FIGURE 1.1 Share of Income in the U.S. for the Top 1% and Top .1%,
1913–2017
Source: Amended from data from Saez (2018). Data accessed from
https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2017prel.xls.
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Despite a record low level of unemployment, poverty levels still persist
at over 12 percent. While this is the third year that poverty has
declined, the percentage of families and children in poverty remains
higher than it was in 2000 (Edwards, 2018). And while in 2017 the
median household income in the United States was $61,372, once we
control for in�ation, this increase only brings incomes up to 1999
levels (Fontenot, Semega, and Kollar, 2018). Further, the 2016
compensation of chief executive o�cers (CEOs) in the top 500 U.S.
corporations was 271 times that of the average worker (Mishel and
Schieder, 2017). As we will see in Chapter 2, wealth is even more
highly polarized than income in the United States, with a small
percentage controlling most of the resources. Economic inequality
thrives in the United States.
Among those especially affected by inequality are blue-collar workers
whose manufacturing plants have moved or shut down. In 2018, for
example, General Motors announced that several North American
plants will be idled, with 3,300 immediate layoffs and the threat of as
many as 14,000 in the long run. This happened, at least in part,
because of imports of cheap Chinese steel. GM employee Nanette
Senters stated:
To just say, “You’re done,” is wrong. Yes, a company is supposed to
make money. But they did get all kinds of money from those tax cuts,
and they are still doing this. I am so disappointed. They always take
things out on workers.
(Campbell, 2018)
Despite the layoffs in the auto industry, the national unemployment
rate has been decreasing since 2010. This is good news for many
workers who suffered spells of unemployment during the �nancial
downturn. At the same time, many of the available jobs today are part-
time or have erratic schedules. This is problematic for people who
need or want consistent full-time work. For example, Melody Pabon is
having trouble supporting her child on her part-time salary:
I’ve been working at Zara, a women’s clothing store in Manhattan, as a
cashier and on the sales �oor for about four years. I also just started
school to become a medical assistant. I used to be scheduled to
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