Inequality in the 21st Century: A Reader

Description

Why are so many types of inequality suddenly increasing? Should we be worried that we're moving into a “second gilded age” with unprecedented levels of income inequality? In this new collection, David B. Grusky and Jasmine Hill present readings that lay bare the main changes in play, what's driving these changes, and what might be done to reverse them. This reader delivers the latest and most influential contributions on economic inequality, social mobility, educational inequality, racial and ethnic relations, and gender inequality. Readers will encounter pieces from top scholars in a variety of fields, including Emmanuel Saez (Economist, UC Berkeley), Kathryn Edin (Sociologist, Johns Hopkins), Raj Chetty (Economist, Harvard), Florencia Torche (Sociologist, NYU), and Lucien Bebchuk (Law, Harvard). The readings spanning these fields are expertly excerpted to get readers quickly and immediately to the heart of the scholarship. In each area, Grusky and Hill also provide a concise introduction to the key questions, allowing readers to quickly understand the main forces at work, the debates still in play, and what's still unknown. The resulting collection is pitch-perfect introduction for undergraduates or anyone interested in learning why we're entering a new era of inequality and what can be done to change the tide. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgments 1 Poverty and Inequality in the 21st Century PART I: THE CLASSIC THEORY 2 Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism 3 Class, Status, Party 4 The Conservation of Races 5 Women and Economics PART II: THE GREAT TAKEOFF IN INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY 6 Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States 7 Capital in the 21st Century 8 The Race Between Education and Technology 9 Why Is Income Inequality Growing? 10 Winner-Take-All-Politics 11 Unions, Norms, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality 12 (Some) Inequality Is Good for You PART III: THE ONE PERCENT 13 The Power Elite 14 The Future of Intellectuals and the Rise of the New Class 15 Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There 16 Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite PART IV: POVERTY AND THE UNDERCLASS The Everyday Life of the Poor 17 Nickel and Dimed 18 Low-Income Urban Fathers and the “Package Deal” of Family Life The Extent of Poverty in the U.S. 19 The War on Poverty 20 The Rise of Extreme Poverty in the United States Why Is There So Much Poverty? 21 Poverty and Child Development 22 Being Poor, Black, and American 23 American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass 24 Community of Well-Being and the Great Recession 25 The Legacy of Multigenerational Disadvantage 26 Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty 27 Incarceration and Social Inequality PART V: MOBILITY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM The Race for Education 28 The Widening Academic Achievement Gap Between the Rich and the Poor 29 Nonpersistent Inequality in Educational Attainment 30 Rationing College Opportunity 31 A New Social Psychological Model of Educational Attainment 32 Academically Adrift Economic and Occupation Mobility 33 Economic Mobility 34 Does College Still Have Equalizing Effects 35 Paying for the Party 36 Ain’t No Makin’ It: Leveled Aspirations in a Low-Income Neighborhood 37 It’s a Decent Bet That Our Children Will Be Professors Too Who Do You Know? 38 The Strength of Weak Ties 39 Networks, Race, and Hiring Work and Mobility 40 The Great Risk Shift 41 Little Labor: How Union Decline is Changing the American Landscape 42 Labor Market Shocks: Are There Lessons for Anti-Poverty Policy? PART VI: RACE, ETHNICITY, AND INEQUALITY Race as a Social Construct 43 Racial Formation in the United States 44 The Dynamics of Racial Fluidity and Inequality Immigration 45 The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its Variants 46 Why Replenishment Strengthens Racial and Ethnic Boundaries Discrimination, Prejudice, and Stereotyping 47 Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination 48 Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration 49 Stereotype Threat and African-American Student Achievement Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century and Beyond 50 The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions 51 How Do Latino Immigrants Fit into the Racial Order? 52 Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class 53 Tiger Kids and the Success Frame PART VII: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND INEQUALITY Gender and Sexuality as a Social Construct 54 The Social Construction of Gender 55 Fag Discourse in a Post-Homophobic Era The Division of Labor 56 The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work 57 Opting Out? 58 Why Is There Still So Much Gender Segregation? How Much Discrimination Is There? 59 Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of “Blind” Auditions on Female Musicians 60 Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty? How Gender Intersects 61 Why Race, Class, and Gender Matter 62 Do Openly Gay Men Experience Employment Discrimination? A Stalling Out? 63 The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled 64 The Persistence of Gender Inequality PART VIII: HOW INEQUALITY SPILLS OVER 65 Income Inequality and Income Segregation 66 The Realignment of U.S. Presidential Voting 67 Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life 68 The Fundamentals of Fundamental Causality PART IX: MOVING TOWARD EQUALITY? 69 Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children 70 Why Late Investments Can Work 71 Flexicurity 72 Reducing Poverty the Democratic Way 73 Tackling the Managerial Power Problem 74 We Need to Have a Second Conversation About the Editors Index