Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences

A broad introduction to inequality both nationally and internationally.

This text is intended as a broad introduction to the many types of inequality in U.S. society and in the global setting. The authors provide a wide range of explanations on inequality and offering analyses of policy attempts to address these issues.

The text provides data from the latest research in its discussions of economic, status, political, gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic inequalities.

Charles E. Hurst grew up on the ethnic south-side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his experiences there fostered a life-long interest in social inequality and social theory. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and later his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He retired in 2008 as Professor of Sociology from The College of Wooster, after having taught courses on inequality in America and social theory for over 40 years. His research resulted in articles on class consciousness, status inconsistency, and socioeconomic status and health care, and most recently, Amish society. His books include The Anatomy of Social Inequality (C. V. Mosby 1979), Living Theory: The Application of Classical Social Theory to Contemporary Life, 2^nd edition (Allyn & Bacon 2005), and Social Inequality: Forms, Causes and Consequences, 7^th edition (Allyn & Bacon 2010). During the last several years, his interest in social inequality led him to conduct research on issues related to women’s status, wealth, and class distinctions within the Ohio Amish community. With a colleague, he has completed the first in-depth study of this settlement, soon to be published by Johns Hopkins University Press as An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World’s Largest Amish Community.