This book is about the causes and consequences of economic inequality in the advanced market economies of today. It is common that in market systems people choose their own individual economic destinies, but of course the choices people make are importantly determined by the alternatives available to them: unequal opportunity is the critical determinant of economic disparities. This begs the question; from where do the vast inequalities of opportunity arise? This book theorizes that power and social class are the real crux of economic inequality. Most of mainstream economics studiously eschews questions involving social power, preferring to focus instead on "individual choice subject to constraint" in contexts of "well-functioning markets". Yet both "extra-market" power structures and power structures arising from within the market system itself are unavoidably characteristic of real-world market-based economies. The normal working of labor and financial markets engenders an inherent wealth-favoring bias in the distribution of opportunities for occupational choice. But that bias is greatly compounded by the economic, social, political and cultural power structures that constitute the class system. For those power structures work to distribute economic benefit to class elites, and are in turn undergirded by the disparities of wealth they thus help engender. Inequality and Power offers an economic analysis of the power structures constituting that class system: employers’ power over employees; the power of certain businesses over others; professionals’ power over their clients and other employees; cultural power in the media and education systems; and political power in "democratic" government. Schutz argues that a "class analysis" of the trend of increasing economic inequality today is superior to the mainstream economic analysis of that trend. After considering what is wrong with power-based inequality in term of criteria of distributive justice and economic functionality, the book concludes with an outline of various possible correctives. This book should be of interest to students and researchers in economics, sociology, political science and philosophy, as well as anyone interested in the theories of social class.

Power is a multi-dimensional notion, involving politico-institutional, social, economic and cultural elements, leading to a multi-dimensional set of inequalities. Analysis of these elements is a prerequisite for devising policies aiming to reducing social inequalities through a strategy of reforms

This volume highlights issues of power, inequality, and resistance for Asian, African American, and Latino/a students in distinct U.S. and international contexts. Through a collection of case studies it links universal issues relating to inequality in education, such as Asian, Latino, and African American males in the inner-city neighborhoods, Latina teachers and single mothers in California, undocumented youth from Mexico and El Salvador, immigrant Morrocan youth in Spain, and immigrant Afro-Caribbean and Indian teenagers in New York and in London. The volume explores the processes that keep students thriving academically and socially, and outlines the patterns that exist among individuals—students, teachers, parents—to resist the hegemony of the dominant class and school failure. With emphasis on racial formation theory, this volume fundamentally argues that education, despite inequality, remains the best hope of achieving the American dream.

"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the economic inequalities pervading every aspect of society - and then multiplied them to a staggering degree. In Inequality, Class, and Economics, Eric Schutz illuminates the pillars undergirding the monstrous polarities which define our times revealing them as the structures of power that constitute the foundations of the class system of today's capitalism. Employers' power is the linchpin of that system, but the power of professionals in all fields, the power exerted by some businesses over others, political power, and the power of cultural institutions - especially mass media and education - are also critical for the class system today. Each of these social power structures is examined closely and shown both to sustain, and to be sustained by, economic inequality. Employing both traditional and novel approaches to public policy, Inequality, Class, and Economics denounces economists' studied avoidance of the problem of class as a system of inequality based in unequal opportunity, and exhorts us to tackle the heart of the problem at long last."--Back cover.

This book provides up to date discussion and evidence about inequalities, social divisions and stratification. Its innovative style engages readers and encourages them to reflect upon the many dimensions of social inequality. This updated third edition contains: Three new chapters on employment, sexualities and migration Updated coverage of intersectionality throughout Thirteen new in-depth case studies (one per chapter) This is a must read as a key introductory companion for students who wish to understand the dynamics of contemporary social inequality. Louise Warwick-Booth is a Reader at the School of Health, Leeds Beckett University

Now available in three thematic volumes, the second edition of Moral Issues in Global Perspective is a collection of the newest and best articles on current moral issues by moral and political theorists from around the globe. Each volume seeks to challenge the standard approaches to morality and moral issues shaped by Western liberal theory and to extend the inquiry beyond the context of North America. Covering a broad range of issues and arguments, this collection includes critiques of traditional liberal accounts of rights, justice, and moral values, while raising questions about the treatment of disadvantaged groups within and across societies affected by globalization. Providing new perspectives on issues such as war and terrorism, reproduction, euthanasia, censorship, and the environment, each volume of Moral Issues in Global Perspective incorporates work by race, class, feminist, and disability theorists. Human Diversity and Equality, the second of the three volumes, examines issues of equality and difference and the effects, within and across borders, of kinds of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, class, and sexual orientation. Nine essays are new, four of which were written especially for this volume. Moral Issues in Global Perspective is available in three separate volumes—Moral and Political Theory, Human Diversity and Equality, and Moral Issues.

This volume draws together scholars rethinking social scientific and theoretical approaches to a wide range of forms of social difference and inequality. These include race, nationalism, sexuality, professional classes, domestic employment, digital communication, and uneven economic development