Social classes Books

Book SynopsisHow much of our fate is tied to the status of our parents and grandparents? How much does it influence our children? More than we wish to believe. While it has been argued that rigid class structures have eroded in favor of greater social equality, The Son Also Rises proves that movement on the social ladder has changed little over eight centuries.Trade ReviewWinner of 2015 Gyorgy Ranki Prize, Economic History Association Honorable Mention for the 2015 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 One of Vox's "Best Books We Read in 2014" "The Son Also Rises ... suggests that dramatic social mobility has always been the exception rather than the rule. Clark examines a host of societies over the past seven hundred years and finds that the makeup of a given country's economic elite has remained surprisingly stable."--James Surowiecki, New Yorker "An epic feat of data crunching and collaborative grind... Mr. Clark has just disrupted our complacent idea of a socially mobile, democratically fluid society."--Trevor Butterworth, Wall Street Journal "Audacious."--Barbara Kiser, Nature "[A]n important book, and anybody at all interested in inequality and the kind of society we have should read it."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist "The Son Also Rises... That is the new Greg Clark book and yes it is an event and yes you should buy it."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Startling... Clark proposes a new way to measure mobility across nations and over time. He tracks the persistence of rare surnames at different points on the socio-economic scale. The information he gathers is absorbing in its own right, quite aside from its implications."--Clive Crook, Bloomberg View "Clark casts his net wider. He looks at mobility not across one or two generations, but across many. And he shows by focusing on surnames--last names--how families overrepresented in elite institutions remain that way, though to diminishing degrees, not just for a few generations but over centuries."--Michael Barone, Washington Examiner "Deeply challenging."--Margaret Wente, Globe & Mail "Who should you marry if you want to win at the game of life? Gregory Clark ... offers some answers in his fascinating new book, The Son Also Rises."--Eric Kaufmann, Literary Review "This intriguing book measures social mobility in a novel way, by tracing unusual surnames over several generations in nine different countries, focusing on intergenerational changes in education, wealth, and social status as indicated by occupation."--Foreign Affairs "No doubt this book will be as controversial as its thesis is thought-provoking."--Library Journal "Gregory Clark's analysis of intergenerational mobility signals a marked shift in the way economists think about social mobility."--Andrew Leigh, Sydney Morning Herald "The thesis of The Son Also Rises is, fundamentally, that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Ingeniously, Clark and his team of researchers look at the persistence of socioeconomic status through the lens of surnames in more than 20 societies."--Tim Sullivan, Harvard Business Review "Clark has a predilection for investigating interesting questions, as well as for literary puns... [J]ust as Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, calls into question the role of capitalism in wealth creation, Clark calls into question the role of capitalism in social mobility."--Theodore Kinni, Strategy+Business.com "Clark's book is not merely intellectually clever, it's profoundly challenging. Especially for Americans, it calls into question of ourselves as individuals, as well as our long-standing image of our society. Let's hope he's wrong."--Benjamin M. Friedman, The Atlantic "Adopting an innovative approach to using surnames to measure social mobility, The Son Also Rises engages the reader by presenting data that comes to life as it is anchored by names we see in our daily life... A book with valuable insights derived from a well-designed research, it is strongly recommended to all serious readers interested in building strong democracies, for high social mobility is at the heart of a vibrant democracy. Policy makers will gain the benefits of counter-intuitive conclusions that this book throws up with its multi-generational study. Academicians interested in social justice and social activists engaged in promoting social mobility too will have a lot to chew on."--BusinessWorld "Clark continues the project begun in his A Farewell to Alms. Here, he offers a controversial challenge to standard ideas that social mobility wipes out class advantages over a few generations... An important, challenging book."--Choice "[T]his is a well written and thought-provoking book... I look forward to his next book--and his next Hemingway pun!"--Edward Dutton, Quarterly Review "Clark's book begins a fascinating and important conversation about social mobility... Clark's findings are important to engage with, and they will factor into discussions about social mobility for years to come."--Laura Salisbury, EH.Net "[I]t's one of those rare, invigorating arguments which, if correct, totally upends your understanding of the way the world works. Right or wrong, I've thought about it more than anything else I read in 2014."--Dylan Matthews, a Vox "Best Books We Read in 2014" selection "[A] provocative book."--Richard Lampard, European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology "The Son Also Rises makes for stimulating reading, and I recommend it."--Chris Minns, Investigaciones de Historia EconomicaTable of ContentsPreface ix 1 Introduction: Of Ruling Classes and Underclasses: The Laws of Social Mobility 1 PART I Social Mobility by Time and Place 2 Sweden: Mobility Achieved? 19 3 The United States: Land of Opportunity 45 4 Medieval England: Mobility in the Feudal Age 70 5 Modern England: The Deep Roots of the Present 88 6 A Law of Social Mobility 107 7 Nature versus Nurture 126 PART II Testing the Laws of Mobility 8 India: Caste, Endogamy, and Mobility 143 9 China and Taiwan: Mobility after Mao 167 10 Japan and Korea: Social Homogeneity and Mobility 182 11 Chile: Mobility among the Oligarchs 199 12 The Law of Social Mobility and Family Dynamics 212 13 Protestants, Jews, Gypsies, Muslims, and Copts: Exceptions to the Law of Mobility? 228 14 Mobility Anomalies 253 PART III The Good Society 15 Is Mobility Too Low? Mobility versus Inequality 261 16 Escaping Downward Social Mobility 279 Appendix 1: Measuring Social Mobility 287 Appendix 2: Deriving Mobility Rates from Surname Frequencies 296 Appendix 3: Discovering the Status of Your Surname Lineage 301 Data Sources for Figures and Tables 319 References 333 Index 349

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Book SynopsisNow a Major FilmYou pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.'Anne Elliot is persuaded to reject a marriage proposal from handsome Captain Wentworth because he lacks rank or fortune. But when he returns home from the Navy, more than seven years later, Anne realises she still has strong feelings for him, despite the fact that his attentions have now turned towards her friend.Moving, tender and intrinsically Austen' in style, with its satirical portrayal of society in eighteenth-century England, Persuasion is a story of heartache and missed opportunities, and a celebration of enduring love and hope.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“This is an emotional and passionate book, raw in its grief and anger, but also imbued with hope for redemption. Based on objective his­torical fact and subjective experience, Of Greed and Glory has the power of a sermon and the urgency of a manifesto.” — Deborah Mason, BookPage "As indispensable to understanding the Americas as Edward E. Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been Told. Of Greed and Glory powerfully demonstrates that though we as Black Americans are far from faultless in some of our most egregious behavior on the mean plantations and streets of antebellum and modern America, we nonetheless have had to grow our dignity beneath the pitiless boot of those who looked into the tiny faces of our infants and saw only dollar signs. Powerful and necessary." — Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Award winning author of The Color Purple and Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart “If you want to understand the current issues surrounding race, social justice, and inequality, you have to read Deborah Plant’s book, Of Greed and Glory. Deborah understands that the issues surrounding race, unfolding before us now in America, are deeply rooted in the legacy of the African American past. She writes eloquently and beautifully about that past. Of Greed and Glory is a must-read book for socially conscious citizens.” — Clyde W. Ford, Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award in African American fiction—winning author of Of Blood and Sweat and Think Black "Of Greed and Glory is impossible to put down. It’s a searing, provocative analysis of how the roots of slavery in the US still infiltrate so many of our social institutions. Plant’s vivid prose will leave you affected, challenged, and thinking about this book long after you’re done reading." — Adia Wingfield, author of Gray Areas, Flatlining, and No More Invisible Man "Deborah G. Plant courageously and painstakingly provides insight into the devastation and trauma experienced generations of African Americans, persons of color, and the poor … This is a must read that challenges us to become active in the movement to abolish slavery, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression that exist in our nation." — Diane D. Turner, author of Feeding the Soul and curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“an essential reckoning with the roots of the racial wealth gap in America.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A compelling argument for long-overdue reparations—though much more than that alone.” — Kirkus Reviews “Ford’s forceful arguments and writing will compel readers to face the facts of the long history of exploitation and appropriation that have defined so much of America’s struggle with itself to give substance and meaning to its promise of 'freedom' for all.” — Library Journal (starred review) “Ford makes a clear case that the past is never over. The wounds inflicted by slavery have never healed, and he argues that they will continue to harm our country until we deal with them honestly. For many Americans, reading Of Blood and Sweat will be an excellent first step in that process.” — BookPage

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Book SynopsisThis classic of economic thought is a scathing critique of American snobbery and wastefulness. Chief among the practices that Veblen so wittily satirizes is conspicuous consumption, a pattern of behaviour that still flourishes among us.Table of ContentsThe Theory of the Leisure Class - Thorstein Veblen Introduction by Robert LekachmanPrefaceChapter I: IntroductoryChapter II: Pecuniary EmulationChapter III: Conspicuous LeisureChapter IV: Conspicuous ConsumptionChapter V: The Pecuniary Standards of LivingChapter VI: Pecuniary Canons of TasteChapter VII: Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary CultureChapter VIII: Industrial Exemption and ConservatismChapter IX: The Conservation of Archaic TraitsChapter X: Modern Survivals of ProwessChapter XI: The Belief in LuckChapter XII: Devout ObservancesChapter XIII: Survivals of the Non-Invidious InterestChapter XIV: The Higher Learning as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture

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Book SynopsisWritten when Engels was only twenty-four, and inspired in particular by his time living among the poor in Manchester, this forceful polemic explores the staggering human cost of the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England. Engels paints an unforgettable picture of daily life in the new industrial towns, and for miners and agricultural workers—depicting overcrowded housing, abject poverty, child labour, sexual exploitation, dirt and drunkenness—in a savage indictment of the greed of the bourgeoisie. His fascinating later preface, written for the first English edition of 1892 and included here, brought the story up to date in the light of forty years’ further reflection. A masterpiece of committed reporting and an impassioned call to arms, this is one of the great pioneering works of social history.   Based on the original translation by Florence Wischnewetzky, this volume is edited by Victor Kiernan, whose foreword considers Engels’s friendship with Marx, and the book’s position as a seminal work of socialism. Also included are notes, a detailed index, new chronology and further reading and a revised forward.  

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Book SynopsisChrystia Freeland is the managing editor and director of consumer news at Thompson Reuters, following years of service at the Financial Times both in New York and London. She was the deputy editor of Canada's The Globe and Mail and has reported for the Financial Times, The Economist, and The Washington Post. Freeland is also the author of Sale of a Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution. She lives in New York City.blogs.reuters.com/chrystia-freeland@cafreeland

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Book SynopsisA searing account of George Orwell''s observations of working-class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire in the 1930s, The Road to Wigan Pier is a brilliant and bitter polemic that has lost none of its political impact over time. His graphically unforgettable descriptions of social injustice, cramped slum housing, dangerous mining conditions, squalor, hunger and growing unemployment are written with unblinking honesty, fury and great humanity. It crystallized the ideas that would be found in Orwell''s later works and novels, and remains a powerful portrait of poverty, injustice and class divisions in Britain.Published with an introduction by Richard Hoggart in Penguin Modern Classics.''It is easy to see why the book created and still creates so sharp an impact ... exceptional immediacy, freshness and vigour, opinionated and bold ... Above all, it is a study of poverty and, behind that, of the strength of class-divisTrade ReviewTrue genius ... all his anger and frustration found their first proper means of expression in Wigan Pier -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe essential new book from the authors of the international bestseller The Spirit Level''Why are people, particularly young people, experiencing increasing levels of mental illness and distress? Highly readable and authoritative, The Inner Level shows clearly how social anxieties and the problems they lead to rise steadily in richer, more unequal societies'' Clare Short, The Tablet, Books of the YearWhy is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than Japan? As this groundbreaking study demonstrates, the answer to all these hinges on inequality.In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the centre of public debateby showing conclusively that less-equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everythingfrom educatioTrade ReviewThe question of inequality is likely to play a bigger role in the next election than it has for more than a generation. It would be better for all of us if that debate was informed by robust statistical analysis rather than the emotive politics of envy. Any politician wishing to do so would be wise to read Wilkinson and Pickett's books. -- Andrew Anthony * Observer *It holds the reader's attention by elaborating a phenomenon most will already have observed, and by providing an explanation for the dysfunction they see around them, from the brazen disregard for rules among many corporate and political leaders to the nihilism of drug addicts and school-shooters * Economist *

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Book SynopsisFifty years since first publication, E. P. Thompson''s revolutionary account of working-class culture and ideals is published in Penguin Modern Classics, with a new introduction by historian Michael KennyThis classic and imaginative account of working-class society in its formative years, 1780 to 1832, revolutionized our understanding of English social history. E. P. Thompson shows how the working class took part in its own making and re-creates the whole-life experience of people who suffered loss of status and freedom, who underwent degradation, and who yet created a cultured and political consciousness of great vitality.Reviews:''A dazzling vindication of the lives and aspirations of the then - and now once again - neglected culture of working-class England'' Martin Kettle, Observer''Superbly readable . . . a moving account of the culture of the self-taught in an age of social and intellectual deprivation'' Asa Briggs, Financial Times''Thompson''s work combines passion and intellect, the gifts of the poet, the narrator and the analyst'' E. J. Hobsbawm, Independent''An event not merely in the writing of English history but in the politics of our century'' Michael Foot, Times Literary Supplement''The greatest of our socialist historians'' Terry Eagleton, New StatesmanAbout the author:E. P. Thompson was born in 1924 and read history at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, graduating in 1946. An academic, writer and acclaimed historian, his first major work was a biography of William Morris. The Making of the English Working Class was instantly recognized as a classic on its publication in 1963 and secured his position as one of the leading social historians of his time. Thompson was also an active campaigner and key figure in the ending of the Cold War. He died in 1993, survived by his wife and two sons.Trade ReviewThompson's work combines passion and intellect, the gifts of the poet, the narrator and the analyst -- Eric Hobsbawm * Independent *A dazzling vindication of the lives and aspirations of the then - and now once again - neglected culture of working-class England -- Martin Kettle * Observer *Superbly readable . . . a moving account of the culture of the self-taught in an age of social and intellectual deprivation -- Asa Briggs * Financial Times *An event not merely in the writing of English history but in the politics of our century -- Michael Foot * Times Literary Supplement *The greatest of our socialist historians -- Terry Eagleton * New Statesman *

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Book Synopsis''A deeply intelligent and searching book, one that makes you re-consider the narrative of your own life and reframe the story you tell yourself'' Hilary MantelA Guardian reader''s Best Book of 2018 There was a question that had come to trouble me a bit earlier, once I had taken the first steps on this return journey to Reims... Why, when I have had such an intense experience of forms of shame related to class ... why had it never occurred to me to take up this problem in a book?Returning to Reims is a breathtaking account of one man''s return to the town where he grew up after an absence of thirty years. It is a frank, fearlessly personal story of family, memory, identity and time lost. But it is also a sociologist''s view of what itmeans to grow up working class and then leave that class; of inequality and shifting political allegiances in an increasingly divided nation. A phenomenon in France and a huge bestseller in Germany, Didier Eribon has written the defining memoir of our times.''I was overwhelmed by this book. I felt I was reading the story of my life'' Edouard Louis, author of The End of Eddy''A book about self-invention and belonging'' Colm ToibinTrade ReviewA brilliant little book...a touching memoir of sexual awakening, and a gallery of philosophical ideas and characters -- Steven Poole * The Observer *A deeply intelligent and searching book, one that makes you re-consider the narrative of your own life and reframe the story you tell yourself... Didier Eribon understands how deep the roots of inequality go -- Hilary MantelReturning to Reims played a capital role in my life... I was overwhelmed by this book. I felt I was reading the story of my life. -- Edouard LouisThis is a self-excoriating memoir... [Eribon] writes as someone who has scrubbed hard at the markings of destiny -- Marina Benjamin * New Statesman *A stunning book -- vital and important -- Andrew McMillanHypnotic ... a gripping read * Daily Telegraph *Eribon's memoir is fascinating: full of fretful honesty, battling with shame around his background and shame at being ashamed -- The TimesEribon offers up a magnificent example of an enlightened life liberated by theory, written in a style that deftly moves between the intimate, the social and the political -- Annie ErnauxA powerful book and one that I enjoyed immensely -- Geoffrey Beattie * Irish Times *This is a beautiful book about suppression, losing touch with your roots, and regaining balance * Art in America *An honest and moving personal narrative that is skilfully threaded through sociological and political analysis. I was captivated from beginning to end -- Diane Reay * author of Miseducation: Inequality, Education and the Working Classes *This intensely personal account of Didier Eribon's family is a fascinating and compelling read...The book is beautifully written (and as beautifully translated). It is at once pleasureable and edifying to read * Joan W. Scott *Retour à Reims could be a novel. It has all the allure and attraction of one -- Claire Devarrieux * Libération *[a] particular favourite... thinks in this space with nuance and style -- Joanna Lee * White Review BOOKS OF THE YEAR *

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Book SynopsisTrade Reviewsuperb ... Wooldridge, the political editor of The Economist, quite brilliantly evokes the values and manners of the pluto-meritocrats at the top of society ... They would do well to read Wooldridge's erudite, thoughtful and magnificently entertaining book. They will find many uncomfortable truths in it. -- James Marriott * The Times *Adrian Wooldridge's extraordinary and irresistible history of meritocracy, The Aristocracy of Talent, describes the repeated efforts over the centuries to persuade peoples all over the world to accept the principle and compel society to organize itself on lines where merit alone, not bloodlines or bank balances, decides who rules and gets top dollar. ... Throughout, Wooldridge never loses faith in the principle of meritocracy as the key driver of modernity ... The Aristocracy of Talent is a serious treat from first to last. Not the least of its pleasures are the possibilities of disagreement that it provokes. -- Ferdinand Mount * Times Literary Supplement *This is a blistering and provocative defence of meritocracy - the single word almost all democratic politicians swear by, but never debate. Wooldridge, the Economist's political editor, provides an erudite survey of many cultures over several centuries to remind us how meritocracy's core idea - that your place in society should be a reflect of talent and effort, not determined by birth - is both revolutionary and recent. He sees meritocracy as an organising ideal rather than something that has been satisfactorily achieved, and rails against the ability of the privileged to purchase educational advantage for their children. He deplores too, outbursts of arrogance from meritocracy's winners. -- Books of the Year * New Statesman *The Aristocracy of Talent is finely constructed: fluent insights include the importance of Plato's distrust of democracy, on the grounds that it tended to lead to tyranny, and his insistence on the need for a leadership of experts. -- John Lloyd * Financial Times *In The Aristocracy of Talent, the Economist writer Adrian Wooldridge defends the meritocratic ideal. The book offers a sweeping account of the history of meritocracy, from the elaborate exams required to join the Chinese civil service to the problems with our dysfunctional present version of meritocracy, which Wooldridge says might be better called "pluto-meritocracy". Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the important problems facing rich nations. -- James Marriott * The Times Book of the Year *This masterly book offers a robust defence of meritocracy. -- Lord Willetts * Economist *hugely stimulating ... a spirited defence ... of meritocracy itself, made with cogent arguments ... a valuable, thought-provoking book -- Noel Malcolm * Daily Telegraph *a timely book that is a reminder that meritocracy, for all its flaws, may well be, like the democracy it has sometimes served, better than the alternatives ... told with a wealth of erudition in brisk and readable prose -- Darrin M McMahon * Literary Review *There are few terms whose origins are more misunderstood than "meritocracy". So Adrian Wooldridge has performed a public service with his latest book, The Aristocracy of Talent. -- Dominic Lawson * Sunday Times *Adrian Wooldridge sees meritocracy as a revolutionary idea worth improving, not abandoning. He ranges across two and a half thousand years of history, surveying many societies and cultures, to remind us that until relatively recently the talented were almost always a matter of no interest to the rulers - not only unrewarded but undiscovered ... [a] rich stew of a book. Alongside the philosophers are innumerable politicians, theologians, scientists, academics, authors and campaigners. He has dug up a priceless array of quotes from all perspectives on how to define the best people, how to seek them out, how to educate them, how to test them, how to give them power, even how they should behave. -- Mark Damazer * New Statesman *In this elegant historical and philosophical defence of the notion that people should advance according to talent rather than birth, Wooldridge argues that the idea that ruled the world by the late 20th century has become corrupted. This "golden ticket to prosperity" needs restoring in order to revive social mobility. -- Andrew Hill * Financial Times * an omniscient and impassioned polemic ... Some of us have been waiting a long time for someone to do what Wooldridge has done: nail the lie that there is something shameful about success honestly earned -- Daniel Johnson * The Critic *The Aristocracy of Talent is both an exhaustively researched history of an idea and a many-sided examination of the impacts of its imperfect execution. -- Mike Jakeman * Strategy + Business *A worthy successor to the 1958 classic The Rise of the Meritocracy, this sparkling study shows how much less meritocratic our society has become since then -- Vernon Bogdanor * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year *Wooldridge has written one of the great books of the decade. Here, meticulously researched and in arresting prose, are definitive accounts of Plato's authoritarian philosophy and the way later generations interpreted it, of China's mandarinate, of the rise of IQ tests and much else. -- Lord Hannan * Conservative Home *with its remorseless erudition ... in his new book, Adrian Wooldridge tries to salvage meritocracy from the ossified over-class that Aldous Huxley foresaw. -- Janan Ganesh * Financial Times *Adrian Wooldridge relabels the system "pluto-meritocracy" to expose its sham ideology -- Philip Aldrick * The Times *readable and wide-ranging...Wooldridge maintains that meritocracy is revolutionary and egalitarian -- Peter Mandler * BBC History Magazine *Every page, there's an intriguing nugget of information. -- Robbie Millenkudos to Adrian Wooldridge... for producing a full-throated defence of the principle -- Toby Young * Spectator *An elegant defence of talent. * The Week *

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Book SynopsisTitle: Great Indian Middle Class <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: Pavan K Varma <>Publisher: Baker & Taylor

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Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret Rooms, the extraordinary true story of the downfall of one of England’s wealthiest familiesFans of Downton Abbey now have a go-to resource for fascinating, real-life stories of the spectacular lives led by England’s aristocrats. With the novelistic flair and knack for historical detail Catherine Bailey displayed in her New York Times bestseller The Secret Rooms, Black Diamonds provides a page-turning chronicle of the Fitzwilliam coal-mining dynasty and their breathtaking Wentworth estate, the largest private home in England.When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902, he left behind the second largest estate in twentieth-century England, valued at more than £3 billion of today’s money—a lifeline to the tens of thousands of people who worked either in the family’s coal mines or on their expansive estate. The earl also left behind f

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Book SynopsisA persuasive and highly readable account. —President Barack Obama“Brilliant. . . . an important, fascinating read arguing that inequality creates a public health crisis in America.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times“The Broken Ladder is an important, timely, and beautifully written account of how inequality affects us all.” —Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank PinkA timely examination by a leading scientist of the physical, psychological, and moral effects of inequality. The levels of inequality in the world today are on a scale that have not been seen in our lifetimes, yet the disparity between rich and poor has ramifications that extend far beyond mere financial means. In The Broken Ladder psychologist Keith Payne examines how inequality divides us not just economically; it also has profound consequences for how we think, how we respond to stress, how our immune systems function, and even how we view moral concepts such as justice and fairness.Research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics has not only revealed important new insights into how inequality changes people in predictable ways but also provided a corrective to the flawed view of poverty as being the result of individual character failings. Among modern developed societies, inequality is not primarily a matter of the actual amount of money people have. It is, rather, people's sense of where they stand in relation to others. Feeling poor matters—not just being poor. Regardless of their average incomes, countries or states with greater levels of income inequality have much higher rates of all the social maladies we associate with poverty, including lower than average life expectancies, serious health problems, mental illness, and crime. The Broken Ladder explores such issues as why women in poor societies often have more children, and why they have them at a younger age; why there is little trust among the working class in the prudence of investing for the future; why people's perception of their social status affects their political beliefs and leads to greater political divisions; how poverty raises stress levels as effectively as actual physical threats; how inequality in the workplace affects performance; and why unequal societies tend to become more religious. Understanding how inequality shapes our world can help us better understand what drives ideological divides, why high inequality makes the middle class feel left behind, and how to disconnect from the endless treadmill of social comparison.

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Book SynopsisImpeccably researched and skillfully articulated, Silva''s work is a timely primer on the current state of blue-collar Millennials. --Publishers Weekly[A] brief yet devastating book that blends academic analysis and oral history to put a new face on well-documented trends that are more usually described in the abstract. --Boston GlobeSilva has made a major contribution to understanding where young adults are coming from, what influences them, and what they consider to be common sense. --The American ConservativeFascinating --Feministing.com[A]n enjoyable read and raises important issues that we generally overlook. --Washington Independent Review of BooksComing Up Short is a brief, but powerful, update of the status, difficulties, behaviors and distresses that characterize the lives of young working class adults.... highly recommended for sociologists and social welfare students and academics alike. It informs in telling detail the difficult circumstances and self-perceptions of a significant portion of the American population. It is also a window into how the ''helping professions'' have influenced the thinking of young adults and suggests that those professions need to help their clients see their troubles in broader terms than they apparently currently do. --Journal of Sociology & Social WelfareWhat does it mean to grow up today as working-class young adults? How does the economic and social instability left in the wake of neoliberalism shape their identities, their understandings of the American Dream, and their futures?Coming Up Short illuminates the transition to adulthood for working-class men and women. Moving away from easy labels such as the Peter Pan generation, Jennifer Silva reveals the far bleaker picture of how the erosion of traditional markers of adulthood-marriage, a steady job, a house of one''s own-has changed what it means to grow up as part of the post-industrial working class. Based on one hundred interviews with working-class people in two towns-Lowell, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia-Silva sheds light on their experience of heightened economic insecurity, deepening inequality, and uncertainty about marriage and family. Silva argues that, for these men and women, coming of age means coming to terms with the absence of choice. As possibilities and hope contract, moving into adulthood has been re-defined as a process of personal struggle-an adult is no longer someone with a small home and a reliable car, but someone who has faced and overcome personal demons to reconstruct a transformed self. Indeed, rather than turn to politics to restore the traditional working class, this generation builds meaning and dignity through the struggle to exorcise the demons of familial abuse, mental health problems, addiction, or betrayal in past relationships. This dramatic and largely unnoticed shift reduces becoming an adult to solitary suffering, self-blame, and an endless seeking for signs of progress. This powerfully written book focuses on those who are most vulnerable-young, working-class people, including African-Americans, women, and single parents-and reveals what, in very real terms, the demise of the social safety net means to their fragile hold on the American Dream.Trade ReviewImpeccably researched and skillfully articulated, Silva's work is a timely primer on the current state of blue-collar Millennials. * Publishers Weekly *Table of Contents1. Coming of Age in a Risk Society ; 2. Prisoners of the Present ; 3. Insecure Intimacies ; 4. Hardened Selves ; 5. Coming of Age in the "Mood Economy" ; Conclusion: The Hidden Injuries of Risk ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisFrom Reconstruction to Lyndon Johnson and beyond, Jill Quadagno reveals how American social policy has continuously foundered on issues of race. She draws on extensive primary research to show how social programmes became entwined with the civil rights movement and subsequently suffered by association at the hands of a white backlash.Trade Review"Important....A major contribution."--Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Why Americans Don't Vote and Regulating the Poor "A sweeping and detailed account of the U.S. health insurance system's development during the 20th century. ...One Nation Uninsured is a clearly written, informative book that would be of interest to academics studying health care, politics, policy or U.S. history, and members of the lay public who want a better understanding of why the United States does not have universal health insurance. It would also be accessible to students, particularly those in advanced undergraduate courses or graduate seminars."--Social Forces "Outstanding and thought provoking."--Free Press "What distinguishes Quadagno's depiction is its forceful interjection of racial issues into the heart of welfare policy analysis. The result is a suggestive and informative reconsideration....Written in limpid, unpretentious prose, The Color of Welfare contains numerous gems of policy analysis."--American Journal of Sociology "What distinguishes Quadagno's depiction is its forceful interjection of racial issues into the heart of welfare policy analysis. The result is a suggestive and informative reconsideration....Written in limpid, unpretentious prose, The Color of Welfare contains numerous gems of policy analysis (including fresh treatments of employment, housing, and day care policy and, best of all, of President Mixon's ill-fated Family Assistance Plan [FAP])."--American Journal of Sociology "Quadagno demonstrates convincingly that race, class, and gender are essential analytical categories for those who hope to understand the nation's past and to design public hope to understand the nation's past and to design public policies for its future. [A] timely, well-researched study."--Booklist "This important book provides a lucid and perceptive analysis of the War on Poverty and the turbulent race politics which surrounded and ultimately engulfed it. More than that, by placing racial inequality at the very center of her analysis, Jill Quadagno makes a major contribution to our understanding of the distinctive development of the American welfare state."--Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Why Americans Don't Vote and Regulating the Poor "A leading authority on the American welfare state, Jill Quadagno makes a compelling case for her thesis that racism has done more than any other fact to limit generous and dignified public social provision in the United States. Scholars, students, and policy-makers all have much to learn from this important book."--Theda Skocpol, author of Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States "A telling analysis of race as the key faultline of American social policy."--Joel Blau, author of The Visible Poor: Homelessness in the U.S. "The graceful prose of Jill Quadagno's new book conceals a hard-hitting argument about the critical importance of racism in shaping the American welfare state. Based on exhaustive research in primary sources, she tells a story which has not been told before. Even child care programs, not to mention family assistance, job training, and housing programs have been decisively shaped by the politics of race. Theoretically, her argument challenges the claim that America's 'liberal values' have been a main barrier to the expansion of the American welfare state."--Robert R. Alford, author of Health Care Politics "A sweeping and detailed account of the U.S. health insurance system's development during the 20th century. ...One Nation Uninsured is a clearly written, informative book that would be of interest to academics studying health care, politics, policy or U.S. history, and members of the lay public who want a better understanding of why the United States does not have universal health insurance. It would also be accessible to students, particularly those in advanced undergraduate courses or graduate seminars."--Social Forces

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Book SynopsisSince its publication in 1984, Chants Democratic has endured as a classic narrative on labor and the rise of American democracy. In it, Sean Wilentz explores the dramatic social and intellectual changes that accompanied early industrialization in New York. He provides a panoramic chronicle of New York City''s labor strife, social movements, and political turmoil in the eras of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Twenty years after its initial publication, Wilentz has added a new preface that takes stock of his own thinking, then and now, about New York City and the rise of the American working class.Trade Review"Certainly the best book yet written about the emergence of New York City's working class and a major contribution to American working-class history."--The New Republic"[Chants Democratic] is nothing less than a scholarly epic...it has no equal in breadth of subject, grace of style or acuity of interpretation."--The Nation"A great leap forward in both American social and American political history....Wilentz has written the statement on Jacksonian New York."--Journal of American History"Chants Democratic is a remarkable book that will quickly establish itself in the historiography and exert a powerful influence on the future direction of social, labor, and political history."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Gives the student of the Jacksonian Era an insider's look at the developing labor system of the northern industrialization process. In my 'Voices of the Union' course I use Chants to contrast the young republic's divergent and conflicting concepts of the Union, including its ideologic, economic, political, religious, and historical identities."--Wayne Cutler, University of Tennessee"A brilliant book."--U. Scharff, University of New Mexico"Wilentz's Chants Democratic gives the student of the JACKSONIAN ERA an insider's look at the developing labor system of the northern industrialization process. In my "Voices of Union" course, I use hants to contrast the young Republic's divergent and conflicting concepts of the Union, inclusing its ieologic, economic, political, religious, and historical identities."--Professor Wayne Cutler, University of Tennessee

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Book SynopsisMagraw examines how the 19-century French bourgeoisie struggled and succeeded in consolidating the gains it made in 1789. Incorporating research on religion and anticlericalism, the devolopment of the economy, the role of women in society and the educational system, he defends the view that the French revolution was indeed a "bourgeois revolution".Trade Review"A fine, thoughtful, and intellectually courageous book--bold in its interpretations and measured in its assessments."--Jane Clement Bond, Baruch College, City University of New York"Magraw writes in a compact, clear style."--History: Review of New Books"A successful synthesis of the historical literature that has emerged in the last 20 years."--Raymond Jonas, University of Washington

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Book SynopsisIn his controversial 1973 book, Is God a White Racist?, William R. Jones sharply criticized black theologians for their agnostic approach to black suffering, noting that the doctrine of an ominibenevolent God poses very significant problems for a perennially oppressed community. He proposed a humanocentric theism which denies God''s sovereignty over human history and imputes autonomous agency to humans. By rendering humans alone responsible for moral evil, Jones''s theology freed blacks to revolt against the evil of oppression without revolting against God. Sherman Jackson now places Jones''s argument in conversation with the classical schools of Islamic theology. The problem confronting the black community is not simply proving that God exists, says Jackson. The problem, rather, is establishing that God cares. No religious expression that fails to tackle the problem of black suffering can hope to enjoy a durable tenure in the black community. For the Muslim, therefore, it is essentialTrade ReviewJackson's work has added a thought-provoking response by Islamic studies and is long overdue in the debate of Black theodicy. * Black Diaspora Review *It goes without saying that any theological discussion is bound to be academic, yet this is an excellent book and a fascinating read. * ARNet *Jackson's book is a work of theology, and in this dimension it is a skillfully argued plea for Islam as a religion capable of meeting the challenge of black suffering as well as a clear explication of Islamic theodicy. It remarkably succeeds in both the academic register and as a sustained personal plea. * The Azanian Sea *Jackson is a welcome addition to the writings of American Islamic scholars, most of whom are non-idigenous Muslims; such thinkers are not qualified to write from an Islamic-centric perspective about the numourous social, political, and economical ills that plague Muslim African Americans. * Yusef Sala, BEACON *Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering warrants high praise for it's scholarship and deserves the attention of Islamic jurists, imams, religious scholars, and coverts. * Latif A. Tarik, Aerican Public University *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; William R. Jones and Challenge of Black Theodicy ; The Perduring Problem of Blackness: Beyond Ontological Suffering ; Chapter One: The Formative Development of Classical Muslim Theology ; The Arabians and Atheological "Peripheral Vision" ; Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafi'i and the Arabian Versus Arab Regime of Sense ; Traditionalism and Rationalism: The Rhetoric of Transcendence and the False Detente ; Chapter Two: Mu'tazilism and Black Theodicy ; Early Development and Basic Contours of Mu'tazilite Theology ; Relevant Details of Mu'tazilite Theology ; Mu'tazilism and Jones ; Chapter Three: Ash'arism and Black Theodicy ; Early Development and Basic Contours of Ash'arite Theology ; Relevant Details of Ash'arite Theology ; Ash'arism and Jones ; Chapter Four: Maturidism and Black Theodicy ; Early Development and Basic Contours of Maturidite Theology ; Relevant Details of Maturidite Theology ; Maturidism and Jones ; Chapter Five: Traditionalism and Black Theodicy ; Early Development and Basic Contours of Traditionalism ; Relevant Details of Tradtionalist Theology ; Traditionalism and Jones ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisElites have a disproportionate impact on development outcomes. While a country''s endowments constitute the deep determinates of growth, the trajectory they follow is shaped by the actions of elites. But what factors affect whether elites use their influence for individual gain or national welfare? To what extent do they see poverty as a problem? And are their actions today constrained by institutions and norms established in the past? This volume looks at case studies from South Africa to China to seek a better understanding of the dynamics behind how elites decide to engage with economic development. Approaches include economic modelling, social surveys, theoretical analysis, and program evaluation. These different methods explore the relationship between elites and development outcomes from five angles: the participation and reaction of elites to institutional creation and change, how economic changes affect elite formation and circulation, elite perceptions of national welfare, theTable of ContentsPART I: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ; PART II: THE FORMATION AND CIRCULATION OF ELITES ; PART III: THE PREFERENCES OF ELITES ; PART IV: ELITES AND STATE CAPACTIY ; PART V: GRASSROOTS RESPONSES TO ELITES

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Book SynopsisThe first ever global history of luxury, from Roman villas to Russian oligarchs: a sparkling story of novelty, excess, extravagance, and indulgence through the centuriesTrade ReviewThere's a tension at the core of the very idea of luxury, and that tension gives this book its sinew. * The Wall Street Journal *Table of Contents1. Luxury, Antiquity, and the Antique ; 2. The Courts, the Church, and Medieval and Renaissance Luxury ; 3. Luxury and the Orient ; 4. Housing Luxury: From the Hotel Particulier to the Penthouses ; 5. Luxury and the Fashionable Body ; 6. Jet Set Life: From Trans-Atlantic to Global Elites ; 7. The Chic of Poverty: The Minimalism of Luxury ; 8. Everything that Money Can Buy? Manipulating Luxury ; 9. Has Luxury Lost its Lustre? ; Further Reading ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisSocial Inequality â examining our present while understanding our past. Social Inequality and Social Statification in US Society, 1st edition uses a historical and conceptual framework to explain social stratification and social inequality. The historical scope gives context to each issue discussed and allows the reader to understand how each topic has evolved over the course of American history. The authors use qualitative data to help explain socioeconomic issues and connect related topics. Each chapter examines major concepts, so readers can see how an individualâs success in stratified settings often relies heavily on their access to valued resourcesâtypes of capital which involve finances, schooling, social networking, and cultural competence. Analyzing the impact of capital types throughout the text helps map out the prospects for individuals, families, and also classes to maintain or alter their position in social-stratification systems.Learning Goals<Trade ReviewThrough a historically grounded conceptual framework that explains the presence and reproduction of social stratification and social inequality, [Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society] analyzes the four major American classes (upper class, middle class, working class, and the poor), identifies the major historical events that have influenced contemporary social inequality, and supplements the quantitative overview of rates and trends with rich, qualitative sources that reveal how the American dream of socioeconomic uplift is really an American nightmare. Doob pays careful attention to how American capitalism functions as a system of class and caste, with special attention to status groups, occupational mobility, income and wealth, and many other elements that facilitate stratification and limit life chances. Unlike many other textbooks on the market, which attempt a faux ‘‘fair and balanced’’ overview of various ‘‘theories’’ of stratification that attempt to explain away inequality as an unfortunate by-product of the liberal state or as a problem only of irrational, microlevel discrimination, Doob stakes his claim early on. Briefly noting Davis and Moore’s (1945) structural–functionalist theory of stratification, he moves quickly through its flaws and takes the reader on a tour de force of more critical perspectives: from Marxist critiques, Weberian ‘‘iron cages,’’ Mills’ ‘‘power elite’’ to Dye’s institutional elite, where he does not dismiss any of the aforementioned perspectives but honestly shows how each shines light on a different aspect of capital, labor, and our major social structures. Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society is an excellent book for those looking to introduce young readers to the paradoxes, contradictions, and human suffering inherent in the capitalist enterprise. Matthew W. Hughey in Humanity & Society 2015, Vol. 39(2) 258 Table of ContentsChapter 1 The Road to Social Inequality: A Conceptual Introduction; Chapter 2 In Marx’s Wake: Theories of Social Stratification and Social Inequality; Chapter 3 Repeat Performance: Globalization through Time and Space; Chapter 4 Foundation for Social Inequality: Concepts and Structures; Chapter 5 Heading the Hierarchy: Upper Class or Superclass?; Chapter 6 The Badly Besieged Middle Class; Chapter 7 Working Class: Estranged from Entitlement; Chapter 8 American Poverty: The Dream Turned Nightmare; Chapter 9 Racism: A Persistent American Presence; Chapter 10 Women’s Oppression: Sexism and Intersectionality; Chapter 11 Astride with the Best and the Wisest;

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Book SynopsisThis text presents Nels Anderson's ethnographic work of a world of homeless men - a study conducted on Madison street in Chicago - and includes Anderson's later work on the juvenile and the tramp, the unattached migrant, and the family.Table of ContentsIntroduction The Hobos 1: Introduction to the Phoenix Edition of The Hobo 2: Hobohemia Defined 3: The Jungles: The Homeless Man Abroad 4: The Lodging House: The Homeless Man at Home 5: The Hobo and the Tramp 6: Summary of Findings and Recommendations 7: Summary of a Study of Four Hundred Tramps, Summer 1921 8: How and the Hobos: Character Sketch of J.E. How, "Millionaire Hobo" 9: The Slum: A Project for Study 10: The Juvenile and the Tramp 11: An Old Problem in New Form 12: The Unattached Migrant 13: Migrancy and the Labor Market 14: A Family in the Hobomania Era 15: The Sort of Jobs the Hobo Brought Urban Context: Work, and Leisure 16: Some Dimensions of Time 17: The Trend of Urban Sociology 18: Urbanism as a Way of Life Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis text presents Nels Anderson's ethnographic work of a world of homeless men - a study conducted on Madison street in Chicago - and includes Anderson's later work on the juvenile and the tramp, the unattached migrant, and the family.

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Book SynopsisSets out to determine when and why valedictorians end up at less selective schools, showing that social class makes all the difference. This title traces valedictorians' paths to college and presents damning evidence that high schools do not provide sufficient guidance on crucial factors affecting college selection.Trade Review"Top Student, Top School? is an important, well-conceived, and well-written study. The topic addressed is of critical importance. Higher education is meant to facilitate social mobility, but a large body of research suggests it instead reproduces inequality. Here Alexandria Walton Radford gives us a much better understanding of the mechanisms that prevent higher education from achieving this central goal." (Richard D. Kahlenberg, The Century Foundation)"

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Book SynopsisA cruise along the streets of Chennai - or Silicon Valley - filled with professional young Indian men and women, reveals the new face of India. In this book, the author examine one particularly striking group who have taken part in this development.Trade Review"Tamil Brahmans is a solid, original work that makes a major contribution to our understanding of a vitally important part of the world and of a unique group of people whose numbers in the United States are growing year by year and who are becoming increasingly influential at the highest professional levels in medicine, law, academia, business, and government." (Sylvia J. Vatuk, University of Illinois at Chicago)"

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Book SynopsisWhen we think about young people dealing drugs, we tend to picture it happening on urban streets, in disadvantaged, crime - ridden neighborhoods. The authors offer an ethnography of the culture of suburban drug dealers. It will be of interest to scholars and policy makers alike.Trade Review"Code of the Suburb takes us into the world of young white suburban drug dealing and in doing so, provides a fascinating and powerful counterpoint to the devastation of the drug war in poor, minority communities. To readers familiar with that context, the absence of police and prisons-indeed, of virtually any negative consequences for selling and using drugs-is quite striking." (Alice Goffman, author of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City)

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Book SynopsisOffers an ethnography of the culture of suburban drug dealers. This book shows that suburban drug dealers accord status to deliberate avoidance of conflict, which helps keep their drug markets more peaceful - and, consequently, less likely to be noticed by law enforcement.Trade Review"Code of the Suburb takes us into the world of young white suburban drug dealing and in doing so, provides a fascinating and powerful counterpoint to the devastation of the drug war in poor, minority communities. To readers familiar with that context, the absence of police and prisons-indeed, of virtually any negative consequences for selling and using drugs-is quite striking." (Alice Goffman, author of On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City)

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Book SynopsisThese seven essays on the structure of Chinese society are based on articles contributed by Fei to Chinese newspapers in 1947 and 1948. Six case histories from a study of the gentry by Yung-teh Chow are appended. The chief interest and charm of this book lie in the fact that it is not directed to the Western reader; these were studies written in Chinese, by an erudite Chinese, for a Chinese public. . . . Mrs. Redfield is to be complimented for her own careful research in preparing this translation for a non-Chinese public.Robert F. Spencer, American Anthropologist

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Book SynopsisThe German Democratic Republic has become the subject of novels, memoirs and films, and the backdrop for general debates over the power of intellectuals in contemporary media and society. This collection considers the demise of the GDR and its impact on the place of intellectuals.

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Book SynopsisRoger V. Gould argues that human conflict is more likely to occur in symmetrical relationships - among friends or social equals - than in hierarchical ones, wherein the difference of social rank between two individuals is already established.

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Book SynopsisRoger V. Gould argues that human conflict is more likely to occur in symmetrical relationships - among friends or social equals - than in hierarchical ones, wherein the difference of social rank between two individuals is already established.

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Book SynopsisOver a period of six years, at factory and warehouse, at the tavern across the road, in their homes and union meetings, on fishing trips and social outings, David Halle talked and listened to workers of an automated chemical plant in New Jersey's industrial heartland. He has emerged with an unusually comprehensive and convincingly realistic picture of blue-collar life in America. Throughout the book, Halle illustrates his analysis with excerpts of workers' views on everything from strikes, class consciousness, politics, job security, and toxic chemicals to marriage, betting on horses, God, home-ownership, drinking, adultery, the Super Bowl, and life after death. Halle challenges the stereotypes of the blue-collar mentality and argues that to understand American class consciousness we must shift our focus from the working class to be the working man.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on remarkably frank, in-depth interviews with 160 successful men in the United States and France, Michèle Lamont provides a rare and revealing collective portrait of the upper-middle classthe managers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and experts at the center of power in society. Her book is a subtle, textured description of how these men define the values and attitudes they consider essential in separating themselvesand their classfrom everyone else. Money, Morals, and Manners is an ambitious and sophisticated attempt to illuminate the nature of social class in modern society. For all those who downplay the importance of unequal social groups, it will be a revelation. A powerful, cogent study that will provide an elevated basis for debates in the sociology of culture for years to come.David Gartman, American Journal of SociologyA major accomplishment! Combining cultural analysis and comparative approach with a splendid literary style, this book significantly broadens the under

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Book SynopsisPresents an analysis of special education enrollment that has created fresh kinds of inequality. This book argues that this inequity in treatment is directly linked to the disparity in resources possessed by the students' parents.Trade Review"This is a timely book on the important issue of the role of social class differences in how parents cope with a special education diagnosis." - Annette Lareau, University of Pennsylvania"

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Book SynopsisUses the historic rise, alarming fall, and equally dramatic renewal of Chicago's North Kenwood - Oakland neighborhood to explore the politics of race and class in contemporary urban America. This title explores the battles between haves and have-nots, home owners and apartment dwellers, and newcomers and old-timers.Trade Review"A century from now, when today's sociologists and journalists are dust and their books are too, those who want to understand what the hell happened to Chicago will be finding the answer in this one." - Chicago Reader "To see how diversity creates strange and sometimes awkward bedfellows... turn to Mary Pattillo's Black on the Block." - Boston Globe"

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Book SynopsisThis historical study of intellectuals asks, for every period, who they were, how important they were, and how they saw themselves in relation to other Americans. Lewis Perry considers intellectuals in their varied historical roles as learned gentlemen, as clergymen and public figures, as professionals, as freelance critics, and as a professoriate. Looking at the changing reputation of the intellect itself, Perry examines many forms of anti-intellectualism, showing that some of these were encouraged by intellectuals as surely as by their antagonists. This work is interpretative, critical, and highly provocative, and it provides what is all too often missing in the study of intellectualsa sense of historical orientation.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] fascinating and timely new book. . . .Strolovitch treats the term 'crisis' as a 'keyword': a type of word that has its meaning shaped by social and political processes as well as a word that’s political meaning imbues power. That power includes when it’s used as well as when it’s not." -- Heath Brown * 3Streams *"Strolovitch builds a strong case for how privileged communities use and usurp true crises in marginalized communities to gain resourced and power. This is a must read for students of economics, public policy, race relations, political science, and sociology." * Choice *“When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People provides an enlightening analysis of how the idea of crisis has been constructed, evolved, and deployed by actors from the elites at the center of our governing apparatus to activists pushing from the margins. In this important book, we recognize that the frame of crisis is another tool that must be accounted for when trying to understand the political and economic landscape that we face and some seek to change.” -- Cathy Cohen | author of "Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics""When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People is a powerful examination of crisis construction and of the ramifications of crisis politics for both advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Strolovitch brilliantly develops her distinctive vision for a more meaningful and just American democracy, while covering exciting new terrain that has been almost entirely ignored by political scientists." -- Paul Frymer | author of "Building an American Empire: The Era of Territorial and Political Expansion""Strolovitch’s study is a meticulous and timely reminder that crises are neither natural occurrences nor neutral in how they direct action in a context marked by longstanding inequalities. Crises, instead, are political constructions. From housing and unemployment to policing and public health, this groundbreaking book will transform our thinking about the crises that have dominated public attention over the last few decades.” -- Chloe Thurston | author of "At the Boundaries of Homeownership: Credit, Discrimination and the American State""This is a sharp and much needed intervention in how political science conceptualises and applies the idea of 'crisis' to moments of upheaval, uncertainty and transformation. As Strolovitch persuasively argues, a crisis is not quite what it seems. Those marganlized groups, for whom misfortune is a policy goal, do not necessarily experience crises. Instead, crisis, like much else in American political life, is reserved for those powerful groups who must be protected from life's vagaries." -- Akwugo Emejulu | author of "Fugitive Feminism"“Strolovitch conducts an exhaustive rhetorical analysis of crisis in well-selected print sources that incorporate both media and government, carving out distinctive territory in its direct focus on the rhetoric of crisis in politics.” -- Julie Novkov | University at Albany, SUNY“The evidence that Strolovitch marshalls is wide-ranging, spanning sources from newspapers to organizational players to congress and the presidency. The time span and grasp of history is extremely impressive with writing that is accessible and fluid.” -- Leslie McCall | The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Acknowledgments Introduction. Crisis Politics Part I Crisis and Non-Crisis in American Politics Chapter 1 Crisis as a Political Keyword Chapter 2 What We Talk about When We Talk about Crisis Chapter 3 Regressions, Reversals, and Red Herrings Part II Foreclosure Crises and Non-Crises Chapter 4 When Does a Crisis Begin? Chapter 5 How to Semantically Mask a Crisis Conclusion and Epilogue. Will These Crises Go to Waste? Appendices. Overview of Sources and Methods A Working with Textual Data: Caveats and Considerations B Sources, Methods, and Coding Protocols C List of Main Sources of Data and Evidence D Supplementary Figures and Tables Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"No one knows rural China better than Scott Rozelle. In this brilliant, original, thought-provoking, and important study, Rozelle and Natalie Hell not only make China's potential human capital crisis visible, but provide actionable solutions based on rigorous research."--Hongbin Li, James Liang Director of the China Program, Stanford University "Professor Rozelle is a renowned economist specializing in early childhood education and rural development, and his book on rural China is a culmination of over twenty years of research on rural China, which has generated intense interest among policymakers and philanthropists. He convincingly argues that intervention into early childhood education is the most effective way of reducing the inequality that is a problem not only in rural China but in many parts of the world." --James Liang, chairman and cofounder of Ctrip "This is the most readable and compelling economics book of the year, and probably the most important. From the opening pages, a clear and compelling argument unfolds: China faces a labor quality crisis, as hundreds of millions of young rural workers lack the education and robust health they need to participate in China's emerging high tech economy. Nobody who cares about China can afford to ignore Invisible China."--From Subject Received Size Categories Barry Naughton Blurb for Rozelle & Hell/Invisible China Wed 5:51 PM 92 KBTable of ContentsAuthor’s Note Introduction 1. The Middle-Income Trap 2. China’s Looming Transition 3. The Worst-Case Scenario 4. How China Got Here 5. A Shaky Foundation 6. Invisible Barriers 7. Behind Before They Start Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix: The REAP Team Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe United States boasts scores of organizations that offer crucial representation for groups that are marginalized in national politics. This work explores the challenges and opportunities they face, as waning legal discrimination coincides with increasing political and economic inequalities within the populations they represent.Trade Review"Using impressive original data, Dara Strolovitch probes an important topic: the failure of interest groups that seek to represent the disadvantaged to advocate for the even more disadvantaged within their constituencies. This is a well-written and compelling work that will deepen our understanding of American democracy." - Kay Schlozman, Boston College"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] fascinating and timely new book. . . .Strolovitch treats the term 'crisis' as a 'keyword': a type of word that has its meaning shaped by social and political processes as well as a word that’s political meaning imbues power. That power includes when it’s used as well as when it’s not." -- Heath Brown * 3Streams *"Strolovitch builds a strong case for how privileged communities use and usurp true crises in marginalized communities to gain resourced and power. This is a must read for students of economics, public policy, race relations, political science, and sociology." * Choice *“When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People provides an enlightening analysis of how the idea of crisis has been constructed, evolved, and deployed by actors from the elites at the center of our governing apparatus to activists pushing from the margins. In this important book, we recognize that the frame of crisis is another tool that must be accounted for when trying to understand the political and economic landscape that we face and some seek to change.” -- Cathy Cohen | author of "Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics""When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People is a powerful examination of crisis construction and of the ramifications of crisis politics for both advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Strolovitch brilliantly develops her distinctive vision for a more meaningful and just American democracy, while covering exciting new terrain that has been almost entirely ignored by political scientists." -- Paul Frymer | author of "Building an American Empire: The Era of Territorial and Political Expansion""Strolovitch’s study is a meticulous and timely reminder that crises are neither natural occurrences nor neutral in how they direct action in a context marked by longstanding inequalities. Crises, instead, are political constructions. From housing and unemployment to policing and public health, this groundbreaking book will transform our thinking about the crises that have dominated public attention over the last few decades.” -- Chloe Thurston | author of "At the Boundaries of Homeownership: Credit, Discrimination and the American State""This is a sharp and much needed intervention in how political science conceptualises and applies the idea of 'crisis' to moments of upheaval, uncertainty and transformation. As Strolovitch persuasively argues, a crisis is not quite what it seems. Those marganlized groups, for whom misfortune is a policy goal, do not necessarily experience crises. Instead, crisis, like much else in American political life, is reserved for those powerful groups who must be protected from life's vagaries." -- Akwugo Emejulu | author of "Fugitive Feminism"“Strolovitch conducts an exhaustive rhetorical analysis of crisis in well-selected print sources that incorporate both media and government, carving out distinctive territory in its direct focus on the rhetoric of crisis in politics.” -- Julie Novkov | University at Albany, SUNY“The evidence that Strolovitch marshalls is wide-ranging, spanning sources from newspapers to organizational players to congress and the presidency. The time span and grasp of history is extremely impressive with writing that is accessible and fluid.” -- Leslie McCall | The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Acknowledgments Introduction. Crisis Politics Part I Crisis and Non-Crisis in American Politics Chapter 1 Crisis as a Political Keyword Chapter 2 What We Talk about When We Talk about Crisis Chapter 3 Regressions, Reversals, and Red Herrings Part II Foreclosure Crises and Non-Crises Chapter 4 When Does a Crisis Begin? Chapter 5 How to Semantically Mask a Crisis Conclusion and Epilogue. Will These Crises Go to Waste? Appendices. Overview of Sources and Methods A Working with Textual Data: Caveats and Considerations B Sources, Methods, and Coding Protocols C List of Main Sources of Data and Evidence D Supplementary Figures and Tables Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA thought-provoking challenge to our ideas about philanthropy, marking it as a deeply political activity that allows the wealthy to dictate more than we think.Trade Review"Private Virtues, Public Vices is essential reading for navigating our present-day collision course between widespread economic inequality and democratic governance." * The Review of Politics *"Ms. Saunders-Hastings, a political scientist at Ohio State University, believes that philanthropy is in tension with democracy—may even be harmful to it. Her critique is worth taking seriously. . ." * The Wall Street Journal *"In Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality, Emma Saunders-Hastings reminds us that contributing private wealth for the public good—by definition—has always been a political act. . . . the book is timely—and timeless, for it goes beyond calling for reforms to suggest a framework for thinking not only about philanthropy but also about democracy, equality, and justice." * Philanthropy News Digest *"Saunders-Hastings’ book is of great relevance, as it uncovers the fundamental interests behind most philanthropic giving, other than addressing widening inequality, escalating poverty, and other global concerns. . . . a must-read for all who have a keen interest in philanthropic work on a national and international level." * Voluntas *“The best philosophical illumination of the tension-ridden relationship between philanthropy and democracy. Better still, in exploring the institutional design of contemporary philanthropy, Saunders-Hastings makes original contributions to democratic theory itself, especially as concerns the relationship between ideal and non-ideal theory and the basis of objections to paternalism.” -- Rob Reich, Stanford University“Philanthropy is a hot topic these days. This crisply and clearly written book reframes the ethical discussion focused on rich people/countries’ debt to those less well-off and recasts practical concerns about effective giving to focus on the politics and power of giving. Private Virtues, Public Vices poses challenging questions in this age of global inequality. Saunders-Hastings couples precise arguments with thoughtfully chosen real-world examples to convey a strong sense of urgency.” -- Lisa Jane Disch, University of MichiganTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Donations and Deference Chapter 2. Equality and Philanthropic Relationships Chapter 3. Plutocratic Philanthropy Chapter 4. Philanthropic Paternalism Chapter 5. Ordinary Donors and Democratic Philanthropy Chapter 6. International Philanthropy Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAs the glittering skyline in Shanghai seemingly attests, China has quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse. But as Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell show in Invisible China, the truth is much more complicated and might be a serious cause for concern. China's growth has relied heavily on unskilled labor. Most of the workers who have fueled the country's rise come from rural villages and have never been to high school. While this national growth strategy has been effective for three decades, the unskilled wage rate is finally rising, inducing companies inside China to automate at an unprecedented rate and triggering an exodus of companies seeking cheaper labor in other countries. Ten years ago, almost every product for sale in an American Walmart was made in China. Today, that is no longer the case. With the changing demand for labor, China seems to have no good back-up plan. For all of its investment in physTrade Review"If rural Chinese do not learn essential cognitive skills, the authors predict mass unemployment, social unrest, and perhaps a crash that would 'lead to huge economic shocks around the world.' China’s rulers should order crates of de-worming pills—and copies of this book." * Economist *"While the world focuses on China’s rich, the country is facing economic and political disaster if it doesn’t invest heavily in educating its rural population, the economists Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell argue in this recent book. Both authors are part of the successful US-China Rural Education Action Program. As they note, Taiwan and South Korea escaped the middle-income trap by ensuring that large numbers of students finished high school, enabling the move to a higher-end economy. In China, by contrast, the high school attainment rate is just 30 percent." * Foreign Policy *"For a startling depiction of Chinese inequality today, Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell’s Invisible China is not to be missed." -- Niall Ferguson * Times Literary Supplement *"The biggest obstacle to China’s development is that rural children—two-thirds of the total—do terribly in school, argues this stunningly researched book. Many are malnourished, lack reading glasses or suffer from energy-sapping intestinal worms. If these basic problems are not fixed, say the authors, China will struggle to reach its goal of broad prosperity." * Economist, Best Books of 2021 *“Rozelle… has spent the last 30 years researching China’s labor force and its rural-urban divide.” * The Guardian *"Invisible China provides a stunning overview of economic, health and education policies in rural China." * East West Notes *"An important and informative new book . . . suggests that China lacks the educated workforce to capitalize on its success and reach the next rung in the ladder of development. . . . Making invisible China more visible is a necessary first step to bring meaningful changes in rural China. This new book by Rozelle and Hell is an important contribution to this endeavor." * Peterson Institute for International Economics *"This book by development economist Scott Rozelle and researcher Natalie Hell highlights problems that often remain invisible in the face of China’s rapid economic rise. It’s the drama of the rural low-educated workers who were the motor driving China’s growth since the 1980s, but are now more and more left jobless and hopeless in their home villages as low-skilled work is increasingly outsourced to other countries or is taken over by robotics. In many ways, China and the Chinese people are going forward – yet the rural population is left behind, and it’s China’s Achilles’ heel. This book focuses on this invisible side to China’s rise and on how such a big story, with such major implications, could be so little known." * What's on Weibo *“The authors are in no way hostile to China or its government system. But having spent years researching in rural China they not only feel strongly for this unseen China but want the situation to change so that China continues to prosper and thus enable the wider world to prosper.” * Asia Sentinel *“Rozelle and Hell would like to see China succeed, and remind us how important this is for the whole world. But they are concerned with the slow progress in reforming education. China has recently become more authoritarian, limiting cooperation with the education systems of other countries and even restricting the foreign books that children can read. Invisible China sounds a wake-up call.” * The Strategist *“Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell’s remarkable book represents the culmination of four decades of research carried out by Rural Education Action Plan’s (REAP) teams in China’s poor rural hinterlands… The book’s contributions are… insightful.” * China Quarterly *"Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell published Invisible China in 2020 as the pandemic began. The book arrived just before a wave of new policy trends that emerged throughout 2021, and it offers important context for those trends. It serves as a useful window to readers who want to move beyond the cities of China and begin to explore the vast and complex rural interior of the country." * China Source *"[Invisible China] provides an extensive coverage of problems for China in the sphere of human capital development... the book is rich in content and is not constrained only to China, but provides important parallels with past and present developments in other countries." * Journal of Chinese Political Science *“This book… [examines] a [wide] range of problems regarding China’s performance not just in education but also in health outcomes.” * Asian-Pacific Economic Literature *"Invisible China is an important, clearly argued, and original work. It presents a side of China that is all too evident to hundreds of millions of people living there, but that often escapes notice internationally. Anyone interested in China's economic and political future, and its impact on the world, will want to read this book." -- James Fallows, author of Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China“No one knows rural China better than Scott Rozelle. In this brilliant, original, thought-provoking, and important study, Rozelle and Natalie Hell not only make China’s potential human capital crisis visible, but provide actionable solutions based on rigorous research.” -- Hongbin Li, James Liang Director of the China Program, Stanford University“Professor Rozelle is a renowned economist specializing in early childhood education and rural development, and his book on rural China is a culmination of over twenty years of research on rural China, which has generated intense interest among policymakers and philanthropists. He convincingly argues that intervention into early childhood education is the most effective way of reducing the inequality that is a problem not only in rural China but in many parts of the world.” -- James Liang, chairman and cofounder of Ctrip“This is the most readable and compelling economics book of the year, and probably the most important. From the opening pages, a clear and compelling argument unfolds: China faces a labor quality crisis, as hundreds of millions of young rural workers lack the education and robust health they need to participate in China's emerging high tech economy. Nobody who cares about China can afford to ignore Invisible China.” -- Barry Naughton, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California, San Diego“This book is an important contribution to the study of China. China’s size and linkages with other economies mean that the arguments and data presented here have wide-ranging importance. There is still time to avoid the ‘doomsday’ outcome if policy shifts in China, and Rozelle and Hell’s work is poised to have a real impact if its message is heeded.”—Pietra Rivoli, Georgetown University -- Pietra Rivoli, Georgetown University"[Invisible China] examines the impending challenge of China’s rural poverty and the mechanisms that have allowed it to develop, promoting concrete actions that China can take to reduce the humanitarian risks of its urban–rural divide." * Journal of Economic Literature *"The book... delivers a solid analysis, and provides clear and feasible policy recommendations... a must-read both for scholars interested in Chinese studies and for policymakers." * Europe-Asia Studies *"Rozelle and Hell have written an eloquent description and analysis of China’s growing social challenge." * The Developing Economies *"Invisible China works extremely well as a source of inspiration for students, researchers, and practitioners wanting to work with rural China." * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAuthor’s Note Introduction 1. The Middle-Income Trap 2. China’s Looming Transition 3. The Worst-Case Scenario 4. How China Got Here 5. A Shaky Foundation 6. Invisible Barriers 7. Behind Before They Start Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix: The REAP Team Notes Index

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