Research in Social Stratification and Mobility continues its tradition of publishing the best and most innovative research on the changing landscape of social inequality the world over. This issue focuses on different dimensions of social closure and their relationship to social inequality processes, including the changing role that education plays in sorting people into favorable and unfavorable labor market positions across a global diversity of cultural settings. This issue also examines the fluid boundaries of race and ethnicity in contentious political settings, relationships between attitudes and collective action, and the role that technology and political context plays in promoting economic development and well-being. These topics and the research methodologies they represent display the vitality of social science research dealing with social stratification and the wide array of methods, contexts, and policies that directly affect the life chances of most of the world's peoples. This issue also marks a continuation of the ties developed between RSSM and the Social Stratification and Mobility section of the International Sociological Association (RC-28). This collaboration promises to promote and disseminate social inequality research throughout the world through an established network of distinguished international contributors and commentators.

The Process of Stratification: Trends and Analyses discusses the conceptual scheme developed by Blau and Duncan. The book elaborates Blau and Duncan's description and analysis of socioencomic inequality, stratification, and inequality of opportunity in American society during the early 1960s. The authors review the assumptions and methods; they point to a different direction from the widely held assumption that occupational socioeconomic status is the primary determinant to mobility. They also use the Alphabetical Index as the basis for better collection method on data relating to occupation, industry and class of worker. As regards occupational mobility, the authors note that such mobility is limited by the depletion of occupational groups that higher-status occupations have sourced from. They also point that American society is homogenous in the sense of the determinants of socioeconomic achievements can exert influence. The authors then discuss an exercise in theory construction of intergenerational transmission of income. They conclude that income mobility is similar to occupational or educational mobility; to be more precise, they note that empirical evidence should be gathered. This book can prove useful for economists, sociologists, policy makers, as well as academicians involved in societal studies.

Bringing together the classic statements on social stratification, this collection offers the most significant contributions to ongoing debates on the nature of race, class, and gender inequality.

With the ideal balance of classic essays and more contemporary studies, Inequality and Society covers the standard themes of poverty and inequality while bringing political institutions into the analysis.

The mass expansion of higher education is one of the most important social transformations of the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, scholars from 15 countries, representing Western and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Israel, Australia, and the United States, assess the links between this expansion and inequality in the national context. Contrary to most expectations, the authors show that as access to higher education expands, all social classes benefit. Neither greater diversification nor privatization in higher education results in greater inequality. In some cases, especially where the most advantaged already have significant access to higher education, opportunities increase most for persons from disadvantaged origins. Also, during the late twentieth century, opportunities for women increased faster than those for men. Offering a new spin on conventional wisdom, this book shows how all social classes benefit from the expansion of higher education.

First published in 1997, this book revolves around a textual analysis of the Weberian thesis that 'classes', 'status groups' and 'parties’ are phenomena of the distribution of power within a 'community'. An internal reconstruction of Weber’s own ideas on what is called social stratification in contemporary sociological discourse is undertaken. The reason for this reconstruction inheres in the fact that Weber’s thought (especially in the field of social stratification) has been modified and misappropriated to such an extent that Weber himself is usually lost in the commentaries. Moreover, this reconstruction is crucial because the secondary literature does not contain a single account teasing out the analytic structure underlying Weber’s statements on the nature of social inequality in various societies. It is the principal intention of the book, then, to retrieve the essential form and significance of Weber’s ideas on social stratification.

This volume addresses the contested relationship between social stratification and social movements in three different ways: First, the authors address the relationship between social stratification and the emergence of protest mobilization. Second, the texts look at social stratification and social positions to explain variations in political orientations, as well as differing aims and interests of protestors. Finally, the volume focuses on the socio-structural composition of protestors. Social Stratification and Social Movements takes up recent attempts to reconnect research on these two fields. Instead of calling for a return of a class perspective or abandoning the classical social movement research agenda, it introduces a multi-dimensional perspective on stratification and social movements and broadens the view by extending the empirical analysis beyond Europe.

"This text is intended for a one-semester introductory course."--Page 1.