Why read Durable Inequality?

Book cover of Durable Inequality

Book description

Charles Tilly, in this eloquent manifesto, presents a powerful new approach to the study of persistent social inequality. How, he asks, do long-lasting, systematic inequalities in life chances arise, and how do they come to distinguish members of different socially defined categories of persons? Exploring representative paired and unequal categories,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Durable Inequality as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Paul Ong

Author

This book provides a grand sociological theoretical framework to explain how society creates and maintains persistent inequality through grouping.

The author does not anchor his explanation in individual biases and discriminatory acts, which are manifestations of larger fundamental structures and dynamics. The division and organization of the population into categories produce systemic group advantages and enable hierarchical exploitation.

Several organizational mechanisms within and between groups make categorical inequality durable. Race is one of the fundamental ways society is fragmented into enduring and unequal groups.

From Paul's list on The best books on the underlying foundation of racialized spaces and places.