The American Class Structure in an age of growing inequality is a current, concise treatment of America's ever-changing class structure. Author Dennis Gilbert asks a deceivingly simple question: Why is social inequality in America increasing? This question is answered through discussion of nine key variables and the best historical and contemporary empirical studies of class inequality in American Society, providing students with a broad overview of social inequality in America.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Social Class in America Karl Marx Max Weber Three Issues and Ten Variables What Are Social Classes? An American Class Structure Is the American Class Structure Changing? Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 2: Position and Prestige W. Lloyd Warner: Prestige Classes in Yankee City Prestige Class as a Concept How Many Classes? Class Structure of the Metropolis Prestige of Occupation Occupations and Social Classes People Like Us Conclusion: Perception of Rank and Strata Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 3: Social Class, Occupation, and Social Change Middletown: 1890 and 1924 Middletown Revisited Industrialization and the Transformation of the National Class Structure The National Upper Class The Industrial Working Class The New Middle Class National Occupational System The Transformations of the American Occupational Structure From Agricultural to Postindustrial Society Women Workers in Postindustrial Society Transformation of the Black Occupational Structure Wages in the Age of Growing Inequality Growing Inequality of Wages: Why? Harrison and Bluestone: New Corporate Strategies Frank and Cook: Winner Take All Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 4: Wealth and Income The Income Parade Lessons from the Parade The Distribution of Income Sources of Income Income Shares Taxes and Transfers: The Government as Robin Hood? How Many Poor? Women and the Distribution of Household Income The Distribution of Wealth Trends in the Distribution of Wealth Trends in the Distribution of Income Income Dynamics Changing Federal Tax Rates Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 5: Socialization, Association, Lifestyles, and Values Bourdieu: The Varieties of Capital Children's Conception of Social Class Kohn: Class and Socialization Lareau: Child Rearing Observed School and Marriage Marriage Styles Blue Collar Marriages and Middle Class Models Social Class and Domestic Violence Informal Association Among Adults Formal Associations Separate Lives Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 6: Social Mobility: The Structural Context How Much Mobility? Income Mobility Social Mobility of Women Circulation and Structural Mobility Declining Social Mobility Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 7: Family, Education, and Career Blau and Duncan: Analyzing Mobility Models Jencks on Equality Who Goes to College? College and the Careers of Women and Minorities Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 8: Elites, the Capitalist Class, and Political Power Three Perspectives on Power Mills: The National Power Elite Mills, His Critics, and the Problem of Elite Cohesion Power Elite or Ruling Class? Who Rules? The National Capitalist Class: Economic Basis The National Capitalist Class: Social Basis The National Capitalist Class: Participation in Government Money and Politics Business Lobbies Policy Planning Groups Indirect Mechanisms of Capitalist Class Influence The Capitalist Class Resurgence Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 9: Class Consciousness and Class Conflict Marx and the Origins of Class Consciousness Richard Centers and Class Identification Correlates of Class Identification Married Women and Class Identification Class Identification, Political Opinion, and Voting Bott: Frames of Reference Elections and the Democratic Class Struggle Social Class and Party Identification and Support for Social Programs Class and Political Participation Trends in Class Partisanship Class Conflict and the Labor Movement The Postwar Armistice: Unions in the Age of Shared Prosperity Labor in Decline Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 10: The Poor, the Underclass, and Public Policy The Beginnings of Welfare: Roosevelt Rediscovery of Poverty: Kennedy and Johnson The Official Definition of Poverty How Many Poor? Who Are the Poor? Trends in Poverty The Underclass and the Transitory Poor Restructuring Welfare The Mystery of Persistent Poverty Conclusion Key Terms Defined in the Glossary Suggested Readings Chapter 11: The American Class Structure and Growing Inequality How Many Classes Are There? The Capitalist Class The Upper Middle Class The Middle Class The Working Class The Working Poor The Underclass Growing Inequality Why? Straws in the Wind Glossary Bibliography Note on Statistical Sources

Author Biography

Dennis Gilbert is a professor of Sociology at Hamilton College His primary research interests are Latin American and American class system. Gilbert is the author of The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality (Sage, 2008), Mexico's Middle Class in the Neoliberal Era (University of Arizona Press, 2007), Sandinistas: the Party and the Revolution (Blackwell, 1988), and La Oligarquia Peruana: Historia de Tres familias (Horizonte, 1982). In 1990, he was research director to the successful congressional campaign of Bernard Sanders (Independent-VT) and later served as legislative assistant in Representative Sanders' congressional office. At Hamilton, Gilbert teaches a course on public opinion polling. In collaboration with the polling firm Zogby International, Gilbert and his students have conducted a series of widely reported national surveys, most examining the views of high school students, on such topics as gun control, gay rights, abortion, Muslims in America and patriotism.