Veblen's book provides a surprisingly contemporary look at American economics and society. Establishing such terms as "conspicuous consumption" and "pecuniary emulation," Veblen's most famous work has become an archetype not only of economic theory, but of historical and sociological thought as well.
In a panoramic study that draws on diverse sources, Jerry Jacobs and Kathleen Gerson explain why and how time pressures have emerged and what we can do to alleviate them. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that all Americans are overworked, they show that time itself has become a form of social inequality that is dividing Americans in new ways--between the overworked and the underemployed, women and men, parents and non-parents.
Wilson candidly discusses the social pathologies of the ghetto and provides a comprehensive explanation of the rise of this "ghetto underclass"; he then recommends a public policy agenda to improve the life chances of this group.
Campaign contributions by individual capitalists follow a logic different from that of corporate PACs. Corporations are generally more interested in buying influence with incumbents, while individual capitalists are more concerned with bolstering the election prospects of favored candidates.
Public opinion polls appear to be a more inclusive form of representation than traditional forms of political participation. However, under certain circumstances, aggregate public opinion may be a poor reflection of collective public sentiment. I argue that it may be difficult to gauge true aggregate public sentiment on certain socially sensitive issues.
Herbert Gans’ study of Italian Americans in Boston’s West End is a first-hand account of life in an inner city neighborhood. It is a systematic and sensitive analysis of working-class culture – and of the politicians, planners, and other outside professionals who affect it. Gans explores such topics as the rise of new forms of ethnic identity; the role of culture in poverty, and the poverty of cultural analysis; the debate over the relative importance of race and class in the lives of the black poor; the effects of slum clearance and relocation; displacement of the poor as government housing practice; the limits of neo-conservative social policy; and new directions for anti-poverty and housing policies.
I examine four structural characteristics of tracking systems: selectivity, electivity, inclusiveness, and scope. I predict that differences in these characteristics lead to variation in between-track inequality (the achievement gap between tracks) and school productivity (average achievement of students in the school), net of the composition of the student body.
Analyzing pooled 1989-91 data from a national random sample, the General Social Survey, the author finds that gay and bisexual male workers earned from 11% to 27% less than heterosexual male workers with the same experience, education, occupation, marital status, and region of residence.