Understanding Social Inequality: Intersections of Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Race in Canada

by Julie Ann McMullin

This book examines the factors that contribute to inequality, providing a synthesis of research and theory of the four factors of inequality, and adding a fifth, age.

376 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2004

Reviews

[Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

McMullin’s, Understanding Social Inequality: Intersections of Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Race in Canada provides a sociological analysis of the role that class, age, gender and race play in perpetuating inequality in Canada. The book contains important theoretical and lexical offerings about the description of key terms, the distinction between terms (such as race and ethnicity) and the socio-political underpinnings behind their conceptualization and reification. McMullin’s work offers a diversity of balanced perspectives and draws on work from scholars in sociology such as Omni and Winant to explore the complexities of each topic. For example, McMullin’s account of racism can be understood as patterns of unequal access to power divided across racial lines that impacts how different groups access labour and resources in a given society.

While McMullin's text offers preliminary insight in to social inequality, it lacks depth. Her text lacks references to emerging theories of racial inequality such as the role of privilege for example, which, when talking about manifestations of classism or systemic racism embedded in society, is an important nuance to understand.

Also, on one account, McMullin refers to Africa as a country.