Understanding Social Inequality: Intersections of Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity,

by Julie Ann McMullin, Josh Curtis

Now in its third edition, Understanding Social Inequality examines the full scope of inequality in Canada today. The text's two-part structure introduces theories of class, gender, age, ethnicity, and race before examining case studies and examples demonstrating the consequences of inequality. This allows students to form their own conclusions about why social inequality remains prevalent and the potential actions that can be taken to eradicate it.

416 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.