Social Class

Today's inequality is on a scale that none of us has seen in our lifetimes, yet this disparity between rich and poor has ramifications that extend far beyond mere financial means. In The Broken Ladder, psychologist Keith Payne examines how inequality divides us not just economically, but also has profound consequences for how we think, how our cardiovascular systems respond to stress, how our immune systems function, and how we view moral ideas such as justice and fairness.

From everyday apps to complex algorithms, Ruha Benjamin cuts through tech-industry hype to understand how emerging technologies can reinforce white supremacy and deepen social inequity. Benjamin argues that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up, and deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to the racism of a previous era. 

Rediscover the timeless romance and keen social commentary of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," now thoughtfully adapted for the modern reader. This refreshed edition features clean formatting and contemporary typography, enhancing readability while maintaining Austen's original tone and intent. Lightly clarified language ensures that the wit and wisdom of Elizabeth Bennet's world remain accessible to today's audience, inviting both new readers and longtime fans to enjoy the beloved tale with renewed ease. Step into Regency-era England, where love and societal expectations clash in a ...

One of the most pernicious and persistent myths in the United States is the association of Black skin with poverty. Though there are forty million more poor white people than Black people, most Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to think of poverty—along with issues like welfare, unemployment, and food stamps—as solely a Black problem. Why is this so? What are the historical causes? And what are the political consequences that result?

From the Prime Minister of Canada, a bold and urgent argument for the foundational change that is required if we are to build an economy and society based not on market values but on human values Our world is full of fault lines—growing inequality in income and opportunity, systemic racism...

Decode the unspoken sociology rules of wealth and power that dictate true social mobility in our modern world. Whether navigating workplace dynamics on your daily commute or reflecting on your personal history, this calm, clear-eyed guide reveals why some life journeys feel effortless while...

Introducing "Social Structures Unraveled," a groundbreaking eBook that takes you on an enlightening journey through the complex world of social structures and how they influence our daily lives. Discover the intricacies of human interactions, relationships, and communities in this captivating and thought-provoking read that will leave you with a deeper understanding of the world we live in. Embark on an exploration of the origins of social structures and the myriad of factors that shape them, such as family dynamics, economic class, occupational prestige, and educational institutions. Delve...

Following a remarkable epoch of greater dispersion of wealth and opportunity, we are inexorably returning towards a more feudal era marked by greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism. If the last 70 years saw a massive expansion of the middle class, not only in America but in much of the developed world, today that class is declining and a new, more hierarchical society is emerging. The new class structure resembles that of Medieval times. 

“Identity politics” is everywhere, polarizing discourse from the campaign trail to the classroom. But the “identity politics” so compulsively referenced bears little resemblance to the concept as first introduced by the radical Black feminist Combahee River Collective. While the Collective articulated a political viewpoint grounded in their own position as Black lesbians with the explicit aim of building solidarity across lines of difference, “identity politics” is now frequently weaponized as a means of closing ranks around ever-narrower conceptions of group interests. 

NATIONAL BESTSELLER One of The Economist’s Best Books of the Year! In this “affecting…intriguing…heartbreaking” (Booklist) coming-of-age memoir, Rob Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the...

In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces listeners to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superiority and challenging us to grapple with what equality really means in a world where people are born different. Weaving together personal stories with scientific evidence, Harden shows why our refusal to recognize the power of DNA perpetuates the myth of meritocracy, and argues that we must acknowledge the role of genetic luck if we are ever to create a fair society.

Habitus in Everyday Life: How Invisible Social Patterns Shape Behavior, Confidence, Taste, and Relationships explains how social life gets under the skin. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s idea of habitus, it shows how upbringing, class, education, and repeated experience become posture, timing, taste, self-control, confidence, and instinct. Many reactions that seem purely personal are partly learned through long exposure to particular settings. A person may feel at ease in a meeting, uneasy in an expensive shop, careful around authority, skeptical of elite taste, or quick to apologize before ...

While political and media elites hysterically condemn an imaginary epidemic of “white supremacy,” in the real world, white Americans are often openly discriminated against. Indeed, anti-white policies have become so interwoven in the fabric of American life that we often fail to recognize them.

The Hidden Rules of Taste and Power: Pierre Bourdieu on Fashion, Food, Art, Music, and Elite Culture Identity explains why taste works as a social signal rather than a purely personal preference. The book introduces Bourdieu’s central ideas in plain language: habitus, cultural capital, distinction, field, and symbolic power. These concepts help explain why some people move easily through galleries, restaurants, schools, and professional settings while others feel watched, corrected, or out of place. What often looks like natural confidence or refined judgment is usually the result of ...

Mr. Darcy believed his heart was a fortress. She was the one woman capable of a siege. He is a man of perfect logic and even more perfect isolation. Having spent a lifetime cultivating a reserve that shields him from the tedious hunt for a bride, he is settled in his convictions. He does not require the flutter of fans, the practiced smiles of the ton, or the complications of "affection." He is, by his own meticulous estimation, a man not quite in want of a wife. But the temporary refuge of Netherfield is fragile, and the arrival of Elizabeth Bennet is an affront to every rule he lives by. ...

The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.

From how to set up an easy-to-use classroom management plan to how to handle difficult students, The Classroom Management Secret will equip you with everything you need to effectively manage your classroom, regardless of where you teach or who shows up on your roster. Based on the popular blog, Smart Classroom Management, the book progresses step-by-step through 45 time-tested strategies, showing you how to manage your classroom in a way that inspires students to want to behave.

Class does make a difference in the lives and futures of American children. Drawing on in-depth observations of black and white middle-class, working-class, and poor families, Unequal Childhoods explores this fact, offering a picture of childhood today. Here are the frenetic families managing their children's hectic schedules of "leisure" activities; and here are families with plenty of time but little economic security.

A Pulitzer-finalist historian charts a 250-year-old intellectual and political tradition—the conviction that all Americans are NOT created equal. We think of the United States as a nation committed, at least on paper, to ideals of human equality, under God and/or under the law. But as robust...

Why do some leaders rise to absolute power while others crumble under pressure? History is written by the victors, and for centuries, the victors have studied Niccolò Machiavelli. This collection unites two foundational texts that changed the course of Western thought: The Prince and The Art of War. Together, they form a ruthless manual for navigating authority, competition, and survival. While The Prince shatters the illusion of virtuous leadership to explore the psychology of power, The Art of War bridges the gap between political will and military capability.