Social Equality and Inequality

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Under the label of social inequality, social scientists study differential access to goods and services, rights and entitlements, power, and prestige, especially those that are problematic because they violate the popular sense of justice and fairness. They focus attention on structured social inequalities, that is, hierarchical differences between social positions and groupings (e.g., occupational classes, ethnoracial minorities, and gender categories) that endure over many generations. Social inequalities are typically studied in three aspects: “inequalities of endowments” (resources, capitals, assets); “inequalities of treatment,” that is, segregation, discrimination, and exclusion in social relations; and “inequalities of opportunity” for social mobility. Inequalities of endowments are the key focus of social stratification. Students of stratification analyze hierarchical “layers” or “strata” of positions sharing similar endowments, typically conceptualized as assets, resources, and capitals (material, cultural, political, etc.). Such hierarchies are represented as “social ladders” of classes, status groups, and power strata (e.g., elites and masses; see Etzioni-Halevi, 1996 ). Inequalities of treatment are the key subject matter for students of intergroup (typically ethnoracial minority) relations who analyze social segregation, distances, and exclusions. They chart such asymmetric relations and study their consequences, including intergroup prejudice, discrimination, antagonism, and conflict. Finally, inequalities of opportunity are the key topics for students of social mobility and attainment. Social mobility refers to movements up and down social hierarchies. Studies of attainment identify the key “propellants” of social advancement, such as education and family background. Thus, the students of occupational attainment identify and compare the main causes of occupational career advance, in particular the relative impact of “ascribed factors,” such as parental backgrounds, and “achievement factors,” such as the level of education. Low mobility or social closure, especially when based on ascriptive factors, is seen as evidence of inequality of opportunity and the rigidity of the social structure.