Study Of Social Inequality Research Articles

Psychological capital and social class: A capital approach to understanding positive psychological states and their role in explaining social inequalities.

Psychological capital (PsyCap) is a multidimensional concept entailing hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience. This paper argues that it can be considered a form of "capital" explaining social inequality. We test whether PsyCap can be integrated into the Bourdieusian capital framework by assessing its relationship with social, economic, and cultural capital. We also identify different types of social positions based on the volume and composition of psychological, economic, cultural, and social capital. We use cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey of 2012 (N = 35,313 respondents; 29 countries). To test the associations with the Bourdieusian capital types, we calculated multilevel spearman rank correlations and performed confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Latent Class Analysis identified different types of social positions. We found positive weak correlations between PsyCap and the indicators of cultural capital (r ≤ .14) and positive moderate correlations with the indicators of economic and social capital (r ≤ .24). The results of the CFA showed that the fit of the 4-capital model was superior to that of the 3-capital model. We identified six types of social positions: two deprived types (with overall low capital levels); two well-off types (with overall high capital levels) and two types with high psychological and social capital in combination with varying levels of cultural and economic capital. Including PsyCap in the Bourdieusian capital framework acknowledges the power of positive psychological states regarding processes of social mobility and social inequality on the one hand and calls for understanding PsyCap as a social and group-level phenomenon on the other hand. As such, integrating PsyCap into the Bourdieusian framework can help to address the longstanding issue of understanding the relationship between social and individual differences in the study of social inequalities.

Is socio-economic status associated with risk of childhood type 1 diabetes? Literature review.

Studies of social inequality and risk of developing type 1 diabetes are inconsistent. The present review aimed to comprehensively review relevant literature and describe what has been reported on socio-economic status or parental occupation and risk of type 1 diabetes in children. We searched for publications between 1 January 1970 and 30 November 2021. We focused on the most recent and/or informative publication in cases of multiple publications from the same data source and referred to these as primary studies. Our search identified 69 publications with relevant data. We identified eight primary cohort studies with individual-level data, which we considered the highest quality of evidence. Furthermore, we identified 13 primary case-control studies and 14 semi-ecological studies with area-level socio-economic status variables which provided a weaker quality of evidence. Four of eight primary cohort studies contained data on maternal education, showing non-linear associations with type 1 diabetes that were not consistent across studies. There was no consistent pattern on the association of parental occupation and childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. There is a need for more high-quality studies, but the existing literature does not suggest a major and consistent role of socio-economic status in the risk of type 1 diabetes.

СОЦІАЛЬНА НЕРІВНІСТЬ ЯК СФЕРА ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ФІНАНСОВОЇ НАУКИ

In the article, the author proposed a scientifically based view on the establishment of a relationship between the study of social inequality and the problems studied and solved by financial science, identified the points of intersection of spheres and outlined the directions of practical application of financial science in order to reduce the impact of the negative consequences of social inequality. Transformations in the socio-economic plane, changes in paradigms and priorities of state policies regarding the formation of leading positions, namely the concepts of personal and social development, knowledge economy, human capital, population welfare and the importance of inclusive processes in the market economy, determine the importance of monitoring the changes taking place in the approaches to the examination and study of social inequality, as one of the broadest manifestations of the stratified division of society. It is emphasized that the analysis of economic relations in the formation of the phenomenon of social inequality in general, without detailing the directions of economic implementation, does not fully reveal the specifics of financial science and financial relations formed in society. Attention is focused on the fact that in the conditions of a market economy, the formation of income occurs through the creation and distribution of GDP, which can be researched and analyzed precisely through the prism of financial science. It is substantiated that the study and analysis of social inequality, in terms of economic dominants, enables the consideration of financial relations that are formed and implemented in the studied society. Significant differences in the possibilities of access to certain benefits and social inequality signal the low efficiency of the functioning of the mechanisms for ensuring social development and social security of the population, which directly depends on the financial situation and system formed in the state and society, on the methods of financial interaction between participants, that is, it is included in the scope of financial science research.

Happiness inequality has a Kuznets-style relation with economic growth in China

Happiness studies generally investigate average levels of happiness rather than happiness inequality between regions, and studies of social inequality usually measure it based on the distribution of life opportunities (e.g., income) rather than life results (e.g., happiness). Inspired by the Kuznets curve, which illustrates the inverted U-shaped correlation between income inequality and economic growth, this study investigates whether there is a subjective wellbeing Kuznets curve. It uses data from ten waves of the Chinese General Social Survey to construct a panel data set and runs panel data models to investigate the hypothesized curvilinear relationship between happiness inequality and economic growth. The results show that happiness inequality, measured as the standard deviations of respondents’ self-reported happiness, first increases and then decreases as per-capita GDP increases in Chinese provinces. These findings strongly support the subjective wellbeing Kuznets curve hypothesis and suggest that strategies for reducing happiness inequality must consider stages of economic development.

Social Inequality in Religious Education: Examining the Impact of Sex, Socioeconomic Status, and Religious Socialization on Unequal Learning Opportunities

The study of social inequality has so far received little attention in religious education research, although this phenomenon has been studied in educational science and sociology of education research for fifty years. This article therefore aims to clarify the explanatory power of this research approach for research in religious education. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction, a structural equation model is used to examine the extent to which students’ sex, socioeconomic status, and religious socialization determine unequal learning opportunities in religious education. The data basis of the study is a sample of 952 students from Germany who were interviewed by means of questionnaires. The results show that religious socialization and the students’ sex are relevant to unequal learning conditions, whereas the socioeconomic status of the family has a marginal influence. Unequal learning conditions are created in the classroom by differences in the perception of the relevance of the subject matter, and in the understanding of learning processes. Religious students are in both cases at an advantage compared to non-religious students.

Inequality without Groups: Contemporary Theories of Categories, Intersectional Typicality, and the Disaggregation of Difference

The study of social inequality and stratification (e.g., ethnoracial and gender) has long been at the core of sociology and the social sciences. In this article, I argue that certain tendencies have become entrenched in our dominant paradigm that leave many researchers pursuing coarse-grained analyses of how difference relates to inequality. Centrally, despite the importance of categories and categorization for how researchers study social inequality, contemporary (as opposed to classical) theories of categories are poorly integrated into conventional research. I contend that the widespread and often unquestioned use of state categories as categories of analysis reinforces these tendencies. Using research on colorism as an inspiration, I highlight several components of what I call the infracategorical model of inequality, which urges researchers to disaggregate difference by shifting our focus from membership in (nominal) categories to the cues of categories, membership in subcategories, and perceived typicality.

A comparative study of social inequalities in education as an effect of Covid-19 pandemic: A case of schools in Saudi Arabia and Kenya

The Coronavirus epidemic is a major source of concern for global education systems and their ability to provide equity in education. Hundreds of countries closed schools during the Covid-19 in its first year to contain the mass spread of the virus. Over one billion students were denied an education as a result of Covid-19 school closures. This study compares the social inequalities experienced in schools in Kenya and Saudi Arabia following the outbreak of Covid-19. An extensive questionnaire on data collection methods was completed by educators, learners, and parents from public schools in these two countries. The statistics were calculated using the SPSS program while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Covid-19 had a significant impact on the time used for learning, the content learned, and the quality of learning that was experienced in the sampled countries. The findings show that during the Coronary Syndrome outbreak, many learners and educators relied on technology to access continuing education. Unfortunately, inadequate infrastructures such as lack of network availability, structure, and proper policies hampered virtual education and expanded the social inequality between learners of the two sampled countries. The findings of this study highlight the devastating impact Covid-19 had on the education sector: schools, educators, learners, and parents. In brief, the success of continuity in education depended on the government policymaking and implementation that geared towards equity in the provision of education.

Social inequalities: theories, concepts and problematics

This article aims to present a concise perusal of the different approaches developed in the study of social inequalities and in the relationships that they establish with manifold social processes and problems. The text does not intend to be exhaustive from the theoretical point of view, but rather to present an overview of the analytical complexity of the inequalities systems and demonstrate that they should be tackled in a multidimensional, systemic and multiscale perspective.

Social inequalities in tobacco-attributable mortality in Spain. The intersection between age, sex and educational level.

IntroductionFirst study of social inequalities in tobacco-attributable mortality (TAM) in Spain considering the joint influence of sex, age, and education (intersectional perspective).MethodsData on all deaths due to cancer, cardiometabolic and respiratory diseases among people aged ≥35 years in 2016 were obtained from the Spanish Statistical Office. TAM was calculated based on sex-, age- and education-specific smoking prevalence, and on sex-, age- and disease-specific relative risks of death for former and current smokers vs lifetime non-smokers. As inequality measures, the relative index of inequality (RII) and the slope index of inequality (SII) were calculated using Poisson regression. The RII is interpreted as the relative risk of mortality between the lowest and the highest educational level, and the SII as the absolute difference in mortality.ResultsThe crude TAM rate was 55 and 334 per 100,000 in women and men, respectively. Half of these deaths occurred among people with the lowest educational level (27% of the population). The RII for total mortality was 0.39 (95%CI: 0.35–0.42) in women and 1.61 (95%CI: 1.55–1.67) in men. The SII was -41 and 111 deaths per 100,000, respectively. Less-educated women aged <55 years and men (all ages) showed an increased mortality risk; nonetheless, less educated women aged ≥55 had a reduced risk.ConclusionsTAM is inversely associated with educational level in men and younger women, and directly associated with education in older women. This could be explained by different smoking patterns. Appropriate tobacco control policies should aim to reduce social inequalities in TAM.

Cautionary tails of grip strength in health inequality studies: An analysis from the Canadian longitudinal study on aging.

Self-rated health is widely used in studies of the socioeconomic gradient of health in community-based populations. Its subjectivity may lead to under- or over-estimation of a true underlying socioeconomic gradient and has increased interest in searching for alternative, objective measures of health. Grip strength has emerged as one such alternative for community-based older populations, yet no study has directly assessed the relationship between these two measures and compared their associations with socioeconomic status and health behaviours. Using 26,754 participants aged 45-85 years in the baseline data of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Comprehensive Cohort, we estimated adjusted-grip strength through indirect standardization using age, sex, height, weight, and their square terms and used ANOVA to assess the variance of adjusted-grip strength within and between each self-rated health category. We ran four separate logistic regression models, examining unhealthy tails (those reporting poor health vs. not and those at the bottom 8th percentile of adjusted-grip strength vs. above) and healthy tails (those reporting excellent health vs. not and those at the top 20th percentile of adjusted-grip strength vs. below). Stronger adjusted-grip strength correlated with better self-rated health, but only 2% of the total variance of adjusted-grip strength was explained by variance between the self-rated health categories. While self-rated health largely showed the expected socioeconomic gradients and positive relationships with health enhancing behaviours, adjusted-grip strength showed no clear, consistent associations with either socioeconomic or health behaviour variables. The results give caution about using grip strength as an objective alternative to self-rated health in studies of social inequalities in health. Empirical approaches demand careful considerations as to which dimensions of health and corresponding measures of health are most relevant to the context being studied.

Behavior and social inequalities in prioritized indicators of Sustainable Development Goal 3 in Bolivia

RESUMENObjetivo.Describir el comportamiento y las desigualdades sociales en indicadores priorizados del Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 3 (ODS-3) entre subpoblaciones y departamentos de Bolivia.Métodos.Se realizó un análisis del comportamiento de indicadores seleccionados del ODS-3 en el tiempo. Además, se llevó a cabo un estudio de desigualdades sociales en estos indicadores para estratificadores de equidad seleccionados. Se obtuvieron las medidas simples (brecha absoluta y brecha relativa) y las medidas complejas (índice de desigualdad de la pendiente e índice de concentración) para explorar la magnitud de las desigualdades sociales.Resultados.Los indicadores del ODS-3 que han tenido un aumento importante a nivel nacional y departamental son la prevalencia de cuatro controles prenatales y la prevalencia de parto atendido por personal de salud calificado. Las desigualdades sociales en estos indicadores han disminuido de manera significativa en el tiempo. La prevalencia de embarazo en adolescentes y sus desigualdades sociales se han mantenido sin mayores cambios, aunque con desigualdades bajas. La prevalencia de uso de métodos anticonceptivos modernos ha disminuido en forma leve, aunque la desigualdad social ha tenido una disminución más rápida. La razón de muerte materna ha disminuido a nivel nacional y en la mayoría de los departamentos, pero aún se requiere atacar la desigualdad social en este indicador.Conclusiones.Los promedios nacionales ocultan diferencias entre las subpoblaciones y los departamentos de Bolivia. Los hallazgos muestran que se ha mejorado en el comportamiento y desigualdad social de algunos indicadores del ODS-3, pero que en otros se deben fortalecer las intervenciones por diferentes actores para disminuir las desigualdades sociales en salud.

Monitoring the social gradient: Inequalities in use of blood pressure monitors in the HUNT study

AimTo investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal social gradient in use of blood pressure monitors, an innovative health technology. BackgroundThis is one of the first studies of social inequalities in the utilization of an end-user health technology in a universal health care context. The diffusion of innovation (DoI) and fundamental cause (FCT) theories predicts a widening of inequalities with the introduction of a new technology. Data and methodsTwo waves (N > 18,000) of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), conducted in 1997 and 2008. Dependent variables were three self-reported indicators of blood pressure monitor use. Independent variables were educational attainment and income quartiles. Control variables were gender, age, and blood pressure. ResultsFor the blood pressure monitor variable from 1997, there was evidence of an educational gradient. No social inequalities were found for the 2008 monitor variable. When interacting socio-economic status with a survey wave dummy, results showed a social gradient from 1997 becoming smaller or non-significant in 2008. These results are supportive of the DoI and FCT, suggesting that the use of technology may initially generate health inequalities, which decrease as the technology is diffused across all social strata.

What PISA and ASPIRES studies tell us about the nuanced influence of cultural capital on student learning: Construct complexity, student outcomes and contexts

This article juxtaposes the evolving scholarship investigating the influence of cultural capital on student learning and the developing trajectory of sociologists employing quantitative research methods. It critically reviews results from 34 studies analysing PISA or ASPIRES data to generate three key insights demonstrating complexities in relationships between cultural capital and student outcomes. First, cultural capital is a complex construct with many variables (different forms of cultural capital, highbrow/non‐highbrow cultural capital) varying in their association with student literacy and parents’ cultural capital affecting student literacy both directly and indirectly. Second, the influence of cultural capital may vary with types of student outcomes measured. Specifically, there are cultural variables associated with student literacy in different subjects, some cultural capital variables are more important for student literacy for a subject, and cultural capital influences student aspirations in addition to their literacy. Third, the influence of cultural capital on student literacy may vary with educational and social contexts. Cultural capital is more important in decentralised education systems, in low‐achieving schools within differentiated education systems, in higher‐quality schools and in more unequal, developed societies. In contrast, it matters less in high‐achieving and standardised education systems, and in societies valuing education. Given the complexity in cultural capital, future research can ascertain how each cultural capital variable contributes to student learning and compare their effectiveness. It is also important to identify which cultural capital variables matter for specific student outcomes. Lastly, these insights highlight the need to recognise contextual differences in studies of social inequality.

Social Inequality and Sociocultures

Inequality is usually studied with a focus on economic factors, such as income and wealth, and with reference to a brief period of time, basically the period of data collection. This article argues that this approach is misleading and does not allow us to understand inequality, let alone society at large. Inequalities and social hierarchies comprise more than economic factors but also cultural factors, as Pierre Bourdieu has shown. Bourdieu, however, neglected the historical dimension. Classes and habitus types are rooted in long traditions, which have to be studied over centuries, not months or years. Capitalist societies develop hierarchies of social classes, which are shaped by pre-capitalist hierarchies. These earlier hierarchies tend to persist for decades or even centuries after the capitalist transformation. I refer to these earlier hierarchies as sociocultures, since they form not only hierarchies but also cultures, which reproduce from one generation to the next. Edward P. Thompson has demonstrated this with regard to the English working class. In the article, I will introduce the concept of socioculture as it is used in studies of social inequality.

British Sociology, the Bourgeois Media-Sociology Hybrid and the Problem of Social Class

This article advances the scandalous argument that we live in a post-social class modernity, and that the perpetual reinvention of class as the key concept for understanding social inequality is untenable. Class is not only a zombie concept but also an ideology that reflects a set of normative attitudes, beliefs and values that pervade sociology. Its starting point is that, sociology, once adept at imagining new ways to interpret the world, has become a subject field that wants to claim a radical space for itself while simultaneously relying on outworn theoretical frameworks and denying the work radicals do. The article begins by suggesting that the problem of class has its roots in the deep structure of sociology. Taking its cue from Jacques Rancière’s classic study The Philosopher and His Poor it develops the argument that if class was once upon a time the fundamental issue in the study of social inequality, today sociology urgently needs an alternative cognitive framework for thinking outside this paradigm which it uses to open up a critical space for its own intellectual claims rather than reflecting society in the round. After arguing that we a living at the ‘end of Class’, the critique explores the limits of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, who has replaced Marx and Weber as sociology’s key theoretician of class. It is argued that in Bourdieu’s sociology, contentment is permanently closed to ‘the working class’ that thumps about like a dinosaur that survived extinction, anachronistic proof of the power and privilege of the theorist and his sociology rather than proof of the usefulness of his ideas. The key to understanding the limits of this interpretation, it is argued, is that it assumes a ‘working class’ that has little or no agency. It is subsequently argued that sociology and the bourgeois media are coextensive. The specific function of the bourgeois media-sociology hybrid is to provide ideological legitimation of class inequality and of integrating individuals into sociology’s interpretation of social and cultural life. Focusing on the work of two self-identified ‘working class’ journalists who have successfully made the transition into the bourgeoisie and who seek solid validation of their new found status in the bourgeois media it is demonstrated that social inequality is neither expressed nor examined in a convincing way. Framing ‘working class’ worlds even more ‘working class’ than ‘working class’, the bourgeois media, at best, lay them bare for clichéd interpretation. Here the article argues vis-à-vis Quentin Skinner that words are not so much mere ‘reflections’ of the world, but ‘engines’ which actively play a role in moulding the worlds to which they refer. Drawing on Rancière’s idea of the partage du sensible (distribution of the sensible) it is argued thereafter that here thinking ends up as the very thought of inequality because by posing social inequality as the primary fact that needs to be explained the bourgeois media-sociology hybrid ends up explaining its necessity. The final part of the article offers some suggestions about how to rethink social inequality after class, and it concludes with the observation that the predicament facing sociology derives not just from its theoretical limits but also from its failure to give social inequality human meaning and the people who suffer it the proper respect by acknowledging their own interpretations of their own lives.

Mothers’ Oral Health Literacy and children’s oral health: study in the department of Pikine, Senegal

Abstract Background Several studies have shown that social conditions in which children are raised and family psychosocial factors affect their oral health. Oral health literacy (OHL) has been shown to be associated with prevalence of dental caries, access to care and prevention of oral diseases. No studies have addressed this issue in Senegal. Objective: To study the characteristics of the mothers’ OHL and its association with children’s dental health. Methods Cross- sectional study in the district of Pikine, a suburb of Dakar including 16 municipalities. Two-stage cluster sampling and a sample comprising 315 children from 3 to 9 years old and their mothers. Data on oral health status were collected from clinical examinations, sociodemographic and OHL (Sistani et al’ OHL-AQ) data were collected during face-to-face interview. Results More than half of the mothers (56.5%) had a low OHL, but 68.9% had an adequate score for the communication/interactive dimension. The level of OHL increased significantly with education level, household wealth and dynamism of the social support. Prevalence of dental caries was 64.8%, following a social gradient and significantly associated with the mothers’ OHL level (OR = 5.2) CI[2.2-14.1]. The oral health behaviour of families was significantly associated with the level of OHL and children’s dental health. A structural equation model showed the OHL was a mediating factor between social characteristics and oral health behaviours. Conclusions The OHL of mothers is an important variable to be included in the study of social inequalities in oral health. The communication/interactive dimension seems to be decisive in the African context of an oral culture and dynamic social support which makes it possible to provide better knowledge and preventive behaviour. Key messages High maternal OHL should be reinforced to lessen oral health inequalities among Senegalese children. The communication/interactive dimension seems to be decisive in the African context of an oral culture and dynamic social to enhance OHL.

Genderproblematics inwestern class analysis: the dynamics oftheoretical approaches

The article represents an analytical review of the axiomatics of sociological approaches to class analysis, taking into account gender diferentiation since the 1940s till nowadays. Te problems of primary units selection of the class analysis, conceptual grounds for determining the class position of women and the features of their social status, conditioned by this position, ways of normalizing gender inequality in conventional approaches and criticizing their legitimacy have been considered in the research. It has been found that within the framework of the structural and functional approach of T. Parsons, the class status of the individual is ascetic, the main mechanism for its acquisition and transmission is kinship, while gender inequality is regarded as condition for maintaining the stability of the social system. Te changing structure of employment and women’s emancipation has led to the revision of the conventional approach foundations by problem consideration of families as the primary units of class analysis. Subsequently, the dominant approach of J. Goldthorpe eliminates the gender inequality aspect, linking the class position of the household with the position of the partner who plays a leading role in its economic provision. E.O. Wright’s approach, representing an infuential neo-Marxist alternative model of class analysis, presupposes the existence of an individual actor as the initial element of class analysis. At the same time, the author emphasizes the existence of exploitation relations in the family, as well as the high degree of risk and uncertainty of the social status of a signifcant number of women. Awareness of the role of individualization in social dynamics, changes in the structure of the global economy and the consequences of de-industrialization in the 1990s changed the original axiomatics of class analysis. Te focus of attention has shifed from the disputes about the criteria of class diferentiation to the analysis of real diferences in people’s way of life, generated by social inequality. Modern studies of social inequality take into account the intersection of gender, class, racial and other characteristics of individuals and communities.

Foucauldian discourse analysis and the study of social inequality

Der Artikel bezieht die Diskursanalyse von Michel Foucault sowie ihre methodologischen Positionen auf die Ungleichheitsforschung und argumentiert, dass es insbesondere die methodologischen Grundlagen der Diskursanalyse sind, die Perspektiven für die Ungleichheitsforschung eröffnen. Diese werden im Artikel entwickelt und am Ende systematisiert. Zugleich werden die historischen Studien Foucaults herangezogen, um aufzuzeigen, wie sich diskursanalytisch andere Ungleichheitsdimensionen artikulieren als vertikale Differenzierungen in Klassen und Schichten wie in der herkömmlichen soziologischen Ungleichheitsforschung. Zentral ist die Position, dass es diskursive Praktiken sind, die unterschiedliche soziale Identitäten, soziale Kategorien und Wertigkeiten als Diskurselemente formieren und diese in gesellschaftlich wirkmächtigen Diskursordnungen als Wissensordnungen und als soziale Repräsentationen integrieren. Diskursanalytisch werden auch die Repräsentation von Ungleichheit, die normativen Grundlagen der Ungleichheitsforschung sowie die diskursive Konstruktion von Ungleichheits- und Gerechtigkeitskonzeptionen zugänglich.

Construction and Validation of the Moral Inclusion/Exclusion of Other Groups (MIEG) Scale

Moral exclusion is defined as viewing others as lying beyond the boundary within which moral values and rules of justice apply. In contrast, the process of moral inclusion involves the extension of social justice to several social groups. Thus, both moral inclusion and exclusion are a pivotal dimension in the study of social inequalities. Although the concept of moral inclusion/exclusion has a history of more than 20 years, research still lacks accurate instruments for measuring it. In this article, a first version of a scale that measures moral inclusion/exclusion was constructed and validated. The good reliability and correlation indexes found across the samples suggest that MIEG is a good measure for tapping into moral exclusion/inclusion symptoms.

The Conflict Paradigm in Sociology and the Study of Social Inequality: Paradox and Possibility

INTRODUCTIONConflict theory is one of the major paradigms used by sociologists to make sense of the social world. All sociology that takes as its object of study the processes by which social groups compete with each other for scarce resources such as power, wealth, and status, or the inequalities that result from these competitions, falls within the conflict paradigm (Collins 1990).Conflict sociology constitutes a substantial portion of all contemporary sociological research. An examination of the six 2013 issues of American Sociological Review, the American Sociological Association's flagship journal, reveals that approximately 75% of the articles published in this journal fall within the conflict paradigm (31 out of 42, by my count), and many other sociology journals continue to document the dynamics and consequences of social inequality. Marx's writings on the relations of production in capitalism, and his thesis that historical change is a product of the conflict between economic classes gave conflict theory its initial form. However, sociologists have since extended the basic structure of Marx's theory to many other groups in competition in addition to those defined by the relations of production. For example, Weber's classic treatment of status stratification and structures of domination extended Marx's basic model of group competition over resources to include dimensions of social esteem and power. Contemporary conflict sociology continues this tradition by studying the dynamics of a variety of group inequalities such as race, gender, sexual orientation categories, as well as inter-organizational competition (Collins 1975).There is much at stake in social inequalities. Conflict theory impels us to recognize that every dimension of social structure can be conceptualized in terms of winners and losers, and social conflict often causes disastrous and tragic consequences for the losers in the social struggle. People are tortured, mutilated, and incinerated as a consequence of social conflict; they are also shunned, humiliated, exploited, and otherwise systematically shortchanged by the social structures they take part in. Social conflict induces the worst behavior of human beings toward each other. This harm is a necessary consequence of the maintenance of stratified social structure, as social interest groups seek to protect and extend their own privileges while minimizing those of their competitors, and the potential for great harm is exacerbated in industrial societies with access to weapons of mass destruction.This is the essential insight of conflict sociology: social conflict and inequality are fundamental to social structure. Yet at the same time, efforts to combat social inequalities by conflict sociologists and policy makers have largely been limited to ex post facto attempts at writing equality into social structure; the liberal welfare state is the archetypal example. This produces a paradox, in which social conflict and inequality are understood to be a necessary consequence of social structure, and yet efforts are made to write equality into social structure, both in the form of actual resource transfers, and in the kinds of policy recommendations offered by conflict sociologists. The irony of this position is brought into high relief when attempts to alter social structure to reduce inequalities are met with stiff resistance by those who benefit from those inequalities: Attempts at ex post facto resource distribution - managing social conflicts and their resultant inequalities after the inequality has already manifested - ultimately reproduce the conditions that create the inequality in the first place by reproducing the conflict of interest between those who benefit from social structure and those who are disproportionately shortchanged by it. Ex post facto resource redistribution can potentially mitigate some of the inequalities that arise from social conflict, but it fails to address fundamental questions concerning how and why inequalities are built into social structure. …