Review
"McMullin hit the nail on the head in terms of level of difficulty. . . . Many other texts in this subdiscipline are 'dry,' lack theoretical substance, or simply pack too much quantitative data. Currently, this is the only text I would use for a class on social inequality. It is rigorous enough for university level students, and makes teaching students relatively seamless." ―Steve Dumas, University of Calgary
"The students find this text stimulating. . . . It is indispensable in setting the scene, as it were, for my social policy classes at the third year level and well received." ―Erling Christensen, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
"I continue to use this book because it is (1) theoretically and conceptually informed, (2) well supported by empirical/data, (3) comprehensive in its coverage of the subject, (4) reflects to a great extent the inequality-class, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and (6) is focused on intersectionality and life-course perspectives." ―B. Singh Bolaria, University of Victoria
"The major strength . . . is its ability to contextualize areas where social inequality is experienced (work, families, education, health justice) through a structural analysis of oppression and privilege (race, class, gender, age). The textbook is accessible in its language and explanation, and presents readers with a variety of methodological approaches in sociology." ―Rachel Alpha Johnston Hurst, St. Francis Xavier University
About the Author
Julie McMullin is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Western University. She is also Western's first Vice-Provost and Vice-President (International), presently serving a five-year term beginning June 1, 2012. Prior to her appointment, she served an 18-month secondment as Special Advisor to the Provost on Internationalization, and had previously served as Acting Dean of Western's Faculty of Social Science. Professor McMullin's research examines how class, age, gender, ethnicity, and race structure inequality in paid work and families. She is a Premiere's Research Excellence Award (PREA) winner and an internationally recognized scholar in the area of aging and the life course. She has published two previous editions of Understanding Social Inequality with OUP. Josh Curtis is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Sociology at Western University. Dr. Curtis has published many Canadian-specific and cross-national studies on social and economic inequality in the modern world. Specifically, his research explores how income inequality affects the relationship between social class and political and economic attitudes and behaviours.
