"In Against Inequality, the authors offer a theoretical and political proposal for social emancipation, seen as an opportunity to build conditions of equality in contexts of freedom, not only for ethical but essentially political foundations. To achieve this, the authors confront inequality in two ways: as a social phenomenon (and, therefore, historically situated and structured) and through critical reflection on the concepts, categories, indicators and frameworks of its understanding. In this sense, they propose a critical reflection of the ways in which it has been thought theoretically and politically at various times, with special reference to the way in which it has been conceived in modern, capitalist society"--
Against Inequality is a theoretical and political proposal for social emancipation, seen as an opportunity to build conditions of equality in contexts of freedom. To achieve this, the authors confront inequality through critical reflection on the concepts and theoretical and political frameworks developed for its understanding.
Foreword
Preface
List of Figures
Introduction
1New Perspectives and Imperatives in the Face of Inequality
1Imperatives of an Emancipation Strategy in the Face of Global Inequality
1.1An Ethical Imperative
1.2An Existential Imperative
1.3A Political Imperative
2Preliminary Reflections
2Underlying Metadiscourses within Scientific Discourses on Inequality
1A Critique of Methodological Nationalism
2Methodological Androcentrism and Its Feminist Critique
3Development and Progress as Metadiscourses of Modernity
4The Discourse against Inequality as a Critique of Progress and Development
in the Social Sciences
5Summary
3Social Inequality: A Totality Approach
1Social Inequality: A Total Social Fact
2Critique of Individualistic Approaches
3Multidimensional Perspectives of Inequality
4Inequality and Society: Analysis Model from Its Totality
4Debates on Inequality throughout History
1Inequality in Ancient Greece
2Inequality in the Christian Era and Feudal Society
3The English Poor Laws and the Transition to Capitalism
4Political Economys Critique of the Poor Laws and the Formation of the
Capitalist Labor Market
5Social Inequality under Capitalism: Rousseau and Marx
5The Debate on Social Inequality in the 20th Century
1Functionalist Sociology
2Neoclassical Economics
3Gunnar Myrdal and the Principle of Circular and Cumulative Causation
6The Death of Class and the Historical Resilience of a Social Category
1The Death of Class
2Argument
1. From Class Structure to Social Stratification
3Argument
2. From the End of Class to the End of Marxism
4Argument
3. The Historical Obsolescence of Class
5Class Is Dead, Long Live Class!
6The Death of Class: Ideology or Theory?
7Critique of the Alleged Obsolescence of Class Analysis
8Against Determinism
9Class: Critical Function of a Concept
7The Return of Class
1Giddens and Class Structuration in Contemporary Capitalism
2Erik Olin Wright: Marxism and Social Classes Revisited
2.1Discussion Points on Erik Olin Wrights Approach
3Charles Tilly and Categorical Inequality
4Reproduction and Social Inequality in the Thought of Pierre Bourdieu
8Social Classes and Inequality in Global Capitalism
1On Globalization and Class Inequality
2Neoliberalism and Globalization: Ideological Foundations in the
Reconstitution of the Ruling Classes
3The Reconstitution of the Ruling Classes in Global Capitalism
4The Constitution of the Working Class in Global Capitalism
5Class Structure and Social Antagonism in Global Capitalism
9Final Reflections: For a Project of Social Emancipation
References
Index
Alejandro I. Canales, Ph.D. (1995), El Colegio de México, is Professor at the University of Guadalajara and Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. His recent books include Migration, Reproduction, and Society (Brill, 2019) and El malestar con las migraciones (Anthropos, 2021).
Dķdimo Castillo Fernįndez, Ph.D. (2008), El Colegio de México, is Professor at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México and Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. His recent books include Precariedad y desaliento laboral de los jóvenes en México (Siglo XXI, 2019), and Capitalismo Digital después de la Pandemia (Siglo XXI, 2024).
