After all the gains of the civil rights and women’s movements, why are African Americans and women still faring poorly when it comes to wages, employment levels, and the distribution of jobs? Unlevel Playing Fields tackles this critical question by presenting two contrasting economic theories–neoclassical and political economy and showing how each theory explains discrimination and inequality in the labor market. The second edition of this engaging volume has b… More >>
Unlevel Playing Fields: Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination, Second Edition
I am a college instructor who teaches a sociology course of social stratification. This is a very unusual text in that it compares neo-classical economics to the political economy tradition by showing in very practical ways how each tradition gives different explanations of why there is economic inequality in wages, unemployment, and job distribution between whites, blacks and women. The text is easy to read and very evenhanded in how it treats both theories. There are excellent discussion questions at the end of each chapter and a rich bibliography. The book is relatively brief so it could either stand alone or be supplemented by another text. A very well put together text.
Rating: 5 / 5