Buy new:
$31.56
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$31.56
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, May 14. Order within 13 hrs 13 mins
Only 6 left in stock (more on the way).
$$31.56 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$31.56
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$17.44
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. See less
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, May 14. Order within 6 hrs 43 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$31.56 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$31.56
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Charles Tilly
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Durable Inequality (Irene Flecknoe Ross Lecture) First Edition

by Charles Tilly (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$31.56","priceAmount":31.56,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"31","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"56","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Blz9Dfm3qKTa6vCC6ayCgMkDBXx5hS9j%2BcllhT9OGc%2B8qOXt1IjGdmEJgr9pH3QgzV%2BXlSYJsftKKwtGZdtn0MkfaKVkl8LAYmtriKzgibFcqAW5f9P20ZK7eg3MmbRXmelK1LqZ1cY%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$17.44","priceAmount":17.44,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"44","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"Blz9Dfm3qKTa6vCC6ayCgMkDBXx5hS9jmAA0ajUXwyOKKR3m2aVM8zhaKVeJIQbewKWKZiJ0iOkrvPnUVZXC9QH3GK%2FZUjSqwJrIlaLwnTvOAmxVPuVEpMxu3xTW%2BAnGwQP7Xk2PRl7Wg7hM3JSqOIJkKC653AcRyIYE02VcPvB1sn4d85E5WGYyT2LQys8C","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Charles Tilly, in this eloquent manifesto, presents a powerful new approach to the study of persistent social inequality. How, he asks, do long-lasting, systematic inequalities in life chances arise, and how do they come to distinguish members of different socially defined categories of persons? Exploring representative paired and unequal categories, such as male/female, black/white, and citizen/noncitizen, Tilly argues that the basic causes of these and similar inequalities greatly resemble one another. In contrast to contemporary analyses that explain inequality case by case, this account is one of process. Categorical distinctions arise, Tilly says, because they offer a solution to pressing organizational problems. Whatever the "organization" is―as small as a household or as large as a government―the resulting relationship of inequality persists because parties on both sides of the categorical divide come to depend on that solution, despite its drawbacks. Tilly illustrates the social mechanisms that create and maintain paired and unequal categories with a rich variety of cases, mapping out fertile territories for future relational study of durable inequality.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0520221702
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0520221703
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    University of California Press
  5. Publication date
    September 1, 1999
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    310 pages
  9. See all details
Next page
Books with Buzz
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more

Frequently bought together

Durable Inequality (Irene Flecknoe Ross Lecture)
$31.56
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Only 6 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
How Schools Really Matter: Why Our Assumption about Schools and Inequality Is Mostly Wrong
$16.00
Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An important approach to social inequality." ― CHOICE

From the Inside Flap

"Durable Inquality solidifies Charles Tilly's reputation as one of the world's most creative social scientists. It is a work of considerable theoretical scope and imagination. Tilly's original framework clearly reveals and thoroughly explains the similar social processes that create different forms of social inequality."--William Julius Wilson, author of The Truly Disadvantaged

"A highly sophisticated yet extremely accessible reconstruction of a core sociological problem. . . . Durable Inequality is one of those exceptional books that provides both a compelling rereading of familiar issues and an inspiring vision for future research."--Elisabeth S. Clemens, author of The People's Lobby

"In a refreshing book characterized by deep insight into social structure and relations and displaying a rich historical sweep, Tilly has constructed a major challenge to contemporary individualistic interpretations of persistent economic inequality."--Richard A. Easterlin, author of Growth Triumphant

"Clearly the work of a master. . . . The book provides a new and rigorous understanding of one of the key facts of social life."--Bruce G. Carruthers, author of City of Capital

"The insights in this book offer the opportunity to revitalize the study of social stratification with a version of organizational theory, and reconnect both to political sociology."--Neil Fligstein, author of The Transformation of Corporate Control

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; First Edition (September 1, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 310 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520221702
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520221703
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 year and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Charles Tilly

Charles Tilly

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

eckhard dittrich
5.0 out of 5 stars http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520221702/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_1
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012
Charles Tilly, Durable Inequality is an excellent book. Good to use in seminars of sociology on the MA level. Good writing and easily to be understood by students.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Paul Lachelier
3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading for those interested in inequality, but conceptually underdeveloped
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
A stimulating read for those interesting in inequality, but I think it falls short of its ambition to develop an enduring, field-shaping theory of inequality. This is in no small part due to the insufficient development of concepts and thorough engagement with the large literature on inequality.

Tilly, early on, introduces a lot of concepts and arguments, but doesn’t then develop them systematically through the book. If the chapters started as separate lectures he didn’t adequately piece together for the book, this may explain the somewhat disjointed nature of his book.

For example, early on Tilly claims categorical inequalities based on pairs (“female/male, aristocrat/plebeian, citizen/foreigner”) are crucial, but he doesn’t go on to develop this claim systematically. Quickly listing examples, as Tilly frequently does, is helpful to clarify but isn’t conceptual development. Contrasting his concepts systematically with competing concepts of other inequality scholars (esp those he deems individualistic in how they approach inequality) would be one way.

Tilly seems to use “durable inequalities” and “categorical inequalities” interchangeably, but I'm not sure all durable inequalities are categorical (or at least binary, as Tilly seems to claim), nor vice versa.

Another example of ill-defined concepts: Tilly claims 5 types of social relations: chains, hierarchies, triads, organizations and categorical pairs. It's not clear though the difference between some of these because Tilly doesn’t define them carefully. He also drops these concepts quickly early on, and largely doesn’t return to develop them further.

His concepts also may not be mutually exclusive. For example, one of the four key inequality generating processes he identifies – exploitation, opportunity/resource hoarding, emulation and adaptation – emulation arguably by definition involves adaptation, and maybe also vice versa.

More broadly, as I noted at the start, it’s puzzling that Tilly aims to provide a comprehensive theory of inequality, yet he doesn’t systematically engage the vast sociological literature on ineq. Is it because Tilly is more of a generalist, and in writing this book didn’t want to take the serious time required to deeply engage that vast literature? For instance, the argument that categorical pairs are central to creating and perpetuating durable inequalities is questionable because sociologists Pierre Bourdieu, Michele Lamont and others show how complex the cultural make-up of inequality is, and are in fact better understood as continua (of social, cultural, economic capital) not reducible to binaries. Cultural work that generates habits of thought and action is central to creating and sustaining durable inequalities: Tilly recognizes this but doesn't well develop how, maybe because other sociologists have, but engaging that literature is important given his focus in this book.

Lastly, Tilly criticizes other social scientists for approaching inequality individually, but it’s not altogether clear how his approach is different. For example, all four key inequality generating processes he identifies (again: exploitation, opportunity/resource hoarding, emulation and adaptation) can be, and arguably should be analyzed with regards to individual action in specific social contexts. Yes, all 4 processes occur at larger levels, but at whatever level one focuses, they are enacted by individuals in specific settings, often in social interaction. The actions of individuals, whether two to billions, enact these processes at local to global levels. As symbolic interactionists point out, even the largest, most enduring institutions are perpetuated through interactions of individuals, and these, however routinized, remain to varying extents contingent.
Helpful
 Report
M. Spitzer-Rubenstein
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2011
It explains how inequality is formed and reinforced and why society will never be perfectly equal but how things aren't set in stone. A professor recommended it to me as a way of thinking about inequality and it hit the mark.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Debbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality service
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
Well packaged and arrived on time, nice print.
Report