 Social Class: How does it work?reviewed by Sylvia Martinez - January 16, 2009  Title: Social Class: How does it work?Author(s): Annette Lareau and Dalton Conley (Eds.) Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation, New York ISBN: 0871545063, Pages: 388, Year: 2008 Search for book at Amazon.com Sociologists appear to agree that social class matters in our everyday lives. It impacts our ability to obtain a quality education, a desirable occupation, adequate shelter, or medical care. There is much less consensus, however, on how social class should be conceptualized or exactly how class influences life outcomes or conditions. The contributors to Lareau and Conley’s edited volume successfully illustrate the challenges sociologists and other scholars of social class encounter when defining and measuring this concept, how the concept impacts our daily lives, and the directions the field should take if a more comprehensive analysis of class is to be achieved. The first part of the book is dedicated to understanding how class works and whether social classes exist. In chapter 1, using General Social Survey data, Hout convincingly shows us that Americans are quite aware of social class differences. In addition, Americans are quite willing and capable of identifying... (preview truncated at 150 words.) To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
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