Wealth and Poverty in America

Dalton Conley is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director for the Center for Advanced Social Science Research at New York University. He is the author of Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America (1999) and Honky (2000).

"All too many collections of social science writings are almost literally slapped together, devoid of purpose and focus. This useful volume, however, is a striking exception. It is a 'reader' with a clear focus that consists of 23 well-chosen selctions and a helpful appendix that lists additional readings." Tom Pettigrew, University of California Santa Cruz, Journal of Ethinic and Migration Studies, Vol 32 No 7 "This book is a wonderful resource for teaching. Dalton Conley has accumulated a set of important readings on both spectrums of the social stratification ladder." Martin Sanchez-Janowski, University of California at Berkeley

• Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Wealth and Poverty in the Affluent Society 1Part I: On the Origins and Causes of Wealth and Poverty: Systemic Explanations 111. Of the Division of Labor 13Adam Smith2. Absolute and Relative Surplus Value 21Karl Marx3. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 29Max Weber4. Some Principles of Stratification 43Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore5. Winner-Take-All Markets 53Robert H. Frank and Philip J. CookPart II: Who's Rich, Who's Poor: How Resources Affect Life Chances 676. Inequality 69Christopher Jencks7. What Money Can't Buy: Family Income and Children's Life Chances 76Susan Mayer8. Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth and Social Policy in America 83Dalton Conley9. Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class 96Mary Patillo-McCoy10. Ain't No Making It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood 115Jay MacLeodPart III: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous 12711. From Democracy in America 129Alexis de Tocqueville12. The Miser and the Spendthrift 135Georg Simmel13. The Very Rich 140C. Wright Mills14. Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How they Got There 161David Brooks15. The Case of Pullman, Illinois 172Michael WalzerPart IV: Lifestyles of the Poor and Anonymous 17916. Swapping 181Carol Stack17. The Code of the Streets 190Elijah Anderson18. Sidewalk Sleeping and Crack Bingeing 201Mitchell Duneier19. Whores, Slaves, and Stallions: Languages of Exploitation and Accommodation Among Prizefighters 211Loic WacquantPart V: What is to Be Done? Wealth, Poverty, and Public Policy 22320. In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America 225Michael Katz21. The Hidden Agenda 254William Julius Wilson22. The Stakeholder Society 267Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott23. Black Economic Progress in the Era of Mass Imprisonment 278Bruce Western, Becky Pettit, Josh GuetzkowAdditional Readings 291Index 293