Interrogating Inequality: Essays on Class Analysis, Socialism and Marxism

This lively new collection from one of America’s leading sociologists covers a wide range of theoretical problems of interest to radical social scientists and political activists. The book opens with a fascinating autobiographical essay exploring the challenges and benefits of being a Marxist scholar in the present era. Following this is a discussion of various issues in class analysis, with particular attention being paid to two overarching themes: class and inequality, and the relationship between class and power. The second section of the book engages the problem of socialism as a possible future to capitalism. Wright attempts to clarify the conceptual status of socialism, and discusses why certain reforms such as basic income grants may ultimately require the introduction of some form of socialism for their full realization. Interrogating Inequality concludes by examining the general problem of Marxism as a tradition of radical social theory. Three issues in particular are discussed: the central principles of “analytical Marxism” as a strategy for reconstructing Marxism as a social scientific theory; the relationship between Marxism and feminism as emancipatory social theories; and the prospects for Marxism in the aftermath of the collapse of communist regimes.

Politics & Social Sciences

Wright, Erik Olin Olin

Social Sciences

Verso Books

One of the major works of the new American Marxism, Wright’s book draws a challenging new class map of the United States and other, comparable, advanced capitalist countries today. It also discusses the various classical theories of economic crisis in the West and their relevance to the current recession, and contrasts the way in which the major political problem of bureaucracy was confronted by two great antagonists—Weber and Lenin. A concluding essay brings together the practical lessons of these theoretical analyses, in an examination of the problems of left governments coming to power in capitalist states.

Class, Crisis and the State

Business & Money

Economics

Erik Olin Wright’s Classes was hailed on publication, by the American Journal of Sociology, as “almost certain to be the most important book on social classes” of the decade. Wright presented a bold attempt—through the subtle use of the tools of analytical Marxism—to resolve some of the long-standing problems in contemporary class theory. The Debate on Classes brings together major critics of Wright’s work to assess the adequacy of his theory. From differing perspectives, they deploy a range of empirical data—from studies undertaken in a number of countries—and they address questions as varied as the concept of “contradictory class locations,” the continuing coherence of Marxist approaches to class, the relation between stratification and social development, as well as the contentious roles of gender and ethnicity in generating inequality, and the central problem of the import of “consciousness” and concrete political activity on class composition. Also included are Wright’s own spirited responses and reformulations in the light of these criticisms, thereby presenting the reader with an open, scholarly discussion in which intellectual collaboration develops an understanding of the impact of class on the wider terrain of culture and politics.

The Debate on Classes (Verso Classic)

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Books by Wright, Erik Olin Olin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wright, Erik Olin Olin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Interrogating Inequality: Essays on Class Analysis, Socialism and Marxism

Class, Crisis and the State

The Debate on Classes (Verso Classic)