Culture and Durable Inequality

Abstract

In recent decades, sociologists have generally avoided explicitly discussing the role of culture in processes of social inequality. We argue that the prevailing disciplinary theory of inequality, the framework laid out in Charles Tilly's Durable Inequality, necessarily relies on cognitive processes and cultural concepts. The four primary mechanisms driving inequality—exploitation, opportunity hoarding, emulation, and adaptation—involve justification, categorization, coordination, and (e)valuation. We survey research on social inequality that illustrates each of these four processes. Our review reveals important empirical patterns about how disparities between groups emerge and endure. We observe that while sociologists often conduct work that implicitly relies on cultural concepts, other social science disciplines are also doing vital work in this area because they engage directly with cultural concepts. We identify key areas where sociologists are well positioned to use cultural concepts to uncover important findings regarding inequality, as well as to propose interventions for mitigating or preventing inequality. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 48 is July 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The Cultural Devaluation of Feminized Work: The Evolution of Occupational Prestige and Gender Typing in the United States, 1900-2019

“…The undervaluation of women and women's work may be an important feature of American culture that helps maintain durable gender inequality in the labor market and in society broadly (Ridgeway and Correll 2004;Valentino and Vaisey 2022). Without significant cultural changes that challenge the devaluation process, neither gender segregation nor the pay gap are likely to disappear.…”

“…The persistent sex segregation that results, coupled with the undervaluation of female labors and their associated characteristics, keeps the gender pay gap from its final convergence , damaging both men and women's sense of justice (Jasso and Wegener 2000) and harming national economic performances (Hsieh et al 2019). As Ridgeway and Correll (2004) theorized, this cultural belief of women's lower value and its resulting unequal distribution of economic resources constitute a gendered social structure (Sewell 1992), in which durable gender inequality is sustained (Valentino and Vaisey 2022).…”

Perpetuation of Gender Inequalities in Households: From Culture to Cognition

“…In our review, we provide three disciplinary perspectives -the role of outside options; the role of culture; the role of self-concept -that connect macro-level explanations of what generates gender inequalities in a society, to an individual-level understanding of what shapes the perception of such inequalities. Similar approaches have been fruitfully utilized in understanding cases of persistent racial inequality (Brekhus et al, 2010), socioeconomic inequalities (Lamont et al, 2017;Lamont andSmall 2008, Lamont et al 2014), durable inequalities (Valentino & Vaisey, 2022) educational attainment and class (Kurakin 2020b). We attempt this integration in the specific case of gender inequalities within households and associated perceptions of fairness.…”

“…Cultural analysis of various forms of inequalities -racial, gender, socioeconomic, but usually intersectional -remains a growing and undeniably important area of research (Small, Harding and Lamont, 2010;Lamont, Beljean and Clair, 2014;Lareau, 2014;Silva, 2015;Lamont et al, 2017;Valentino and Vaisey, 2022). To explain these inequalities, different concepts can be mobilized: for instance, beliefs, biases, norms and expectations that actors draw upon in social situations 1 , but also larger cultural narratives that unite these elements into a more or less coherent story that individuals apply to explain to a certain situation, event or outcome (Streib, 2017, p. 146;Valentino and Vaisey, 2022, p. 116).…”

Family background and the choice of Hispanic Philology among liberal arts students in China

“…(Humayon et al, 2018; Kleanthous, 2014; Liu, 2019; Sovansophal, 2020). EMI theory (Effectively Maintained Inequality) suggests that as higher education expands, the overall inequality of educational opportunities decreases, but educational inequality is effectively maintained, that is, the advantaged class is more likely to have greater access to quality educational opportunities and more options (Galos & Strauss, 2023; Lucas, 2001; Marks, 2013; Valentino & Vaisey, 2022). Applying EMI theory to the field of choice of major, scholars have examined thedirect impact of an individual’ s family socio-economic background on her/his choice.…”