Author: Martin Conboy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317834828
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
The Language of the News investigates and critiques the conventions of language used in newspapers and provides students with a clear introduction to critical linguistics as a tool for analysis. Using contemporary examples from UK, USA and Australian newspapers, this book deals with key themes of representation – from gender and national identity to ‘race’– and looks at how language is used to construct audiences, to persuade, and even to parody. It examines debates in the newspapers themselves about the nature of language including commentary on political correctness, the sensitive use of language and irony as a journalistic weapon. Featuring chapter openings and summaries, activities, and a wealth of examples from contemporary news coverage (including examples from television and radio), The Language of the News broadens the perceptions of the use of language in the news media and is essential reading for students of media and communication, journalism, and English language and linguistics.
Language Inequality and Distortion in Intercultural Communication
Author: Yukio Tsuda
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027225575
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 113
Book Description
This study sheds light on the problem of communicative inequality, neglected both by linguists and communication scholars, among speakers of different languages. It provides a four-step Critical Theory analysis of language-based inequality and distortion between speakers of a few dominant languages, especially English, and speakers of minority languages in the context of international and intercultural communication. Based on a theoretical framework of Distorted Communication developed by J. Habermas and C. Müller, the analysis focuses on a critical description, definition, and interpretation of Distorted Intercultural Communication, and exposes the ideology that legitimates linguistic inequality and distortion in communication.
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027225575
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 113
Book Description
This study sheds light on the problem of communicative inequality, neglected both by linguists and communication scholars, among speakers of different languages. It provides a four-step Critical Theory analysis of language-based inequality and distortion between speakers of a few dominant languages, especially English, and speakers of minority languages in the context of international and intercultural communication. Based on a theoretical framework of Distorted Communication developed by J. Habermas and C. Müller, the analysis focuses on a critical description, definition, and interpretation of Distorted Intercultural Communication, and exposes the ideology that legitimates linguistic inequality and distortion in communication.
Raciolinguistics
Author: H. Samy Alim
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190625708
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 377
Book Description
Raciolinguistics reveals the central role that language plays in shaping our ideas about race and vice versa. The book brings together a team of leading scholars-working both within and beyond the United States-to share powerful, much-needed research that helps us understand the increasingly vexed relationships between race, ethnicity, and language in our rapidly changing world. Combining the innovative, cutting-edge approaches of race and ethnic studies with fine-grained linguistic analyses, authors cover a wide range of topics including the struggle over the very term "African American," the racialized language education debates within the increasing number of "majority-minority" immigrant communities in the U.S., the dangers of multicultural education in a Europe that is struggling to meet the needs of new migrants, and the sociopolitical and cultural meanings of linguistic styles used in Brazilian favelas, South African townships, Mexican and Puerto Rican barrios in Chicago, and Korean American "cram schools" in New York City, among other sites. Taking into account rapidly changing demographics in the U.S and shifting cultural and media trends across the globe--from Hip Hop cultures, to transnational Mexican popular and street cultures, to Israeli reality TV, to new immigration trends across Africa and Europe--Raciolinguistics shapes the future of scholarship on race, ethnicity, and language. By taking a comparative look across a diverse range of language and literacy contexts, the volume seeks not only to set the research agenda in this burgeoning area of study, but also to help resolve pressing educational and political problems in some of the most contested raciolinguistic contexts in the world.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190625708
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 377
Book Description
Raciolinguistics reveals the central role that language plays in shaping our ideas about race and vice versa. The book brings together a team of leading scholars-working both within and beyond the United States-to share powerful, much-needed research that helps us understand the increasingly vexed relationships between race, ethnicity, and language in our rapidly changing world. Combining the innovative, cutting-edge approaches of race and ethnic studies with fine-grained linguistic analyses, authors cover a wide range of topics including the struggle over the very term "African American," the racialized language education debates within the increasing number of "majority-minority" immigrant communities in the U.S., the dangers of multicultural education in a Europe that is struggling to meet the needs of new migrants, and the sociopolitical and cultural meanings of linguistic styles used in Brazilian favelas, South African townships, Mexican and Puerto Rican barrios in Chicago, and Korean American "cram schools" in New York City, among other sites. Taking into account rapidly changing demographics in the U.S and shifting cultural and media trends across the globe--from Hip Hop cultures, to transnational Mexican popular and street cultures, to Israeli reality TV, to new immigration trends across Africa and Europe--Raciolinguistics shapes the future of scholarship on race, ethnicity, and language. By taking a comparative look across a diverse range of language and literacy contexts, the volume seeks not only to set the research agenda in this burgeoning area of study, but also to help resolve pressing educational and political problems in some of the most contested raciolinguistic contexts in the world.
The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race
Author: H. Samy Alim
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190846011
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 546
Book Description
Over the past two decades, the fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics have complicated traditional understandings of the relationship between language and identity. But while research traditions that explore the linguistic complexities of gender and sexuality have long been established, the study of race as a linguistic issue has only emerged recently. The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race positions issues of race as central to language-based scholarship. In twenty-one chapters divided into four sections-Foundations and Formations; Coloniality and Migration; Embodiment and Intersectionality; and Racism and Representations-authors at the forefront of this rapidly expanding field present state-of-the-art research and establish future directions of research. Covering a range of sites from around the world, the handbook offers theoretical, reflexive takes on language and race, the larger histories and systems that influence these concepts, the bodies that enact and experience them, and the expressions and outcomes that emerge as a result. As the study of language and race continues to take on a growing importance across anthropology, communication studies, cultural studies, education, linguistics, literature, psychology, ethnic studies, sociology, and the academy as a whole, this volume represents a timely, much-needed effort to focus these fields on both the central role that language plays in racialization and on the enduring relevance of race and racism.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190846011
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 546
Book Description
Over the past two decades, the fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics have complicated traditional understandings of the relationship between language and identity. But while research traditions that explore the linguistic complexities of gender and sexuality have long been established, the study of race as a linguistic issue has only emerged recently. The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race positions issues of race as central to language-based scholarship. In twenty-one chapters divided into four sections-Foundations and Formations; Coloniality and Migration; Embodiment and Intersectionality; and Racism and Representations-authors at the forefront of this rapidly expanding field present state-of-the-art research and establish future directions of research. Covering a range of sites from around the world, the handbook offers theoretical, reflexive takes on language and race, the larger histories and systems that influence these concepts, the bodies that enact and experience them, and the expressions and outcomes that emerge as a result. As the study of language and race continues to take on a growing importance across anthropology, communication studies, cultural studies, education, linguistics, literature, psychology, ethnic studies, sociology, and the academy as a whole, this volume represents a timely, much-needed effort to focus these fields on both the central role that language plays in racialization and on the enduring relevance of race and racism.
The Social Psychology of Inequality
Author: Jolanda Jetten
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030288560
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
Economic inequality has been of considerable interest to academics, citizens, and politicians worldwide for the past decade–and while economic inequality has attracted a considerable amount of research attention, it is only more recently that researchers have considered that economic inequality may have broader societal implications. However, while there is an increasingly clear picture of the varied ways in which economic inequality harms the fabric of society, there is a relatively poor understanding of the social psychological processes that are at work in unequal societies. This edited book aims to build on this emerging area of research by bringing together researchers who are at the forefront of this development and who can therefore provide timely insight to academics and practitioners who are grappling with the impact of economic inequality. This book will address questions relating to perceptions of inequality, mechanisms underlying effects of inequality, various consequences of inequality and the factors that contribute to the maintenance of inequality. The target audiences are students at advanced undergraduate or graduate level, as well as scholars and professionals in the field. The book fills a niche of both applied and practical relevance, strongly emphasizing theory and integration of different perspectives in social psychology. Given the broad interest in inequality within the social sciences, the book will be accessible to sociologists and political scientists as well as social, organizational, and developmental psychologists. The insights brought together in The Social Psychology of Inequality will contribute to a broader understanding of the far-reaching costs of inequality for the social health of a society and its citizens. "This edited volume brings together cutting-edge social psychological research addressing one of the most pressing issues of our times – economic inequality. Collectively, the chapters illuminate why inequality has negative effects on individuals and societies, when and for whom these negative effects are most likely to emerge, and the psychological mechanisms that maintain inequality. This comprehensive volume is an essential read for those interested in understanding and ameliorating inequality." -Brenda Major, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California “This invaluable volume demonstrates the indispensable and powerful contribution that social psychologists can make to our understanding of societal inequality. For those outside of social psychology it provides a unique and comprehensive overview of what social psychology has to offer, and for social psychologists it is exemplary in demonstrating how to make a systematic contribution to the understanding of a hotly debated real-world issue. Scholars and students alike and from various disciplines will gain much from reading this fascinating and inspiring social psychological journey.” -Maykel Verkuyten, Professor in Interdisciplinary Social Science, University of Utrecht “The Social Psychology of Inequality offers a superb and timely social-psychological analysis of the causes and consequence of increasing wealth and income gaps. With its refreshingly international authorship, this volume offers profound insights into the cognitive and social mechanisms that help maintain, but potentially also to overcome, an economy that is rigged in favor of the wealthy. A new and stimulating voice, illustrating science in the service of a fairer and more democratic society.” -Anne Maass, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Padova “This volume assembles an impressive list of leading international scholars to address a timely and important issue, the causes and consequences of economic inequality. The approach to the topic is social psychological, but the editors and chapters make valuable connections to related literatures on socio-structural influences in allied disciplines, such as economics, political science, and sociology. The Social Psychology of Inequality offers cutting-edge insights into the psychological dynamics of inequality and novel synthesis of structural- and individual-level influences and outcomes of inequality. It should attract a wide audience and will set the agenda for research on economic inequality well into the future.” -John F. Dovidio, Carl Iver Hovland Professor of Psychology and Public Health, Yale University
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030288560
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
Economic inequality has been of considerable interest to academics, citizens, and politicians worldwide for the past decade–and while economic inequality has attracted a considerable amount of research attention, it is only more recently that researchers have considered that economic inequality may have broader societal implications. However, while there is an increasingly clear picture of the varied ways in which economic inequality harms the fabric of society, there is a relatively poor understanding of the social psychological processes that are at work in unequal societies. This edited book aims to build on this emerging area of research by bringing together researchers who are at the forefront of this development and who can therefore provide timely insight to academics and practitioners who are grappling with the impact of economic inequality. This book will address questions relating to perceptions of inequality, mechanisms underlying effects of inequality, various consequences of inequality and the factors that contribute to the maintenance of inequality. The target audiences are students at advanced undergraduate or graduate level, as well as scholars and professionals in the field. The book fills a niche of both applied and practical relevance, strongly emphasizing theory and integration of different perspectives in social psychology. Given the broad interest in inequality within the social sciences, the book will be accessible to sociologists and political scientists as well as social, organizational, and developmental psychologists. The insights brought together in The Social Psychology of Inequality will contribute to a broader understanding of the far-reaching costs of inequality for the social health of a society and its citizens. "This edited volume brings together cutting-edge social psychological research addressing one of the most pressing issues of our times – economic inequality. Collectively, the chapters illuminate why inequality has negative effects on individuals and societies, when and for whom these negative effects are most likely to emerge, and the psychological mechanisms that maintain inequality. This comprehensive volume is an essential read for those interested in understanding and ameliorating inequality." -Brenda Major, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California “This invaluable volume demonstrates the indispensable and powerful contribution that social psychologists can make to our understanding of societal inequality. For those outside of social psychology it provides a unique and comprehensive overview of what social psychology has to offer, and for social psychologists it is exemplary in demonstrating how to make a systematic contribution to the understanding of a hotly debated real-world issue. Scholars and students alike and from various disciplines will gain much from reading this fascinating and inspiring social psychological journey.” -Maykel Verkuyten, Professor in Interdisciplinary Social Science, University of Utrecht “The Social Psychology of Inequality offers a superb and timely social-psychological analysis of the causes and consequence of increasing wealth and income gaps. With its refreshingly international authorship, this volume offers profound insights into the cognitive and social mechanisms that help maintain, but potentially also to overcome, an economy that is rigged in favor of the wealthy. A new and stimulating voice, illustrating science in the service of a fairer and more democratic society.” -Anne Maass, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Padova “This volume assembles an impressive list of leading international scholars to address a timely and important issue, the causes and consequences of economic inequality. The approach to the topic is social psychological, but the editors and chapters make valuable connections to related literatures on socio-structural influences in allied disciplines, such as economics, political science, and sociology. The Social Psychology of Inequality offers cutting-edge insights into the psychological dynamics of inequality and novel synthesis of structural- and individual-level influences and outcomes of inequality. It should attract a wide audience and will set the agenda for research on economic inequality well into the future.” -John F. Dovidio, Carl Iver Hovland Professor of Psychology and Public Health, Yale University
News Discourse and Power
Author: Henry Silke
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000356396
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 169
Book Description
The issue of socio-economic inequality has become an increasingly important question for journalism and the academy. The 2008 economic crisis and the years of austerity which followed exasperated class and regional division and as an even greater economic shock emerges from the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, the role of journalism and the wider media in the production and reproduction of inequality assumes greater importance. This edited collection includes eight chapters examining instances of where inequality is examined in the media, for example coverage of Thomas Piketty, precarity, corporate tax rates and race-, class- and gender-related issues, in order to address the following questions: Does journalism treat the issue of inequality in a satisfactory fashion? Does journalism challenge powerful interests, or does journalism play an ideological role in the reproduction of structures of inequality itself? How do increasingly poor working conditions of journalists impact on the coverage of inequality? The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Critical Discourse Studies journal.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000356396
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 169
Book Description
The issue of socio-economic inequality has become an increasingly important question for journalism and the academy. The 2008 economic crisis and the years of austerity which followed exasperated class and regional division and as an even greater economic shock emerges from the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, the role of journalism and the wider media in the production and reproduction of inequality assumes greater importance. This edited collection includes eight chapters examining instances of where inequality is examined in the media, for example coverage of Thomas Piketty, precarity, corporate tax rates and race-, class- and gender-related issues, in order to address the following questions: Does journalism treat the issue of inequality in a satisfactory fashion? Does journalism challenge powerful interests, or does journalism play an ideological role in the reproduction of structures of inequality itself? How do increasingly poor working conditions of journalists impact on the coverage of inequality? The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Critical Discourse Studies journal.
Putting Inequality in Context
Author: Christopher Ellis
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472130498
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
Highlights the role of contextual factors, including class, in U.S. political inequality
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472130498
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
Highlights the role of contextual factors, including class, in U.S. political inequality
Applied Cognitive Ecostylistics
Author: Malgorzata Drewniok
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350362204
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
This book offers an up-to-date account of one of the most influential strands of eco-research: cognitive ecostylistics. The onset of the 1970s saw a global shift in scholarly perspective upon the relation between egocentric and ecocentric views of the world. The so-called eco-turn was not only linguistic at its roots, but engaged the bulk of academic thought in social sciences and humanities. Cognitive ecostylistics invites a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the conceptual relations between oral or written texts and their impact on the environment. This volume is a collection of the latest research that seeks to apply the theory and methodology developed over the last 40 years to both literary and real-life texts, engaging with a wealth of examples from First World War poetry and Anne of Green Gables through to Condé Nast Traveller hotel descriptions. Exploring the cultural effects of the eco-turn, the collection engages the reader in the problem of the present-day Anthropocene, manifested as Ego-Eco tensions at the level of communicating self-needs and the needs of the Other. Divided into two parts, it considers first the human-angled semiotic interplay contained within the universe of people, before examining the problem of semiotic engagement of texts as extraneous to the human, highlighting crucial aspects of nature, culture, and beyond.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350362204
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
This book offers an up-to-date account of one of the most influential strands of eco-research: cognitive ecostylistics. The onset of the 1970s saw a global shift in scholarly perspective upon the relation between egocentric and ecocentric views of the world. The so-called eco-turn was not only linguistic at its roots, but engaged the bulk of academic thought in social sciences and humanities. Cognitive ecostylistics invites a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the conceptual relations between oral or written texts and their impact on the environment. This volume is a collection of the latest research that seeks to apply the theory and methodology developed over the last 40 years to both literary and real-life texts, engaging with a wealth of examples from First World War poetry and Anne of Green Gables through to Condé Nast Traveller hotel descriptions. Exploring the cultural effects of the eco-turn, the collection engages the reader in the problem of the present-day Anthropocene, manifested as Ego-Eco tensions at the level of communicating self-needs and the needs of the Other. Divided into two parts, it considers first the human-angled semiotic interplay contained within the universe of people, before examining the problem of semiotic engagement of texts as extraneous to the human, highlighting crucial aspects of nature, culture, and beyond.
Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583
Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583
Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
The Death of Truth
Author: Michiko Kakutani
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0525574832
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning critic comes an impassioned critique of America’s retreat from reason We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? This decline began decades ago, and in The Death of Truth, former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and politics, Kakutani identifies the trends—originating on both the right and the left—that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant. With remarkable erudition and insight, Kakutani offers a provocative diagnosis of our current condition and points toward a new path for our truth-challenged times.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0525574832
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning critic comes an impassioned critique of America’s retreat from reason We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? This decline began decades ago, and in The Death of Truth, former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and politics, Kakutani identifies the trends—originating on both the right and the left—that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant. With remarkable erudition and insight, Kakutani offers a provocative diagnosis of our current condition and points toward a new path for our truth-challenged times.
Unbound
Author: Heather Boushey
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674919319
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
A Financial Times Book of the Year “The strongest documentation I have seen for the many ways in which inequality is harmful to economic growth.” —Jason Furman “A timely and very useful guide...Boushey assimilates a great deal of recent economic research and argues that it amounts to a paradigm shift.” —New Yorker Do we have to choose between equality and prosperity? Decisions made over the past fifty years have created underlying fragilities in our society that make our economy less effective in good times and less resilient to shocks, such as today’s coronavirus pandemic. Many think tackling inequality would require such heavy-handed interference that it would stifle economic growth. But a careful look at the data suggests nothing could be further from the truth—and that reducing inequality is in fact key to delivering future prosperity. Presenting cutting-edge economics with verve, Heather Boushey shows how rising inequality is a drain on talent, ideas, and innovation, leading to a concentration of capital and a damaging under-investment in schools, infrastructure, and other public goods. We know inequality is fueling social unrest. Boushey shows persuasively that it is also a serious drag on growth. “In this outstanding book, Heather Boushey...shows that, beyond a point, inequality damages the economy by limiting the quantity and quality of human capital and skills, blocking access to opportunity, underfunding public services, facilitating predatory rent-seeking, weakening aggregate demand, and increasing reliance on unsustainable credit.” —Martin Wolf, Financial Times “Think rising levels of inequality are just an inevitable outcome of our market-driven economy? Then you should read Boushey’s well-argued, well-documented explanation of why you’re wrong.” —David Rotman, MIT Technology Review
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674919319
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
A Financial Times Book of the Year “The strongest documentation I have seen for the many ways in which inequality is harmful to economic growth.” —Jason Furman “A timely and very useful guide...Boushey assimilates a great deal of recent economic research and argues that it amounts to a paradigm shift.” —New Yorker Do we have to choose between equality and prosperity? Decisions made over the past fifty years have created underlying fragilities in our society that make our economy less effective in good times and less resilient to shocks, such as today’s coronavirus pandemic. Many think tackling inequality would require such heavy-handed interference that it would stifle economic growth. But a careful look at the data suggests nothing could be further from the truth—and that reducing inequality is in fact key to delivering future prosperity. Presenting cutting-edge economics with verve, Heather Boushey shows how rising inequality is a drain on talent, ideas, and innovation, leading to a concentration of capital and a damaging under-investment in schools, infrastructure, and other public goods. We know inequality is fueling social unrest. Boushey shows persuasively that it is also a serious drag on growth. “In this outstanding book, Heather Boushey...shows that, beyond a point, inequality damages the economy by limiting the quantity and quality of human capital and skills, blocking access to opportunity, underfunding public services, facilitating predatory rent-seeking, weakening aggregate demand, and increasing reliance on unsustainable credit.” —Martin Wolf, Financial Times “Think rising levels of inequality are just an inevitable outcome of our market-driven economy? Then you should read Boushey’s well-argued, well-documented explanation of why you’re wrong.” —David Rotman, MIT Technology Review