Download or read book Understanding Inequality: Social Costs and Benefits written by Amanda Machin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributions in this book highlight, contextualize and analyze different aspects of social inequality. What are the various cause and effects of inequality? How have these changed over recent decades? Which social policies might be best able to intervene? Written by authors from a variety of disciplines and geographical regions, these contributions provide a rich account of inequality within contemporary society. The role of the state, the media and the market in exacerbating and alleviating patterns of equality are all accessed alongside analysis of changing patterns of exclusion and hierarchy.