Wealth has captivated people's attention for centuries. Yet despite society's fascination with the 1%, wealth accumulation has largely been neglected as a topic of social research, hidden beneath data on income inequality. Wealth aims to remedy this shortcoming.
In accessible prose, Yuval Elmelech explains how, both conceptually and empirically, wealth differs fundamentally from other conventional measures of socioeconomic status and why it has become increasingly important, in recent years especially, to our understanding of inequality and social mobility. Crucially, Elmelech presents a dynamic sociological framework that illuminates the extent to which cumulative advantages and disadvantages of the family life course are shaped by a complex interplay of multiple markets, changing demographic landscapes, and social contexts associated with group membership (for instance race, ethnicity, gender, and religious affiliations).
Blending theoretical approaches with empirical studies, and macro-level contexts with meso-level processes, this book offers an astute guide for thinking about and interrogating wealth as a social fact and the scope of its role in inequality, as well as other social and demographic trends.
