Description: Despite claims about the 'classless society', modern industrial societies such as Britain and America are characterized by widening gaps between rich and poor. At the same time, inequalities of class overlap with other inequalities, such as those of ethnicity or gender. Recent research in sociology has highlighted the growing complexity of patterns of stratification and the interplay between different aspects of inequality. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to past and current theories of stratification and inequality. It pulls together work in the areas of class, gender, race and age, locating the analysis within current theories over modernity and postmodernity. Separate chapters on class, gender, race and age provide overviews of debates in a way designed to be accessible to students and also show how these four dimensions of inequality act upon one another. Unlike many other texts, the book covers both the modernist approaches derived from the sociological classics and newer contributions influenced by postmodernism and post-structuralism. While accepting the postmodern view that societies are becoming fragmented and social identities more fluid, Fractured Identities concludes that modernist insights are still vital. Modern societies are marked by both fragmentation and polarization.
Review Quotes:
"Bradley successfully combines political critique and trenchant scholarship in this up-to-the minute revision of her now classic text. Her focus is firmly on increasing inequality and polarization, in all their dimensions, in the context of globalization and the entrenchment of austerity and individualism. Her arguments are accessible, engaging and convincing. The book makes an important contribution to the resurgence of class analysis, and will be widely read."
Miriam Glucksmann, University of Essex
"Harriet Bradley's new edition of Fractured Identities synthesises the changes consequent upon globalisation, the War on Terror, and changing demographics since the first edition with her clear and coherent account of the classic sociological work. Any student using the book will be extremely fortunate: it is innovative, current, and classic."
Sara Delamont, Cardiff University