The End Of Inequality?: Stratification Under State Socialism
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does equality truly look like when a state commands it by decree? In The End of Inequality?, sociologist David Lane presents a rigorous and penetrating analysis of social stratification within the framework of state socialism, challenging the foundational claim that Marxist-Leninist regimes had succeeded in dismantling the class hierarchies that define capitalist societies. Drawing on empirical data from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Lane meticulously details how new forms of inequality — rooted in occupational prestige, political power, and access to resources — persisted and even flourished beneath the ideological surface of egalitarianism. Part of the prestigious Penguin Modern Sociology Monographs series, this work sits at the intersection of political sociology and comparative social theory, reflecting the rigorous academic discourse of the 1970s. Lane argues with cool analytical precision that socialist stratification systems, while structurally distinct from their capitalist counterparts, are no less stratified, making a compelling case that hierarchy is a social constant that transcends economic ideology. His conclusions raise a question that lingers long after the final page: if even a state built on the promise of equality cannot escape the logic of hierarchy, what hope exists for a truly egalitarian society?
Author: David Lane
Format: Paperback
Genre: Society & culture
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does equality truly look like when a state commands it by decree? In The End of Inequality?, sociologist David Lane presents a rigorous and penetrating analysis of social stratification within the framework of state socialism, challenging the foundational claim that Marxist-Leninist regimes had succeeded in dismantling the class hierarchies that define capitalist societies. Drawing on empirical data from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Lane meticulously details how new forms of inequality — rooted in occupational prestige, political power, and access to resources — persisted and even flourished beneath the ideological surface of egalitarianism. Part of the prestigious Penguin Modern Sociology Monographs series, this work sits at the intersection of political sociology and comparative social theory, reflecting the rigorous academic discourse of the 1970s. Lane argues with cool analytical precision that socialist stratification systems, while structurally distinct from their capitalist counterparts, are no less stratified, making a compelling case that hierarchy is a social constant that transcends economic ideology. His conclusions raise a question that lingers long after the final page: if even a state built on the promise of equality cannot escape the logic of hierarchy, what hope exists for a truly egalitarian society?