IV ISA Forum of Sociology (February 23-28, 2021)

553

Social Interactions and Social Inequalities

Abstract Submissions Closed

RC45 Rational Choice (host committee)

Language: English

Session Type: Oral

Empirically-oriented analysis of social inequalities in sociology, economics and demography are dominated by what one may call “attributes-oriented” view on social inequalities, according to which the analysis typically amounts to describe how given context- and/or individual-level features systematically impact on the likelihood an individual experiences a given social outcome (and how this likelihood is structured across social groups). A complementary view is possible, however. As noted in Christakis and Fowler’s (2011: 300) Connected (NY: Back Bay Books): “ (...) there is an alternative view of understanding stratification and hierarchy that is based on how people are positioned with respect to their connections. Positional inequality occurs not because of who we are but because of who we are connected to. (…) Network inequality creates and reinforces inequality of opportunity”. Although scattered across several research domains, interaction-based approaches to job market opportunities, income inequalities, social mobility, spatial segregation or prestige distribution can indeed be clearly identified in sociology, economics, and social psychology. The present session welcomes any paper that, through whatever methodological approach, tries to connect social interactions to macroscopic patterns of inequalities. Particular attention will be devoted to proposals investigating how social interaction dynamics favor/impede the activation of micro-level mechanisms (like “status beliefs”, imitation and reciprocation) that in turn may increase/decrease the probability of activation of specific micro-level cumulative advantage mechanisms (like “deferential cascades” or “poverty traps”), which in the end lead to higher/lower levels of group-based differentiation in the access to socially valued goods.