XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

190

Political Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Social Transformations Since 1989

RC09 Social Transformations and Sociology of Development (host committee)

Language: English

Over the last thirty years, Europe, North America, and Latin America have seen, to varying forms and extents, major changes to their societies. Within this era, economic inequality has steadily grown within the nations of Europe and North America, while it has declined (though it remains high) within many Latin American countries. Social scientists have documented these changes for thirty years, and in the last decade -- spurred by the Global Economic Crisis of 2008 -- economic inequality has become a hot political issue. How have governments in these regions of the world addressed economic inequality?  How has economic inequality influenced political inequality -- defined as structured differences in influence over the decisions made within political processes, and the outcomes of those decisions? What are the consequences of economic and political inequalities for marginalized social and political groups? This session invites papers that explore the nexus of political and economic inequality during periods of intense social transformations over the last thirty years in Europe, North America, and Latin America.