Against the Odds

What is the relation between social class and social justice? This is currently a matter of public as well as academic controversy. While nobody would deny that the distribution of rewards in industrial societies is unequal, there is sharp disagreement about whether this inequality can be justified. Some see existing patterns of social mobility as evidence of inequality of opportunity. Others regard them as meritocratic, simply reflecting the distribution of abilities among the population. This fascinating, interdisciplinary study brings together recent developments in normative thinking about social justice with new empirical findings about educational attainment and social mobility. The result is a path-breaking contribution to our thinking about issues of class and justice, one that will be of interest to both sociologists and political theorists for many years to come.

Review: This is exactly what is needed to bring moral relevance to the calculus of class ... Anyone who has experience of this kind of comparative research can only admire the achievements here. The theoretical part is equally impressive and gives original insights into such difficult and intricate problems as fairness, social justice and meritocracy. * Times Literary Supplement *

The ambition of this book is to bring together the strongest possible empirical analysis of class inequality and the most solid possible theoretical analysis of social justice ... Anyone who has experience of this kind of comparative research can only admire the achievements here. The theoretical part is equally impressive and gives original insights into such difficult and intricate problems as fairness, social justice and meritocracy. * Times Literary Supplement *

This book is lucidly written, and the fact that all technical details and specialistknowledge have been put in the appendices make it very accessible. Both the political-philosophical and the empirical sociological analyses are thorough. The authors have provided us with important new information on the relation between social inequality and social mobility on the one hand and social justice on the other...Marshell et al are to be congratulated for their efforts. Their book is an important contribution to the academic debate in the field of social inequality and socialjustice British Journal of Sociology 7/1998

The authors provide clear definitions of their central concepts and construct their arguments in detailed, systematic fashion. Their study would be especially useful for graduate students examining stratification processes and status attainment researchers attempting to enrich their models. C.E. Hurst. Americal Journal of Sociology.