With income inequality on the rise and the ongoing economic downturn, the causes, consequences, and politics of inequality are undergoing a fundamental transformation. Updated and highly accessible, the fourth edition of Social Stratification provides refreshing take on existing theories, incorporates the latest data, and lends new perspectives to classic debates. The fourth edition includes fifty new or updated readings and a new streamlined organization that allows the evolution of stratification scholarship to unfold in a systematic fashion. The new readings cover the latest research on economic inequality, including the social construction of racial categories, the new immigrant economy, new forms of segregation and neighborhood inequality, the uneven and stalled gender revolution, the role of new educational forms and institutions in generating both equality and inequality, and the extent of anti-gay discrimination in the labor market.The result is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and methodologically diverse text appropriate for sophisticated undergraduate and graduate courses on poverty, inequality, social stratification, social problems, the labor market, social class, social mobility, and race and ethnicity.