Gender And Social Hierarchies

This book examines the pervasiveness of status asymmetry between gender categories from a social-psychological perspective. It offers key insights to practitioners and policymakers, and will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences.

Gender and Social Hierarchies offers a fresh and coherent picture of applied research from within social psychology on the intricate relationship between gender and social status. It comprises a collection of innovative approaches which seek to understand the pervasiveness of status asymmetry between gender categories. Drawing upon recent theoretical advances in gender psychology, the book provides tools for developing practical and political recommendations to address and resolve status inequality today. Each chapter examines a different aspect of the impact that gender-based social hierarchies have on people’s lives. Part One explores the consequences of gender stereotypes in school, higher education, and in professional settings. The struggles faced by women in the workplace are discussed in Part Two, featuring topics such as work-life balance, the ‘glass cliff’, and the lack of support for affirmative action. Part Three is devoted to the antecedents and consequences of gender-based forms of prejudice, such as discrimination against gay men, and against women within cultural minorities. The book concludes with some practical suggestions for working towards lasting and beneficial change. Gender and Social Hierarchies will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences and offers important insights to practitioners and policy-makers.

This edited collection attempts to revive a unified anthropological approach to the study of sex and gender hierarchies. Seventeen distinguished contributors - from cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and anthropological linguistics - have produced a wealth of fascinating data on human and primate, ancient and contemporary, and 'primitive' and developed societies, covering topics such as mothering and child care, work, health, intrafamily relationships, and public power. The interdisciplinary approach successfully contributes to the development of better theory and methodology in anthropology.

Since the early 1980s there has been a surge of interest in both issues of gender and sexuality in work and organizational life, and in the founding and running of co-operatives and collectives. Since hierarchy rests on divisions which are in part gendered and sexualized, and co-operatives for the most part operate with "flat" or non-hierarchical structures, they could be seen as places where gender and sexuality make little difference to the experiences of workers.; This text takes issue with the assumption that where there is an absence of formal hierarchy in work and organizational life, there is likely to be an absence of gender inequalities. It argues that the matter is more complex than the simple equating of less hierarchy with greater gender equality.

Gender and Social Hierarchies offers a fresh and coherent picture of applied research from within social psychology on the intricate relationship between gender and social status. It comprises a collection of innovative approaches which seek to understand the pervasiveness of status asymmetry between gender categories. Drawing upon recent theoretical advances in gender psychology, the book provides tools for developing practical and political recommendations to address and resolve status inequality today. Each chapter examines a different aspect of the impact that gender-based social hierarchies have on people’s lives. Part One explores the consequences of gender stereotypes in school, higher education, and in professional settings. The struggles faced by women in the workplace are discussed in Part Two, featuring topics such as work-life balance, the ‘glass cliff’, and the lack of support for affirmative action. Part Three is devoted to the antecedents and consequences of gender-based forms of prejudice, such as discrimination against gay men, and against women within cultural minorities. The book concludes with some practical suggestions for working towards lasting and beneficial change. Gender and Social Hierarchies will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences and offers important insights to practitioners and policy-makers.

Order on the Edge of Chaos answers the question: how do people today create and sustain order in their lives and in their groups?

Under human development in India, is the persistence of female-male gaps indicative of the low status assigned to women in that cultural setting? Are the various gender ideologies rooted in the different kinship structures leading to a subordinate status of women in India? Does economic development interact with kinship patterns to produce spatial variations in gender relations? Do these structural processes affect women's status differently in different parts of India? In other words, does 'place' play a role in the constitution of gender differences? This book focuses on the interdependence of gender relations, development levels, and social stratification without underestimating the full significance of each in Indian society. This work offers a multidimensional view that argues for conceptualizing status broadly in terms of its economic, social, and political dimensions. The contrasting performance of specific states/districts on each dimension clearly indicates that the dynamic and variable nature of women's status cannot be captured by any one dimension. It is observed that women's status is affected by kinship structures, development levels, and social stratification, which vary over space and time, individually, and in interaction with each other. It is this variation that leads to differences in women's position from one region of India to another.