I need to make an annotated bibliography regarding a social justice issue. I need to make an annotation based on 5 sources: 4 of which are scholarly articles, and 1 of which are documentary. My topic

Raedh Sabar

HSE4M-1 (Equity and Social Justice)

Annotated Bibliography

Question: Why is the income gap increasing?

Hypothesis: The likely cause of the disappearance of the middle class is due to the systemic bias that favours the upper-class (classism), eventually targeting the vast majority of minorities in western countries.

Keywords: classism, systemic bias, systemic racism, income disparity, income inequality, income polarization

Sources:

1. Barone, C. (1999). Bringing Classism Into The Race & Gender Picture. Race, Gender & Class, 6(3), 5–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41674893

Chuck Barone is a professor of Economics at Dickinson College, a private liberal arts college with a long and reputable history. Published in 1999, the article brings up the issue of classism, a topic rarely discussed nor represented in the media. Barone argues that the capitalist system was created in order to squeeze the most amount of labour from workers in order to create a surplus product, all while meeting low budget limits. The work alone keeps the working-class stuck in that position. Barone also defines how class is generated from three factors: private ownership, hierarchical organization, and division of labour. Another key idea is that the act of resisting your class role can lead to social isolation. Ultimately while the article is outdated, it provides a great outline to work on in regards to answering the question, “is the income gap increasing?”.

1. Hurst, A. L. (2009). The Path to College: Stories of Students from the Working Class. Race, Gender & Class, 16(1/2), 257–281. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41658872

Allison L. Hurst is an assistant professor of Sociology at Furman University. She has experience as both a lawyer and sociologist. The research was published in 2009 with the aim of understanding the trends in college participation rates in regards to class. Hurst describes post-secondary education as the gateway to social mobility, providing the working-class a way out. Hurst explains that the decreasing rates of college participation in the working-class group is due to a series of factors such as the stigma that college is for the rich, the financial risk, and the limited resources offered to public highschool guidance counsellors. The main study conducted by Hurst is descriptive and reliable, with interviews containing detailed answers from people of a wide range of backgrounds. This article is a great source of information and answers to my question as education is a huge factor that plays in social mobility.

1. Jong-Sung You, & Khagram, S. (2005). A Comparative Study of Inequality and Corruption. American Sociological Review, 70(1), 136–157. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4145353

Jong-Sung You is a professor of Public Policy at Gachon Liberal Arts College, (based in South Korea) who holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard. Sanjeev Khagram, the Director General of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University who worked as an associate professor at Harvard Kennedy School. The article was published in February 2005, hypothesizing the link between income inequality and corruption. You and Khagram discussed how the increase in income inequality can lead to the increase in corruption. In this system, both the working-class and the upper-class participate in corruption - the working-class participates as a result of the desperate measures to acquire basic needs, and the upper-class participates in order to advance on the social ladder, or even maintain their position. The article presents these points in an organized method, further backed up by research. Overall, while the text does not particularly answer my question, it provides the accurate context I need that backs up my hypothesis.

1. Lazonick, W. (2014). Labor in the Twenty-First Century: The Top 0.1 percent and the Disappearing Middle-Class. SSRN Electronic Journal. Published. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2485471

William Lazonick is an economist affiliated with the University of Massachusetts. Much of his research and his scholarly work highlights the economic development in different economies and the social conditions of innovation. The article focuses on the key structural changes in the economy that have diminished middle-class opportunities. Lazonick summarized that due to rationalization during the 1980s - in the form of closing down plants, removing the jobs of high-school educated workers. Marketization - the employment norm of ending a career with only one company, and globalization which saw the movement of workers offshoring to lower-wage countries. Further, the text goes on to explore the effects of global competition that have led to middle-class jobs disappearing. This article provides abundant information on the income gap, answering my question as well. The article also provides a side that justifies the structural changes to create a non-bias tone which is appreciated. Overall, this article provides direct evidence to my question, proving my hypothesis to an extent while providing an argument against it.

1. Pemberton, J. (Director). (2020). Capital in the Twenty-First Century [Video file]. Kino Lorber. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from Kanopy.

Justin Pemberton is a New Zealand documentary filmmaker, who’s earned multiple screen awards, as well as awards for his adaptation of the book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century''. The documentary aims to explore how income is distributed and the increasing income inequality that was prominent since the 19th century. The documentary explains the formation of the middle-class after World War II, but argues that overtime, capital eventually transferred back to the upper-class due to repeated economic downturn caused by various events. The film also discusses the failure of the progressive tax system that redistributes income, as the upper-class move money offshore to different countries where tax systems differ and could benefit them (also known as tax havens), which conserves their power. In general, Pemeberton’s documentary adaptation of Thomas Piketty’s book provides great insight into my topic, answering the question while backing up my hypothesis.