Privilege: A Reader

In this new and timely anthology on the experience of privilege in America—as it relates to holding the identity of the dominant gender, class, race, and sexual preference—sociologists Michael Kimmel and Abby Ferber, along with a wide range of contributors, challenge students to think more critically about the myriad inequalities in society and especially to become more aware of how the dynamics that create inequality for some also benefit others. Designed to be used in both introductory sociology and race, gender, and class courses, this exciting volume asks that privilege—and students’ own role in it—become more visible. With both well-known and previously published pieces as well as new contributions, Privilege uses an “intersectional approach” to explore the ways in which race, class, gender and sexuality interact in the lives of those who are privileged by one or more of these identities. Kimmel and Ferber have brought together leading thinkers and writers on all of these dimensions, to examine both the parallels and the ruptures among these different but connected relationships. Writing both personally and analytically, these essays can bring students inside the experiences, and enable us all to begin to theorize our own lives, as well as to explore the ways in which these systems intersect in people’s lives.