Inequality, Power, and Development: Issues in Political Sociology

Inequality, Power, and Development: Issues in Political Sociology (2nd ed.) by Jerry Kloby. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003. (pp. 315 / S70 [cloth])

Few sociology texts extensively review global issues of inequality even as economic inequality grows prolifically and causes significant damage to the world's ethnic minority peoples across all geographic borders. However, Kloby's book accomplishes this feat by extensively reviewing the relationship between transnational corporate exploitation, the extensive reach of Western political institutions, and the alleged "free trade" or neo-liberal policies of the world's richest nation-states and international financial institutions.

Even for those of us who fail to include a political sociology course in our curriculums, this text is a necessity for introductory sociology courses, inequality courses, and criminology courses that dare to take a critical worldview of current socio-economic and political dynamics. The extensiveness of the information provided includes a clear and cogent exposure of the global absence of unionization, basic health care coverage, and availability of basic foodstuffs while effectively dismissing the neo-liberal claim of a relationship between over-population and hunger. The author also elucidates a variety of subjects that remain absent from many courses and texts such as the use of an indicator of the overall quality of life globally through the Human Development Index and the relationship between ethnic minority status and corporate exploitation of human and natural resources.

The author's coverage of U.S. corruption, deception, international crimes, and usurpation of the legislative branch of the government is daunting. This chapter should be mandatory reading for students in white-collar crime courses, inequality courses, sociology of the military as well as political sociology courses. Readers are informed in a straightforward manner of U.S. CIA-led coups and training of the marauding murderous guerrilla forces from Latin America to Africa and the Middle East; this information should inspire students to fight against elite corruption of the American political process.

The discussion of the former Soviet Union and its current economic hardships as many of the newly independent states have begun to embrace capitalism and neo-liberal reforms was particularly riveting as many sociology students and professors (outside of political sociology) have no idea how this part of the world is currently functioning. Nor are students aware of the huge role that U.S. foreign policy plays in destroying other foreign national economies under the auspices of fighting against socialism. This is particularly important in light of the fact that the Soviet Union was never really a socialist country, but rather a totalitarian government. Additionally, the author's exposure of the role of the U.S. as an international arms broker and its role in leading to a number of violent conflicts throughout the world will open the eyes of many students.

Finally, the author's review of world trade policy, the World Trade Organization, the North American Free Trade Association, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the power of the rich countries and corporations in running the globe to their own benefit while other nations, environments and minority ethnic communities suffer, portrays the U.S. as a global bully and is a welcome respite from texts that pretend these dynamics don't exist. In my view, this book is a necessity for any Introductory Sociology class, not simply political sociology classes. It should be mandatory reading for all sociology students at some point in their undergraduate curriculum and furthermore, a necessary adjunct to any graduate class. Jerry Kloby has spoken the truth in the fashion of Noam Chomsky and bell hooks, and has provided a much-needed book for our undergraduate students who lack global awareness of the U.S. role in providing anti-democratic assistance to the world.

Reviewed By:

Rebecca S. Katz

Civic Education Project Visiting Faculty Fellow 2003-2004

Tbilisi State University

Department of Sociology and Philosophy

Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia

Morehead State University

Morehead, Kentucky

Copyright Dr. George Kourvetaris Summer 2004
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