ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Richard's career has both contributed to and been expressive of the shape that British sociology took in the post-war period. Richard's own work has concentrated on socio-economic and gender inequality. Social and economic inequality was largely the substantive terrain on which British sociology developed its disciplinary approaches and identities. He served in a number of capacities on committees of the Social Science Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council. Sociological practice towards the understanding of social inequality has made many individual contributions, ranging from issues of theoretical conceptualisation, to a more rigorous and technically demanding empirical focus, as in John Goldthorpe's work on class analysis. Those who have particularly benefited from the quality of such relationships with Richard have been the numerous post-graduate students that he has supervised over the years, many of whom are now leading figures in British sociology. This living legacy will continue to strengthen British sociology into the future.
