ABSTRACT
This first chapter sets the scene for the others. We describe and clarify the concepts that we use to understand inequalities from the bottom up in society. Complexity and flux mean that situated accounts from people in everyday life are relevant to understand. The existing work of social scientists studying the lifeworlds and the personal distinctions that people make about the world is drawn upon. That relationship is mediated by group belonging and connections and so understanding social networks is a central task. Researchers have accessed this psychosocial context via lay knowledge which here is as important as official professional knowledge. At times the two may be in conflict or even the centre of a power struggle. We end by noting a recurrent theme about the moralisations that attend to living with inequality.
