ABSTRACT
Inequality structures everyday life. Systems of stratification based on class, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, for example, shape such crucial aspects of daily life as the schools we attend, the jobs we hold, the neighborhoods we live in and the health care we receive. For the most part, our daily lives and routines are unquestioned and unexamined. Patterned by broad social forces, these routines seem inevitable and natural. Thus, inequality in life circumstances becomes an unfortunate but widely accepted aspect of social life.
