«A Sense of Inequality»: What Does the Subjective Inequality Mean and How to Study It

This book review considers “А Sense of Inequality” by Wendy Bottero. The author is a Reader in Sociology at the University of Manchester (UK).Wendy Bottero inspires us to look broadly at the phemomenon of inequality through the social mechanisms ofobligations and restrictions bounding individuals on a daily basis. At the same time, the author suggests a broader understanding of inequality and insists on “a methodological localism”, i.e. the importance of studying local inequalities, which individuals experience in their milieus (subjective inequality or a sense of inequality). She argues that people tend to be more aware of “local” inequality in their daily lives. Individuals have a restricted vision of objective inequality. According to Bottero, objective inequality does not necessarily lead to social discontent or protest. And data of mass quantitative surveys give us an abstract understanding of a sense of inequality. Individuals’ perceptions of inequality are formed by institutional regimes, political debates and discussions in the media. Therefore, the key concept of this book is “subjective inequality” — a specific feeling of individuals arising through a variety of unequal social relations, entailed subordination, unequal opportunities and statuses.This book gives us an understanding of how to be more reflective of everyday inequalities. This work will be especially of great value for social researchers because it offers acritically revised theoretical frame and solid methodological basis for studying subjective inequalities. The book reveals the mechanics of the key global social phenomenon — inequality and discovers the opportunities for studying it on the level of individuals.