Social Inequality - Structure and Social Processes (Edition)

Social inequality means more than difficulties in accessing health, education, transportation, recreation, rest, work, peace, food, clothing, technology, among others; means the perennial and hegemonic persistence of unequal relations of power and subalternity that reproduce a mercantilist system that has socially and historically segregated vulnerable social groups in relation to gender, ethnicity, age group, socioeconomic condition, religious beliefs, and so on. This geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural system also reveals inadequate public health, education, and labor policies, their ineffective execution, and the lack of correspondence with true social needs. Public policies aimed at addressing the social needs and problems of the population are not always executable due to multiple problems, for example, insufficient budgets and difficulty in making budget allocations effective, for example, in health and education programs, budget cuts, among others. The result of unequal relations of power and subordination is undoubtedly social inequity and injustice in relation to the satisfaction of basic needs (subsistence (health, food, etc.), protection (security and prevention systems, housing, etc.), affection (family, friends, privacy, etc.) understanding (education, communication, etc.), participation (rights, responsibilities, work, etc.), leisure (games and shows), creation (skills), identity (groups of reference, sexuality, and values), and freedom (equal rights)) [1] and exercise of fundamental human rights, evidence of this represents more than 700 million people who continue to live in conditions of extreme poverty and struggle to satisfy their most basic needs, such as health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few; 30 million children who grow up poor in the richest countries in the world according to the United Nations (UN) [2].In this work, we carry out a review and in-depth analysis of different dimensions of the human population that are affected in relation to their detriment or limiting access to: land, education, health, technology, and wages in relation to gender. The restructuring of subjectivities around the empathy due to the prevailing economic system and its repercussions on the individualization of the life path are discussed.