Social Inequality

Considerable research has revealed the impacts of social inequality on human development. In addition, a rich literature highlights when and how individuals judge, reason about, and act against inequality. As they construct their understanding of the world, individuals scrutinize social relationships, social norms, and even the institutions that make up their culture, rejecting some as unjust. [Page 2061]Thus, social inequalities frame development, but they also render visible the attempts of individuals and groups to evaluate, critique, resist, and change practices and structures that they deem unfair. This entry outlines some of the consequences of social inequality for development and highlights research on how children, adolescents, and adults reason about and respond to inequality.