Franzen, A., Jann, B., Joppke, C., Widmer, E.D. (2016). Introduction. In: Franzen, A., Jann, B., Joppke, C., Widmer, E.D. (eds). Essays on Inequality and Integration. Seismo Verlag AG, Zürich, pp. 7-14.

Since Karl Marx first described the enormous social inequalities and their potential for social change at the beginning of industrialization in the 19th century, the origins, extent, and consequences of social inequality, as well the level of inequality which a society is willing to tolerate, have been major themes in sociology. Our discipline has taken on the theme of inequality in multiple areas ranging from research on unequal educational and labor market opportunities, unequal income distributions, gender and health inequality,and inequality in life expectancy, to mention only a few.