Human Biology and Social Inequality [Paperback]

This book reviews why measures of biological variation have long been associated with the indices of social inequality.There are widely found associations between health and social inequality in human societies. This book explores the unequal trends in birth rates, growth patterns, physical fitness, educational attainment, levels of illness and risks of death in a range of populations from around the world. The book includes contributions by medical sociologists, human nutritionists, public health and epidemiologists as well as historical demographers and population geneticists. The ways in which goverments have tried to lessen the effects of health inequalities are also described.There are widely found associations between health and social inequality in human societies. This book explores the unequal trends in birth rates, growth patterns, physical fitness, educational attainment, levels of illness and risks of death in a range of populations from around the world. The book includes contributions by medical sociologists, human nutritionists, public health and epidemiologists as well as historical demographers and population geneticists. The ways in which goverments have tried to lessen the effects of health inequalities are also described.Measures of biological variation have long been associated with many indices of social inequality. Data on health, nutrition, fertility, mortality, physical fitness, intellectual performance and a range of inherited biological markers show the ubiquity of such patterns across time, space and population. This volume reviews the current evidence for the strength of such linkages and the biological and social mechanisms that underlie them. A major theme is the relationship between the proximate determinants of these linkages and their longer term significance for biologically selective social mobility. This book addresses the question of how social stratification mediates processes of natural selection in human groups. Data like thil$