Social Differentiation: Patterns and Processes

Judith E. Franchuk is a librarian in the Cameron Library at the
University of Alberta.

Juteau defines social differentiation as “a process involving the
construction of social categories and group boundaries” and prefaces
this collection of essays with an interesting and well-written
introduction in which she discusses patterns of differentiation leading
to inclusion and exclusion.

Each of the collection’s five essays explores a different type of
social differentiation based on the social categories of gender, age,
race, Aboriginal standing, and spatiality. Each author discusses the
economic, political, cultural, and normative factors that are the basis
of social differentiation; the intersection and interaction of these
social categories; and the impact of various policies on the
distribution of societal resources.

In her essay on gender differentiation and employment relationships,
Vosko examines the basis for the standard and nonstandard employment
relationships (SER and NSER); she also examines the current situation in
which NSERs have grown to include many nontraditional yet highly
male-populated endeavours such as self-employment while labour policy
continues to be based on a gendered SER. David Cheal investigates
age-related differentiation in his discussion of the “privileging of
prime-age workers”; his analysis reveals that age-related
differentiation is the surface marker of a number of underlying
processes such as “life-course” differentiation.

Peter Li explores racial differentiation through discussion of how
multiculturalism policies construct social diversity; he suggests that
attributing positive worth to diversity will help to eliminate policies
and practices that support discrimination and the devaluing of some
social categories. Terry Wotherspoon scrutinizes the impact of legal,
social, economic, and policy development on Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal
differentiation. Chris Southcott questions the usefulness of urban/rural
differentiation in light of social and economic developments such as
globalism; instead, he suggests spatial differentiation and indicates
six distinct types of regions in Canada.

The essays in this collection are impressive in their depth of analysis
and consideration of the interaction and intersection of social
categories. Social Differentiation will be of interest to policy-makers
and students of the social sciences.