The Inheritance of Inequality (Routledge Library Editions: Inequality)

Originally published in 1980 at a time when the discipline of sociology was still relatively young in Australia, The Inheritance of Inequality is an important contribution to the study of social mobility in Australia. The book is based on findings from a survey of nearly 5,000 Australians who were interviewed about their family backgrounds and occupational careers. In its scope and sample size, the survey was unique among non-governmental Australian studies. It went beyond the findings of earlier surveys, giving broader understanding of social mobility and stratification. The book sets out the processes by which Australians have found their place in the world of work in the 20th Century. Factors tending to enhance or frustrate attainment are identified and the degree to which Australia is an egalitarian society is assessed.

Leonard Broom (1911-2009) was a distinguished professor of sociology in a career spanning seven decades, with appointments at UCLA, UT Austin, the Australian National University and most recently at UCSB. He served as editor of the American Sociological Review (1955-57) and co-authored (with Philip Selznick, UC Berkeley) one of the first and most successful textbooks in sociology. Broom’s early research on the effects of US internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII made him an early critic of that policy and shaped his life-long interest in social inequality and discrimination against minority and marginalized populations.

One of Broom’s most lasting contributions may be his effect on the discipline of sociology. He was instrumental in shaping the development of a strong department while Chair at UCLA and later while Chair at the University of Texas. At Texas, he founded the Population Research Center, which remains one of the strengths of that department. In Australia in the mid-1960s, he was a critical adviser and influential voice in the creation of a department of sociology at The Australian National University and in the foundation of the Sociological Association of Australia and New Zealand, as well as the foundation the association’s journal, which remains the major conduit for peer-reviewed academic work in Australia.