Members Only - by Diana Kendall (Paperback)

About the Book

Members Only addresses how exclusive private clubs maintain and perpetuate class-based privilege and racial/ethnic and religious segregation, and how such patterns of social exclusion heighten social inequality. Members Only continues Kendall's study of the upper classes, whic...

Book Synopsis

In Members Only Diana Kendall shows how the upper classes use exclusive clubs as their private domain for conducting business, fostering social networks, and launching the next generation of elites - all beyond the view of outsiders and the media. In her research, Kendall explains how and why club members routinely engage in exclusionary practices that help them accumulate personal power and social capital that is unavailable to outsiders.

Members Only addresses how exclusive private clubs maintain and perpetuate class-based privilege and racial/ethnic and religious segregation, and how such patterns of social exclusion heighten social inequality. This book continues Kendall's study of the upper classes, which began with The Power of Good Deeds, and Framing Class.

Review Quotes

"Kendall illuminates how membership is controlled by and envelops the privileged few with a capacity to exercise social, cultural, and political capital. Her distinctive treatment of these assets fleshes out specific details so well that students of inequality are guaranteed satisfaction. Highly recommended." --Choice Reviews

Kendall illuminates how membership is controlled by and envelops the privileged few with a capacity to exercise social, cultural, and political capital. Her distinctive treatment of these assets fleshes out specific details so well that students of inequality are guaranteed satisfaction. Highly recommended.

About the Author

Diana Kendall is professor of sociology at Baylor University and author of Framing Class: Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America