Inequality, social immobility, and political polarization are only a few crucial phenomena driven by the inevitability of social structures. Social structures determine who has power and influence, account for why people fail to assimilate basic facts, and enlarge our understanding of patterns of contagion.
Despite their primary role in shaping our lives, human networks are often overlooked when we try to account for our most important political and economic practices. In "The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs and Behaviors." Stanford Professor Matthew Jackson illuminates the complexity of the social networks in which we are (often unwittingly) positioned and aims to facilitate a deeper appreciation of why we are who we are.
