“If we come to understand the human value and dignity of people from different backgrounds, we can do a bit to deflect inequality in our everyday interactions,” says Harvard Professor and winner of the 2017 Erasmus Prize Michèle Lamont. Here, she recommends five books that illuminate the sociology of inequality.

The US, the UK and many other countries around the globe have become far less equal over the past 30 years. It’s important we understand how and why this happened, and what it means for our societies, says Daron Acemoglu, a professor of economics at MIT. He recommends the best books to get a better understanding of inequality.

The concept of ‘race’ is misleading and inaccurate, argues Kurt Barling, Professor of Journalism at the University of Middlesex and author of The R Word: Racism and Modern Society. He recommends the best books to think about racism.

Kenneth W. Mack, the  Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law at Harvard University, discusses the warring ideals of egalitarianism and exclusion at the heart of US politics and law, from the founding of the nation up to the present day.

The anthropologist tells us about books that give voice to low-wage migrant labourers and explains the mutual dependence of slums and “urban glamour zones”

Amnesty International’s director of international advocacy chooses books that illuminate historical and contemporary human rights issues, from the Belgian Congo to Iran

Founder and CEO of Women for Women International Zainab Salbi says we need to make the 21st century the time for women’s rights, and describes how reading Rumi’s poems helps her to find inner peace

World Bank economist and author of The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Short and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality discusses global economic inequality and says internal issues of inequality breed aggressive foreign policy

Director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti says Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a thinly veiled metaphor for the War on Terror

The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland picks the best books to read on climate justice.

The ODI research fellow discusses gender equality in the developing world and says that the authority to insist on safe sex and access to medical care is vital to establishing the most basic forms of gender equality

The child development expert Sue Palmer explains why modern life is making boys more sad, isolated and materialistic.

The architectural teacher and writer explores the origins and consequences of urban partition along ethnic lines and selects five books that focus on divided cities such as Jerusalem, Belfast and Beirut