What is the problem with saying something is “unequal”?
It is ambiguous because equality and inequality are measured and defined in different way depending on spatial scales
In what ways can inequality manifest?
3 THINGS
- Socially (class, divisions, marginalisation, gender)
- Economically (class too, but wealth, income or consumption?)
- Politically (power)
- (Equality of) Outcomes or opportunities?
What theoretical issue emerges when we consider levels and measurements of inequality?
At what point does inequality become acceptable?
What is the problem with equality of opportunity?
Used by (neo)liberals to justify policies - forgets that some people may not be able to realise opportunities
Links to Ardent 1951 rights to rights
What is the problem with decile/percentile dispersion ratios?
- Only the income/wealth of top and bottom x% are compared
- Rest of distribution is ignored
What is a better alternative to percentile dispersion ratios?
The lorenz curve - shows the whole cumulative distribution graphically
What is the main issue with the Gini coefficient as a measure of inequality?
Difficult to describe and too much of a reduction
What do measures of inequality all overlook?
How inequality manifests legally/politically and the impacts of inequality (which could exacerbate over generations)
What has Varoufakis highlighted about inequality and colonialism?
Why did the aborigines not colonise Britain? - about how surplus capital (and market economies in particular) produce power for colonisation
What are the two types of inequality, according to Rousseau?
Natural (based on status) and induced (based on the economy and incomes) inequality
Overviewed in Sachs 2004
What is an issue with capitalist markets?
- Capital is dependent on mood
- When there is less confidence in markets, things go wrong because people are less willing to invest etc
- Links to climate change and social ills because people are told to be happy, otherwise why invest?
Varoufakis 2013; Fisher 2009
