Is inequality inevitable?

This week, the Long View has been thinking hard ?? - attending the Atlantic Fellows for Social & Economic Equity (AFSEE) programme at the LSE International Inequalities Institute .

Along with 17 other fellows from around the world, we have been looking at social and economic inequality across disciplines, geographies, histories and perspectives.

It has been exhausting, and fascinating. Most of all, it has been inspiring .. and who doesn't need a little inspiration these days? ?

What do we know about inequality? ??

We have been learning about looking at inequality from lots of different perspectives, as I just mentioned, but they are interlinked and interdependent.

To illustrate, let's look at one example: wealth inequality in the UK.

Here are a handful of fun facts from the 2024 Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report Changing the Narrative on Wealth Inequality by Sarah Kerr and Michael Vaughan:

?? The UK is becoming more unequal, every day. The bottom 50% of the population owned less than 5% of wealth in 2021, and the top 10% a staggering 57% (up from 52.5% in 1995). The top 1% alone held 23% of all wealth in the UK.

?? Inequality in the UK is gendered. Men have on average ￡92,762 more in total wealth than women, a gap of 35%.?

?? Inequality in the UK is racialised. People in the black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and black African ethnic groups have more net debt (31%, 38% and 44% respectively) than individuals in the Indian ethnic group and the white British and Pakistani ethnic groups (11% and around 15% respectively).

?? Inequality in the UK is linked to geography. The South is considerably more wealthy than the North and this difference is growing. The difference in median individual wealth between South-East England (￡263,000) and North-East of England and Scotland (￡79,000) more than doubled between July 2010 to June 2012, and April 2018 to March 2020.

Is inequality a bad thing? ??

Readers, if you are here, you don't really need me to answer this question ??♀?

In Why Wealth Inequality Matters (2024), Professor Mike Savage says we should picture an "inequality iceberg. Mostly invisible, it sits beneath and sustains an already deeply unequal society, amplifying ‘categorical’ inequalities (race, sex, class) and regional inequalities, and it raises risk levels (health, environmental, financial) for those least able to bear the strain, and least able to ‘capture’ sufficient political power to shift the scales in their favour."

So let's break that down ??, ??, ??..

??? Inequality has a real impact on people's lives increasing vulnerability and risk for some people - limiting opportunity, harming health and wellbeing, reducing dignity and regard

???? Inequality is rooted in differences we don't believe should matter, but do like race, gender identity, class, religion and geography

?? Inequality is also linked to a global historic legacy that we do not identify with, but we cannot escape like colonialism and the rise of global capitalist markets

?? Inequality deepens when it is not addressed because like all systems that serve powerful interests, it is self sustaining unless it is disrupted

Try thinking about that in whatever context you live or work in - how true (or not) do these propositions feel to you?

Thanks for stating the obvious, and for bringing down my Friday morning? So what's the fix?

I don't know, but these folks are working really, really hard on some of the answers ????

Okay fine. So how can we tackle inequality, right here, today?

Sometimes, when we are really passionate about an issue, we can struggle to explain why to people who don't share our perspective, or to motivate people who share our views to take action. This can be isolating and disheartening, but it needn't be.

Here are some suggestions for getting unstuck from that rut:

??? Speak honestly and truthfully about the problem, and why it matters to you. I'm not saying that you have to speak about yourself, but I am asking you to be yourself, and explain what you think and the change you want to see in your own words.

?? Make a list of a dozen ways of achieving your goal - big and small. There are a hundred pathways to the future that you have envisioned, and you only need to be a moment in that movement for change. It's important to remember that no single individual is responsible for creating, or ending, inequality - but our individual actions do have collective impact.

????Find your place, and hold your space. We all have a place, and we can make a contribution. What we can do will vary depending on our skills and resources and capabilities. Some of us are great speakers, some of us are dancers, or carergivers, or artists or hard-working do-anything do-ers. Find your place, and do your thing.

And remember:

???? Thanks for reading the Long View again this week!

Here are a few extras for those of you who are still thinking/procrastinating this morning:

?? Read this fascinating article about the radical message behind Mark Wallinger's The World Turned Upside Down sculpture.

???For a great example, of people finding their place, and holding their space: last night, I went to the Public Interest Law Centre (London)'s launch of a new report on Why Cross-Subsidy Can't Solve London's Housing Emergency.

The room was full of housing rights activists, lawyers, academics and the generally interested public and the buzz was real, and inspiring. Watch this great guide they made together on challenging estate demolition plans in London:

?? And finally, here's a long read from George Kunnath called Doni the Anthropologist's Dog for a dog's-eye view of human and canine struggle, triumph, loss and the quest for belonging.