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Inequality is widening. In the twenty-first century, the gap between those who have more and those who have less is growing: 1 per cent of the world owns as much as the other 99 per cent. Should we be worried? Christopher Steed, author of the acclaimed A Question of Worth, argues that inequality does indeed matter: that economic fairness is one of the defining issues of our time. In a world conditioned by social media, enabling intensified social comparison, the anxieties and effects of contemporary inequality are a cause for huge concern.
Despite a wealth of research around inequality most studies have concentrated on its quantitative aspects. In A Question of Inequality, Christopher Steed is concerned with exploring why inequality matters, what it means for those who find themselves victims of it, and what can be done about it. He probes what it means to experience inequality, drawing out case studies on the effects of poverty. In proposing a theory of social relativity the author provides new insights into the effects and meaning of inequality and makes an original and important contribution to a key issue facing the world today.
Introduction: Setting the Scene
Part I. Landscapes of Inequality
1. A Tale of Two Cities
2. Winners, Losers and New Class Divides
3. Global Divides
4. Half the World: Identity Wars
5. War on the Skin
6. Intact Bodies, Wounded History
Part II. Why We Should Not Just Accept Inequality
7. Moral Outrage: Religious and Philosophical Arguments
8. Why Inequality Matters: Economic and Practical Arguments
9. The Argument from Intensified Social Comparison
10. The Psychodynamic Argument: Marx versus Freud
Part III. Clarifying Social Dynamics of Inequality: Notes on a Theory
11. A Theory of Social Relativity
12. The Politics of Positions
13. Understanding the Triggers: Indifference, Indignity and Inequality
14. Inequality's Inner Thread: Towards a New Social Category
15. The Effect of Inequality: Demoralisation, Resignation and the Protest
16. The Politics of Equal Worth
Notes
Index
Description
Inequality is widening. In the twenty-first century, the gap between those who have more and those who have less is growing: 1 per cent of the world owns as much as the other 99 per cent. Should we be worried? Christopher Steed, author of the acclaimed A Question of Worth, argues that inequality does indeed matter: that economic fairness is one of the defining issues of our time. In a world conditioned by social media, enabling intensified social comparison, the anxieties and effects of contemporary inequality are a cause for huge concern.
Despite a wealth of research around inequality most studies have concentrated on its quantitative aspects. In A Question of Inequality, Christopher Steed is concerned with exploring why inequality matters, what it means for those who find themselves victims of it, and what can be done about it. He probes what it means to experience inequality, drawing out case studies on the effects of poverty. In proposing a theory of social relativity the author provides new insights into the effects and meaning of inequality and makes an original and important contribution to a key issue facing the world today.
