A Question of Inequality: The Politics of Equal Worth

by Christopher Steed

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755601813
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/23/2020
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Christopher Steed is a research fellow at Southampton University. He spent twelve years in Whitehall, where he worked on trade policy towards South Africa during the Thatcher years and deindustrialisation. He has twenty years' experience as a parish priest and currently works for the Diocese of Winchester. A qualified psychotherapist and counsellor, he holds doctorates in sociology and education from the University of Exeter, and in theology and history from Trinity College, USA. He has worked in education and in senior management roles in not-for-profit organisations. He is the author of A Question of Worth (I.B.Tauris, 2016).

Table of Contents

Introduction Setting the Scene 1

Part 1 Landscapes of Inequality

Chapter 1 A Tale of Two Cities 15

Chapter 2 Winners, Losers and New Class Divides 26

Chapter 3 Global Divides 44

Chapter 4 Half the World: Identity Wars 56

Chapter 5 War on the Skin 70

Chapter 6 Intact Bodies, Wounded History 79

Part 2 Why We Should Not Just Accept Inequality

Chapter 7 Moral Outrage: Religious and Philosophical Arguments 89

Chapter 8 Why Inequality Matters: Economic and Practical Arguments 104

Chapter 9 The Argument from Intensified Social Comparison 115

Chapter 10 The Psychodynamic Argument: Marx versus Freud 126

Part 3 Clarifying Social Dynamics of Inequality: Notes on a Theory

Chapter 11 A Theory of Social Relativity 143

Chapter 12 The Politics of Positions 153

Chapter 13 Understanding the Triggers: Indifference, Indignity and Inequality 166

Chapter 14 Inequality's Inner Thread: Towards a New Social Category 180

Chapter 15 The Effect of Inequality: Demoralisation, Resignation and the Protest 196

Chapter 16 The Politics of Equal Worth 205

Notes 219

Index 248

Editorial Reviews

"Viewing inequality in the 21st century through a different lens, this is a timely and insightful book ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers." --CHOICE

From the Publisher