In the last two decades of the 20th century, we witnessed a dramatic growth in social inequalities within and among countries. This has had a most negative impact on the health and quality of life of large sectors of the populations in the developed and underdeveloped world. This volume analyzes the reasons for this increase in inequalities and its consequences for the well-being of populations. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and countries analyze the different dimensions of this topic.

Why can't politicians seem to make policies that will reduce social inequality, even when they acknowledge that inequality is harmful?

During the last few decades, the gap between the incomes, wealth and living standards of rich and poor people has increased in most countries. Economic inequality has become a defining issue of our age. In this book, leading political economist Frank Stilwell provides a comprehensive overview of the nature, causes, and consequences of this growing divide. He shows how we can understand inequalities of wealth and incomes, globally and nationally, examines the scale of the problem and explains how it affects our wellbeing. He also shows that, although governments are often committed to ‘growth at all costs’ and ‘trickle down’ economics, there are alternative public policies that could be used to narrow the gap between rich and poor. Stilwell’s engaging and clear guide to the issues will be indispensable reading for all students, general readers and scholars interested in inequality in political economy, economics, public policy and beyond.

The field of social inequalities in health continues its vigorous growth in the early years of the 21st century. This volume, following in the footsteps of Vicente Navarro's edited collection The Political Economy of Social Inequalities, is a compilation of recent contributions to the areas of social epidemiology, health disparities, health economics, and health services research. The overarching theme is to describe and explain the evergrowing health inequalities across social class, race, and gender, as well as neighborhood, city, region, country, and continent. The approach of this book is distinctly multi-, trans-, and interdisciplinary: the fields of public health, population health, epidemiology, economics, sociology, political science, philosophy, medicine, and history are all represented here.

Economic development and a dramatic improvement in living standards in many parts of the People’s Republic of China during the past three decades of economic reforms have been hailed by the Chinese Communist Party and many commentators in the international arena as the most spectacular achievements in the history of humanity. However, three decades of economic reforms have also transformed China from one of the world’s most egalitarian societies into one of the most unequal. This book offers a comprehensive account of inequality in China from an interdisciplinary perspective. It both draws on, and speaks to, the existing body of literature that is generated mainly in the fields of economics and sociology, while extending its scope to also examine the political, social, moral and cultural dimensions of inequality. Each chapter addresses the question of inequality from a specific context of research, including housing, health care, social welfare, education, migration, land distribution, law, gender and sexuality. Moving beyond traditional socio-economic theories, the contributors to this volume explore a wide range of social, political, economic and cultural practices that result from, as well as further entrench, the inequalities in Chinese society. Importantly, the essays in Unequal China probe the hidden causes of inequality - namely, the role of state power and the importance of culture - and underline how both state power and cultural factors have a key part to play in legitimating inequality. With an innovative approach that moves beyond the economic and sociological roots of inequality in China, this volume is a welcome addition to what is a growing field of study, and will appeal to students and scholars interested in Chinese culture and society, Chinese politics and Asian social policy.

Inequalities in incomes and wealth have increased in advanced countries, making our economies less dynamic, our societies more unjust and our political processes less democratic. As a result, reducing inequalities is now a major economic, social and political challenge. This book provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the economics of inequality. Until recently economic inequality has been the object of limited research efforts, attracting only modest attention in the political arena; despite important advances in the knowledge of its dimensions, a convincing understanding of the mechanisms at its roots is still lacking. This book summarizes the topic and provides an interpretation of the mechanisms responsible for increased disparities. Building on this analysis the book argues for an integrated set of policies addressing the roots of inequalities in incomes and wealth Explaining Inequality will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners concerned with inequality, economic and public policy and political economy.

The disparity in wealth both within and between nations has grown rapidly in recent years, and is becoming an increasingly significant issue in attempts to deal with environmental problems - from international negotiations over climate change to local concerns about environmental justice. The Political Economy of Inequality offers an in-depth examination of the economic theory behind the causes, consequences, and cures for inequality. The volume brings together disparate analyses of inequality in economic and related fields, identifies areas where more work is most needed, and lays the groundwork for an integrated understanding of the causes and consequences of inequality in the United States and the world. Sections cover: the distribution of earnings the distribution of wealth celebrity and CEO incomes the effects of corporate power poverty, inequality, and power household roles and family structure skills, technology, and education categorical inequalities, such as those based on race, gender, or ethnicity inequality on a global scale the welfare state The book is the fifth in the six-volume Frontier Issues in Economic Thought series. Each volume offers two- to three-page summaries of the most notable articles and chapters in a "frontier" area where important new work is being done but has not yet been incorporated into the standard definition of economics. Introductory essays by the editors review the field, cite other literature that was not summarized, and situate the summarized articles within an overview of the subject. As with the other volumes in the series, The Political Economy of Inequality offers an invaluable overview of an emerging field of economics and is a unique reference for students and scholars concerned with economic policy, social economics, work and labor issues, international and sustainable development, or related topics.