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Why inequality matters By Ben Jackson and Paul Segal It is now well known that the UK has seen a dramatic rise in economic inequality in recent years. But how much of a problem is this? Some have argued that the Labour Party and the left should not be fixated on economic inequality, and instead focus its policy agenda on objectives such as alleviating poverty, widening opportunities and overcoming social exclusion. But in this timely and radical pamphlet Ben Jackson and Paul Segal draw together the lessons of history, economics and political philosophy to show that serious progress towards these goals will never be made unless social democrats continue to strive for a more equal distribution of income and wealth as their most fundamental and defining project. “Catalyst's paper unashamedly revives old debates. First,
that equal opportunity cannot be used (as New Labour has been wont
to do) as a substitute for equality. Second, Catalyst's paper challenges
the legitimacy of a meritocracy: why should the banker be vastly richer
than the nurse or street-cleaner? These were the big debates of Labour's
20th century, and the child poverty targets are going to reopen all
of them.” Ben Jackson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford University, working on political theory and British political history. Paul Segal is a DPhil economist at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and a visiting fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachussets. Both are Catalyst Research Associates. NEW! Download "Why Inequality Matters" as a PDF *** “Time to start spreading?” by Sam Pizzigati “Punitive – and it works” – The Guardian, 11 January 2005 NEW! “Winning the argument on poverty” by Ruth Lister “Why inequality matters” – Labour Research, December 2004 “Tanked up” – Progress, November 2004 “Does inequality matter – a UK view” – Too Much, 22 November 2004 “Long odds for all our chances” – Tribune, 22 October 2004 “Blair’s welfare state vision won’t
work, says Catalyst” “A job is not enough” – The Guardian, 11 October 2004 |
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