Danny Dorling Presentation to the RSA. April 2010

8/9/2019 Danny Dorling Presentation to the RSA. April 2010

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Injustice:Why social inequality persists

Danny Dorling

University of Sheffield

The claim: the five social evils identified by Beveridge in 1942 are gradually

being eradicated, they are being replaced by five new tenets of injustice -

elitism, exclusion, prejudice, greed and despair.

Social injustices are now being recreated, renewed and supported by these

five new sets of unjust beliefs. We need to again begin to think differently.


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From ignorance

In 1942 illiteracy waswidespread and

numeracy was even

worse. James Flynn has

shown how much we have

improved since (The Flynn

effect)

However, educational

apartheid in the UK has risen

as the majority of additional

qualifications in recent

decades have been awarded

to a minority of young adults Great BritainTopography and RiversMajor road network...Major road network...


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to elitism

A seventh of children inaffluent countries are now

routinely described as

found limited or simple

at learning by the OECD

Many now again believe that

the ability of children is

distributed along a bell-curve

with little chance for most of

rising much above their setpotential

This elitism is erroneously

seen as being somehow

efficient


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From want

In 1942, for the first time inBritain, many of the poor

did not go hungry thanks

to rationing

Absolute material deprivationwas reduced to the point

where obesity became

associated with poverty

Social segregation has

increased as real financial

rewards and benefits to those

worse off have fallen just

as the riches of the wealthy

have grown


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to exclusion

a sixth of people in the moreunequal rich countries are

debarred: excluded from

full membership of society

because of poverty. A much

smaller proportion exclude

themselves from social norms

by dint of their wealth.

Questioning these extremes

is far from encouraged

Exclusion has become

accepted as a new necessity,

both the super-rich and

widespread inequality havebecome acce table


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From idleness

In the 1930s millions ofpeople were desperate for a

job any job

That desperation was

eradicated by creating newemployment and providing

better social security

But a wider racism has

developed, a new social

Darwinism, which sees some

people as inherently less

deserving and able than

those who need great

rewards to work in top jobs


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to prejudice

a fifth of adults in countrieslike Britain and the United

States are now serial

debtors. Rising inequalities

in income and wealth have

made it more likely that

people get into debt in order

to keep up with their peer

group and avoid being judged

undeserving, of living in thewrong place, or of just

wearing the wrong clothes.

This prejudice is being

painted as natural as

Darwinian.


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From squalor

After 1942 unprecedentednumbers of households were

homeless, the eradication of

slums was a priority

Most spending on housingwas initially for those who

most needed housing

But now a mantra is widely

accepted that for those who

have most to spend, theirspending is necessary at

almost any cost, including

growing global inequalities

and mounting debt


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to greed

a quarterof households in

Britain are discarded in

terms of social inclusion.

Many cannot afford to run a

car while others have more

cars than they can drive. Foreign holidays are

advertised as normal,

whereas increasing numbers

of households cannot afford asingle annual holiday

Greed is presented as good,

welcomed as what now

drives our model of economic

growth, not duty but greed Great Britains population distribution


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From disease

In 1942 a near bankruptcountry planned the

introduction of efficient

national health care

The NHS and reduced socialinequality, resulting in a great

reduction in suffering and fear

of physical disease

But anxiety rose in place of

disease, best understood asa symptom of living in times

and places when wide

inequalities are seen as

acceptable Political Britain


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to despair

a third of families in Britainnow contain someone who

suffers depression or

chronic anxiety disorder. The

result of living in more

unequal affluent countries is

to harm the mental well-being

of people in general and

especially adolescents, who

now face such uncertainfutures

Despair is becoming seen as

inevitable, the symptoms

require mass medication, but

what of the causes? Greedy Britain


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Inequality is expensive. In money,learning, respect, labour, housing and lives.

Among the worlds richest 25 countries:The most unequal are:

17.7 Singapore (-)

15.9 US (20)

15.0 Portugal (-)

13.8 UK (22)

13.4 Israel (-)

And the most equal are:

6.9 Germany (14)

6.2 Sweden (8)

6.1 Norway (8)

5.6 Finland (10)4.5 Japan (-)

90: 10 income ratios (note 37 page 327 of

Injustice Why social inequality persists)(in brackets UNDP 2009 % aged 16-65 lacking literacy)

Unequal Britain

CreditsCredits

Presentation by

Danny Dorling

and Benjamin Hennig

Maps and animations by

Benjamin Hennig

Documents

Danny Dorling Presentation to the RSA. April 2010