Inequality, the Antecedent and Outcome of Injustice
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i “His attack on elitism and despair is impressive, his factual evidence undeniable.” Rt. Hon. David Blunkett MP “A geographer maps the injustices of Selfish Capitalism with scholarly detachment.” Oliver James, author of Affluenza “Beliefs which serve privilege, elitism and inequality infect our minds like computer viruses. But now Dorling provides the brain-cleaning software we need to begin creating a happier society.” Richard Wilkinson, Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology and author of The Spirit Level “A powerful and passionate book. Useful contribution to the policy debate.” Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist blog “An impassioned and informed plea for greater social justice.” Peder Clark, Public Health Today “This is a high content, high value book, to be recommended to anyone interested or involved in anything to do with poverty, inequality and injustice and attempts to redress them.” Edward Harkins, Scotregen “Dorling’s analysis is quietly, devastatingly persuasive. Once you’ve read him you have to reassess how you live.” Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festival “It occupies a place on my bookshelf where I can reach it easily, looking for the many neat arguments which carry the egalitarian cause forward.” Don Flynn in Chartist “An indictment of our political classes and their neglect of the disadvantaged in contemporary Britain.” Diane Reay, Professor of Education (Blackwells online review) ii “Witty, well-researched, well-intentioned and brimful of facts.” Jonathan Wright, Geographical “Like the recent work of writers such as Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett and Oliver James, [Dorling] provides valuable ammunition for attacking the ideas of our rulers and his book deserves a wide readership.” Iain Ferguson, Socialist Review “Engaged and angry.” New Left Review “Essential reading for everyone concerned with social justice.” Morning Star “One of the foremost thinkers on the issue of social inequality today.” Labour briefing “The original edition of Injustice stands out as a masterpiece. This updated edition is perhaps even more important today.” Henry Parkyn-Smith, Counterfire “Dorling’s unsettling account makes it clear that inequity and inequality is less about ‘ideology’ and more about the self-serving interests of the powerful. His book is a passionate call for change.” Aniko Horvath, King’s College London “A must-read for those seeking to dispel the naturalness of injustice while reckoning with the fallout of the past five years of surging, post-recession inequality.” Geoffrey DeVerteuil, Cardiff University iii This book is an extensively revised and updated edition of Injustice: Why social inequality persists, first published in 2010. Other related titles from Danny Dorling with Policy Press Ballas, D., Dorling, D. and Hennig, B.D. (2014) The Social Atlas of Europe Dorling, D. (2013) Unequal Health: The scandal of our times Extracts available as three ebooks: 1. Public Health – Cholera to coalition 2. Social Medicine – Polarisation and perspectives 3. Health Inequalities – From Titanic to the crash Dorling, D. (2012) Fair Play: A Daniel Dorling reader on social justice Dorling, D. and Thomas, B. (2011) Bankrupt Britain: An atlas of social change Shaw, M., Davey Smith, G., Thomas, B. and Dorling, D. (2008) The Grim Reaper’s road map: An atlas of mortality in Britain Thomas, B. and Dorling, D. (2007) Identity in Britain: A cradle-to-grave atlas Dorling, D., Rigby, J., Wheeler, B., Ballas, D., Thomas, B., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D. and Lupton, R. (2007) Poverty, wealth and place in Britain, 1968 to 2005 Wheeler, B., Shaw, M., Mitchell, R. and Dorling, D. (2005) Life in Britain: Using Millennial Census data to understand poverty, inequality and place: Ten summary reports and a technical report Dorling, D. and Thomas, B. (2004) People and places: A 2001 Census atlas of the UK Davey Smith, G., Dorling, D. and Shaw, M. (eds) (2001) Poverty, inequality and health: 1800–2000 – A reader Mitchell, R., Dorling, D. and Shaw, M. (2000) Inequalities in life and death: What if Britain were more equal? Shaw, M., Dorling, D., Gordon, D. and Davey Smith, G. (1999, 2000) The widening gap: Health inequalities and policy in Britain Gordon, D., Davey Smith, G., Dorling, D. and Shaw, M. (eds) (1999) Inequalities in health: The evidence presented to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health, chaired by Sir Donald Acheson iv WHY SOCIAL INEQUALITY STILL PERSISTS REVISED EDITION DANNY DORLING v This edition first published in Great Britain in 2015 by Policy Press North American office: University of Bristol The Policy Press 1-9 Old Park Hill c/o The University of Chicago Press Bristol BS8 1SD 1427 East 60th Street UK Chicago, IL 60637, USA t: +44 (0)117 954 5940 t: +1 773 702 7700 [email protected] f: +1 773 702 9756 www.policypress.co.uk [email protected] www.press.uchicago.edu © Policy Press 2015 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 978-1-4473-2075-3 [paperback] ISBN 978-1-4473-2077-7 [ePub] ISBN 978-1-4473-2078-4 [Kindle] The right of Danny Dorling to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Policy Press. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author and not of the University of Bristol or Policy Press. The University of Bristol and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality. Cover design by Soapbox Design. Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners. vi Rakaia Bridge, New Zealand, as first mentioned on page 60 © Danny Dorling, 2009 vii To my parents, Bronwen and David Dorling viii Contents List of figures xi Acknowledgements xii Letter from America: commentary by Sam Pizzigati xiv Foreword by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett xviii 1 Introduction 1 The beliefs that uphold injustice 3 The five faces of social inequality 6 A pocket full of posies 11 2 Inequality: the antecedent and outcome of injustice 15 Inevitability of change: what we do now we could all have enough? 17 Injustice rising out of the ashes of social evils 20 So where do we go from here? 28 3 ‘Elitism is efficient’: new educational divisions 37 The ‘new delinquents’: those most harmed by elitism, a seventh of 40 all children IQism: the underlying rationale for the growth of elitism 51 Apartheid schooling: from garaging to hot-housing 61 Putting on a pedestal: superhuman myths 74 The 1950s: from ignorance to arrogance 83 4 ‘Exclusion is necessary’: excluding people from society 99 Indebted: those most harmed by exclusion, a sixth of all people 102 Geneticism: the theories that exacerbate social exclusion 115 Segregation: of community from community 126 Escapism: of the rich behind walls 134 The 1960s: the turning point from inclusion to exclusion 146 5 ‘Prejudice is natural’: a wider racism 159 Indenture: labour for miserable reward, a fifth of all adults 164 Darwinism: thinking that different incentives are needed 177 ix X INJUSTICE Polarisation: of the economic performance of regions 191 Inheritance: the mechanism of prejudice 205 The 1970s: the new racism 220 6 ‘Greed is good’: consumption and waste 233 Not part of the programme: just getting by, a quarter of all households 237 Economics: the discipline with so much to answer for 253 Gulfs: between our lives and our worlds 266 Celebrity: celebrated as a model of success 276 The 1980s: changing the rules of trade 289 7 ‘Despair is inevitable’: health and wellbeing 305 Anxiety: made ill through the way we live, a third of all families 307 Competition: proposing insecurity as beneficial 314 Culture: the international gaps in societal wellbeing 324 Bird-brained thinking: putting profit above caring 332 The 1990s: birth of mass medicating 344 8 Conspiracy, consensus, conclusion 353 No great conspiracy 353 Using the vote 367 Coming to the end 375 Injustice deepens 382 What to do 388 Notes and sources 395 Chapter 1: Introduction 395 Chapter 2: Inequality 398 Chapter 3: Elitism 402 Chapter 4: Exclusion 412 Chapter 5: Prejudice 420 Chapter 6: Greed 429 Chapter 7: Despair 438 Chapter 8: Conclusion 448 Name index 459 Subject index 462 List of figures 1 Children in the Netherlands ranked by ability, according to the OECD, 2012 (%) 44 2 Distribution of children by ability, according to the OECD, 2012 (%) 53 3 School-leaving age (years) and university entry (%), Britain, 1876-2013 63 4 Male and female Nobel (and economics) laureates, by subject, 1901–2014 75 5 Female Nobel laureates (%), by decade, worldwide, 1901–2014 82 6 Proportion of poor households by different measures (%), Britain, 1999 104 7 Geographical distribution of paupers, England and Wales, 1891 117 8 Circling from exclusion to inclusion and back again (model) 130 9 Distribution of income inequality (US$), worldwide, 2000 140 10 Real growth per decade in GDP (%), per person, by continent, 1955–2010 147 11 Households’ ability