Massive Inequalities Research Articles

After Trickle Down, Kicking Down: On Jordan Peterson, Naturalizing Inequality, and Neofascist Indirect Apologetics

This paper argues that Jordan Peterson’s enthusiastic reception, including on the neofascist Right, reflects how his discourse functions as a form of indirect capitalist apologetics, which no longer obviates how the sociopolitical system produces massive inequalities, but sanctifies inequalities as natural and eternal. Part 1 frames the contention of the paper, addressing methodological issues. Part 2 establishes the understanding of indirect apologetics, drawn from Gyorgy Lukács’ account of fascist ideology as involving the following three irrationalist functions: first, ontologizing and relativizing peoples’ material, socioeconomic concerns; second, positioning the in-group as privileged by nature; and third, displacing socioeconomically mediated anxieties onto designated enemies to be combatted by a revivified, masculine culture. Part 3 shows how Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life proposes a social Darwinism (indirect apologetics, function 1), whose darker underside is authoritarian permission to ‘kick down’ on the weak, or those who would seek to ameliorate sociopolitical conditions (indirect apologetics, functions 2, 3).

Hijacking freedom: Ron DeSantis and the scourge of fascist politics

This article examines how the concept of freedom has been appropriated by the far right to impose a number of authoritarian policies designed to dismantle the critical functions of public and higher education. It explores, in particular, the ways in which Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has used an appeal to freedom to punish critics, wage a war on trans people, misrepresent the history of slavery, and impose a new version of McCarthyism on higher education. It challenges what it terms neoliberal and fascist notions of freedom by making clear that democracy and capitalism are incompatible, and that any viable notion of freedom must address not only personal and political rights but also economic rights. Freedom from domination must be matched by a freedom to live in a world marked by the principles of justice, equality, and dignity. There is no freedom in the midst of massive inequalities in wealth, power, and education.

From the lonely crowd to the cyber mob: Fromm on the social consequences of loneliness

In 1950, sociologist David Riesman published a best-selling book entitled The lonely crowd: A study of the changing American character. Famously, he described the ascendant “other directed” person as being haunted by an inner loneliness. This paper seeks to explain the current phenomenon of the cyber mob, an online crowd of peers gathered together to intimidate and “cancel” others, as a form of group behavior founded in profound aloneness and alienation brought about by neoliberal society. While the existence of online groups or mobs is overdetermined, the desire to belong, to feel a part of something larger than oneself, and to escape a haunting inner loneliness may be the twenty-first-century corollary of what Reisman described 73 years ago. With the rise of authoritarianism throughout the world, climate change, massive inequality, pandemic, and the breakdown of moral authority, people on both the Left and the Right cling to cyber mobs to escape aloneness, discharge fear and rage, and acquire affirmation and acceptance through “likes” and “retweets.” While they seem to provide bonding and empowerment, what cyber mobs offer in truth is greater ferocious tribalism and the further undoing of social bonds, fellow feeling, and the remnants of civil society.

Underestimations of the income-based ecological footprint inequality

Previous research has demonstrated that the wealthy harm the environment to a much greater extent than those with lesser means. According to recent estimates, the wealthiest 1% of the world’s population emit 50% more CO2 than the bottom half of the income distribution. The reason for this inequality is clear: affluence boosts consumption, which in turn increases the ecological footprint. Although the phenomenon seems intuitive, little is known as to whether the layperson notices it. The current study assesses the extent to which individuals recognize or fail to notice such massive ecological footprint inequality and why misperceptions may arise. Across four preregistered studies (N = 1,188) conducted in a highly unequal socio-economic environment (Brazil), we show that people often fail to accurately perceive the meaningful ecological footprint inequality that surrounds them. These misperceptions are explained by people’s (a) failure to properly incorporate the impact of income-based differences in consumption in their ecological footprint assessments and (b) tendency to associate wealth with superior environmental education, greater resources to act sustainably, and better local infrastructure (e.g., cleaner paved streets and proper waste collection). Emphasizing the lack of infrastructure in deprived neighborhoods further exacerbates the misperceptions, whereas highlighting key differences in consumption habits across the socio-economic spectrum increases accuracy. This research, thus, identifies the factors that magnify existing misperceptions in ecological footprint inequality and provides avenues for policymakers to reduce such mistakes.

Capitalism qua development in an era of planetary crisis

ABSTRACT Ecological crisis, massive inequality and war: our world is at a dangerous tipping point. Yet the present global crisis defies simple description and is difficult to explain. To clarify, it is argued that the character of the world crisis today is triple: ecological, economic and political. Underlying all three dimensions is the capitalist form of world society. The consolidation of this capitalist form was accompanied by the emergence of the concept of development within liberal philosophy. During the 20th century, development came to define geographical regions and legitimate capitalist political economy on a world scale. Capitalism came to be taken as development: I call this ‘capitalism qua development’. Because of the triple crisis, capitalism qua development is beginning to undergo a profound change. In an era of rapid global heating and ecological crisis, the tie between capital and development is straining and likely to give way. Capital is becoming more closely attached to the concept of adaptation. I argue that, in the most likely scenario (‘Climate Leviathan’), capitalism qua development will be recast as adaptation. Some signs of this shift are already apparent. Since this is only a likely prospect, three other possibilities – fates of the concept and practice of development – are proposed.

Ask a Political Scientist: A Conversation with Catharine A. MacKinnon about Power, Politics, and Political Science

Ask a Political Scientist: A Conversation with Catharine A. MacKinnon about Power, Politics, and Political Science

The Nigerian University System, Corruption and Erosion of the Public Good

This article examines the nature, causes and implications of the decline of the public good within Nigeria’s university system over the past three decades. In that period, there has been a significant shortfall in the finances of the university system from federal and state governments, creating the material basis for its inability to recruit, retain and manage quality academic and non-academic staff. Essentially, it highlights how the self-interest of academics, expressed through their powerful union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has engaged in a struggle with government to improve the remuneration of academics rather than the quality of academic services. At the same time, corruption has sapped the system and led to significant levels of exploitation of students, in general, and the sexual harassment of female students. The public good within the university system is rooted in the constitutional provision that directs governments to provide quality and free education at all levels. But governments have failed in this mission, and families have had to pay for their children’s quality education. This outcome has created massive inequality, with only the wealthy able to ensure quality education for their children, usually abroad. This has weakened the commitment of those in authority to push for the return of quality education at the national level. The result is that the Nigerian state appears to have provoked a class struggle in which poorly educated youth and the lump n classes are marginalised and excluded from the ladder of social mobility.

Spatial analysis of housing prices in Tehran city

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the situation of spatial inequality in the residential system of Tehran city in terms of housing prices in the year 2021 and to examine its changes over time (1991–2021).Design/methodology/approachIn terms of purpose, this study is applied research and has used a descriptive-analytical method. The statistical population of this research is the residential units in Tehran city 2021. The average per square meter of a residential unit in the level of city neighborhoods was entered in the geographical information system (GIS) in 2021. Moran’s spatial autocorrelation method, map cluster analysis (hot and cold spots) and Kriging interpolation have been used for spatial analysis of points. Then, the change in spatial inequality in the residential system of Tehran city has been studied and measured based on the price per square meter of a residential unit for 30 years in the 22 districts of Tehran by using statistical clustering based on distance with standard deviation.FindingsThe result of spatial autocorrelation analysis with a score of 0.873872 and a p-value equal to 0.000000 indicates a cluster distribution of housing prices throughout the city. The results of hot spots show that the highest concentration of hot spots (the highest price) is in the northern part of the city, and the highest concentration of cold spots (the lowest price) is in the southern part of Tehran city. Calculating the area and estimating the quantitative values of data-free points by the use of the Kriging interpolation method indicates that 9.95% of Tehran’s area has a price of less than US$800, 17.68% of it has a price of US$800 to US$1,200, 25.40% has the price of US$1,200 to US$1,600, 17.61% has the price of US$1,600 to US$2,000, 9.54% has the price of US$2,000 to US$2,200, 6.69% has the price of US$2,200 to US$2,600, 5.38% has the price of US$2,600 to US$2,800, 4.59% has the price of US$2,800 to US$3,200 and finally, the 3.16% has a price more than US$3,200. The highest price concentration (above US$3,200) is in five neighborhoods (Zafaranieh, Mahmoudieh, Tajrish, Bagh-Ferdows and Hesar Bou-Ali). The findings from the study of changes in housing prices in the period (1991–2021) indicate that the southern part of Tehran has grown slightly compared to the average range, and the western part of Tehran, which includes the 21st and 22nd regions with much more growth than the average price.Originality/valueThere is massive inequality in housing prices in different areas and neighborhoods of Tehran city in 2021. In the period under study, spatial inequality in the residential system of Tehran intensified. The considerable increase in housing prices in the housing market of Tehran has made this sector a commodity, intensifying the inequality between owners and non-owners. This increase in housing price inequality has caused an increase in the informal living for the population of the southern part. This population is experiencing a living situation that contrasts with the urban plans and policies.

Addressing the impossible triad – high inequality, decentralized policy and low local capacity – challenges for drinking water policy in Mexico

ABSTRACT What are the planning challenges faced in addressing equity? This paper discusses the importance of understanding institutional and policy contexts affecting planners’ efforts to close water access gaps across communities in low and middle income countries. Three challenges combined complicate local governments action towards water access: decentralization of water policy, high levels of inequality and low levels of local capacity, what we call the ‘impossible triad.’ Our analysis of two programmes designed to address the needs of the most marginalized communities in Mexico shows that programme requirements still fail to consider local constraints. Prior to decentralization, policies designed to reduce water access inequality relied on national government provision of municipal water infrastructure. Decentralized water policies differ, presenting severe institutional challenges for even the most well intentioned planners. This paper emphasizes the importance of national-level government involvement in addressing national-level inequalities and calls for reconsideration of decentralized policymaking structures to address massive water access inequalities.

Daily peak-shaving model of cascade hydropower serving multi-grids considering an HVDC channel shared constraint

High-voltage direct current (HVDC) is widely applied in large-scale hydropower transmission in China because of its long distance, large capacity and low power loss. However, when multiple hydropower stations send power by sharing one HVDC transmission channel, it is challenging to ensure the security of the sending-end power grid. To address this problem, a short-term peak-shaving model serving multiple power grids considering an HVDC channel shared (HCS) constraint is proposed. First, a daily peak-shaving model for cascade hydropower stations serving multiple power grids coupling with conventional HVDC constraints is established. Second, for the power transmission of different hydropower stations sharing one HVDC channel, the HCS constraint restructured by set-calculation is integrated into the model. Finally, the Big-M method is adopted to linearize the restructured HCS constraint to build an MILP model due to its flexibility in handling massive inequality constraints. The result from the case study shows that the proposed HCS constraint can be well coupled into the model to ensure power transmission security. The peak-valley difference in dry and flood season reduced by 37% and 21%, respectively, which indicates that the model can make full use of the flexibility of hydropower to achieve a satisfactory peak-shaving result.

The Day the World Stopped Working

The Day the World Stopped Working

The role of Indigenous knowledge: practices and values in promoting socio-economic well-being and equity among Endorois community of Kenya

The role played by Indigenous knowledge (IK) cannot be underestimated. Besides IK firming the individual and community’s distinctiveness, its beliefs and practices are credited for holding strong cultural and social obligation on its members to promote well-being. In the wake of colonialism and subsequent capitalism, Indigenous practices and values have continued to crumble, leading to massive inequalities, poverty and ecological destruction. The study elucidates that there exist situated Indigenous economic knowledge, values that are significant in ensuring community’s well-being. The study was carried out among the Endorois community of Baringo County, using ethnographic approach and qualitative methods. Purposive sampling was done through community’s gatekeepers. Findings demonstrate that displacement of the African Indigenous economic system and adoption of neoliberal economic model could be causes of socio-economic and ecological crises in Africa. It concludes that the negative elements of the neoliberal capitalist model can be re-balanced by the adoption of African Indigenous economic practices.

Editor's Note

Editor's Note Jeffrey R. Di Leo The region called Asia was culturally defined after the Russia-Japan War and geopolitically designed after the Second World War. Modern Asia was the historical by-product of colonialism and its effects; the rise of nationalism in Asia was collective resistance to colonial modernization. Modernity in Asia has been the consequence of the dialectical process between modernization and counter-modernization. Its complicated historical background registers the strong demand of "Asian theory" for analyzing the structure of Asian modernity. Recently, as participating in the global distribution of labor, contemporary Asia has attracted many scholars to not only its rapid economic development, but also its cultural products. The theme of this issue brings together various theoretical interventions into Asian literature, contemporary art and culture as well as inquiry into the intellectual history of critical theory in Asia. Focus here is placed on the dynamic relation between Western theory and Asian intellectual history. It was edited by the philosopher and cultural critic, Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, from Kyung Hee University in South Korea, and the majority of its contributors are from Asia. I am most appreciative for the interdisciplinary spirit with which our contributors approached the topic of Theorizing Asia, and the facility with which Alex brought together this group of scholars from around the world to explore it critically. I hope that you are as pleased with the result as I am—and invite you to read Alex's introduction to the issue and to enjoy the ensemble of perspectives on this timely topic. ________ Looking forward, we have two issues under preparation. The first, entitled Infrastructuralism (Vol. 31, Nos. 1–2 [2023]), will be edited by Christopher Breu and myself. Over the past forty years or so, the humanities have largely been concerned with issues of representation. Such a focus is not surprising, given that the textual, broadly conceived, sits at the center of humanistic endeavor. Much contemporary online discourse has a [End Page vii] similar focus. As our lives become more virtually mediated, questions of representation appear to become ever more central. Yet what is obscured by our investments in the computer screen and avatar culture? The singular focus on representation has worked to mystify the systems, structures, and forms of labor that enable representation to take place and life and ecosystems to flourish. In an era defined by climate emergency, pandemics, and massive inequality, the issue of infrastructure becomes ever more pressing. This issue will be dedicated to thinking about the centrality of infrastructure to the humanities and to the most pressing political questions of our moment. We define infrastructure broadly to include economic structures and systems, ecosystems, material state formations, institutions, computational and web-based materialities (including servers, fiber-optic cables and code), various forms of labor, forms of textuality that exceed representation, as well as all that more regularly goes under the name of infrastructure. As people working in the humanities, we are interested in how cultural objects and forms of theory engage with the question of infrastructure. How does representation engage with that which exceeds and enables it? Deadline: closed. Also, we are preparing an issue entitled Critical Environments (Vol. 32, Nos. 1–2 [2024]), which will be edited by Aaron Jaffe and Robin Truth Goodman. This issue conveys two urgent and co-articulated thematic orientations. First, from environmentalism, the program both for making sense of and contesting unfolding ecological crises and ecocide. Second, from philosophy and critical theory, the necessity of sustaining criticality for concepts within specific, if provisional and pragmatic, contexts, structures, organization and systems. The two words together encompass environment in an ecological sense and also call attention to how thinking itself exists in immanent and material ways integral to nature. Presuming a built world in a profound sense means addressing entanglements of culture and nature in critical concepts like ecology, infrastructure, contagion, infection, contamination, deep time, and, indeed, the very language of critical theory itself. Further, they entail a future orientation to systems and environments that the old humanist legacies and doxas have repeatedly failed. In Critical Environments (1998), Cary Wolfe challenged theory "to renew its commitment to theoretical heterodoxy by confronting its own orthodoxy...

In the Struggle: Scholars and the Fight Against Industrial Agribusiness in California

In the Struggle: Scholars and the Fight Against Industrial Agribusiness in California

Diversity matters: opportunities in the study of the genetics of psychotic disorders in low- and middle-income countries in Latin America.

Lack of diversity regarding genetic and environmental backgrounds weakens the generalization and clinical applicability of research findings on psychotic disorders. Notably, Latin Americans have been generally neglected in genetic studies, comprising less than 2% of genome-wide association study samples. But Latin American populations represent a unique opportunity for research, given the exceptionally high ethnic admixture of this group. Increasing genetic diversity is essential to improve the fine mapping of known regions associated with psychotic disorders, discover novel genetic associations, and replicate studies. Additionally, Latin America is characterized by massive social, political, and economic inequalities, all known risk factors for mental health issues, including psychotic disorders. This article aims to 1) discuss the challenges and advantages of studying Latin America’s particular genetic makeup and environmental context; 2) review previous studies conducted in the region; and 3) describe three Latin American research initiatives in progress: the Neuropsychiatric Genetics of Psychosis in Mexican Populations (NeuroMEX), the Paisa, and the Latin American Network for the Study of Early Psychosis (ANDES) studies.

The Paradoxes of the Pandemic and World Inequalities

While causing over 150,000 deaths in Africa, the spread of the COVID-19 virus did not produce the expected hecatomb. Clearly, the crisis is not over and with the emergence of new variants, the death toll could increase significantly. So far, however, COVID-19 has caused fewer African victims than elsewhere. Explaining this reality remains difficult and speculative. It appears, however, that a major reason might be the continent’s very young population and the fact that it enjoys relatively low levels of obesity. These two factors have played a significant role in the high COVID-19 mortality rate in the most affected industrialized countries. In addition, many African countries have learned how to deal with health emergencies from their past experiences with other major pandemics. A final and more controversial explanation of the low death rate in the region is that in their fight against malaria, Africans have used hydroxychloroquine—a medicine that has allegedly curbed the effects of COVID-19—on a mass scale and for generations. COVID-19 has also had crippling consequences for the continent’s already debilitated economies and raised poverty to alarming levels. The pandemic has also highlighted the persistence of narrow nationalistic interests, as well as the massive inequalities of wealth and power that structure the global system. This is evident in the very uneven worldwide distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Inequality in Household Resources and Amenities in Dhaka City: The Case of Dhanmondi, Pallabi, and Kallayanpur

This Paper examines the existing spatial inequalities in residential areas of Dhaka City, the megacity of Bangladesh on the basis of household resources and amenities. The empirical data has been collected through a detailed semi-structured questionnaire from 180 purposively selected respondents in Dhanmondi and Mirpur residential area and Kallayanpur slum area. . The results clearly indicate that there exist significant differences and variations of household resource and amenity indicators, particularly household and housing characteristics, sanitation facilities, water, electricity, and gas supplies, etc. More specifically, the finding reveals that there is a huge gap in tenure systems, income-expenditure, occupational, education and social status, utilities, and physical developments, and these are the prime issues for creating massive inequality in slum area from other residential areas. Furthermore, the slum dwellers are more deprived and neglected from all kinds of urban facilities though they play significant role in informal economy of urban areas as well as in GDP of Bangladesh. Hence, the findings suggest that policymakers should take proper initiatives to address multi-dimensional issues of slum areas to ensure a sustainable environment among residential areas of Dhaka City.
 The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 9(1), 2020, P 49-62

The Power of Assembly

The Power of Assembly

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Gender Inequality in Nigeria: Education and Empowerment of Women in Focus

This paper focuses on gender inequality in the area of education and empowerment of women in Nigeria. This has become significant in this time of novel global wealth coming with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR). It was discovered through a doctrinal research that, Nigeria, aside from having many national legislations on gender equality, is also a signatory to major international human rights instruments on gender equality. However, the workability of these legal frameworks has remained doubtful as there are wide range of gender inequalities which makes it difficult for Nigerian women to achieve their full potentials. Intellectually, higher number of Nigerian men goes to school than women. It follows from here that, men in Nigeria are undoubtedly gainfully employed than the women. Women in Nigeria are often circumscribed to low-paying and very repetitive jobs. In view of this realization, there is every possibility of increased and massive inequality and unemployment as robots seems ready to replace the women work force in Nigeria. Hence, the researcher asks the question as to; how relevant will Nigerian women be in the area of education and empowerment in this time of FIR, despite the presence of the law? This paper argues that the legal framework on gender equality in Nigeria are mere cosmetological set up, which had not impacted on equality between women and men, despite the Women in Development theory (WID), which has been made part and parcel of the legal framework. The paper fears that if these inequality persists, there will be no place for Nigerian women in the FIR. Concerted efforts are required on the part of the government of Nigeria to see to the workability of the laws on gender equality so as to make women relevant in the FIR. It is in the light of the far-reaching implications of this that the makes recommendations.

Residential Segregation and Publicly Spirited Democracy.

Successful deliberations over contentious issues require a publicly spirited citizenry that will encourage elected officials to promote what James Madison called the "permanent and aggregate interests" of the country. Unfortunately, atomizing forces have pulled American society apart, undermining trust and making collective action difficult. Residential segregation is one of those atomizing forces. Residential segregation undermines a commitment to civic virtue because it encourages people to think about fellow citizens as "others" with whom they have little in common. To address this situation, we must start by fixing our neighborhoods and creating local institutions that enhance trust and foster a public-spirited democratic citizenry. For example, our existing educational policies reinforce the disparities associated with residential segregation and have created massive resource inequalities among school districts across the country. A useful first step would be to equalize school district funding to promote a more genuine equality of opportunity.