Material Inequality Research Articles

Colonial continuities under scrutiny: an institutional ethnography of intercultural education in Chile

ABSTRACT Chile is a well-known country for its socio-economic and racial inequalities, especially in education. Despite it being prolific, research on educational inequalities has neglected the question about the persistence of colonial dynamics in the educational sphere and how the experience of colonisation has shaped contemporary social relations. Informed by the field of Decolonial Studies and by using institutional ethnography, this research sheds light onto the social (ruling) relations that sustain colonial continuities in the current Chilean school system. By starting from experiential accounts of Mapuche Indigenous educators who teach their ancestral language in the school system, this research provides evidence of an institutional apparatus sustaining forms of domination and reproduction of material and subjective inequalities.

Educabilidad, desigualdad social y diversidad cultural: un análisis desde la perspectiva sociológica de Néstor López

The article, the result of ongoing bibliographic research, addresses educability from the sociological perspective of Néstor López. He argues that educability is not inherent to individuals, but depends on the interaction between the conditions students bring with them and the expectations of the school. The analysis highlights two fundamental gaps that affect educability: the economic gap, related to material inequalities and family support, and the cultural gap, linked to identity differences and the treatment they receive within the educational system.López proposes that both the family and the State play key roles in creating the necessary conditions for educability. The State must ensure resources and social welfare, while schools should adapt their expectations and pedagogical practices to the realities of students, rather than expecting them to conform to the "ideal student".

Social epidemiology of urban COVID-19 inequalities in Latin America and Canada

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has spread through pre-existing fault lines in societies, deepening structural barriers faced by precarious workers, low-income populations, and racialized communities in lower income sub-city units. Many studies have quantified the magnitude of inequalities in COVID-19 distribution within cities, but few have taken an international comparative approach to draw inferences on the ways urban epidemics are shaped by social determinants of health.MethodsGuided by critical epidemiology, this study quantifies sub-city unit-level COVID-19 inequalities across eight of the largest metropolitan areas of Latin America and Canada. Leveraging new open-data sources, we use concentration indices to quantify income- and vulnerability-related inequalities in incidence, test positivity, and deaths over the first 125 weeks of the pandemic between January 2020 and May 2022.ResultsOur findings demonstrate that incidence, deaths, and test positivity are all less concentrated in low-income sub-city units than would be expected, with incidence ranging concentration in lower income neighbourhoods in Toronto (CI = -0.07) to concentration in higher income neighbourhoods in Mexico City (CI = 0.33). Drawing on relevant studies and evaluations of data reliability, we conclude that the best available public surveillance data for the largest cities in Latin America are likely not reliable measures of the true COVID-19 disease burden. We also identify recurring trends in the evolution of inequalities across most cities, concluding that higher income sub-city units were frequent early epicentres of COVID-19 transmission across the Latin America and Canada.ConclusionsJust as critical epidemiology points to individuals biologically embodying the material and social conditions in which we live, it may be just as useful to think of cities reifying their material and social inequities in the form of sub-city unit-level infectious disease inequities. By shifting away from a typical vulnerability-based social determinants of health frame, policymakers could act to redress and reduce externalities stemming from sub-city unit-level income inequality through redistributive and equity-promoting policies to shift the centre of gravity of urban health inequalities before the next infectious disease epidemic occurs.

Normalistas-Teachers and Coloniality of Power in Mexico

This paper examines how the work of normalista-teachers in Mexico illuminates what Lucio Cabañas Barrientos termed the ‘new colonial system’ in 1972. There exists an ideological hegemony which asserts that colonialism ended in most Latin American nations, including Mexico, by the first decade of the nineteenth century. However, as this paper argues, the experiences of normalista-teachers demonstrate that colonialism is far from a relic of the past. Drawing upon the concepts of hegemony and coloniality of power, this study explores how normalista-teachers challenge the notion of ‘modernity’ and the myth of a bygone colonial era. It focuses primarily on the specific cases of teachers Margarita Chávez, Salvador Hernández, Antonio Gaytán, María Mendoza, José Lundez Martínez, Hernández, Ibarra, Elena Torres, Del Palacio, and Montiel. Additionally, it examines the social movements and guerrilla groups led by Genaro Vásquez Rojas and Lucio Cabañas Barrientos. This holds significant weight for critical pedagogy. If, through their lives and work, normalista-teachers are able to reveal how material and symbolic inequalities rooted in colonialism continue to shape Mexico, then this suggests they are not merely educators, but rather epistemic providers of critical pedagogy from a Latin American perspective.

Relational inequality in a (deeply) educationally polarized society: feasible strategies in the longer term

Abstract Fifty per cent of young people in the UK will now go on to university. We focus here not so much on the consequent divisive material inequality but on relational and epistemic inequality, the inequality of respect and esteem adversely felt by the less educated. The huge advances in ICT have radically changed workplaces, creating more relational and ICT-intensive environments, in which social skills typically acquired at universities are central. In response to this we envisage an on-going growth in HE participation, the result of which if sufficiently large over time will be the spreading of respect and esteem. But we argue that success depends on a transformation of the HE system in the UK: we need more 2-year vocational colleges (especially in health, care and education), widely located; and we need 3-year degrees and professional schools to teach students to work cooperatively, in a more multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way.

Women and men at work

Abstract We explore gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work with a focus on the UK. The average working-age woman in the UK earned 40% less than her male counterpart in 2019; sizeable gender gaps in participation, hours worked and hourly wages all contribute to this gap. We explore how these patterns have changed over the past 25 years and conclude that after accounting for women’s rising education, progress has been modest. At the same time, women do far more unpaid domestic work than men. We show how inequalities evolve around parenthood and highlight how the division of labour between parents appears remarkably unrelated to relative earnings potential. We discuss consequences of our findings for material inequality and for the economy at large. We discuss the likely impacts of various current and potential policies, including parental leave, childcare and the tax and benefit system.

The Equity in Sustainability: Unravelling Financial Realities and Global South Perspective on Mitigating Carbon Emission

The economics of environmental sustainability is embedded in several tragic dilemmas, underscoring the inefficiency of contemporary socio-economic structure that has failed to provide prior consideration to the issues related to protecting the socially excluded and marginalized community. The study scrutinizes how corporate giants favour the commercial aspects of development, promoting a mercantile logic of meritocracy and capitalistic zeal of accumulating wealth, neglecting the social component of sustainability and subsistence. Emphasizing the symbiotic nature of environmental sustainability, the article advocates the significance of constructing a value system that transcends instrumental reasoning to support an intrinsic value of ecologism – focusing on the innate correlation between nature and human civilization, demanding not only the transformation of the financial and economic pattern of consumption but also coercing us to rethink our value system in favour of prioritizing the subsistence rights of poor and marginalized societies. Therefore, the primary objective of the article is to analyze the financial aspects of reducing carbon emissions along with evaluating the perspective of the global south in restoring the balance between sustainability and material inequality, adopting an interpretive approach to evolve a deep and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon of our discussion.

Banditry, Insecurity and Development in Benue State

This paper examined the impact of banditry and insecurity on development in Benue State. Specifically, the paper interrogated the causes of and various forms of banditry and insecurity, as well as the implications of the security challenges on development in Benue State. To this effect, the paper relied on secondary sources of data collection and Routine Activity Theory as a framework for analysis. Findings from the paper show that several factors are responsible for the state of banditry and insecurity in Benue State. These causes include youth unemployment and poverty, the desperation of politicians to capture political power, the proliferation of small and light weapons, a weak security system, and pervasive material inequalities and injustices, among others. Insecurity in Benue State has negatively affected development in Benue State. This has led to the loss of over 28,997 lives and properties, with 54,476 houses and farm produce valued at over N21 billion destroyed. Conflict between farmers and herders has caused displacement, leading to food insecurity. Violence between farmers and herders, and other forms of communal conflicts have destroyed infrastructure, forcing many children out of school. The burning down of police stations and 33 markets has intensified poverty and pauperization among the Benue people. The paper recommended, among others, addressing the root causes of banditry and insecurity: poverty, unemployment, and social marginalisation can contribute to the rise of banditry and insecurity. Also, addressing banditry, insecurity, and development challenges in Benue State requires a collaborative effort from various stakeholders, including the government, local communities, and international partners.

Corporate Responsibility and Repair for Anti-Black Racism

In an era when the public and shareholders increasingly demand greater accountability from institutions for racial injustice and slavery, scholarship on corporate reparations is more and more essential. This article argues that corporations have played a significant role in the cultural dehumanization of Blackness and therefore have a particular responsibility to make repair. Cultural dehumanization refers to embedding anti-Blackness into US culture in service of capitalist profit accumulation, which has resulted in status and material inequalities between Blacks and whites that have persisted from slavery to the present. More specifically, the article argues corporations have a moral duty to offer reparations to Black Americans regardless of any redress offered by other perpetrators of anti-Blackness. It appeals to tort law in providing a moral justification for corporate reparations to Black Americans.

Aggressive tax planning as a threat to national security

The article examines the strategies of aggressive tax planning as a threat to state security. Aggressive tax planning practices are becoming more common. This poses multifaceted challenges to fiscal policy, economic stability, and national security. By conducting a comprehensive analysis of applied strategies, economic impacts, and potential policy measures, this study aims to provide information on the complex mechanism of tax evasion. The article discusses various strategies that companies use in aggressive tax planning. These strategies cover offshore tax havens, transfer pricing manipulation, royalty movement, "fine capitalization" and tax deferral, each of which uses legal nuances to minimize tax liabilities. The study examines the economic consequences of aggressive tax planning, focusing on significant revenue losses for governments around the world. Eroding tax revenues through aggressive tax planning reduces states ' ability to finance basic public services, contributing to budget deficits and economic instability. In addition, it creates material inequality, contributes to social unrest, and jeopardizes the nation's ability to solve national security problems. By analyzing these economic implications, this study highlights the urgency of considering aggressive tax planning as a fiscal and national security issue.

An efficacious remedy for status inequality? Indigenous policies in Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT Most states publicly support the recognition of Indigenous rights. Nevertheless, their domestic policies to address Indigenous rights issues vary considerably across countries. So far, research has not committed itself to investigating the consequences of different Indigenous policies on the peoples concerned and their social status. Do policy contexts that accommodate Indigenous rights firmly contribute to status equality between Indigenous people and the ethnic majority? I study this question in the case of Norway and Sweden. These countries host one Indigenous people – the Sámi – but pursue diverging Indigenous policies. Using new survey data, I show that, despite the absence of material inequalities, there is a clear gap in the social status perceptions between Indigenous and majority respondents in Sweden. In Norway, I do not find that Sámi’s perception of their social position is lower than the majority's. The results suggest that the Swedish policies governing the recognition of Sámi rights are less effective in resolving unequal status perceptions.

How Caste Shapes the Origin and Transformation of Work and Employment in India

Studies in social sciences have an extensive literature that deals with caste as a governing social institution and its relevance in India’s socio-political and economic realms. For instance, research on labour segmentation and its linkages with material inequality or economic status has a long history. This article contextualises the history of caste order in India, which recognised the predominant role of occupation and the related socio-economic superiority of work, value and reward. Based on an analytical review of available literature, it suggests that in addition to the debates on the policy of reservations in India, there is an equally pertinent question: Why the direct impact to disintegrate caste-occupational affiliations continues to remain at numerically miniscule levels (central government data) despite an elaborate constitutional mechanism to secure valued positions of formal employment in place?

Youth Frustration and Intergenerational Conflict on Twitter

In recent years, the generation has gained importance in the narrative of social change and conflict, as reflected in the spread of digital phenomena such as #OKBoomer, which highlighted the negative perception of this generation by later generations, popularising the term “boomer” as a pejorative adjective. In order to find out whether the use of this term is an expression of conflict and generational vindication, we downloaded more than 600,000 tweets, in Spanish, issued between November 2019 and December 2022, which contained the term “the boomers”. Using supervised machine learning techniques, we quantified the percentage of tweets that, through the use of this term, expressed generational claims or conflicts. Subsequently, we used topic modelling techniques to investigate under which themes these are expressed. We found that, during this period, most of the tweets analysed expressed conflicts and demands, focusing on issues such as material and economic inequality, lack of opportunities to develop a life project and political issues. Everyday generational clashes were also observed, related to digital skills or attitudinal differences. In conclusion, behind the use of the term “boomer”, claims of the younger generations are being expressed in the form of generational conflict, either by blaming the “boomer” generation for their situation or by denouncing the lack of empathy of the “boomer” generation towards them.

Procedural justice as a feature of transformative substantive equality: Critical notes on Social Justice Coalition v Minister of Police (CC)

The case of Social Justice Coalition v Minister of Police 2022 (10) BCLR 1267 (CC) is concerning. The litigants and the Constitutional Court sidestepped the innovative and transformative role that is envisaged for access to courts and judicial proceedings and that is required by a substantive conception of equality underlying impoverished peoples’ equality rights. This article argues that procedural justice was overlooked as a feature of transformative substantive equality to be applied in a claim relating to poverty-based discrimination. Procedural justice is vital, as impoverished people encounter pervasive economic, social, political and procedural barriers to accessing justice in various democratic forums, including courts. To introduce procedural justice as an indispensable feature of transformative substantive equality, I use the work of the global justice theorist, Nancy Fraser. Fraser’s work provides formidable insights into developing the existing constitutional framework to overcome the bracketing of the pervasive material and social inequalities that are characteristic of liberal rights claims. By focusing on courts and the procedurally innovative demands of equality proceedings, I argue that the judgment is a worrying illustration of the deepening of impoverished people’s democratic erasure. The judgment is procedurally formalistic, effectively absolving courts from their accountability function for redressing poverty and inequality.

Welfare service centers: Maintenance, repair, and care at the analog interfaces of the digital welfare state

Many public administrations advocate digital services that allow for the deployment of algorithmic automation and the use of artificial intelligence. This shift has been discussed as the expansion of the digital welfare state. However, numerous citizens remain excluded from digital services provided by the state. In this context, welfare service centers have emerged as important interfaces of the digital welfare state. These service centers undergird many of the operations of digitalization as a large-scale, societal infrastructure project. In this article, we elaborate the specific characteristics of welfare service centers in Sweden, relying theoretically on interface theory and broken world thinking. Methodologically, we rely on ethnographic methods including in-depth interviews and observations. The article ultimately argues that the digital welfare state continues to be based on material inequalities and exclusions.

Changing Trends in Child Welfare Inequalities in Northern Ireland

Abstract Longitudinal research in England and Wales has identified increasing inequality in child welfare interventions, particularly with respect to children in the poorest areas coming into care. Although previous cross-sectional research has shown associations between area level deprivation and child welfare interventions to be weakest in Northern Ireland (NI), it remains unknown if this reflects wider trends over time. This study uses longitudinal administrative data to investigate the relationship between area level deprivation and the (1) referral, (2) investigation, (3) registration and (4) looked after stages of children’s contact with child and family social work from 2010 to 2017 (stages 1–3) and 2020 (stage 4). Both relative and absolute measures of inequality (Ratio of Inequality, Slope Index of Inequality and Relative Index of Inequality) were calculated to examine trends. The results highlight a clear and increasing social gradient in child welfare interventions in NI over time, particularly at the higher levels of intervention and those involving children aged 0–4 years. Routine analysis of children’s social care caseloads by deprivation is highlighted as a means of focusing attention on poverty and material inequality, prompting practitioners, managers and policy makers to consider the drivers of such inequality and how this might be addressed.

Empirical evidence on the relationship between material deprivation and crime: an analysis of the case of Spain

Severe material deprivation affects approximately 3 million people in Spain, having experienced a significant increase after the economic crisis of 2008. This phenomenon is relevant in the context of the economic approach to crime, as it is considered to have a positive impact on the incidence of delinquency. Despite the social magnitude of this problem, the majority of international research has overlooked the non-monetary dimensions of inequality, focusing almost exclusively on income inequality. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how material deprivation influences delinquency in the specific case of Spain. To do so, an indicator representing material deprivation is used, and a differences-GMM estimator is employed for 16 Spanish regions covering the period 2013-2019. The results indicate that in Spain, material inequality is a criminogenic factor that should be taken into account, particularly when it approaches the threshold of severe material deprivation. Furthermore, it is found that both improvements in economic conditions and deterrent public policies are key factors in reducing criminality.

Can’t Boil, Won’t Boil: Material Inequality, Information, and Disease Avoidance during a Typhoid Epidemic in Tampere, Finland, in 1916

AbstractHistorical research on urban epidemics has focused on the interaction of diseases with social and spatial gradients, such as class, ethnicity, or neighborhood. Even sophisticated historical studies usually lack data on health-related behavior or health-related perceptions, which modern analysts tend to emphasize. With detailed source material from the Finnish city of Tampere during a typhoid epidemic in 1916, we are able to combine both dimensions and look at how material and social constraints interacted with behavior and knowledge to produce unequal outcomes. We use data on socioeconomic status, location, and physical habitat as well as the self-reported behavior and expressed understandings of transmission mechanisms of the infected people to identify the determinants of some falling ill earlier or later than others. Applying survival analysis to approximately 2,500 cases, we show that disease avoidance behavior was deficient and constrained by physical habitat, regardless of considerable public health campaigning. Behavioral guidelines issued by authorities were sub-optimally communicated, unrealistic, and inadequately followed. Boiling water was hampered by shared kitchens, and access to laundry houses for additional hygiene was uneven. Centralized chemical water purification finally leveled the playing field by socializing the cost of prevention and eliminating key sources of unequal risk.

Sports and mobile imperatives in the lives of rural youths

This paper explores the mobility processes of rural youths in relation to sports. The mobility imperative has its basis in the fact that rural youths must be mobile to gain access to the resources they need to shape their lives and create their own identities. The mobility imperative is analysed as a constellation of interrelated processes in which material inequalities, symbolic hierarchies and entanglements between bodies and places interact in a process that constitutes the mobility of young rural dwellers. This study is based on research conducted in a rural community in Sweden. We conducted interviews with eight individuals and one focus group. The analysis, inspired by biographical interviews framed according to a critical realist perspective, focused on the interviewees’ subjective experiences and how broader social structures affected these experiences. The results of the analysis indicate that mobility is an inevitable necessity for sports participation during childhood. The rural sport mobility imperative is an interaction of related processes, such as a limited supply of sports clubs and facilities, limited access to sports activities that are highly valued in contemporary youth culture and an affective conflict in establishing a connection to urban places for sport interactions.

Oligarchic Politics in the Context of a Democratic Rule of Law in Relation to the Principle of Expediency

Abstract Indonesia, which is a democratic country, is not necessarily free from the practice of ownership of a handful of groups that influence the course of the National constitution. Oligarchy begins with the fact that extreme material inequality produces extreme political inequality. Although in a democracy, position and access to the political process are interpreted as equal, the enormous wealth in the hands of a small minority creates a significant excess of power in the political sphere for that group. The practice of oligarchic politics in Indonesia has been prominent and widespread since the New Order era. Oligarchy has undermined the philosophical meaning of democracy, which is political power or government run by the people, and for the people. Freedom in the political field certainly does not mean legalizing all means but remains in the corridor as contained in Pancasila as the basic ideology of the Indonesian nation. The good and bad of the law must be measured by the good and bad consequences produced by the application of the law, meaning that legal provisions can be considered good and provide benefits if the consequences resulting from their application are good, maximum happiness, and reduced suffering.