Nature Of Inequality Research Articles

Labor and American Politics

The State of Working America, 2008/2009. By Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein, and Heidi Shierholz. An Economic Policy Institute Book. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009. 461 p. $59.95 cloth, $24.95 paper.

Program Strategies for Reducing Inequities in Reproductive Health Services

This commentary examines program perspectives on re dressing inequity in desired reproductive health out comes and provides examples of practical approaches to focusing on inequity in international contexts. Inequity is not an individual condition, but rather a descriptor of relative social status. A reproductive justice framework for inequity analyzes how the ability of any woman to de termine her own reproductive outcomes is linked directly to the conditions in her community?that is, to conditions that are not just a matter of individual choice and access. Reproductive justice addresses the reality of inequality? specifically, the inequality of opportunities that control reproductive outcomes (Ross 2005). A fundamental ques tion is whether policymakers and program managers would have the ability and commitment to reduce such inequality if they were more aware of the nature of ineq uities in service delivery and their implications for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Inequity is often expressed as the difference in an outcome variable by categories of descriptors such as age (young-old), sex (female-male), wealth (lowest-highest quintile), ethnicity (indigenous-nonindigenous), and lo cation of residence (urban-rural). Because most outcomes are expressed as distributions, the degree of inequity is reflected as the magnitude of the difference between de scriptive categories. For example, in 2005 women from poor countries had a maternal mortality rate of about 650 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with 9 deaths for women from wealthier countries (WHO 2007). Con cretely, that difference means that the probability in 2005 that a 15-year-old female would die from a complication related to pregnancy or childbirth during her lifetime was one in seven in Niger (the country with the highest rate), compared with a lifetime risk of one death in 48,000 live births for a girl of the same age in Ireland.

Abstract 979: Understanding the relationship between race and nicotine dependence

Abstract Background: Mounting evidence continues to demonstrate that nicotine dependence is a growing public health issue among current smokers. While duration of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) and cessation attempts are common indicators of nicotine dependence, African Americans tend to smoke less cigarettes per day (CPD; 10 or less), initiate smoking at a later age and experience greater failed quit attempts, compared to whites, yet develop nicotine dependence. However, no previous study has examined the possibility that race differences in the social context which African Americans and non-Hispanic whites live may contribute to disparities and the persistence of nicotine dependence. Social class and immediate personal interactions occurs in various social contexts, including the living space, workplace, institutions or other physical environments. This project examines the contributions of demographic, behavioral and environmental factors as social contextual factors that contribute to smoking behavior and the persistence of nicotine dependence. Objective: We examined race disparities in nicotine dependence among 761 African American and white current smokers living in similar social and environmental risk exposures and compared these estimates to 1461 black and white current smokers in a national sample of adults aged 20 and over. Methods: Data was assessed from Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore (EHDIC-SWB; 2003) and National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES; 2001-2004) to determine if race disparities in nicotine dependence would be attenuated in EHDIC-SWB. Time to first cigarette was used to assess nicotine dependence. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between race and nicotine dependence, controlling for known confounders. Results: In multivariate analysis, race differences in nicotine dependence were greater among African-Americans in a representative sample of US adults. African Americans in a national sample have a lower odds of nicotine dependence (OR = 0.8; 95% CI 0.46, 0.93) compared to whites. However, no race difference were detected among participants in the EHDIC-SWB study (0.87; 95% CI 0.62, 1.22). Conclusions: Examination of social and environmental factors may reveal important insights into the nature of inequalities between black and white adults in health outcomes such as nicotine dependence. Our results highlight the importance of examining social contextual factors and suggest that the promotion of targeted interventions may reduce the prevalence of nicotine dependence among current smokers. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 979.

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The Nature of Indian Inequality Increase After Liberalization

This paper looks at the implications of the liberalization process for the magnitude and nature of inequality in India and its possible ramifications for social harmony. Our discussion implies that the increase in household based rural and urban inequality for monthly consumption expenditure at the national level is not the result of inequality increasing within communities but is the consequence of widening inequality across communities. With regard to social unrest the distance factor among unequal entities does come into play and therefore the current mechanism of inequality increase at the household level should not pose grave dangers. Second, the impact of liberalization on consumption inequality overstates inequality in the income space as liberalization has increased the marginal propensities to consume of rich states and rich individuals. Thus, while liberalization has led to acceleration in the increase in inequality of consumption expenditure, the opposite is true of income.

Water, Equity and Development

This article attempts to synthesize the research presented at the Fifth Annual Partners Meet of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)– Tata Programme held in Anand, Gujarat, in March 2006. It specifically focuses on the prevalence and nature of inequities in water distribution. It shows that institutions in force create inequity in access to water in all the regions of the country; the landless and the dalits usually facing the brunt of the inequities.The inequities are more pronounced when water is considered as an input for economic activities such as agriculture. Geo-genic factors such as contamination of groundwater are compounded with inequities to severely impact the health and well-being of the poor and the weaker segments of the society. Finally, imbalance of social power allows industry to exploit water sources, producing inequities in use of water across sectors.

Discourse, Dominance and Power Relations

This article focuses on some of the issues that arise when examining social inequality and similar notions such as dominance or group superiority as participants’ concerns. It emphasizes the importance of understanding constructions of inequality in terms of how they are (1) situated, constructed and invoked in talk; and (2) oriented to and part of actions and ideological practices. These concerns are illustrated with an example from an interview with majority group members on ethnic issues. This shows how particular orientations to and descriptions of inequality are constructed and what they might be doing. Implications for the study of the discursive construction and representation of social inequality in talk and the nature of inequality as an object in interaction are discussed.

The organizational stratification of opportunities for work–life balance

As organizational scholars, we offer an ‘organizational stratification’ approach useful for revealing inequalities in the distribution of work–life ‘opportunities’ within and across jobs and workplaces. In doing so, we discuss the implications of historically narrow conceptualizations of workplace opportunity — typically focused on promotion only — and suggest a more expansive approach to theorizing, and in turn operationalizing, workplace opportunities essential to worker and family well‐being. We illustrate how researchers might employ an organizational stratification approach by describing an ongoing research project in which we differentiate opportunities ‘on paper’ from opportunities ‘in practice’ and examine variations in how US employers distribute work–life opportunities among lower‐skilled jobs. We demonstrate how an organizational stratification perspective can be useful for developing knowledge on the nature of inequality in the distribution of opportunities for work–life balance, and thus, for suggesting new avenues that enhance social justice in the workplace.

A note on the decomposition of the health concentration index.

In recent work, the concentration index has been widely used as a measure of income-related health inequality. The purpose of this note is to illustrate two different methods for decomposing the overall health concentration index using data collected from a Short Form (SF-36) survey of the general Australian population conducted in 1995. For simplicity, we focus on the physical functioning scale of the SF-36. Firstly we examine decomposition 'by component' by separating the concentration index for the physical functioning scale into the ten items on which it is based. The results show that the items contribute differently to the overall inequality measure, i.e. two of the items contributed 13% and 5%, respectively, to the overall measure. Second, to illustrate the 'by subgroup' method we decompose the concentration index by employment status. This involves separating the population into two groups: individuals currently in employment; and individuals not currently employed. We find that the inequality between these groups is about five times greater than the inequality within each group. These methods provide insights into the nature of inequality that can be used to inform policy design to reduce income related health inequalities.

Equity Issues in the 'New Prosperity' of the 1990s: The case of Sydney

Equity issues associated with Sydney's engagement with prosperity, especially over the last decade, are examined. Sydney is positioned within the historic contexts of major national economic change and of globalisation, noting especially the rise in importance of the financial, property and business services sectors. These sectors are concentred in inner Sydney and have helped position Sydney as Australia's leading global city, thereby generating jobs and growth in incomes. At the same time, however, there have been major shifts in patterns of income distribution across the Sydney metropolitan area and between Sydney and other parts of Australia. In particular, we note the 'revitalisation' of Sydney's inner-urban areas and their association with new forms of Central Business District (CBD) workforce growth and a significant realignment of journey-to-work patterns. Using Australian Taxation Office income data, the dynamics and some of the equity outcomes of 1990s prosperity within the Sydney metropolitan area are examined, paying particular attention to the impact of change in and around the Sydney CBD and the City of Sydney local government area. We find that there has been a complex shift in the nature of inequality across the Sydney metropolitan area, including a widening in incomes in some instances and a major geographic shift in Sydney's income-divide axis. The paper concludes by arguing that ongoing economic prosperity in Sydney will depend on the extent to which social cleavage can be avoided by a more equitable sharing of the benefits of prosperity.

Generic Processes in the Reproduction of Inequality: An Interactionist Analysis

The study of inequality has been largely defined as the study of its measurable extent, degree, and consequences. It is no less important, however, to understand the interactive processes through which inequalities are created and reproduced in concrete settings. The qualitative research that bears on understanding these processes has not yet been consolidated, and thus its theoretical value remains unrealized. In this article we inductively derive from the literature a sensitizing theory of the generic processes through which inequality is reproduced. The major processes that we identify are othering, subordinate adaptation, boundary maintenance, and emotion management. We argue that conceiving the reproduction of inequality in terms of these generic processes can resolve theoretical problems concerning the connection between local action and extralocal inequalities, and concerning the nature of inequality itself.

Generic Processes in the Reproduction of Inequality: An Interactionist Analysis

The study of inequality has been largely defined as the study of its measurable extent, degree, and consequences. It is no less important, however, to understand the interactive processes through which inequalities are created and reproduced in concrete settings. The qualitative research that bears on understanding these processes has not yet been consolidated, and thus its theoretical value remains unrealized. In this article we inductively derive from the literature a sensitizing theory of the generic processes through which inequality is reproduced. The major processes that we identify are othering, subordinate adaptation, boundary maintenance, and emotion management. We argue that conceiving the reproduction of inequality in terms of these generic processes can resolve theoretical problems concerning the connection between local action and extralocal inequalities, and concerning the nature of inequality itself.

Beyond the ‘information rich and poor’: futures understandings of inequality in globalising informational economies

Much of the debate about inequality in globalising informational economies has focused on the future role of information in social development processes. This paper argues that there are five key erroneous assumptions about the nature of inequality in globalising informational economies which underpin much of this debate—both on an academic and popularist level. The paper argues that it is of fundamental importance that these assumptions are critically examined if the futures of communications policy and planning are to adequately address questions of inequality in relation to information, knowledge and communications. Indeed, failure to examine these assumptions may lead futurists and social scientists (particularly in the West) to become complicit in distracting attention away from the very ‘real’ global economic, social and cultural inequalities, to ‘virtual’ inequalities which merely hide an unwillingness to address the core failings of the ‘development’ paradigm.

Pro-poor Growth and Pro-growth Poverty Reduction: Meaning, Evidence, and Policy Implications

The paper addresses two questions. First, what do regressions reveal about the link from growth to poverty reduction, with differing (i) initial conditions, such as the degree of inequality; and (ii) types of growth, e.g., sectoral balance? Growth on average appears not to redistribute income, pro-poor or antipoor. More interesting is the large cross-country variation; there are hints in a sample of 23 developing countries that: (i) growth may be relatively antipoor in countries that start with high inequality: and (ii) in those countries, agricultural growth may be especially antipoor, a paradoxical finding rejected in country-level studies. The second question is, are there reverse links from asset and income distribution and redistribution lo growth? The nature of inequality might matter, ascribed inequality being antigrowth but some achieved inequality pro-growth. Reductions in severe inequality may be particularly pro-growth. High inequality is associated with low elasticity of poverty to growth. In poor countries, pro-poor growth is best stimulated by policies encouraging appropriate technical progress in agriculture, land redistribution, and fertility reduction.

The Nature of Inequality

Etude de l'anti-egalitarisme et de la conception de l'inegalite developee par L. Strauss dans le cadre paradoxal de sa defense antiliberale de la democratie liberale. Examinant les sources de sa critique de l'egalite dans sa phenomenologie idealiste, l'A. montre que l'elitisme de Strauss releve a la fois du positivisme weberien, de la phenomenologie heideggerienne et de la philosophie grecque, celle-ci reposant sur la figure du philosophe et le partage naturel entre nobles et vils. Sans faire retour a l'idealisme classique, Strauss decouvre la modernite et l'actualite de l'homme a partir de sa possibilite pratique, caracterisee par une tension entre les requetes naturelles pour l'egalite et l'inegalite

Subordinación de las mujeres e identidad femenina. Diferencias y conexiones

La subordinación social de las mujeres ha sido un tema clave para los estudios feministas desde sus inicios. Su abordaje ha implicado tanto la demostración de la existencia transhistórica de tal subordinación como diversos intentos de explicar sus causas. En este último tenor, frecuentemente se confunden los niveles simbólico e imaginario o, en otros términos, el nivel de lo femenino con el de las mujeres, dificultando la comprensión de las causas y la naturaleza de la desigualdad entre los géneros. El presente artículo pretende enfatizar la importancia de esas distinciones a partir de la revisión de un texto clásico de Sherry Ortner.

Celebrating Naivety: the role of Black artists in multicultural and anti‐racist education

ABSTRACT In 1985 the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) published the findings of a research project which pointed to an absence of Black artists in the British cultural scene. As a consequence several Arts Bodies and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) together with the CRE entered into partnership to launch an educational programme aimed at raising the status and visibility of Black artists. The Arts Education for a Multicultural Society (AEMS) project was launched in six LEAs in 1987. This paper reports on the findings of an external evaluation project in one LEA. By drawing on materials from interviews with artists, teachers and pupils a case is presented for the educational value of enjoyable, ‘critical’ events. However, it is also argued that these events contributed to the raising of awareness of the participants concerning the nature of inequalities founded in racism. The paper concludes by proposing that the project reported on provides a model for teaching and learning strategies in multicultur...

Mobility and Gender in a Segmented Labor Market: A Closer Look

Abstract. Male and female workers’ labor segment location and intersegment mobility processes are compared to assess the existence and nature of inequalities in the structure of labor market opportunity. Findings indicate significant differences in segment location, upward occupational mobility and opportunity structures across gender groups.

Further Thoughts on the Standards: A Reaction to Apple

As always, I enjoy and learn from the thoughtful analyses and well-argued comments about educational practices by my colleague Michael Apple. In reading his often flattering, yet critical, analysis of NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards/or School Mathematics (1989) and Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991), I must admit he is right on several counts. The lens through which he views the world is not one familiar to most mathematics educators. Relating any message about schooling to the patterns of differential economic, political, and cultural power is not common in our field. Furthermore. the five issues he raises—the financial crisis in education, the nature of inequality in schools, the role of mathematical knowledge as a filter that maintains those inequalities. the possibilities and limitations of a curriculum grounded in problem situations, and the complex realities of teachers' lives—are critical issues facing all educators interested in changing the current system. Clearly. the Standards documents by themselves are not well situated with respect to these broader ideological and political issues. In fact, none of the five issues, although considered, were the driving forces behind the NCTM's reform documents.

Do the Standards Go Far Enough? Power, Policy, and Practice in Mathematics Education

Although NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989) and Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991) are generating considerable interest, there has been little discussion of their ideological and social grounding and effects. By placing the Standards within the growing conservative movement in education, this paper raises a number of crucial issues about the documents, including the depth of the financial crisis in education and its economic and ideological genesis and results; the nature of inequality in schools; the role of mathematical knowledge in our economy in maintaining these inequalities; the possibilities and limitations of a mathematics curriculum that is more grounded in students' experiences; and the complicated realities of teachers' lives. Without a deeper understanding of these issues, the Standards will be used in ways that largely lend support only to the conservative agenda for educational reform.