debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Inequality is often conceived of as the gap between the earnings of the richest members of society and those of the poorest. Göran Therborn argues, however, that beyond financial figures there are far greater inequities which affect modern society. Chief among these is inequality in life expectancy. He notes that there are striking differences in the health [...]
The king of Bhutan wants to make us all happier. Governments, he says, should aim to maximize their people’s Gross National Happiness rather than their Gross National Product. Does this new emphasis on happiness represent a shift or just a passing fad? It is easy to see why governments should de-emphasize economic growth when it is proving [...]
From the liturgy of disturbing reading in the past days, I’ve picked out two pieces — and, no, I don’t include David Cameron’s predictable characterisation of underclass youth as mindless looters while, in the heart of London, super-rich casino bankers and tax dodgers continue to rob us of vastly greater sums. The bad news I’m [...]
One of the enduring failures of developed economies is the persistence of high levels of unemployment, and other involuntary non-participation in the labour force, even at the best of times. There are strong reasons, in terms of justice and equality, for the introduction of job guarantee schemes. As well as being an ethical imperative, it [...]
The Center for American Progress issued a fascinating and important PolicyLink paper early in April 2011: Prosperity 2050: Is Equity the Superior Growth Model?[1] Written by Sarah Treuhaft and David Madland, both its content and its title raised a central question of our time: whether it is “possible that the traditional assumption that there is [...]
Watch Professor Bo Rothstein (Gothenburg University) present his manual for a sustainable solidaristic society. This speech was recorded in Stockholm at the “Justice and Equality for the Good Society Conference” organised by the FES Stockholm, Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja and Social Europe Journal on 14/15 April 2011. [vsw id="22477901" source="vimeo" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]
Watch Dr Michael Dauderstaedt (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung) discuss the economics of European (in)equality. This speech was recorded in Stockholm at the “Justice and Equality for the Good Society Conference” organised by the FES Stockholm, Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja and Social Europe Journal on 14/15 April 2011. [vsw id="22557929" source="vimeo" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]
Watch Professor Gesine Schwan (Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance) discuss the equality dimension of education. This speech was recorded in Stockholm at the “Justice and Equality for the Good Society Conference” organised by the FES Stockholm, Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja and Social Europe Journal on 14/15 April 2011. [vsw id="22479175" source="vimeo" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]
Watch Professor Thomas Pogge (Yale University) discuss global justice and equality. This speech was recorded in Stockholm at the “Justice and Equality for the Good Society Conference” organised by the FES Stockholm, Arbetarrörelsens Tankesmedja and Social Europe Journal on 14/15 April 2011. [vsw id="22477007" source="vimeo" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]
Our debate on equality is useful and necessary. Useful because it allows progressives to step a little bit back and seriously debate whether they have not succumbed to the temptations of contemporary capitalism a bit too easily. Necessary because the rejuvenation of social democracy goes through critical reflections on the past and present of its political [...]
In recent decades there has often been negative misunderstanding around the issue of equality in public debate. Even more recently, a centre left member of the Italian parliament publicly advocated a welfare strategy that focused almost totally on the poorest and most discriminated groups. In his view the welfare state should become less and less [...]
Suppose that my rich neighbour down the road mortgaged his mansion up to the hilt to bet on the horses, ran up millions in debt and asked me, an ordinary punter, to pay off his debts plus interest. Suppose that foolishly I accepted, and while I struggled to pay it off while barely able to [...]
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