Overview
- Builds on a unified approach to a variety of inequality problems
- Draws on research from areas such as human development and networks
- Spells out important consequences for the political philosophy of inequality
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This book presents a unified approach to the problem of inequality, combining results from a variety of research fields – the human life cycle, group dynamics, networks, markets, and economic geography. Its main message is that inequality emerges as the natural result of mechanisms operating both in individual human development and in social interaction. It posits that inequality is not an anomalous deviation from a naturally egalitarian social structure; quite to the contrary, inequality is to be expected as part of the human condition. The author states that the growth of inequality, on the other hand, is not a natural law – the level and character of inequality can be affected by collective decisions. This perspective on human inequality has potentially far-reaching consequences both for the political philosophy of inequality and for public policy-making.
This book is of interest to a wide interdisciplinary social science readership, including public policy, decisionsciences, economic geography, and life course studies.
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Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Per Molander holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics (control theory) but has spent most of his professional life at the interface between the social sciences and public policy-making. He has published around 100 articles, reports and books, among which Turning Sweden Around (MIT Press); Institutions, Politics and Fiscal Policy (Kluwer); Fiscal Federalism in Unitary States (Kluwer); Alternatives for Welfare Policy (Cambridge University Press) (all these co-authored), and The Anatomy of Inequality (Melville House/ Random House). He was the main architect of the Swedish central government budget reform of the 1990s and created the Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, where he served as the director general between 2009 and 2015. He chaired the Public Commission on Equality that delivered its report in 2020. He has also worked as an adviser to the IMF, the World Bank, and the OECD. He has received several literary prizes, among which is the Essay Prize from the Swedish Academy. Dr. Molander is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Origins of Inequality
Book Subtitle: Mechanisms, Models, Policy
Authors: Per Molander
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93189-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-93188-9Published: 08 March 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-93191-9Published: 09 March 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-93189-6Published: 07 March 2022
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 210
Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour
Topics: Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights, Organizational Studies, Economic Sociology, Economic Geography, Social Policy, Politics of the Welfare State, Social Work and Community Development