Between Fault Lines and Front Lines: Shifting Power in an Unequal World

Description

Inequality is one of today's greatest challenges, obstructing poverty reduction and sustainable development. As the power of elites grows and societal gaps widen, institutions representing the public good and universal values are increasingly disempowered or co-opted, and visions of social justice and equity side-lined. This book explores the roles of elites and institutions of power in the deepening of social and economic cleavages across the globe, by asking how inequalities have reshaped structures from the local to the transnational level, and what consequences they have wrought. In addition, the contributors present examples of peaceful processes of policy change that have made societies greener and more socially just, levelled out social stratification, and devolved power and resources from elites to non-elites, or towards marginalized or discriminated groups. Based on cutting-edge empirical research, the chapters in this volume bring together conceptual thinking and a number of case studies from the Global North and South, combining different levels of analysis and a range of qualitative research methods to present solutions for closing the inequality gap.

Katja Hujo is Senior Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Switzerland. Maggie Carter is Senior Research Analyst at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Switzerland.

Explosive, essential and urgent. Between Fault Lines and Front Lines exposes how the spiraling inequality we are witnessing is not a bug but a feature. It reveals that the key political challenge is not how to rescue people who get "left behind", but rather how to break up the rackets pushing people behind. It shows that empowering the displaced requires displacing the powerful. It demonstrates practical ways in which courageous policy-makers and determined social movements can together pull power away from elites towards ordinary people. It will shake up today's debates on inequality, and define the terms of tomorrow's. * Ben Phillips, Author of 'How to Fight Inequality' (2020) * This inspiring collection featuring excellent research from across the globe shows how entrenched elite power needs to be placed at the centre of our debate about how to renew progressive movements for social change. * Mike Savage, London School of Economics, UK * This new offering from UNRISD, Between Fault Lines and Front Lines, is an ambitious effort by leading social thinkers to shine a light on the often-obscured questions of the structural and institutional drivers and consequences of inequality, and how people, communities and institutions mobilise to tackle its debilitating impacts, transform unequal power relations, and build a just future for our planet and people. The plurality of disciplines, perspectives, positionalities, and locations of the contributors as well as the current conjuncture of multiple crises and deepening inequalities make the book a timely reminder of the urgent need to transform the unacceptable and entrenched power imbalances between and within countries, regions, and groups. May it receive wide readership, critical engagement, and the serious policy attention that it deserves. * Dzodzi Tsikata, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Ghana * Growing global inequalities are at the top of the political and academic agenda of progressive forces all around the world. This book, by introducing the lens of power relations, pays special attention to the role of the powerful and the elites in deepening inequalities (the society of the 1%) and to the struggles to redress them (the 99%). Through its analytical and empirical contributions, It will enrich the urgent global debates and the policy implications in this field. * Elizabeth Jelin, CONICET-IDES, Argentina * It is rare for development actors to "study up," i.e., the elites or the 1% and how the institutional power they wield reproduces socio-economic and political inequalities that threaten the survival of all species and the wellbeing of the 99% of humanity. The authors of in Between Fault Lines And Front Lines not only do this but also demonstrate how collective action from below is working towards what Shiva has called "Earth Democracy." A timely analysis and call to action in the time of Covid. * Manisha Desai, University of Connecticut, USA *