The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger - Softcover

Wilkinson, Richard; Pickett, Kate

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608193411 ISBN 13: 9781608193417

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Title: The Spirit Level( Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: RichardWilkinson <>Publisher: BloomsburyPublishingPLC

About this title

Review:

"This is a book with a big idea, big enough to change political thinking." - John Carey, Sunday Times (UK)

"Might be the most important book of the year." - John Crace, Guardian

"Anyone who believes that what society is the result of what we do, rather than who we are, should read The Spirit Level because of its inarguable battery of evidence, and because its conclusion is simple: we do better when we're equal." - Lynsey Hanley, Guardian

"The importance of the Spirit Level is that it provides a vital part of the intellectual manifesto on which the battle for a better society can be fought." - Roy Hattersley, The New Statesman

"An eloquent case that the income gap between a nation's richest and poorest is the most powerful indicator of a functioning and healthy society" - Publishers Weekly

From the Back Cover:

It may seem obvious that problems associated with relative deprivation should be more common in more unequal societies. However, if you ask people why greater equality reduces these problems, much the most common guess is that it must be because more equal societies have fewer poor people. The assumption is that greater equality helps those at the bottom. As well as being only a minor part of the proper explanation, it is an assumption which reflects our failure to recognize very important processes affecting our lives and the societies we are part of. The truth is that the vast majority of the population is harmed by greater inequality.

Across whole populations, rates of mental illness are five times higher in the most unequal compared to the least unequal societies. Similarly, in more unequal societies people are five times as likely to be imprisoned, six times as likely to be clinically obese, and murder rates may be many times higher. The reason why these differences are so big is, quite simply, because the effects of inequality are not confined just to the least well off: instead they affect the vast majority of the population.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1608193411
• ISBN 13: 9781608193417
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400