Global Income Inequality and the World Bank - The Depoliticization of Inequality
(2022) STVK02 20221Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- This dissertation tackles contemporary optimism regarding global income inequality trends from a critical perspective. It looks at the World Bank's influential report on global inequality from 2016, and investigates whether the World Bank's objective notion of themselves is plausible. In the context of the World Bank’s neoliberal ideological roots, the dissertation comes to the conclusion that the report, consciously or subconsciously, tries to depoliticize inequality as something “natural” or the result of merit - in alignment with Quinn Slobodian’s
account of neoliberalism. By decontextualizing inequality from relevant political economic history, by excluding pluralistic approaches to measuring inequality, such as using both... (More) - This dissertation tackles contemporary optimism regarding global income inequality trends from a critical perspective. It looks at the World Bank's influential report on global inequality from 2016, and investigates whether the World Bank's objective notion of themselves is plausible. In the context of the World Bank’s neoliberal ideological roots, the dissertation comes to the conclusion that the report, consciously or subconsciously, tries to depoliticize inequality as something “natural” or the result of merit - in alignment with Quinn Slobodian’s
account of neoliberalism. By decontextualizing inequality from relevant political economic history, by excluding pluralistic approaches to measuring inequality, such as using both absolute/relative inequality, and by excluding systemic perspectives - global inequality comes across as something strictly technological, outside the realm of politics. Contrastingly, the dissertation takes the normative position alongside Piketty’s notion of inequality (2020) where the key question ought not to be the level of inequality, but its origin and how it is justified. The morally relevant comparison ought not purely to be historical benchmarks, but present possibilities for reducing inequality. From this point of view, the depoliticization of inequality in the report risks functioning as a justification of our inequality trajectory and as a deradicalization of inequality reducing interventions. Moreover, it also
risks, particularly when it is re-reported in the media in reductionistic, hyperbolic fashion, functioning as a justification of neoliberal globalisation/capitalism. It also risks tricking the public into thinking that inequality has decreased in absolute terms. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9077502
- author
- Bergling Sidenros, Jonathan LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVK02 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- The World Bank, neoliberalism, global inequality, depoliticization, meritocracy
- language
- English
- id
- 9077502
- date added to LUP
- 2022-07-03 08:03:56
- date last changed
- 2022-10-06 10:25:32
@misc{9077502,
abstract = {{This dissertation tackles contemporary optimism regarding global income inequality trends from a critical perspective. It looks at the World Bank's influential report on global inequality from 2016, and investigates whether the World Bank's objective notion of themselves is plausible. In the context of the World Bank’s neoliberal ideological roots, the dissertation comes to the conclusion that the report, consciously or subconsciously, tries to depoliticize inequality as something “natural” or the result of merit - in alignment with Quinn Slobodian’s
account of neoliberalism. By decontextualizing inequality from relevant political economic history, by excluding pluralistic approaches to measuring inequality, such as using both absolute/relative inequality, and by excluding systemic perspectives - global inequality comes across as something strictly technological, outside the realm of politics. Contrastingly, the dissertation takes the normative position alongside Piketty’s notion of inequality (2020) where the key question ought not to be the level of inequality, but its origin and how it is justified. The morally relevant comparison ought not purely to be historical benchmarks, but present possibilities for reducing inequality. From this point of view, the depoliticization of inequality in the report risks functioning as a justification of our inequality trajectory and as a deradicalization of inequality reducing interventions. Moreover, it also
risks, particularly when it is re-reported in the media in reductionistic, hyperbolic fashion, functioning as a justification of neoliberal globalisation/capitalism. It also risks tricking the public into thinking that inequality has decreased in absolute terms.}},
author = {{Bergling Sidenros, Jonathan}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Global Income Inequality and the World Bank - The Depoliticization of Inequality}},
year = {{2022}},
}