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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Why is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than in Japan? As this groundbreaking study demonstrates, the answer is inequality.
In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the centre of public debate by demonstrating that less equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everything from education to life expectancy. The Inner Level now explains how inequality affects us individually, how it alters we think, feel and behave. It sets out the overwhelming evidence that material inequalities have powerful psychological effects: low social status is shown to be empirically linked to increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are innately competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of ‘natural’ differences in individual ability. The Inner Level draws together many urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them.
Richard Wilkinson is Professor Emeritus at Nottingham University’s Medical School and Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at York University. This book looks at how material inequalities within societies adversely affects mental and emotional health, but while it raises interesting questions, I wasn’t wholly convinced by the methodology and you need to read their previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL to get the most from the arguments here.
I had not read Wilkinson and Pickett’s previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL, although it is a book that I’d heard good things about and I know that it was successful. The authors cross-refer to it a lot in this book and it is clear that here they are building on some of the arguments and methodologies within that book. Because I wasn’t familiar with it, I don’t think that I got as much out of this book as I perhaps could have done and I suspect that’s also the reason why I didn’t find the arguments here a slam dunk in terms of convincing me.
That brings me to my next issue with the book. The authors have clearly done a lot of work in looking at statistics in terms of income inequality, debt levels, stress levels, health, narcism and other factors. Where I struggled was in directly comparing different countries to reach conclusions, especially in respect of mental health where there are different cultural factors at work that may not have been taken into account.
That said, there are some interesting links demonstrated within the book, e.g. how inequality exacerbates social anxiety by encouraging dominating and submissive behaviour, damaging self-esteem, encouraging entitlement and psychopathic/narcissistic behaviour among the ‘haves’. I was particularly interested in the chapter that looks at how inequality drives materialism and how there is little market for luxury goods in more equal countries like Denmark. Also interesting is the chapter that looks at meritocracy and how your position in the social and economic hierarchy affects how you fare in society and end up.
All in all, I think it’s a thought-provoking book that does make you consider the overall affects of inequality on societies and certainly there was a lot here that I wanted to read more about and see more research carried out. It’s not a slam dunk but it does make you rethink how we look at income distribution and why equality of wealth and opportunity is so important.
The Verdict:
Richard Wilkinson is Professor Emeritus at Nottingham University’s Medical School and Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at York University. This book looks at how material inequalities within societies adversely affects mental and emotional health, but while it raises interesting questions, I wasn’t wholly convinced by the methodology and you need to read their previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL to get the most from the arguments here.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Why is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than in Japan? As this groundbreaking study demonstrates, the answer is inequality.
In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the centre of public debate by demonstrating that less equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everything from education to life expectancy. The Inner Level now explains how inequality affects us individually, how it alters we think, feel and behave. It sets out the overwhelming evidence that material inequalities have powerful psychological effects: low social status is shown to be empirically linked to increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are innately competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of ‘natural’ differences in individual ability. The Inner Level draws together many urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them.
Richard Wilkinson is Professor Emeritus at Nottingham University’s Medical School and Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at York University. This book looks at how material inequalities within societies adversely affects mental and emotional health, but while it raises interesting questions, I wasn’t wholly convinced by the methodology and you need to read their previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL to get the most from the arguments here.
I had not read Wilkinson and Pickett’s previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL, although it is a book that I’d heard good things about and I know that it was successful. The authors cross-refer to it a lot in this book and it is clear that here they are building on some of the arguments and methodologies within that book. Because I wasn’t familiar with it, I don’t think that I got as much out of this book as I perhaps could have done and I suspect that’s also the reason why I didn’t find the arguments here a slam dunk in terms of convincing me.
That brings me to my next issue with the book. The authors have clearly done a lot of work in looking at statistics in terms of income inequality, debt levels, stress levels, health, narcism and other factors. Where I struggled was in directly comparing different countries to reach conclusions, especially in respect of mental health where there are different cultural factors at work that may not have been taken into account.
That said, there are some interesting links demonstrated within the book, e.g. how inequality exacerbates social anxiety by encouraging dominating and submissive behaviour, damaging self-esteem, encouraging entitlement and psychopathic/narcissistic behaviour among the ‘haves’. I was particularly interested in the chapter that looks at how inequality drives materialism and how there is little market for luxury goods in more equal countries like Denmark. Also interesting is the chapter that looks at meritocracy and how your position in the social and economic hierarchy affects how you fare in society and end up.
All in all, I think it’s a thought-provoking book that does make you consider the overall affects of inequality on societies and certainly there was a lot here that I wanted to read more about and see more research carried out. It’s not a slam dunk but it does make you rethink how we look at income distribution and why equality of wealth and opportunity is so important.
The Verdict:
Richard Wilkinson is Professor Emeritus at Nottingham University’s Medical School and Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at York University. This book looks at how material inequalities within societies adversely affects mental and emotional health, but while it raises interesting questions, I wasn’t wholly convinced by the methodology and you need to read their previous book THE SPIRIT LEVEL to get the most from the arguments here.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
