tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/social-inequalities-94901/articlesSocial inequalities – The Conversation2022-06-29T12:06:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1837082022-06-29T12:06:07Z2022-06-29T12:06:07Z5 drawbacks to following your passion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471188/original/file-20220627-12-niphao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C22%2C7315%2C4858&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Employees are more likely to put in long hours when they're passionate about their work.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/job-interview-first-impressions-royalty-free-image/498941586?adppopup=true">sturti / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After earning bachelor’s degrees in engineering and sociology, I was determined to do what I love. I headed straight to graduate school to investigate the social problems that frightened and fascinated me. </p>
<p>For almost a decade, I told everyone I encountered – students, cousins, baristas at the coffee shop I frequented – that they should do the same. “Follow your passion,” I counseled. “You can figure out the employment stuff later.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t until I began to research this <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303232/the-trouble-with-passion">widely accepted career advice</a> that I understood how problematic – and rooted in privilege – it really was. </p>
<h2>The passion principle</h2>
<p>As a sociologist who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=UnCxN24AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">examines workforce culture and inequalities</a>, I interviewed college students and professional workers to learn what it really meant to pursue their dreams, which I will refer to here as the passion principle. I was stunned by what I found out about this principle in the research for my book “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303232/the-trouble-with-passion">The Trouble with Passion</a>.”</p>
<p>I examined surveys that show the American public has held the passion principle in high regard as a <a href="https://www.erinacech.com/the-trouble-with-passion">career decision-making priority</a> since the 1980s. And its popularity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211068660">is even stronger</a> among those facing pandemic-related job instability.</p>
<p>My interviews revealed that proponents of the passion principle found it compelling because they believed that following one’s passion can provide workers with both the motivation necessary to work hard and a place to find fulfillment. </p>
<p>Yet, what I found is that following one’s passion does not necessarily lead to fulfillment, but is one of the most powerful cultural forces perpetuating overwork. I also found that promoting the pursuit of one’s passion helps perpetuate social inequalities due to the fact that not everyone has the same economic resources to allow them to pursue their passion with ease. What follows are five major pitfalls of the passion principle that I discovered through my research. </p>
<h2>1. Reinforces social inequality</h2>
<p>While the passion principle is broadly popular, not everyone has the necessary resources to turn their passion into a stable, good-paying job.</p>
<p>Passion-seekers from wealthy families are better able to wait until a job in their passion comes along without worrying about <a href="https://educationdata.org/student-loan-default-rate">student loans</a> in the meantime. They are also better situated to take <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-shows-why-its-time-to-finally-end-unpaid-college-internships-152797">unpaid internships</a> to get their foot in the door while their parents pay their rent or let them live at home.</p>
<p>And they often have access to parents’ social networks to help them find jobs. Surveys revealed that working-class and first-generation college graduates, regardless of their career field, are more likely than their wealthier peers to end up in low-paying unskilled jobs when they pursue their passion.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities, workplaces and career counselors who promote the “follow your passion” path for everyone, without leveling the playing field, help <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303232/the-trouble-with-passion">perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities</a> among career aspirants.</p>
<p>Thus, those who promote the “follow your passion” path for everyone might be ignoring the fact that not everyone is equally able to find success while following that advice.</p>
<h2>2. A threat to well-being</h2>
<p>My research revealed that passion proponents see the pursuit of one’s passion as a good way to decide on a career, not only because having work in one’s passion might lead to a good job, but because it is believed to lead to a good life. To achieve this, passion-seekers invest much of their own sense of identity in their work.</p>
<p>Yet, the labor force is not structured around the goal of nurturing our authentic sense of self. Indeed, studies of laid-off workers have illustrated that those who were passionate about their work felt as though they <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo16668097.html">lost a part of their identity</a> when they lost their jobs, along with their source of income.</p>
<p>When we rely on our jobs to give us a sense of purpose, we place our identities at the mercy of the global economy.</p>
<h2>3. Promotes exploitation</h2>
<p>It’s not just well-off passion-seekers who benefit from the passion principle. Employers of passionate workers do, too. I conducted an experiment to see <a href="https://www.erinacech.com/the-trouble-with-passion">how potential employers would respond</a> to job applicants who expressed different reasons for being interested in a job.</p>
<p>Not only do potential employers prefer passionate applicants over applicants who wanted the job for other reasons, but employers knowingly exploited this passion: Potential employers showed greater interest in passionate applicants in part because employers believed the applicants would work hard at their jobs without expecting an increase in pay.</p>
<h2>4. Reinforces the culture of overwork</h2>
<p>In conversations with college students and college-educated workers, I found that a substantial number were willing to sacrifice a good salary, job stability and leisure time to work in a job they love. Nearly half – or 46% – of college-educated workers I surveyed ranked interest or passion for the work as their first priority in a future job. This compared to only 21% who prioritized salary and 15% who prioritized work-family balance. Among those I interviewed, there were those who said they would willingly “eat ramen noodles every night” and “work 90 hours a week” if it meant they could follow their passion.</p>
<p>Although many professionals seek work in their area of passion precisely because they want to avoid the drudgery of working long hours doing tasks they aren’t personally committed to, passion-seeking ironically perpetuates the cultural expectations of overwork. Most passion-seekers I spoke to were willing to work long hours as long as it was work about which they were passionate. </p>
<h2>5. Dismisses labor market inequality</h2>
<p>I find that the passion principle isn’t just a guide that its followers use to make decisions about their own lives. For many, it also serves as an explanation for workforce inequality. For example, compared to those who don’t adhere to the passion principle, proponents were more likely to say women aren’t represented well in engineering because they followed their passion elsewhere, rather than acknowledging the deep <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0003122411420815">structural and cultural roots</a> of this underrepresentation. In other words, passion principle proponents tend to explain away patterns of labor market inequality as the benign result of individual passion-seeking.</p>
<h2>Avoiding pitfalls</h2>
<p>To avoid these pitfalls, people may want to base their career decisions on more than whether those decisions represent their passion. What do you need from your work in addition to a paycheck? Predictable hours? Enjoyable colleagues? Benefits? A respectful boss?</p>
<p>For those who are already employed in jobs you are passionate about, I encourage you to <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303232/the-trouble-with-passion">diversify your portfolio of the ways in which you make meaning</a> – to nurture hobbies, activities, community service and identities that exist wholly outside of work. How can you make time to invest in these other ways to find purpose and satisfaction?</p>
<p>Another factor to consider is whether you are being fairly compensated for the extra passion-fueled efforts you contribute to your job. If you work for a company, does your manager know that you spent weekends reading books on team leadership or mentoring the newest member of your team after hours? We contribute to our own exploitation if we do uncompensated work for our job out of our passion for it.</p>
<p>My research for “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303232/the-trouble-with-passion">The Trouble with Passion</a>” raises sobering questions about standard approaches to mentoring and career advising. Every year, millions of high school and college graduates gear up to enter the labor force full time, and millions more reevaluate their jobs. It is vital that the friends, parents, teachers and career coaches who counsel them begin to question if advising them to pursue their passion is something that could end up doing more harm than good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin A. Cech receives funding from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and the National Science Foundation</span></em></p>A sociologist took a critical look at the cherished career advice to ‘follow your passion.’ What she found is that this advice often brings unintended consequences.Erin A. Cech, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1611322021-05-20T10:51:29Z2021-05-20T10:51:29ZCOVID-19: how rising inequalities unfolded and why we cannot afford to ignore it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401633/original/file-20210519-19-rwstpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C994%2C561&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/concept-worsening-income-poverty-gap-miniature-1259727142">Hyejin Kang/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Historian Walter Scheidel argues in <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691183251/the-great-leveler">The Great Leveler</a> that pandemics are among the four great horsemen that, through history, have led to greater equality – the others being war, revolution and state failure. Economist Thomas Piketty in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/17/capital-twenty-first-century-thomas-piketty-review">Capital in the Twenty-First Century</a> similarly points out that the world wars and the flu pandemic in 1918 and 1919 contributed to the decline in inequality after 1945. But while mass death can drive up workers’ wages through a reduction in the workforce, pandemics are neither a necessary nor sufficient basis for reducing inequality. </p>
<p>Far from being a “great equaliser”, COVID-19 has revealed and compounded existing inequalities in wealth, race, gender, age, education and geographical location.</p>
<p>The pandemic of 2020 does not compare to the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe’s population, or the 1918 flu, which killed around a third of the world’s population. The consequence of this pandemic is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52660591#:%7E:text=The%20start%20of%20the%20pandemic%20saw%20a%20big%20increase%20in,of%20people%20counted%20as%20unemployed.&text=This%20compares%20with%201.4%20million,pandemic%20began%20to%20take%20effect.">rising unemployment</a>, not <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/inequality-total-war-great-leveller">a shortage of available labour</a>, as was the case with these earlier crises. Meanwhile, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-radical-interpretation-of-the-great-depression-became-the-orthodoxy-behind-solving-the-covid-economic-crisis-158584">unlike the Great Depression</a> and previous periods of crisis, during COVID-19 <a href="https://www.vox.com/business-and-finance/22421417/stock-market-pandemic-economy">stock markets</a> and the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-55793575">assets of the wealthy</a> soared in value, widening the gap between rich and poor.</p>
<p>To assume this pandemic will inevitably lead to reductions in inequality and usher in a better world would be irresponsible. The first world war was certainly no great leveller. Far from it leading to better conditions, inequality in many countries peaked <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2016/june/how-has-income-inequality-changed-years">in the early 1920s</a>. By the 1930s, with the onset of the Great Depression, there was widespread unemployment and destitution in the US, UK and Europe. The contrast <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvjghwk4">with the progress</a> that followed the second world war reveals that we cannot tell in advance what these cataclysmic crises will bring. It is human actions and leaders that shape societies, not simply events.</p>
<p>In my book <a href="https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/ian-goldin/rescue/9781529366877/">Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World</a>, I identify how individuals, businesses and governments can precipitate change to reduce inequality, which was rising in both Europe and the US <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/06/many-around-the-world-were-pessimistic-about-inequality-even-before-pandemic/">before COVID-19 struck</a>. The pandemic only accelerated this trend.</p>
<p>After being relatively stable in the decades following the second world war, the labour share of total income has been falling in the US, Europe and UK since the 1980s. This is mainly due to the tide of liberalisation that was ushered in when Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the US initiated a race to the bottom in taxation, attacks on trade unions, and a weakening of competition policy, which all allowed for the growing concentration and strength of employers.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401848/original/file-20210520-13-14o3xtj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-top-1-in-pre-tax-national-income?time=1980..latest&country=GBR~USA~DEU~FRA~DNK~AUS~SWE~ZAF~NLD">Our World in Data</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>The public spending gap</h2>
<p>Now, among high-income countries, the US is by far the most unequal, followed by the UK. It is in these countries that the neoliberal crusade – which sought to reduce the size of government through reducing taxes and redistribution, privatise state enterprises and utilities, undermine the power of trade unions, and roll back rules that limited the free rein of the private sector – has advanced the furthest. Lower levels of inequality in northern European countries and in East Asia since the 1970s <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822">are due to</a> both higher levels of welfare payments for those in need, and higher public investment in education, health and housing, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979789">which are financed</a> by higher levels of taxes on the wealthy. </p>
<p>Both require considerable budgetary resources, and since the financial crisis of 2008, with rising unemployment and a deterioration of already weak public finances, southern European countries have been less able to afford the largesse that in Germany accounts <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979789">for over 20% of government spending</a>. Workers in Italy, Spain and eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary have not seen anything like the levels of support enjoyed by their northern neighbours. The result has been a rapid increase in inequality in the southern countries and growing divides within Europe.</p>
<h2>How inequalities unfolded</h2>
<p>The pandemic increased both economic and health inequalities due to a range of intersecting factors, which compounded each other. The wealthy were not only able to keep their well-paid jobs but also benefited from soaring stock markets and rising house prices. Low-paid workers were, in contrast, more likely to have jobs in the sectors that suspended activities, including hospitality and tourism. They were also more likely to work in essential services such as nursing, policing, teaching, cleaning, waste removal and as shop assistants – in all of which occupations, they had a higher likelihood of being exposed to COVID-19. The risk of contagion was further elevated by their living in more crowded homes, apartment buildings with communal lifts and entrances, and on their being more reliant on public transport.</p>
<p>As COVID-19 peaked in their neighbourhoods, they were also more likely to be locked down, which further undermined incomes. Weaker health facilities in their neighbourhoods meant mortality rates were higher, with a higher incidence of existing health problems also increasing their vulnerability.</p>
<p>A higher share of poor workers are in precarious hourly paid employment, making them less able to access social security, health insurance and emergency benefits that could cushion the decline in income and the effect of COVID-19 on their lives. The pandemic has come on top of a decade of austerity and stagnating wages in the UK, US and many other countries, deepening the hardship endured by growing numbers of people.</p>
<p>Taxes that fund redistributive spending – in the form of health and education, as well as social security, housing, child, disability and other benefits – can all significantly help overcome inequality. Before taking account of taxes and government spending, inequality is almost as high in France as in the US and UK, and even higher in Ireland, which without redistribution would be the most unequal of the world’s 34 richest countries. However, in Ireland and France, taxation and redistribution have reduced inequality to levels that are well below that in the UK.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/income-inequality">Our World in Data</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Meanwhile, the failure of successive governments in the US to use taxation and spending to overcome inequality means it is the most persistently unequal of all the rich countries. Overcoming inequality requires higher wealth and inheritance taxes for the upper-income families who have seen their wealth rise dramatically in recent decades.</p>
<p>As I show in <a href="https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/ian-goldin/rescue/9781529366877/">Rescue</a>, young people have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. To protect the health of the elderly, they have sacrificed their education, job prospects and social lives, and in future years will inherit much higher levels of public debt. Now, as happened after the second world war, we need to ensure that they can look forward to a sustainable and brighter future. This requires higher levels of investment in education, improved job prospects and a focus on social mobility, including through higher levels of inheritance and wealth taxes.</p>
<p>COVID-19, by exacerbating and further revealing the extent of inequality and discrimination, has made the case for addressing these injustices more compelling than ever. In response to the pandemic, governments and businesses have acted in ways that would not have been considered possible in January 2020. The challenge now is to build on these initiatives to reduce discrimination and inequality everywhere.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://covidandsociety.com/about-ippo/">International Public Policy Observatory</a>, of which The Conversation is a partner, is holding a major Action On Inequalities event on Tuesday June 15, from 10am. If you are interested in attending, email ippo@ucl.ac.uk or sign up <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/action-on-inequalities-what-should-be-in-post-covid-recovery-plans-tickets-154366224533">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Goldin receives funding from Oxford Martin School, Oxford University. He is affiliated with Core-econ.org. He is the author of Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World</span></em></p>It’s been argued that pandemics are the great leveller, but with COVID the opposite is true – and we can’t afford to ignore it.Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development; Director of the Oxford Martin Programmes on Technological and Economic Change and Future of Development, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1589122021-04-21T10:33:02Z2021-04-21T10:33:02ZWhy nursing in Denmark pays less than professions dominated by men<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396005/original/file-20210420-21-7layrv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=264%2C0%2C733%2C615&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rehab-elderly-people-536383975">GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gender pay gap and what to do about it in Denmark recently came to a head in the nursing profession. During the pandemic, focus on the work of nurses has come to the fore in a number of countries, including in the UK where a recent proposal for <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56294009">a 1% pay increase</a> was heavily criticised. </p>
<p>In national public sector negotiations in Denmark, nurses voted against a recent pay offer of up to 5% which was set to preserve <a href="https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Definitions/Real_wages.html">real wages</a> for public workers over the next three years. But <a href="https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/persons/astrid-elkjaer-soerensen(b9a2868f-221f-4990-9fa0-d306724ab7f1)/publications/det-offentlige-loenhierarki(1a976843-623a-40ee-abbd-ef19c4ccc4e5).html">research shows</a> that it’s not just a question of a pay rise: the wage level itself is set unfairly low for those in the profession. And the root of the problem dates back to a law that came into force some 50 years ago. </p>
<p>Denmark has a reputation globally for equality, but <a href="https://politiken.dk/udland/art8172855/Britisk-ambassad%C3%B8r-forventede-total-ligestilling-i-Danmark.-Hun-tog-fejl?shareToken=ajEgmeAAdDoA">it still has problems</a> with unequal pay. Danish nurses still receive <a href="https://dsr.dk/politik-og-nyheder/nyhed/dsr-uligeloen-er-strukturel-sexisme-skabt-af-politikerne-derfor-er-det-dem">10%-20% less</a> in pay than male-dominated professions requiring a similar level of education. There are <a href="https://nordics.info/show/artikel/gender-segregation-of-nordic-labour/">many contributing factors</a> to unequal pay, but a <a href="https://menneskeret.dk/sites/menneskeret.dk/files/media/document/Rapport_Tjenestemand_06.pdf">recent report</a> from the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) found that legislation enacted in 1969 led to nurses and other female-dominated professions placed at a lower pay level. </p>
<p>Not only was the recent pay offer rejected, <a href="https://www.borgerforslag.dk/se-og-stoet-forslag/?Id=FT-07299">a citizens’ petition</a> to reform the law in respect of many traditionally female professions received the requisite 50,000 signatures, within a record-breaking eight days, to make it to parliament.</p>
<h2>Structural sexism</h2>
<p>Central to the current fight for equal pay in Denmark is the call for the Danish parliament to revisit the <a href="https://dsr.dk/politik-og-nyheder/det-mener-dsr/tjenestemandsreformen-af-1969">Public Servant Reform Act of 1969</a>. The act was intended to modernise the employment system for state employees and allow the state greater control over wage increases. The act is regarded as one of the main reasons that female-dominated professions in the public sector still have lower salaries than male counterparts in positions with a corresponding level of education and responsibility. </p>
<p>In 1965, a commission was tasked with collecting data on and assessing all job functions as officials wanted to construct a wage scale and terms and conditions based on solely objective criteria. However, collecting such a large and diverse amount of data turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. </p>
<p>The commission also could not decide which criteria it should use when classifying the different professional groups and exactly how these should be weighted in relation to each other. In a letter forwarded to all government ministries, the commission mentioned workload, education and responsibility as criteria for work assessments, but it never actually succeeded in developing a proper system. </p>
<p>The commission was also tasked with not significantly increasing spending on public salaries. It therefore had to maintain the existing status quo, limiting the number of professional groups that could be moved to a higher wage bracket. The status quo at that time dated back to the first Civil Servant Act of 1919, and the commission had little room to manoeuvre: increasing wages for one professional group would lead to demands from others. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Protesters gather in a square with red banners" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396008/original/file-20210420-23-1tog4d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters for equal pay gather in a square with red banners.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Foran Christiansborg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Though its aim was to modernise, in the end, the commission’s <a href="https://nordics.info/show/artikel/unequal-pay-in-denmark-an-outdated-laws-far-reaching-consequences/">final proposal</a> – which became law – perpetuated a system that dated much further back in time. Against this backdrop, the female-dominated professions were generally placed at a lower level in relation to their education and level of responsibility at the time. </p>
<p>The act set out that the rest of the public sector should synchronise its wages with the new system, and this wage gap eventually spread to every other type of public worker. This also effectively ensured the state a relatively high degree of control over wages in the public sector.</p>
<h2>Public pay scales today</h2>
<p>In December 2020, the <a href="https://menneskeret.dk/sites/menneskeret.dk/files/media/document/Rapport_Tjenestemand_06.pdf">report from the DIHR</a> examined the relationship between wage scales for public workers in 1969 and 2019 and found an overall correlation, demonstrating similar wage differentials today as there were then. </p>
<p>This in itself would not be a problem if the wage differences between the professions initially seemed well-founded and remain so. To investigate whether the wage scales in 1969 and 2019 were unfavourable for female-dominated professions, levels of education were analysed. The report found that female-dominated professions in 1969 were, in general, placed lower that what could be expected based on the corresponding length of education, while male-dominated professions were placed higher.</p>
<p>The same trend could be observed in 2019 but, perhaps surprisingly, there was even less correlation between educational level and position on the wage scale.</p>
<h2>Political action</h2>
<p>While wage disparity from the 1969 act and equal pay generally has been on the agenda for many years in Denmark, the report has triggered renewed public and political interest in recent weeks. What should be done to solve a wage gap stemming from a law passed over 50 years ago? </p>
<p>COVID has in Denmark, like elsewhere, highlighted care work as an essential part of society’s infrastructure, creating <a href="https://www.borgerforslag.dk/se-og-stoet-forslag/?Id=FT-07299">support and momentum</a> for equal pay activists. The citizens’ petition calls for the 1969 act to be repealed and for equality of pay between all public professional groups to be introduced.</p>
<p>Longstanding concerns over piggy-backing claims (if the wages of one profession are increased, another group will demand the same) must be overcome – and there is only one pot from which all public sector pay comes, fixed by the government. </p>
<p>Politicians have to date tried to avoid responsibility by suggesting that the common method of resolving industrial disputes in Denmark should be used, that is, collective bargaining between the trade unions and the employer federations (so-called “social partners”). However, the message of nurses and the other caring professions is loud and clear: it is up to the politicians to do something about an outdated law that has unwittingly echoed down the ages.</p>
<p><em>This article is co-published with <a href="https://nordics.info/">Nordics.info</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Astrid Elkjær Sørensen receives funding from Ligelønsalliancen (A umbrella organization for Danish Trade Unions)</span></em></p>A law from 1969 is still having an impact on nursing pay in Denmark today.Astrid Elkjær Sørensen, Postdoctoral Researcher in History, Aarhus UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1522832021-03-01T10:51:44Z2021-03-01T10:51:44ZBusinesses say they want to tackle inequalities but they need more data to take action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385855/original/file-20210223-24-a2x6au.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C5%2C994%2C660&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only 9% of London firms reported that they collect data on their disability pay gap.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/handicapped-young-woman-colleagues-working-office-1669501207">as-artmedia/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has brought challenges like no other for businesses. In the UK, where firms have also had to deal with the challenges of Brexit, the resilience and adaptability amid such adversity has been remarkable. But there has also been recognition of opportunities for change in the longer term. One area of which is the role of businesses in tackling social inequalities. </p>
<p>With a lot of attention given to the shape and make-up of company boards, both over a lack of gender and ethnic diversity, there has been much debate about diversity measures in business. In February it was reported that the number of black people at the top of Britain’s biggest listed companies <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a80c0b94-43d7-4594-a6ae-65cc9b4952e4">had fallen to zero</a>, despite public commitments to increase diversity in leadership. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/24/investors-warn-top-uk-firms-over-ethnic-and-gender-diversity">Investors Association also said</a> they will issue warnings to firms if they do not disclose the ethnic diversity of their boards or have a credible action plan to address the issue. </p>
<p>While such actions are incredibly important, structural inequalities span wider than diversity initiatives and action is needed beyond merely the upper echelons of business.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/6032/2020-12-cbi-london-business-survey.pdf">a recent survey of 200 companies across London</a> that we conducted with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), we found a clear desire among business leaders of all sizes and sectors to engage with this issue of inequalities – more than 80% said that the capital’s business community can do more. </p>
<p>Despite the current challenging business environment, 75% of respondents said tackling inequalities in society over the next six to 12 months is important to their business. And one in five reported this to be an “extremely important” business priority. As a collective, the business community appears to clearly recognise the need for action to ensure an equitable and inclusive recovery from COVID-19. </p>
<p>The problems involved are also clear. The gender pay gap in hourly pay across the capital <a href="https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/gender-pay-gaps">is still 17.5%</a> and on the rise. For disability, there <a href="https://data.london.gov.uk/economic-fairness/labour-market/">is a difference of 15%</a> between disabled and non-disabled workers in London. And in our survey, only 9% of firms reported that they collect data on their disability pay gap – the lowest percentage of all answers given. A greater proportion of firms recorded employee education (19%) and the community engagement of employees (12%).</p>
<p>Similarly, while over a fifth of London business leaders stated their firms are tracking their ethnicity pay gap, this still lags significantly behind work on gender reporting. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black business woman fills out survey on computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C4%2C989%2C661&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384234/original/file-20210215-17-ibq1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ethnicity pay gap lags behind gender, but many employees will intersect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-woman-filling-survey-poll-form-1772913524">Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet at an individual business level, analysis of findings from the survey shows that gender equality receives more attention than action on other protected characteristics, such as disability and ethnicity. This is causing a hierarchy of inequalities to persist within the labour market. While a significant majority of firms (both large and small) stated they had continued to report on their gender pay gap <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/employers-do-not-have-to-report-gender-pay-gaps">despite not being legally required to in 2020</a> because of the pandemic, reporting on other protected characteristics remains very low. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-is-changing-the-way-we-work-and-for-disabled-people-too-150670">COVID is changing the way we work – and for disabled people too</a>
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<hr>
<p>Greater data collection, conducted in discussion with employees and grounded in employee experiences, can guide actions to reduce inequalities and foster inclusion in employment. And businesses themselves recognise this. </p>
<p>When asked what the most effective and practical ways for business to measure improvements in diversity, inclusion and equality were, 43% of respondents stated greater data collection. Strikingly, this figure rose to 73% for respondents from larger firms. Yet despite this high level of support for greater collection, of the same respondents, only 43% recorded that they currently report ethnicity pay gaps.</p>
<h2>Taking action</h2>
<p>It is not enough, however, to focus on measuring inequalities alone, we also need to make sure these inequalities are meaningfully addressed. Avoiding creating (or, indeed, cementing) hierarchies of inequalities or prioritising action to tackle one area of inequity over another is critical. </p>
<p>Businesses should look across the board at the whole range of inequalities they need to tackle, not just focus action on gender or ethnicity for example. And they need to look at what inequalities exist in their own businesses as well as reaching out to understand how wider structural inequalities in society affects business. As an individual’s job is more than merely counting hours and collecting a salary, it affects every aspect of lives, from health to housing. </p>
<p>These findings show the need for businesses to undertake analysis of how these characteristics and data groups overlap – taking into account how people’s outcomes are simultaneously affected by multiple factors such as gender, disability and ethnicity. </p>
<p>Assessing and comparing data so that we avoid focus being placed on one area alone is urgently needed. Looking at social inequalities, at people’s lives as a whole, their many characteristics and the multiple, interlinked and stacked disadvantages they face, it is essential for firms to identify patterns of intersecting inequalities and build action to address different outcomes. </p>
<p>Despite the immense challenges businesses have faced over the past 18 months, the survey responses clearly demonstrate that the business community is up for the challenge. In short, it’s not just about getting things going again. It’s about capitalising on this opportunity to rethink and recognise the role of business in building a more equitable society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Stevenson receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, EPSRC IAA and Research England</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siobhan Morris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID has challenged businesses but it’s also an opportunity to address inequalities that business leaders say is important to them.Siobhan Morris, Head of Programmes, Grand Challenge of Justice and Equality, UCLOlivia Stevenson, Deputy Director of Public Policy, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1527282021-01-18T17:43:54Z2021-01-18T17:43:54ZTrump-fuelled chaos shows democracy is in trouble — here’s how to change course<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379269/original/file-20210118-13-1599yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5825%2C3860&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The U.S. National Guard are seen surrounding the U.S. Capitol a week after Donald Trump supporters raided it.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Harnick)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20, seven days after outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump became the first commander-in-chief in history to be impeached twice — this time for inciting an insurrection — after his supporters <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2021/01/read-the-article-of-impeachment-against-president-donald-trump-accused-of-inciting-insurrection.html">raided the U.S. Capitol</a>.</p>
<p>The oft-repeated notion that the U.S. is a beacon of democracy owing in part to its tradition of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/abnormal-transitions-of-power-timeline/">peacefully transferring power</a> is no longer a believable proposition.</p>
<p>The common refrain from several U.S. politicians in the days following the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 that “this is not us,” “we’re better than this” and “we are the greatest democracy in history” cannot mask the reality that the U.S. is far from the democracy Americans think it is.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1349508304905637895"}"></div></p>
<p>With thousands of National Guard troops <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-capitals-national-guard-inauguration/2021/01/16/d010a97a-5833-11eb-89bc-7f51ceb6bd57_story.html">stationed on Capitol Hill and at state legislatures across the country</a> to protect against further attacks by armed and organized thugs in advance of the inauguration, many of the most salient features of democracy have been profoundly diminished. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="National Guard troops stand along a chain link fence." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378678/original/file-20210113-21-1upjqb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Washington National Guard stand at a fence surrounding the Capitol in anticipation of protests on Jan. 11, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. State capitols across the country are under heightened security after the siege of the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are many ways to <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/21335">define democracy</a>, but the normative formulation — a constitution, fair elections, an impartial judicial system and a range of presumably fair and open administrative structures and processes — is under attack in contemporary America. </p>
<p>Society is inundated with a daily dose of indices from the stock market and opinion polling, but the chaos in the U.S. over the past several years shows us we need better measurements of the health and vibrancy of democracy. </p>
<p>We advocate for a more <a href="https://myersedpress.presswarehouse.com/browse/book/9781975501433/It-s-Not-Education-that-Scares-Me-It-s-the-Educators">critically engaged democracy</a>, one that includes more robust civil society participation, a focus on social justice, social inequalities and power relations and the need to develop and support transformative practices, solidarity and education. While discussing, developing and achieving a richer democracy requires negotiating a minefield of partisanship and bitter divisions, simply feigning that we’re living in democracies is no longer a viable option.</p>
<p>Our framework advocates re-examining democracy through meaningful dialogue, deliberation, engagement and action. A focus on real-world problems and realities should be a welcome change from the more mainstream focus on the horse race of attaining and maintaining power.</p>
<h2>Reimagining democracy</h2>
<p>There are a number of questions underpinning this reimagining of democracy. For instance:</p>
<p>• What do we know about the arms trade, how much is being sold, to whom, how these arms are used, who are the victims, etc.? </p>
<p>• How do we understand homelessness in terms of the human, economic and political costs?</p>
<p>• How do we document and deal with the reality of women routinely being violated, beaten and killed by men in our society?</p>
<p>• What is the impact of racism on people and society? </p>
<p>• How are we dealing with environmental issues and their impact on the planet?</p>
<p>These are some of the questions all citizens of democracies must ask to move beyond elections as the defining characteristic of democracy. </p>
<p>It’s necessary to question the fundamental components of democracy in order to accurately, transparently and critically assess how democratic our societies really are. In the U.S., in particular, moving beyond baseless assertions that “we are the greatest democracy on Earth” is important, especially for everyone left out of the equation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dutch demonstrators carry a Stop Facism sign at a protest against the raid on the U.S. Capitol" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379145/original/file-20210117-19-1tv3l2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators observe social distancing COVID-19 health protocols during an anti-fascism demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Jan. 10 against the storming of the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Democracy indicators</h2>
<p>There are a slew of democracy indicators and measures in a variety of areas, including <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/surveys/results/8/table">social justice</a> and racism, <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii">sexism</a>, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/pages/universalhumanrightsindexdatabase.aspx">poverty</a>, <a href="http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/civic-engagement/">citizen engagement</a>, <a href="https://www.idea.int/data-tools/tools/global-state-democracy-indices">citizen participation</a> <a href="https://libguides.usc.edu/c.php?g=234935&p=5813462">in elections</a>, <a href="https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/education-all-development-index">education</a>, <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/health-index">health care</a>, <a href="https://libguides.gwu.edu/intreldatabases">international relations</a> with other states and peoples, <a href="https://www.environmentaldemocracyindex.org/node/2730.html">the environment</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020">governance</a> and <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking">press freedom.</a></p>
<p>For each indicator, we propose a central question: What is being done and what should be done to ensure governments around the world are working to enhance democracy in each specific area of measurement?</p>
<p>Applying this question to every available indicator will encourage debate and action that move beyond the predilections of the governing party and select interests. </p>
<p>A simple way to do this would be for every democracy indicator to outline where governments stand on each one. What are they doing to combat systemic racism, for example? How are they encouraging citizen engagement in elections, to name another example? The detailed work supporting these indicators would also be made public, allowing for greater citizen participation in understanding, critiquing and addressing key concerns.</p>
<h2>Potential limitations</h2>
<p>There are several issues that could obfuscate and undermine this project. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is there the political will to embrace it? </p></li>
<li><p>How to determine who should be involved and who would have the last word? </p></li>
<li><p>What guarantee is there that governments and citizens will consider and use the model? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>A richer democracy will result from documenting and exposing issues and problems and engaging with the population, especially if the process includes meaningful dialogue, accountability and planning. Formally outlining what’s democratic or undemocratic about our society — government policies, programs, laws, practices and traditions, etc. — should compel decision-makers to be more attentive to systemic problems. </p>
<p>The objective is to bring together those working to accurately measure democracy to purposefully reimagine democratic engagement and action. It may be difficult, but the status quo is no longer an option. As citizens, we must push for broad critical discussion and engagement on the foundations of democracy around the world. </p>
<p>Democracy indicators are only a starting point. Our suggestion for a framework to reform democracy is not meant to be a comprehensive, finite policy instrument. But moving beyond soundbites about how the stock market is responding to political upheaval, or how politicians are performing in polls, could bring welcome relief to those adversely affected by the troubling state of democracy right now.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The U.S. Capitol dome is seen in the darkness behind razor wire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5459%2C3595&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379147/original/file-20210117-19-ghh4rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The U.S. Capitol is seen through razor wire above security fencing, on Jan. 16, 2021, in Washington as security is increased ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The need to go further</h2>
<p>This is not to suggest that democracy indicators currently serve little purpose. In fact, most are accurately informing us how and where democracy is in danger. </p>
<p>But it’s our contention they must go further so that democracy is debated, deliberated, interrogated and reconsidered well outside of the electoral system, which is flawed and limited in many ways. </p>
<p>The United States will illustrate this week that changing a nation’s leader without profoundly rethinking the system he or she is upholding is no longer acceptable for the citizens of any country. Collectively, we need to advocate for a more engaged and meaningful form of democracy that will benefit all citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul R. Carr receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a research project entitled Social Media, Citizen Participation and Education, for which he is the Principal Investigator, and also the Fonds de recherche du Québec in relation to the UNESCO Chair DCMÉT, for which he is the Chair-Holder.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gina Thésée receives funding from receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a research project entitled Social Media, Citizen Participation and Education, for which he is the Co-Investigator, and also the Fonds de recherche du Québec in relation to the UNESCO Chair DCMÉT, for which he is the Co-Chair.</span></em></p>The U.S. illustrates this week that changing a nation’s leader without rethinking the system he or she is upholding is no longer acceptable for citizens. We need an improved form of democracy.Paul R. Carr, Professeur/Professor (Université du Québec en Outaouais) & Titulaire/Chair, Chaire UNESCO en démocratie, citoyenneté mondiale et éducation transformatoire/ UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education., Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)Gina Thésée, Professeure/Professor (Université du Québec à Montréal) & Cotitulaire/Co-Chair, Chaire UNESCO en démocratie, citoyenneté mondiale et éducation transformatoire/UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education., Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1479502020-10-23T13:56:45Z2020-10-23T13:56:45ZNet-zero carbon emissions won’t be sustainable if social inequalities aren’t addressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365002/original/file-20201022-20-101gx9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C38%2C5096%2C3468&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-council-estate-housing-block-typical-1438940345">Willy Barton/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.ukcop26.org/">COP26</a>, the UN’s climate change conference, on the horizon next year in Glasgow, all eyes are on securing the decarbonisation of the global economy. What this will mean and how it will be achieved will be hotly debated before, during and after the conference.</p>
<p>Thanks to COVID-19, the world has experienced an extraordinary simulation of what abrupt decarbonisation might look like. At least in relation to transport, lockdown has revealed the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0797-x">enormous improvements</a> in air quality and wildlife habitats, which result from curtailing fossil-fuelled transport.</p>
<p>But, at the same time, hastily implemented lockdown measures, including enforced confinement, have worsened inequalities that affect quality of life, access to food, education, work and mental health.</p>
<p>Growing public protests against pandemic restrictions, including <a href="https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/residents-protes-hackney-road-closures-1-6869250">road closures</a> to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, have also mirrored the febrile and often polarising public debate around carbon-mitigation policies.</p>
<p>While evidence indicates that some of these anti-lockdown protests are funded by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/politics/coronavirus-protests-trump.html">shadowy conservative groups</a> also pushing climate denial, other protests have been driven by legitimate grievances. Both highlight the importance of designing policies that are equitable and improve people’s lives – as well as explaining those policies to citizens.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RYPwDTA0-A8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<h2>Global and local inequalities</h2>
<p>These recent events underscore how any transition to a net-zero society must take into account social conditions. Measures that worsen social inequalities and injustices are intolerable, causing serious harm, and are likely to provoke significant popular resistance – ultimately jeopardising any sustained climate action.</p>
<p>COP discussions have rightly focused on the difficult task of striking the right balance of duties between countries, especially between wealthy countries and emerging economies that did not benefit from the era of unrestricted industrialisation. But it is important to remember that the effects of climate change and mitigation are also unequal within countries. Intersecting differences, such as those related to gender, ethnicity, class, age, ability and more, affect the impact of policy interventions, as we have seen throughout the pandemic.</p>
<p>In the UK, <a href="https://airqualitynews.com/2019/06/19/poor-most-exposed-to-air-pollution-caused-by-rich-study-finds/">research shows</a> that those who lack access to affordable energy (living in poorly insulated housing, for example) are also more likely to live in areas with worse air pollution from traffic and industry. </p>
<p>In our COP26 briefing paper <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/public-policy/sites/public-policy/files/cop26_just_transition_policy_paper_-_final_.pdf">Just Transition: Pathways to Socially Inclusive Decarbonisation</a>, we flag the important social justice concerns that a transition to a post-carbon economy must address.</p>
<h2>Seven key messages</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>The transition to net-zero will not be sustainable or credible if it creates or worsens social inequalities. A social justice approach can facilitate the transition globally.</p></li>
<li><p>Costs and benefits of climate policies and the ability to shape such policy is not extended equally to those who suffer the greatest costs. Inclusion is vital to ensure that policy is socially equitable. </p></li>
<li><p>Job creation does not guarantee just outcomes. It must take into account what jobs are created, how secure they are, who has access to them and the skills and education required.</p></li>
<li><p>Just transitions will look very different in developing countries. They will need additional support to develop, plan and implement the necessary policies.</p></li>
<li><p>A backlash is likely if the transition is not perceived to be just. Policymakers need to encourage widespread public debate and involvement to ensure that everyone gets on board.</p></li>
<li><p>A range of policy tools exist to address just transition concerns. These include taking a holistic approach to policies; addressing social and environmental aspects of economic policy; making sure that interventions are adapted to local contexts and are responsive to change; building democratic engagement platforms, such as citizen assemblies; and open and transparent communication on the political and ethical choices involved in decarbonisation.</p></li>
<li><p>Governments should also incorporate just transition provisions into their nationally determined contributions (national targets to meeting the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a> goals) and include opportunities to review progress and learn from one another. </p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An oil rig in the North Sea with the sun streaming through the clouds over choppy water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365004/original/file-20201022-16-1x8pq8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Key investors are now beginning to move out of fossil fuels, which sends an important message about reducing carbon emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/oil-gas-industry-north-sea-view-1561611283">Igor Hotinsky/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>Without a robust bedrock of public support, radical measures will prove difficult to implement. The early part of lockdown showed that collective responsibility is possible, and that solidarity can be generated as long as it is not undermined by those in charge. </p>
<p>Shoring up badly eroded trust in public authority at local, national and global levels is vital. Basic democratic principles suggest that including a range of voices in making policy means more diverse concerns are reflected. </p>
<p>Besides individuals making changes, it’s clear that business and investors have a key role to play in achieving net zero. Although painfully slow, there are signs that fossil fuel companies are changing their strategies. Key investors are beginning to move out of fossil fuels following a sea change among high-profile industry leaders such as the <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/our-history/">Rockefeller Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://influencemap.org/report/FinanceMap-Launch-Report-f80b653f6a631cec947a07e44ae4a4a7">Brunel pension fund</a>, which both withdrew investments in fossil fuels. </p>
<p>There is a long way to go. But changes in the way that energy futures (financial instruments in which the underlying asset is based on energy products such as oil, natural gas, and electricity) are defined – according to speed of transformation to net zero rather than by rate of economic growth – show that major <a href="https://www.nationalgrideso.com/sites/eso/files/documents/24676-uk-future-energy-scenarios-2011.pdf">industrial narratives are changing</a>. </p>
<p>It will also be vital that businesses account for their potential impact on social inclusion and inequalities, an agenda which is gaining ground in the influential voluntary <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-criteria.asp">environmental, social and governance (ESG)</a> standards.</p>
<p>We know that only unprecedented levels of collective action will be enough to limit global warming to 2°C. Decarbonisation of the economy is daunting but essential. Emphasis on a fair transition to net-zero could rally public support for the dramatic changes to come, promote social solidarity and mobilise communities to take action. </p>
<p>As our COP briefing details, there already exists a broad set of policy tools and strategies to move us quickly in the direction of an integrated, whole-economy approach to an inclusive, just transition. Policymakers must prioritise measures that promote social and environmental justice, strengthening the political trust on which achieving our net-zero goal depends.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone Abram receives funding from EPSRC related to the Centre for Energy Systems Integration <a href="http://www.cesienergy.org.uk">www.cesienergy.org.uk</a> and from the Norwegian Research Council related to the Include research centre for socially inclusive energy transitions. <a href="https://www.sum.uio.no/english/include/">https://www.sum.uio.no/english/include/</a></span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Pegram receives funding from the GLOBE project (Global Governance and the European Union: Future Trends and Scenarios), funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. <a href="https://www.globe-project.eu">https://www.globe-project.eu</a></span></em></p>The effects of climate change and mitigation are not just unequal between countries but also within countries.Simone Abram, Professor in the Dept of Anthropology, Co-Director of Durham Energy Institute, Durham UniversityTom Pegram, Associate Professor in Global Governance and Deputy Director of UCL Global Governance Institute, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.