Development & Inequality Lesson on Social Divisions

Development & Inequality
Lesson Week 1-2

Contents
Readings:ii
Introduction1
Learning Outcomes:1
1. Why Study Inequality?1
2. Studying Inequality2
3. Why Study Ethnicity, Gender and Class?3
4. How Are Power And Inequality Related?5
Warm-up Exercise5
Regina's experience of social divisions and inequality5
Your Experiences Of Social Divisions And Inequality7
Week 1: Readings and Activities8
1. What is development?8
2. Measuring Development10
3. Optional Activities21
Week 2: Readings and Activities23

1. What is inequality?23
2. Analysing Inequality25
3. Inequality in New Zealand31
4. Optional Activities34
Summary36
Glossary38
References39
Background reading40

i
Readings:
WEEK 1
Greiner, A.L. (2014) ‘Geographies of development’. In
Visualizing Human Geography. Wiley, pp.263-295
Todaro, M. & Smith, S. (2012). What do we mean by
development? In EconomicDevelopment (pp. 14–23). Pearson
Education Ltd.
WEEK 2
Thekaekara, M. M. (1999). ‘Calvin Klein and the Tea Pickers’.
New Internationalist, March: 12-15.
Rashbrooke, M. (2013). ‘Why inequality matters’. In
Rashbrooke, M. (ed.) In Inequality:
A New Zealand Crisis. Bridget Willams Books, pp.1-17

ii
Introduction
Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this topic on understanding development and
inequality you will:
· Have broadened your understanding of various dimensions of
development and inequality.
· Be able to name several different ways of measuring
development and inequality.
· Understand the impact of inequality on development
outcomes.
1. Why Study Inequality?
Feedback from past students doing this course indicates that
they learned a great deal about the impact of ‘development’ on
people’s lives and that they gained deeper insights into some
current global issues. Not surprisingly, however, they also
found that studying inequality can also be somewhat depressing.
Why, then, do we persist in teaching this topic? Taylor
(1992:20) has conveniently provided me with two very good
reasons:
1 He argues that ‘...global inequalities are going to become the
most important political issue in the world in the wake of the
demise of the Cold War’.
2 Taylor goes on to say that ‘...understanding global
inequalities is a key stage in the process of overcoming them’.
Taylor’s first point has proved prescient. From the revelations
of the Global Financial Crisis and the Occupy movement to the
release of documentaries such as Inequality

forAll(Kornbluth,2013), and the publication of top-selling
books on inequality includingWilkinson and Pickett’s (2010)
The Spirit Leveland Piketty’s (2014) Capital in theTwenty-first
Century, discussionsof inequality have become highly
prominent in globalpolitics. New Zealand has not been exempt
from this, with the publication of the book Inequality: A New
Zealand Crisis(Rashbrooke,2013) and a steady stream of
commentaryon the issue from politicians and the media. These
all go some way towards addressing Taylor’s second point, that
understanding inequalities is a key stage in overcoming them.
1
This course is designed to help you better understand global
inequalities and how they might be addressed. As you work
through the course you may also want to give some thought to
the following quote:
‘Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-
made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of
human beings’.
Nelson Mandela, 2005.
2. Studying Inequality

Throughout the course we will refer to a wide range of maps,
graphs and other media to explore inequality and development.
To begin, we take a global view. Take a look at Figure 1 below
(Figure 9.1 from Greiner, 2014 – Reading 1, p.265). If poverty
is indeed ‘man-made’, why is it that so many of the world’s
low-income countries are concentrated in Africa, South Asia,
and South-East Asia? (think of processes of colonization,
exploitation of labour and natural resources).
Figure 1: Global inequality and economic development

Optional: The inequalities between nations can also be explored
using NationalGeographic’s interactive map of “The World of
Seven Billion1”.
1 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/age-of-man/map-
interactive?
While Figure 1 and the National Geographic map give a global
view of the impact of inequality, research has shown that
inequality within a country can have a significant impact on the
well-being of all people. High rates of income inequality within
countries coincides with: a) higher rates of poverty; b) slow
rates of economic growth; c) high rates of unemployment; and
d) high crime rates (Wade, 2004, p. 582). While we tend to
associate these impacts with the lower income countries, this is
increasingly also a concern in high income countries (including
New Zealand). This is revealed in Wilkinson and Picket’s 2009
book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost
Always DoBetter, which focuses on high income countries.
Wilkinson and Pickett found that foreleven different health and

social problems (physical health, mental health, drug abuse,
education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and
community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-
being) outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal
countries. As such, although the primary focus of this course is
on global inequalities and inequalities within lower income
nations, we will also explore the impacts of inequality in rich
nations including New Zealand. This will raise some interesting
questions about the nature of development and what we mean by
the term ‘developed’ nation.
3. Why Study Ethnicity, Gender and Class?
Inequality is often discussed in terms of income (including in
the studies cited above), however the social divisions that social
scientists believe exert the greatest influence and carry the most
explanatory power are those associated with class, gender and
ethnicity. These divisions shape societies, determining how
wealth, opportunities, resources (material and cultural) and life
chances are distributed between different groups in society.
This distribution is typically uneven and leads to many
inequalities.
There are other social divisions as well of course; age, physical
and mental disability, come to mind for me. You can probably
think of some other social divisions. The main ones we will
examine in this course are discussed in the following box:

SOCIAL DIVISIONS
1. Class
Class inequalities arise from the differential access of different
groups to economic goods, resources and opportunities.
2. Gender
Inequalities of gender are associated with the differential:
· status accorded to men and women
· opportunities open to men and women
· the power and influence men and women exert.
3. Ethnicity
Inequalities associated with ethnicity refer to situations where

one group is disadvantaged in comparison to another because of
its ethnic characteristics.
(Open University, 1991)
Why Are Gender, Ethnicity And Class Of Interest To
Geographers?
Because they are social processes and all social processes have
spatial form. Social processes, such as class, gender and
ethnicity, result in spatial forms and distributions. Nothing
happens on the head of a pin. The best way to explain this is by
use of examples.
Ethnicity manifested in space:
The location of a hydroelectric dam in a valley which once
provided the subsistence needs of an indigenous people results
in their displacement to the streets of an overcrowded city; here,
distanced from their source of livelihood, from religious sites
and from their land, which has spiritual significance for them,
their culture quickly erodes.

Gender manifested in space:
Multinational corporations locate factories in certain Asian
countries where there is a large pool of reserve labour; here
they choose to employ mainly females who are seen to possess
desirable cultural traits, such as being docile and not
participating in political activities.
Class manifested in space:
Exploitation of rural peasants by large landowners forces the
peasants to move to towns where they occupy shanty towns or
ghettos within a city.
4. How Are Power And Inequality Related?
Different social classes, gender groups and ethnic groups have
different degrees of power, influence and authority in any
society. They also have unequal access to wealth, goods and
material resources and consequently there are significant
degrees of inequalities between them.
The powerful are able to amass wealth, have higher incomes,
own a greater share of the property and purchase more goods
and resources than those with less power. Interestingly, world
leaders have the power to divert more resources to overcoming
poverty and inequality at their fingertips, but they choose not to
do this. Instead, they continue to devote 20 times as much
expenditure to military purposes than what is spent on aid

projects (Fickling, 2004). Thus world leaders do not lack the
resources to educate the world’s children, they lack the political
will. This provides a clear example of how power and inequality
are related. We will be exploring this relationship further
throughout the course.
Warm-up Exercise
Regina's experience of social divisions and inequality
Through travelling overland from Indonesia to Turkey, and
doing research in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and
Southern Africa, I have witnessed inequality on a number of
different scales.In several countries there were certain
‘sensitive’ areas where travellers were forbidden from venturing
unless they had special permission. These areas included East
Timor and the northern areas of Sulawesi in
Indonesia, the Chittagong hill tracts in Bangladesh and
Kashmir, India, where stones were thrown at my bus by
independence fighters angry at the Indian government. While
the inhabitants of these regions are labelled dissidents by the
government because of their struggle for independence, in most
cases they have experienced extreme hardship and outright

repression at the hands of the state.
In Calcutta, poverty was prevalent. People begging, sleeping,
cooking, raising their families and delivering babies on the
street was testament to this. This was no place to feel sorry,
however, for the ‘human horses’ who pulled the rickshaws
around the busy streets both day and night for we learned that,
while exploitation at the hands of moneylenders, landlords and
the police was likely, those who had a rickshaw to pull at least
had some income to bring home to their family at night.
In the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, agricultural
programmes continually targeted men even though women were
traditionally the chief agriculturalists and had much knowledge
about effective ways of cultivating their land. Similarly, girls
were kept out of school because they were more useful at home
than boys, and because most girls would eventually move away
to live with their husband's family, so their education was seen
as being of little use to their own family.
In Southern Africa, wonderful game parks had been created out
of land that once provided the basis of livelihoods for thousands
of indigenous Africans. While safari operators and governments
reap the economic benefits of these parks and predominantly
white tourists feast their eyes on the aesthetic beauty of
Africa’s wildlife, the impoverished people surrounding the
parks have often been denied access to resources such as water,
meat, craft materials and medicinal plants from within the
parks.
And let us not forget, inequality exists ‘at home’ as well.
Whether it is from media reports on landlords not wanting Asian
or Pacific Island or Maori tenants, statistics on the growing gap
between the ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ in New Zealand, or an
acquaintance speaking with sadness of how her 5 year old son
came home from school stating ‘Mum, I wish I could change my

brown skin to ‘white’, it is clear that New Zealand does not
offer all citizens the same opportunities.
Your Experiences Of Social Divisions And Inequality
What experiences of inequality have you had, either personally
or what you have witnessed, either in New Zealand or overseas?
(Try to identify it as either class, ethnic or gender inequality).

7
Week 1: Readings and Activities
1. What is development?
What do you think ‘development’ involves? List your ideas
below:

Required reading
Read page 264 of Reading 1 (Greiner, 2014): What is
Development?
What is Greiner’s definition of development? How does this
relate to the list you wrote?
This is a good point at which to start your own glossary. Use a
Word document or pen & paper to list terms you are unfamiliar
with or which have multiple definitions (such as development),
adding definitions as you come across them in the course
materials and readings. You can also check the Stream glossary
for this course.
Did your list include anything about a fair distribution of
resources or wealth? How might inequality relate to Greiner’s
definition of development?

Were you thinking about Western countries as well when
devising your list?
Figure 2 (Figure 16.4 from Dicken, 2011) clearly shows
development problems exist within supposedly highly
‘developed’ countries, and Figure 3 (Figure 16.12 from Dicken,
2011) shows there are major inequalities emerging within
rapidly developing countries such as China. Even here in New
Zealand, income inequality is on the rise: the bottom 50% of the
population had only 7% of the wealth in 2001, while the top
10% had 48% of the wealth (Easton, 2012).
While Western countries are conred ‘developed’, the unequal
distribution of wealth and resources means that development
does not bring ‘changes in economic prosperity and the quality
of life’ to all. Keep this in mind as we move on to consider how
we might measure development.
Figure 2: Counties within the USA with high levels of economic
distress

Source: Dicken (2011), pp. 487
9
Figure 3: Income inequalities within China

Source: Dicken (2011), pp. 491
2. Measuring Development
2a. Economic Measurements
Required reading
Reading 1: Greiner, 2014. Economic Indicators pp. 264--267

Reading 2: Todaro, M. & Smith, 2012. What do we mean by
development:
Traditional economic measures pp. 14-16
Gross National Income / Gross Domestic Product
GNP and GNI have long been used as a measures of
development. Indeed the first map we asked you to look at was
based on GNI. Take careful note of Greiner’s and Todaro &
Smith’s explanations and write out definitions of these terms
(and add to your glossary).

GNI and GNP still used by economists and politicians, however
as measures of development they have fallen out of favour.
Reasons for this include:
· They do not include the value of subsistence goods (such as
food) which people produce for themselves.
· They do not consider purchasing power; the same amount of
money will buy different things in different countries.
Measuring development in terms of consumption
Some people have suggested that development should be
measured in terms of consumption, rather than in terms of
income or production. A ‘light-hearted’ example of this is the
Big Mac index published annually by The Economist. This
index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP –
see Reading 1, Greiner, p.267). Figure 4 is based on this data,
and shows how many minutes it would take a minimum wage
worker in various cities to earn enough money to buy a Big
Mac.

List any problems you may foresee with this ways of measuring
development:
One reason why these things may not be considered as good

indicators of development is that they can be harmful for
people. In 1979 Smith published a similar graphic showing the
time taken to earn the price of a car and a packet of cigarettes.
He noted that:
...cigarettes cause illness and death, which imposes costs on
individual smokers and their families and also on the
community that pays the price of medical care....Shortage of
cars
may be a conventional indicator of underdevelopment, but part
of the price of mobility they bring is death on the roads,
environmental degradation and air pollution. (Smith,1979, p.
66)

Figure 4: Minutes of minimum wage work to buy a Big Mac

Poverty Lines
Another largely economic measure is poverty lines. These are
usually set by governments and are therefore not particularly
useful for between-country comparisons, although they may
generate some useful data for the analysis of poverty within
countries. The World Bank has however established two
international poverty lines – the frequently quoted US$1.25/day
and US$2/day lines. As Greiner (2014) notes, the number of
people living in extreme poverty (less than US$1.25/day) has
dropped significantly although, as we will see later in this
module, this drop has been offset by a rise in inequality.
Look at the chart on page 268 of reading 1 (Greiner, 2014).
Which regions have experienced the most change? In which
regions has poverty levels not changed or become worse? What
are some of the reasons for change?

2b. Social, demographic and environmental development
indicators:
Required reading
Reading 1: Greiner, 2014. Socio-demographic Indicators,
Environmental Indicators, Development and Gender-Related
Indicators, Environment and Development pp.267--277
List the socio-economic, environmental and gender-related
indexes identified by Greiner. Can you think of any others?

The Human Development Index (HDI) was created by Pakistani
economist Mahbub ul Haq and the Indian economist Amartya
Sen and adopted by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in 1990. It is a composite index which uses
three indicators to compute a value between 0 and 1, which can
be used as a relative measure of development. It is now one of
the most often quoted measures of development.
What are the three indicators used to generate the HDI?
1.
_____________________________________________________
_____________
2.
_____________________________________________________
_____________

3.
_____________________________________________________
_____________
Compare the map of HDI on page 272 of Reading 1 (Greiner)
with the map of GNI on page 265 of the same reading. What are
thesimilarities and differences? Does anything surprise you?
2c. Alternative measures of development
Required reading
Reading 1. Greiner, 2014: Bhutan’s quest for gross national

happiness
p.262
Reading 2. Todaro, M. & Smith, 2012: Amartya Sen’s
“capability”
approach, Development and happiness, Three core values of
development pp.
16-23
Reading 3. Thekaekara, 1999: Calvin Klein and the tea-pickers -
all
Coates (1992) suggests that many geographers have biased
people’s perceptions of the world by giving so much attention
to patterns of consumption or production. For example, because
people from certain countries produce less or consume less than
those in the West, it has been suggested that their countries are
underdeveloped or that the people are inferior.
Coates’ (1992, p. 11) alternative suggestions for how we could
measure development include:
· Self-esteem
· Happiness or laughter
· Self-fulfilment
· Personal relationships
These suggestions are echoed by Sen and Goulet (In Reading 2:

Todaro and Smith). Sen rejects the idea that poverty can be
measured by income. Explain his alternative ‘capabilities’
approach tounderstanding poverty:
Also, take note of the way in which Sen defines development
and his argument that development should be concerned with
enhancing the freedoms we enjoy as this is an idea we will
return to in our discussions of inequality next week.
Todaro discusses the ideas of Professor Goulet who argues that
there are three core values of development:

a) Basic needs or life sustenance (food, shelter, health and
protection).
b) Self-esteem (a sense of worth and self-respect, dignity,
honour or recognition).
c) Freedom from servitude - to be able to choose (people should
not be slaves to other people, to ignorance, to misery or to
dogmatic beliefs). Freedom involves the expanded range of
choices for societies and their members together with the
minimisation of external constraints in the pursuit of
development.
Did the ideas on development which you jotted down earlier in
this module cover these three elements? Chances are that only
basic needs were covered. It is important that you realise the
significance of these other elements of development as well.
Another suggested measure of development is happiness, which
is based on individual values. As such it is even more difficult
to measure than freedom. To some people it is found in material
possessions, while to others it may be more spiritual, or
intangible, including trips to the countryside, relationships with
people or a trip to see their favourite band. It can only be
judged by individuals. The attraction and difficulty of
measuring happiness is discussed by Todaro and Smith (p.19).
What are some of the factors that contribute to happiness? How
might these be measured?

One measure of happiness in development is the Happy Planet
Index which uses life expectancy (from UNDP data), life
satisfaction (from the Gallup World Poll), and a nation’s
ecological footprint (from WWF data) to give a score. The score
is calculated as follows:
Figure 5: Happy Planet Index 2016: Top Ranked Countries

Source: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/
Compare the Happy Planet Index (figure 5 and online at
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data), with the maps of GNI,
poverty and HDI in Greiner. What are the similarities and
differences?Does anything surprise you?

Note that NZ ranked 29th in the 2016 Index. What does this tell
usabout development in NZ?
Despite the difficulties in measuring happiness the concept
remains attractive, and now world leaders seem keen on
following Bhutan’s lead in promoting ‘gross National
Happiness’ (see Figure 6).
Figure 6: The Telegraph – Leaders want happy nations

Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wordnews/asia/bhutan/835504
2/
Gross National Happiness is just one alternative measure of
development proposed by academics over the years. Smith
(1979, p. 77) suggests that as an alternative to production or
consumption, we could measure security (e.g. from war, from
domestic violence, from physical discomfort). Meanwhile,
Sidaway (2002, p. 18) lists a number of ‘alternative visions’ of
development, including ‘democracy, popular culture,
resourcefulness and environmental impacts’, which, if
considered as legitimate measures of development, ‘would
transform the imagined map of more or less developed
countries’. He also makes the important point that our
discussions of poverty and destitution too often overlook how
these problems are manifested in Western contexts, while the
overconsumption habits of Westerners are also conveniently
ignored.
All of the measurements have one thing in common. They are
designed by outside experts, academics and leaders. In Reading
3 Thekaekara highlights a different perspective – that of the
‘subjects’ of development.

What does ‘wealth’ mean to the Indian tribal people discussed
in this article?
How do they see themselves as ‘better off’ than some people in
Western Countries?

3. Optional Activities
Hire out the video ‘City of Joy’ (NB. This is quite old now and
there is only one copy in the Massey library, so you may need
to source it through an on-line store).
‘City of Joy’ provides excellent insights into the lives of Third
World peoples. It centres around the lives of a poor rural family
who lose their farm to money-lenders after two years of no rain.
They decide to move to Calcutta. They end up living in a
squatter settlement known as the ‘City of Joy’. This video
exposes the desperate poverty faced by many people in this
world but it also shows that some of their basic concerns are
similar to those of you and I: to provide a home and food for
their families, to send their children to school and to be healthy.
Alternatively, watch the more recent Academy Award winner
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which raises some similar themes.
While you watch ‘City of Joy’ or ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, try to
answer the following questions:

How/by whom are the poor exploited?
What work options are there for rural families who come to the
city and does age or gender make a difference?
How does the system of dowry perpetuate the poverty of the
poor in India?

What was stopping many of the poor from standing up to their
oppressors?
Week 2: Readings and Activities

1. What is inequality?
1a. Definitions of inequality
What do you think ‘’inequality’ means? Listyour ideas below:
Required reading
Read page 277-282 of Reading 1 (Greiner, 2014): Development
andIncome Inequality
What is Greiner’s definition of inequality? How does this relate
to the list you wrote?

You might have noticed that this section of the reading from
Greiner focuses on income inequality. While most discussions
do focus on income this is just one aspect of inequality. Look
back at the discussion on measuring development from last
week. What otheraspects of inequality are highlighted by
different measures of development?

Read the following quote from Crow and Lodha (2011):
The goal of equality expresses the idea that each person should
have comparable freedoms across a range of dimensions.
Inequalities are, then, constraints that hinder accomplishment of
these freedoms. There is debate about which dimensions of
freedom should be prioritized. At the same time, however, there
is substantial global common ground that deprivations below a
range of achievements constitute unacceptable inequality. This
common ground is formulated, most obviously, in the
Millennium Development Goals2, but also in the Universal
declaration of Human Rights (1948), and in the constitutions of
many nations.
Another way of answering the question “What is inequality?”
comes from sociologist Göran Therborn (2006:4): inequalities
are differences we consider unjust. Humans are diverse, and

social conditions across the planet vary, but they are raised to
the level of injustice – an inequality – when they violate a
moral norm and when, as Therborn puts it, the inequality is
capable of being changed (2009:20). When 2 percent of adults
possess more than half of all global wealth, when one child in
seven dies before the age of five in Sub-Saharan Africa, when
2 Optional: For more information on the Millennium
Development Goals, see Reading 1, Greiner: pp.287-288).
one in five girl children is allowed to die young, or is
selectively aborted, as happens in China, many consider that
unjust. (Crow & Lodha, 2011, p. 9)
Did your list include anything about freedom or justice?
Keep these definitions of inequality, as constraints that hinder
the accomplishment of freedoms and as differences we consider
unjust, in mind as you continue through the course. How do
class, ethnic and gender differences constrain freedoms? Why
are these differences unjust?
1b. Causes of Inequality
Therborn (in Crow & Lodha, 2011, p. 9) suggest four key causes
for inequality:
i. Exploitation: the extraction of value by a superior group from
an inferior group,for example, employers using low-paid labor.
ii. Exclusion: discrimination by one group excluding another,

for example, racism.
iii. Distantiation: economic mechanisms, such as the bonus
culture, for example thatresult in a widening distance between
low-ranking employees and executives, countries that are not
industrializing and those that are.
iv. Hierarchy: advantages within formal organizations, such as
rank within anadministration, corporation, or army.
You might note that some of these are related to an individual’s
skill or luck (such as advancement up a workplace hierarchy),
while others are the result of their geographical location, class,
ethnicity or gender. They can also operate at any scale, from an
individual or face-to-face level to international levels.
2. Analysing Inequality
As noted at the beginning of last week's topic, inequality is
often discussed in terms of income, however the social divisions
that social scientists believe exert the greatest influence and
carry the most explanatory power are those associated with
class, gender and ethnicity. These divisions shape societies,
determining how wealth, opportunities, resources (material and
cultural) and life chances are distributed between different
groups
in society. We will be examining these divisions throughout the
remainder of the course, however before we do so it is
important to look more closely at how inequality is analysed
and measured.

Perhaps the simplest way to measure inequality is to simply
compare indicators - such as the development measures we
discussed in the previous topic (something you have already
been doing when looking at the maps in the readings). For
example, the map of infant mortality in Greiner (p.270), tells us
a lot about disease, malnourishment and access to child and
maternal health care particularly when, as suggested by Greiner,
it is compared with a map of GNI (Greiner, p.265). However
there are also some measures used specifically to analyse
inequality, including economic measurements (such as the Gini
coefficient) and the Gender equality index.
2a. Measuring inequality
As inequality can be defined at various scales, it is also
measured at different scales. Look at the map of Africa on page
271 of Greiner (Reading 1). This shows the percentage of
households with piped water. There is clearly enormous
differences at the continental scale. What does this tell us
aboutinequality on the African continent?

Now compare this with Figure 6 below (from Crow & Lodha,
2011, p.
56) which shows the percentage of piped connections in rural
areas globally, and with Figure 7 which shows the percentage of
the population using ‘improved water and sanitation’ within the
Sudan.
What does each map highlight? What is obscured? How do you
think you could account for the differences between and within
nations? Think about economic and politicalsystems, historical
factors, conflict (the effects of this are particularly evident in
the Sudan map) etc.

Figure 6: Percentage of rural households with piped water
supply (2006)

Source: Crow & Lodha, 2011, p.56
27
Figure 2: Water and sanitation in the Sudan

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12115013,
based on figures from the Sudan Household
Health Survey, 2006
(http://ssnbs.org/storage/SHHS%20Published%20report.pdf)
Optional: Another way to look at this is illustrated in the UNEP
Global Water Supply andSanitation Assessment 2000 report
(click here3), which compares urban and rural water and
sanitation. What does this tell us about inequalities within
Africa?
3
https://globalizationstudies.sas.upenn.edu/system/files/images/w
ater_supply_and_sanitation_coverage_in_africa.png
28

2b. The Gini Coeffecient
Measurements such as the piped water percentages discussed
above, and other measurements of development (discussed last
week), can also help us measure and understand inequality.
Geographers and development practitioners use these figures,
maps and graphs to understand differences between and within
nations. However there are also some specific measurements of
inequality, the most common of which is the Gini coefficient.
Review the graph of the Lorenz curves and the map of the Gini
coefficient in Reading 1 (Greiner, 2014, pp. 280–281).
The Gini coefficient is a number between 0 and 1 and is based
on net income. In this measurement 0 represents perfect
equality and 1 represents perfect inequality. It is computed from
the difference between the line of equal income and a country’s
Lorenze curve (explained on page 280, Reading 1, Greiner,
2014).
Note that while the Gini coefficient is a very useful tool to
highlight inequality it is an economic measure based on income
only. As such it can obscure other aspects of inequality such as
class, ethnicity and gender. Indeed, a wealthy country and a
poor country can have the same Gini coefficient, as it only
measures the distance between the highest and lowest incomes.
Being based on income, rather than wealth (which would
include property and capital investments), the Gini coefficient
can also obscure the true scope of inequality.
Compare the map of the Gini coefficient in Reading 1 (Greiner,

2014, p.
281) with the Happy Planet Index maps, the maps of GNI,
poverty and HDI in the same reading. What are the similarities
anddifferences? Does anything surprise you?
Optional: Watchthis video4whichexplains the problems
withmeasuring inequality in New Zealand (and gives a basic
overview of Gini coefficient and consumption-based
measurements of inequality).
2c. Inequality and Freedom
To help move beyond economic analyses of inequality, it is
useful to look again at the definitions of inequality given by

Therborn. Reading these, you might have made a connection
with the discussion of Amartya Sen’s approach to development
discussed last week. For Sen, development is about functionings
and freedoms, the things people want to do and be:
Functionings: desired individual outcomes such as a long life or
being nourished.
Freedoms: a broad set, including political freedoms, economic
facilities, socialopportunities, transparency guarantees and
protective security.
(Sen, in Crow and Lodha, 2011:10)
Sen therefore describes inequalities in relation to the ability of
people to live lives they value (Crow & Lodha, 2011, p. 10).
While this approach does not directly give us with a set of tools
with which to measure development it does provide a nuanced
analysis of development and inequality, and his work has
provided new ways of thinking about progress and development
and has spurred global debate and new measurements of social
progress.
In particular, Sen’s work contributed to the development of the
multi-dimensional HDI. Have another look at the HDI map on
page 272 of Reading 1 (Greiner) and the discussion of HDI on
the same page. How dothe HDI and the Human Development
Reports reflect Sen’s capabilities approach? What can we learn
from these about the freedoms people enjoy in different
nations?

4 http://www.3news.co.nz/New-Zealands-record-on-
inequality/tabid/1348/articleID/345603/Default.aspx
3. Inequality in New Zealand
Required reading

Reading 4. Rashbrooke, 2013: Why Inequality Matters
This is the first chapter of the book Inequality: A New Zealand
Crisis, edited by Max Rashbrooke, which was released last year,
sparking considerable debate within the New Zealand media.
While this course takes a global view of inequality and
development, the New Zealand context provides an interesting
example of the impact of inequality and illustrates some of the
ideas we have discussed this far.
Why does Rashbrooke think inequality – rather than poverty – is
a major concern in New Zealand?

Think about the example of the Eastern Porirua that Rashbrooke
describes on page 1. Have you come across these ‘disconnected
worlds’ inyour neighbourhood / town / city? What might be the
impact of this type of disconnection?
This disconnection can also be visualized at a national level. In
May 2014 the New Zealand Deprivation index was released,

which draws on data from the 2013 census. The deprivation
index is a multi-dimensional tool, taking into account
communication (internet at home), income, employment,
qualifications, home ownership and other indicators. Figure 8
maps the distribution of deprivation in NZ using this index
Optional: The NZ Herald turned this into an interactive map of
deprivation in NewZealand. Use this online map5to explore the
distribution in more depth.
What does this map tell you about the distribution of inequality
in New Zealand?
5
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid
=11254032

Figure 3: Distribution of deprivation in New Zealand

Source: Atkinson, Salmond & Crampton (2014)

You might have been interested to note the inclusion of internet
access in th indicators that were used in the deprivation index.
Think about this in relatio to Rashbrooke’s discussion on pages
7-8 “Why Inequality – Not jus Poverty”. In particular consider
his arguments regarding participation in an contributions to
society. How might inequality – as evidenced by a lack oaccess
to the Internet – affect people’s functionings and freedoms in
New Zealand?
Note, once again, that Rashbrooke’s focus is on income
inequality. His justification of this (p.3) clearly explains the
reasons why income is so often used as a key indicator for
inequality however you should also be able to pick up

references to class, gender and ethnic inequalities throughout
the chapter (ethnic inequalities are particularly problematic in
New Zealand, something we will discuss further in the ethnicity
module). As we work through the modules on class, ethnicity
and gender it is worth thinking about the relationship between
income and these other aspects of inequality. To what extent is
income both a cause and a consequence of other types of
inequality? For example, how does income affect class
inequalities? What impact does class have on earning potential?
4. Optional Activities
Read page 282-290 of Reading 1 (Greiner, 2014): Development
Theory
This section of Greiner’s chapter gives a brief overview of the
major theories of development. It provides some theoretical
background to the discussion on development and inequality in
this module, as well as an introduction to some ideas we will
cover later in the course (in particular structural adjustment and
the
MDGs). It will also be particularly useful for (and/or familiar
to) any students taking Development Studies papers!
The development theories discussed here can be loosely grouped

into three approaches:
· Capitalist models: the classical model & neo-liberalism
· Neo-Marxist models: dependency and world system theories
· Alternative models: Poverty reduction approaches (amongst
others).
Using this section of Greiner compare the key features of
capitalist models, Neo-Marxist models, and alternative models.
Causes of poverty and inequality:
Capitalist models
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
______________
Neo-Marxist models
_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
______________

Alternative models
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
______________
Model of development (how to alleviate poverty / inequality):
Capitalist models
____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
______________
Neo-Marxist models
_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________
______________
Alternative models
__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________
_____________________________________________________

______________
Summary
By now you will see that development means much more than a
country’s output, its consumption or material wealth alone.
There are social, cultural and political dimensions to
development and often it is the intangibles, such as self-esteem
and happiness, which may say more about the development of a
people than economic measures of well-being. Development has
a complex and cross-cutting array of dimensions.
Development theories and measurements have changed
dramatically in the past fifty years. Many have, however,
continued to focus on macro-economic improvements as an
indicator of a country's development. Such indicators say little
about the distribution of income within a country or such values

as freedom of speech or equal rights for women and ethnic
minorities. Over the past few decades this has led to the
emergence of a range of new measures for development, and has
stimulated much discussion on what development is, from
freedom, to happiness, to individual community and personal
priorities.
However, while we have improved our ability to measure
development, and significant progress has been made towards
poverty reduction in many places worldwide, recent years have
also seen the rise of inequalities globally. Inequality has a
significant negative effect on development within countries
(Easterly, 2007), and contributes to a range of different health
and social problems including poor physical and mental health,
drug abuse, poor education, imprisonment, a lack of trust and
community life and violence (Pickett & Wilkinson, 2010). The
negative outcomes associated with inequality were highlighted
by Rashbrooke (2013, p. 7) who quotes British Sociologist,
Ruth Lister, describing poverty as ‘a shameful and corrosive
social relation’ which includes not only financial hardship, but
also ‘a lack of voice, disrespect,… powerlessness, denial of
rights and diminished citizenship’. As such, inequality is clearly
a threat to development, particularly if our understanding of
development encompasses health and education, self-esteem,
freedom or happiness. These links between development and
inequality will be explored throughout the remainder of this
course, which examines the lack of voice, disrespect and denial
of rights experienced by millions worldwide because of their
ethnicity, class or gender.
Before moving on to the next module however, it is worth
refocusing our attention on those most disadvantaged. As
Brohman (1995) asserts, the domination of Third World
countries by Eurocentric theories and strategies of development
has arrested, or deterred, indigenous development:

...little attention is afforded to the views, desires and ambitions
of Third World peoples themselves, particularly if they are from
traditionally disadvantaged and marginalised social groups (e.g.
the lower classes, the peasantry, women, ethnic minorities)
(Brohman,1995, p. 128)
Friedmann, one of a number of theorists who have rejected the
Eurocentric and global nature of the 'grand development
theories' of the past, takes a novel approach to development
theory. He takes as his focus marginalised peoples of the world
and how they can become active at the local level to empower
themselves. He realises, however, that it is not sufficient to
simply focus on the local level because '...local action is
severely constrained by global economic forces, structures of
unequal wealth, and hostile class alliances. Unless these are
changed as well, alternative development can never be more
than a holding action to keep the poor from even greater misery
and to deter the further devastation of nature' (Friedman, 1992,
p. viii)
Friedmann accepts that the system of global accumulation which
dominates economies is a fact, but he seeks to humanize this
system. He feels this can be done through forms of everyday
resistance and political struggle that argues for the rights of all
citizens, many of whom have been totally excluded from
decision making power and from any benefits which integration

into the global economic system may have brought (Friedman,
1992, p. 13).
After completing this module and perhaps watching ‘City of
Joy’ or ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ you should also understand more
about the complexity of development problems around the
world: of urbanisation, class exploitation, and the daily struggle
to survive faced by millions of people. Don’t let this get you
down: remember, the philosophy behind this course is that
'...understanding global inequalities is a key stage in the process
of overcoming them' (Taylor, 1992, p. 20).

Glossary
A glossary is included at the end of each topic and is intended
for your own use. Whenever you come across an unfamiliar
word or term either in the readings or study guide, jot it down
here and find a definition for it. While every effort is made to
use simple language in the study guide, it is also natural that
when studying a specialist subject you will have to be prepared
to expand your vocabulary. Using this glossary should enhance
your understanding of the material covered.
Unfamiliar wordsDefinitions
and terms

Note: The Stream site for this course has an excellent Glossary
that might helpyou.

References
Atkinson, J., Salmond, C., & Crampton, P. (2014). NZDep2013
Index of Deprivation.
Wellington, NZ.
Brohman, J. (1995). Universalism, Eurocentrism, and
ideological bias in development studies: from modernisation to
neoliberalism. Third WorldQuarterly, 16(1), 121–140.
Coates, B. E. (1992). Our unequal world. Geography, 77(1), 1–
11.
Crow, B., & Lodha, S. K. (2011). The Atlas of Global
Inequalities. University of California Press.
Dicken, P. (2011). Global Shift (6th ed.). London: Sage.
Easterly, W. (2007). Inequality does cause underdevelopment:
Insights from a new instrument. Journal of Development
Economics, 84(2), 755–776. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.11.002
Easton, B. (2012). Income and wealth distribution. Te Ara - the
Encyclopedia of NewZealand. Retrieved June 05, 2014, from
www.teara.govt.nz/en/income-and-wealth-distribution/5/3
Fickling, D. (2004). World Bank Condemns Defence Spending.
The Guardian.
Friedman, J. T. (1992). Empowerment: The Politics of
Alternative Development (p. 208).
Cambridge: Wiley-Blackwell.

Greiner, A. (2014). Visualizing Human Geography: At Home in
a Diverse World.
Danvers, MA.: Wiley.
Kornbluth, J. (2013). Inequality for All. RADiUS-TWC.
Open University. (1991). Society and Social Science: A
Foundation Course - Block Two,Social Structures and
Divisions. Milton Keynes.
Pickett, K., & Wilkinson, R. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why
Greater Equality MakesSocieties Stronger. Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Harvard
University Press.
Rashbrooke, M. (2013). Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis.
Bridget Williams Books.
Sidaway, J. D. (2002). Post-Development. In V. Desai & R. B.
Potter (Eds.), TheCompanion to Development Studies. London:
Arnold.
Smith, D. M. (1979). Inequality among nations. In Where the
grass is greener: living

in an unequal world (pp. 52–103). London: Penguin.
Taylor, P. (1992). Understanding global inequalities.
Geography, 77(11), 10–21.
Thekaekara, M. M. (1999). Calvin Klein and the Tea Pickers.
New Internationalist, March, 12–15.
Therborn, G. (2006). Inequalities of the World: New Thoeretical
Frameworks, Multiple
Empirical Approaches. London: Verso.
Todaro, M. & Smith, S. (2012). What do we mean by
development? In EconomicDevelopment (pp. 14–23). Pearson
Education Ltd.
Wade, R. H. (2004). Is globalization reducing poverty and
inequality? WorldDevelopment, 32(4), 567–589.
World Economic Forum. (2014). Global Risks 2014. Geneva.
Background reading6
Bodley, J. H. (2008). Anthropology and Contemporary Human
Problems AltaMiraPress, Lantham.
Brazier, C. (1997). State of the World Report. New
Internationalist, January/February: 4-9.
Brohman, J. (1996). Popular Development: Rethinking the
theory and practice of development. Blackwell, Cambridge,

Mass.
Corbridge, S.
(1991).
Definitions
of
Development.
Geography
Review
5 (2): 15-18.
Crush, J. (1995). Power of Development. Routledge, London.
Desai, V., & Potter, R. B.(eds) (2008). The Companion to
Development Studies.
London, Arnold.
Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering Development: The Making
and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton University Press,

New Jersey.
6
Held, D. and Kaya, A. (2007). Global Inequality: Patterns and
Explanations. Polity, Cambridge.
Jomo, K. S. with Baudot, J. (2007). Flat World, Big Gaps:
Economic Liberalization,Globalization, Poverty and Inequality.
Zed, London.
Kohl, R. (2003). Globalisation, Poverty and Inequality. OECD,
Paris.
Murray, W.E. (2006). Geographies of Globalisation. Routledge,
London.
Potter, R.B., Binns, T., Elliot, J.A. & Smith, D. (2008) Chapter
1: Questioning Development. In Geographies of Development:
An introduction toDevelopment Studies. Pearson Education,
Harlow.
Potter, R.B., Binns, T., Elliot, J.A. & Smith, D. (2008) Chapter
4: Globalisation, development and underdevelopment. In
Geographies of Development: Anintroduction to Development

Studies. Pearson Education, Harlow.
Rahnema, M. and Bawtree, V. (eds) (1997). The Post-
Development Reader. Zed,London.
Richardson-Ngwenya, P. (2010). The EU sugar reform and the
responses of Caribbean sugar producers. Geography 95 (2): 70-
79.
NB:
World Development journal, Volume 38
(6) 2010, is a special issue
containing nine papers on ‘Globalization, Poverty
and Inequality in Latin
America.

Icons in this study guide are by Christian Burprich:
http://findicons.com/pack/1742/ecqlipse (Creative Commons
licence)

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