About this item
Highlights
- The rich and the poor in the UK are subject to radically different legislative approaches.
- About the Author: Sarah Kerr is Research Fellow at LSE International Inequalities Institute.
- 256 Pages
- Social Science, Social Classes & Economic Disparity
Description
Book Synopsis
The rich and the poor in the UK are subject to radically different legislative approaches. While the behaviours of the poor are relentlessly scrutinised, those of the rich are ignored or enabled.
In this book, Sarah Kerr suggests that we live in a state of 'wealtherty', characterised by the hyper-concentration of wealth and a stark distinction between the rich and the rest. Drawing on evidence from the 1500s onwards, she reveals a long history of government scrutiny of the poor and ignorance of the rich. She contests contemporary policy and practice which disregards the enduring role of the rich in the production of poverty and poverty in the production of the rich.
In pursuit of social and economic justice, this radical book challenges policy makers and researchers to stop talking about poverty and to start addressing the problems caused by wealtherty.
Review Quotes
"A vital critique of the idea, conveniently promoted by generations of political leaders, that today's mass impoverishment is independent of extreme inequality." Stewart Lansley, author of The Richer The Poorer: How Britain Enriched the Few and Failed the Poor
"Sarah Kerr has written an angry, compelling book about how we need to see wealth as a social problem, and end our stigmatising perspectives on poverty. This book will make you see the world quite differently!" Mike Savage, London School of Economics and Political Science
About the Author
Sarah Kerr is Research Fellow at LSE International Inequalities Institute. Her research interests are in the broad area of justice-making.