One of the great global challenges that condition the current moment and which explains our time is inequality. The evolution of globalization processes, led by the neoliberal agenda, has accelerated the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and accentuated the disproportion between an economic elite, the so-called 1% of the population and the rest of the humanity, in a process that questions the foundations of our present and future society.
If during the emancipation from the Ancient Regime, the fight for equality was one of the motors for the consecution of democratic rights and liberties that gave place to modernity, today we realize that the growing inequality produces increasingly asymmetrical and illegitimate forms of power. There are several voices that affirm that the consolidation of the current structures of distribution of goods and resources makes any realization of the democratic ideals unfeasible.
Inequality,...
One of the great global challenges that condition the current moment and which explains our time is inequality. The evolution of globalization processes, led by the neoliberal agenda, has accelerated the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and accentuated the disproportion between an economic elite, the so-called 1% of the population and the rest of the humanity, in a process that questions the foundations of our present and future society.
If during the emancipation from the Ancient Regime, the fight for equality was one of the motors for the consecution of democratic rights and liberties that gave place to modernity, today we realize that the growing inequality produces increasingly asymmetrical and illegitimate forms of power. There are several voices that affirm that the consolidation of the current structures of distribution of goods and resources makes any realization of the democratic ideals unfeasible.
Inequality, however, is not only manifested in the economic side but generates and reproduces structures of exclusion and discrimination in many other areas that collide directly against the liberal and democratic principles and jeopardize the cohesion of ours societies, consolidating an increasingly unfair system. Talking about inequality is so to speak of social inequalities, cultural genres, and access to education, health, among others.
While awareness of inequality is notorious in the face of impoverishment and widespread precariousness, the disappearance of middle classes or the dismantling of the welfare state, the reaction to reverse the tendency is still very limited. An alternative consensus with a story capable of substituting the dominant dogmas and that encourages the emergence of new, more just and equitable models, continues without prospering.
The erosion of politics has a lot to do with it. The sovereignty of the states has been definitively displaced by the economic decision centers and towards the diffuse transnational financial market. This is one of the causes, but there is also a lot to do with the disappearance of ideological alternatives with a capacity for construction and transformation.
The answer to inequality is complex and controversial and focuses a great part on the current political, economic and contemporary thought. A debate that, on the other hand, can not be considered partially or from a specific geographical or local dimension, but will only be valid if it is oriented on a global scale and aims to define the future paradigms to evolve.
Facing with growing inequality, the responses to articulate go beyond claiming the concept of equality. Combating inequality means coping with the imbalances manifested both locally and globally. It involves rethinking the relations of power that order human relations and communities and addressing the serious conflicts that threaten the stability and peace of the international community.
Today, the responses to inequality reflect on an idea of common good that, from a critical and comprehensive perspective, develops the concept of equity linked to progress and social justice and which at the same time incorporates models of efficiency, sustainability and cooperation and realization of the life project itself in full freedom. The debate on how to articulate policies to redress inequality while stimulating economic prosperity is more valid than ever and occupies a good part of academic and political discussion. However, and as Thomas Piketty affirms, it is convenient to overcome the narrower approaches that aim to question inequality only from the perspective of the economy and today it becomes essential to integrate all the disciplines of the social sciences in order to face a so complex challenge. Addressing, then, inequality implies an omnipresent approach that combines social, economic, and political as well as symbolic, cultural and philosophical aspects. It involves starting from a global reflection, to analyze its scope and the possible consensus that will allow us to draw new paths of understanding in the local space. Or at least know the limits and nuances that would make a roadmap in a shared agenda.
From this perspective, this project proposes to initiate a set of activity focused on inequality that will contribute to generate the necessary debate in our country, to influence the public agenda, connect with the global debates that are being producing, and exploring the sensitivity of the local agents to share the proposals of change that are being debated.
"Fighting Inequality: The Big Challenge" started in June 2017. Since then, 9 sessions have been held with the participation of high-level international experts: Joseph Stiglitz, Kate Pickett, Gabriel Zucman, Jacob S. Hacker, Frank Moulaert, Marisol García, Colin Crouch, Manuel Castells, Marc Fleurbaey, Andrew Williams and Paula Casal. The conferences have been accompanied by a seminar with academics as well as a meeting-debate with corporate leaders to explore the limits of consensus. As a result of the discussions held in these sessions, a series of indicators for the analysis and diagnosis of inequality in the city have been identified.
