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The Anatomy of Inequality: Its Social and Economic Origins- and Solutions
From a country with one of the world s lowest rates of income and social inequality comes a clear-eyed and timeless account that recalls Thomas Piketty s "Capital in the Twenty-First Century." In "The Anatomy of Inequality," Swedish analyst Per Molander examines the development of social and economic inequity throughout the modern world, its history, and what can be done about it.
By mining cultural history, Molander inventively addresses the obvious questions often avoided including why the wealthiest countries, such as the United States, have the greatest incidences of inequality.
Mixing anthropology, statistics, references to music and literature, and political science, Molander looks at inequality across various political and ideological systems and presents a persuasive, entirely reasonable case that, as surely as societies can be made unequal, so too can they be made equal."
By mining cultural history, Molander inventively addresses the obvious questions often avoided including why the wealthiest countries, such as the United States, have the greatest incidences of inequality.
Mixing anthropology, statistics, references to music and literature, and political science, Molander looks at inequality across various political and ideological systems and presents a persuasive, entirely reasonable case that, as surely as societies can be made unequal, so too can they be made equal."
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2014
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330 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 21, 2016
Per Molander, a Swedish consultant for the World Bank, the OECD, the European Commission and the Swedish government, writes a book for folks who have some education in economics and philosophy and political science. I don't think that's what he wanted.
I think he wanted a book that just any educated person could pick up and understand the inevitability of inequality in any market system, the impossibility of any static Utopian solution and then some real solutions that mitigate the inequality. I sympathize, we don't have ready language for these ideas. There are times he is clear and speaks in language most of us could get, other times he's referring to so many different authors and their points of view that if one hadn't had courses on those folks, one would get lost (like I did.) He can get very general; I happen to know plenty about Christianity and its history and he makes some dumb generalizations. What does that mean for when he generalizes about other faith traditions? Or philosophy? And then he tries to cover the liberal and conservative traditions each in their own chapter, but he's unclear as to what exactly those traditions are (warranted, yes, they are to complex and even self-contradictory, ever-morphing categories.) He could have just generalized and confessed to doing as such or written a much longer book. But then there is the Swedish way of social democracy, the chapter on which where he offers his solutions; he's succinct and clear on this stuff and I liked this chapter a lot.
And there was, indeed, a lot to like. He communicates the impossibility of creating static one-time-fits-all solutions. He demonstrates the impossibility of any static state market and the inevitability of markets giving ever and ever greater bias toward the winners in negotiations.
I wanted a book that gets to the basic core of human interactions that allow for, use, even need! inequality among individuals within human communities. And then for reasons to mitigate, methods to foster and evidence of the value of equality among individuals within human communities. Sometimes he gets there, other times he hasn't quite stretched himself to get to the actual fundamental issue. There is more biological, psycho-social stuff to dig into! And then we need clear maxims that convey the truths in political settings.
BTW, Molander's in dialogue with Piketty, and feels that Piketty's solutions of taxing at the level of capital are insufficient to mitigate inequality.
I want to read more on this and welcome suggestions.
I think he wanted a book that just any educated person could pick up and understand the inevitability of inequality in any market system, the impossibility of any static Utopian solution and then some real solutions that mitigate the inequality. I sympathize, we don't have ready language for these ideas. There are times he is clear and speaks in language most of us could get, other times he's referring to so many different authors and their points of view that if one hadn't had courses on those folks, one would get lost (like I did.) He can get very general; I happen to know plenty about Christianity and its history and he makes some dumb generalizations. What does that mean for when he generalizes about other faith traditions? Or philosophy? And then he tries to cover the liberal and conservative traditions each in their own chapter, but he's unclear as to what exactly those traditions are (warranted, yes, they are to complex and even self-contradictory, ever-morphing categories.) He could have just generalized and confessed to doing as such or written a much longer book. But then there is the Swedish way of social democracy, the chapter on which where he offers his solutions; he's succinct and clear on this stuff and I liked this chapter a lot.
And there was, indeed, a lot to like. He communicates the impossibility of creating static one-time-fits-all solutions. He demonstrates the impossibility of any static state market and the inevitability of markets giving ever and ever greater bias toward the winners in negotiations.
I wanted a book that gets to the basic core of human interactions that allow for, use, even need! inequality among individuals within human communities. And then for reasons to mitigate, methods to foster and evidence of the value of equality among individuals within human communities. Sometimes he gets there, other times he hasn't quite stretched himself to get to the actual fundamental issue. There is more biological, psycho-social stuff to dig into! And then we need clear maxims that convey the truths in political settings.
BTW, Molander's in dialogue with Piketty, and feels that Piketty's solutions of taxing at the level of capital are insufficient to mitigate inequality.
I want to read more on this and welcome suggestions.
June 11, 2023
A heady read that dives deep into the history of inequality but most of the time is a collection of other scholarly work. Sections of this book felt like a textbook and in the end not many solutions were outlined other than a few good points about the inevitability of our social and economic constructs.
October 9, 2016
This book is a terrible tease. It leads readers toward a fascinating, in-depth analysis and discussion of human inequality. However, upon arriving at the entrance to the aforementioned in-depth adventure, the reader is instead whisked onto the It's A Small World version and zooms through an abbreviated (32 page) tour of inequality through the years. The rest of the work gives a surface-level investigation into different economic/social/political factors and religious/secular justifications for or against (in)equality in modern times.
There were many instances where statistical rationale for the author's statements were reliant more on face-value acceptance than anything else. For example, on page 175 the author states that "the correlation has been verified by a number of researchers using different methods and can be considered reliable." So, according to this, the reader is just supposed to take the author's word for it when it comes to statistics. As someone who is a student of statistics and is generally curious about the world, I find that this reasoning takes away from the scientific rigor otherwise present in sections of the book.
I feel that this work was mis-titled. THE ANATOMY OF INEQUALITY suggests that the author will approach the topic of "inequality" with the precision of a surgeon, opening up varied and diverse components for exploration. Unfortunately, not the case. Instead, the focus is primarily on a few socioeconomic components of inequality. There is very little social science or meta-analysis here. I believe that a more honest and representative title for this book would be THE ECONOMY OF INEQUALITY.
There's no doubt that Per Molander's book is fascinating, especially at a time when there is so much disparity between peoples living in the modern world. I was expecting a robust and comprehensive look at human inequality - past, present, and future. What I got was a brief, abbreviated look at primarily economic and class factors that impact how equal a society is. Perhaps it's because the book is 183 pages long (without notes and bibliography) - an incredibly short span for such a broad topic - that I feel misled and underwhelmed. It perhaps would be more useful as a way to dig deeper into aspects of inequality, rather than to be treated as a seminal work.
There were many instances where statistical rationale for the author's statements were reliant more on face-value acceptance than anything else. For example, on page 175 the author states that "the correlation has been verified by a number of researchers using different methods and can be considered reliable." So, according to this, the reader is just supposed to take the author's word for it when it comes to statistics. As someone who is a student of statistics and is generally curious about the world, I find that this reasoning takes away from the scientific rigor otherwise present in sections of the book.
I feel that this work was mis-titled. THE ANATOMY OF INEQUALITY suggests that the author will approach the topic of "inequality" with the precision of a surgeon, opening up varied and diverse components for exploration. Unfortunately, not the case. Instead, the focus is primarily on a few socioeconomic components of inequality. There is very little social science or meta-analysis here. I believe that a more honest and representative title for this book would be THE ECONOMY OF INEQUALITY.
There's no doubt that Per Molander's book is fascinating, especially at a time when there is so much disparity between peoples living in the modern world. I was expecting a robust and comprehensive look at human inequality - past, present, and future. What I got was a brief, abbreviated look at primarily economic and class factors that impact how equal a society is. Perhaps it's because the book is 183 pages long (without notes and bibliography) - an incredibly short span for such a broad topic - that I feel misled and underwhelmed. It perhaps would be more useful as a way to dig deeper into aspects of inequality, rather than to be treated as a seminal work.
December 12, 2017
Inequality is such an important topic currently, yet it is hard to come up with a book that so efficiently explores its importance as Wilkinson and Pickett's "the spirit level".
This book takes a completely different turn and focuses on the evolution of inequality and how it manifests itself rather than a focus on its impacts.
It attempts to do more than "the spirit level" to use this understanding of its evolution and how it plays out, to see how levels of inequality can be reduced. Unfortunately, whilst it says it does this on the back of the book, i failed to recognise any useful pointers as to how this might be achieved.
This book takes a completely different turn and focuses on the evolution of inequality and how it manifests itself rather than a focus on its impacts.
It attempts to do more than "the spirit level" to use this understanding of its evolution and how it plays out, to see how levels of inequality can be reduced. Unfortunately, whilst it says it does this on the back of the book, i failed to recognise any useful pointers as to how this might be achieved.
April 16, 2018
A career state bureaucrat spreading the gospel of his future pension plan in which he needs a big house and everybody is going to pay for the house and every other bill, say a cruise to the warm countries because Scandinavia can be so cold in winter.
And regarding equality, his own country has high unemployment even with a booming paper pusher industry. And the immigrants get only restricted access. Compare that with the inequality of the United States about a century ago. Egalitarian Sweden won't be such a nice place without foreign invented building isolation materials, foreign invented energy generation system, even foreign made synthetic clothing.
And regarding equality, his own country has high unemployment even with a booming paper pusher industry. And the immigrants get only restricted access. Compare that with the inequality of the United States about a century ago. Egalitarian Sweden won't be such a nice place without foreign invented building isolation materials, foreign invented energy generation system, even foreign made synthetic clothing.
September 20, 2020
Despite the relatively short size of this book and the simple language and prose with which it was written, I have found it heavy to absorb. The reason behind the slow progress is due to the high complexity and universality of the theme. And still, Molander does a tremendous job at homogenizing the theme of equality and inequality as he casts a light on them through the perspective on anthropology, economics and political theory. However, except for the final chapter, perfectly summarising the conclusion that the book arrives at, I had a feeling that a progressive, intermediate summary of what has been discussed in the book could have been introduced more often than it had been done. The reason for this comment lays on my unfamiliar experience with such a complex topic. I will read the book a second time in the future as I become more mature in contextualising the notions of political theories. It would be great to have a second update on the book, for instance by using charts with latest data on income/wealth equality.
August 11, 2018
"Without an active distribution policy, society moves as relentlessly towards the inequality limit as a stone plummets to the ground when dropped, falling with each moment that passes unless it encounters some resistance. But society is not an inanimate object; it is a human artifact. With the right design and vigilant policies, it can be kept in the air as successfully as the Wright brothers' flying machine."
Because the author dissects the topic of inequality from the perspective of political philosophy, I found this a difficult book to read. But its main ideas are clear and meaningful: societal inequality is not a phenomenon we must simply accept as necessary, but is instead strongly influenced by a nation's political climate, and it is thus within the power of governments to create policies to reduce it.
Because the author dissects the topic of inequality from the perspective of political philosophy, I found this a difficult book to read. But its main ideas are clear and meaningful: societal inequality is not a phenomenon we must simply accept as necessary, but is instead strongly influenced by a nation's political climate, and it is thus within the power of governments to create policies to reduce it.
December 15, 2017
Some very useful economic information about how markets will always tend to inequalities and how societies that tend to be more equal also are the most peaceful and prosperous. His historical data is interesting but it’s too general and somewhat superficial. There are better works on inequality out there but this is good and accesible work.
In my opinion I think he is clearly biased toward social democratic societies but missed to analyze the influence of social economy, cooperatives and other forms of organization that tackle inequality problems way before state distribution policies. And he should have studied their role in prosperous societies such as Emilia Romagna and the Basque Country where the state has less strict redistribution policies than the Scandinavian countries.
In my opinion I think he is clearly biased toward social democratic societies but missed to analyze the influence of social economy, cooperatives and other forms of organization that tackle inequality problems way before state distribution policies. And he should have studied their role in prosperous societies such as Emilia Romagna and the Basque Country where the state has less strict redistribution policies than the Scandinavian countries.
August 26, 2020
Per Molander undersöker ojämlikhet i samhället från ett antal olika vetenskapliga perspektiv som inkluderar biologi, religion, statsvetenskap, kulturvetenskap, historia och ekonomi. Det är en välskriven bok och jag uppfattar Molander som oerhört kunnig och skarpsynt. Men! Och detta är en viktig invändning. Den här boken är alldeles för svårläst. Molander är flink med pennan och skarp i tanken men det är svårt att ta till sig innehållet när han hela tiden djupdyker i så många olika fält.
November 1, 2020
Tre stjärnor då vissa exempel kunde falsifieras till viss del. Exempel: "Spela kula" kan förklaras som att den ena har mer kulor för att han/hon har (och är) mer skicklig och den andre har färre kulor då han/hon inte är lika skicklig. Här kommer vi vidare till frågan om arv o.s.v.
Allmänt bra skrivet. Många perspektiv och viktiga poänger. Intressanta kopplingar till samt mellan Nozick och Rawls.
Allmänt bra skrivet. Många perspektiv och viktiga poänger. Intressanta kopplingar till samt mellan Nozick och Rawls.
October 15, 2018
Molander draws on history, philosophy, economics, religion and political theory to explain inequality. While he briefly proposes ways to minimise inequality (through education, labour market policies, social insurance, taxes, and tranfers), I think the books main contribution is in explaining why inequality is inevitable and why we shouldn't just accept this as the status quo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2022
As an engineer this book present ideas I can understand and make sense to me, the solution to inequality of course is not a single or simple one. The components of inequality are explained and the fact that it touches on moral and even philosophical matters made the book very appealing to me.
April 11, 2018
A great dissection of inequality from the lense of human anthropology and the ideological lenses that influence policy decisions around the topic
January 18, 2019
Bra innehöll men lite väl akademiskt och svårfattat språk.
September 4, 2019
Very light on solutions but an interesting, though brief, examination of the issue of inequality from a primarily political ideology perspective.
May 6, 2024
Bra i slutet, annars lite väl komplicerad
December 10, 2024
No solutions given
September 15, 2017
A really fresh approach to the nagging problem of inequality. Only because the author has chosen to, at the very end of the book, reframe the question that vexed social scientists from a "Why this?" to one of "Why not this?"
Recommended reading to look at inequality in a new manner.
Recommended reading to look at inequality in a new manner.
September 6, 2016
Social and economic inequality is not just a recent discovery but it has a rich and varied history. This book takes a look at the historical and current-day “development” of this inequality before considering options to eradicate it.
It was a bit of a mixed bag, neither ultra-inspirational and information packed or something best left on the bookstore shelf. To be fair, it probably does require that you are a bit more of a focussed nerd to this subject as it does lack more generalist, mainstream appeal. More is the pity. The author seeks to leverage the experiences of Sweden and its public policy to encourage income and social equality, believing that society can change if it wants without any overly traumatic changes being necessary. The current system is sick, else what could explain why the United States – one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world – has the greatest incidence of inequality. It should be leading the way, not trailing behind, and equality is not a synonym for communism or socialism either.
Certainly the author has thrown a lot of material into the mix, jumping over disciplines in the process, and delivers many interesting ideas and concepts for possible change. It is just that the book is a bit stodgy and reading it does require an above-average degree of concentration and determination. A book like this that seeks to advocate change should be accessible, inviting and engaging, pushing the reader to share the author’s enthusiasm and desire for change. It is less clear whether the boo will achieve the critical mass, especially amongst the general reader community, and that can be a shame.
If you stumble over this book, it may be worth checking out to see if you can connect with it.
Autamme.com
It was a bit of a mixed bag, neither ultra-inspirational and information packed or something best left on the bookstore shelf. To be fair, it probably does require that you are a bit more of a focussed nerd to this subject as it does lack more generalist, mainstream appeal. More is the pity. The author seeks to leverage the experiences of Sweden and its public policy to encourage income and social equality, believing that society can change if it wants without any overly traumatic changes being necessary. The current system is sick, else what could explain why the United States – one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world – has the greatest incidence of inequality. It should be leading the way, not trailing behind, and equality is not a synonym for communism or socialism either.
Certainly the author has thrown a lot of material into the mix, jumping over disciplines in the process, and delivers many interesting ideas and concepts for possible change. It is just that the book is a bit stodgy and reading it does require an above-average degree of concentration and determination. A book like this that seeks to advocate change should be accessible, inviting and engaging, pushing the reader to share the author’s enthusiasm and desire for change. It is less clear whether the boo will achieve the critical mass, especially amongst the general reader community, and that can be a shame.
If you stumble over this book, it may be worth checking out to see if you can connect with it.
Autamme.com
June 29, 2014
Håller med om att jämlikheten kräver aktiv insats av staten, ett arbete som måste ständigt fortgå för att balansera samhällsförhandlingarnas starka aktörer - arbetsgivare/-tagare, välbeställda, friska, bostadsägare, välutbildade, osv mot de svagare parterna. Dock utan att staten själv bli part i förhandlingen, som i kommunismen.
Nyttig läsning med flera tips på andra böcker inom samma ämne.
Nyttig läsning med flera tips på andra böcker inom samma ämne.
October 13, 2016
I think I would rate this higher if the digital ARC I received had the graphs and images included in the text. Instead I had to speculate what Molander was referring to when he would reference them. Other than that, this is an intriguing book that has a lot of information packed into it. I will have to revisit it with an edition that includes the graphs.
July 16, 2018
It may have been my previous studies on the subject, but this book offered such a cursory glance of the largest issue of our time that I did not enjoy my time with it. If you're bored and need something vaguely political/economic then you can do worse than this book, however, there are far too many better dives into the subject for me to give this one a recommendation.
February 14, 2019
Jag brukar inte ha svårt att ta mig igenom texter av lite tyngre karaktär - men Molander var verkligen en utmaning utöver det vanliga. Ett angeläget ämne dränktes i ett språk som hämtat från Skolverket!
September 26, 2016
brief introduction. not too academic. didn't spend enough time exploring socialism compared to liberalism and conservatism. also, "and solutions" should probably be stricken from subtitle.
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