Mind the Gap: Hierarchies, Health, and Human Evolution

by Richard G. Wilkinson

Inequality kills. Both rich and poor die younger in countries with the greatest inequalities in income. Countries such as the United States with big gaps between rich and poor have higher death rates than those with smaller gaps such as Sweden and Japan. Why? In this provocative book, Richard Wilkinson provides a novel Darwinian approach to the question. Wilkinson points out that inequality is new to our in our two-million-year history, human societies became hierarchical only about ten thousand years ago. Because our minds and bodies are adapted to a more egalitarian life, today's hierarchical structures may be considered unnatural. To people at the bottom of the heap, the world seems hostile and the stress is harmful. If you are not in control, you're at risk. This is a penetrating analysis of patterns of health and disease that has implications for social policy. Wilkinson concludes that rather than relying on more police, prisons, social workers, or doctors, we must tackle the corrosive social effects of income differences in our society

Genres: Science, Anthropology, Health

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Richard G. Wilkinson (Richard Gerald Wilkinson; born 1943) is a British researcher in social inequalities in health and the social determinants of health. He is Professor Emeritus of social epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, having retired in 2008. He is also Honorary Professor at University College London.

He is best known for his 2009 book (with Kate Pickett) The Spirit Level, in which he argues that societies with more a equal distribution of incomes have better health outcomes than ones in which the gap between richest and poorest parts society is greater. His 1996 book Unhealthy Societies: The Affliction of Inequality had made the same argument a decade earlier.

Reviews

[Hanie Alizade · Rating 5 out of 5]

من این کتاب رو با ترجمه محمدمهدی هاتف از نشر کرگدن خوندم.
کتاب بسیار مختصر و مفید بود. ایده کلی کتاب تاثیر نابرابری اقتصادی و اجتماعی بر سلامت جامعه بر اساس مطالعات انجام شده هست. ایده‌ای که نویسنده شواهد نسبتا محکمی برای اثباتش داره.

[Leonardo]

Del curso de Buena Vida de Daguerre.

[Per Helge H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not flawless, but very thought-provoking

[Elizabeth H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, so I'm still an epidemiologist and read the occasional work-related piece.

I believe this little book is the written version of Richard Wilkinson's lecture, so don't expect a huge literature review or deep analyses. That said, in ~60 pages he presents a detailed overview of how lower status at work and/or community ostracization can wreak havoc on the human body, causing earlier morbidity and mortality. Where we are or how we are perceived in society affects our health in ways separable from monetary income. I particularly liked his discussion of population studies that show countries with high variation in income (and therefore a higher status gradient) have an associated (inverse) graded mortality, despite a decent standard of living or health coverage for all. This book has been a nice intro to the field for me, I may jump off from here and hit the publications for more detailed data.

[Benjamin Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty dense with no citations (but for the occasional nod to researchers) and a short reference list. I borrowed Wilkinson's The Spirit Level, too, which looks more promising, although it does contain a disconcerting number of comics.