Banking on the Family: Using Balance Sheets as a Framework to Study Inequality in Australia’s Asset Economy
III Seminar
Monday 9 June, 3.00 - 4.00pm. In-person event. Old Building, 1.20.
Speaker:
Monique McKenzie, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney
Chair:
Sam Friedman, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
The nomenclature of the 'bank of mum and dad' has been used in public discourse to describe this growing reliance of children on their family's financial support well into adulthood. Although currently used as a metaphor for intergenerational transfers, this paper considers whether we can deploy the framing of the familial bank as an analytical framework to understand wealth inequality as a function of familial, rather than individual, wealth. By taking a sociological approach to the family as a bank, we can uncover how income, assets, risk exposures (i.e social factors: relationship breakdown, number of children, health) and operating costs (i.e cost of goods and services, housing costs) contribute to the production of wealth inequality and the ability of families to provide intergenerational transfers to younger family members. To illustrate this framework, this presentation will draw on a series of interviews with parents of young adults about the role of familial support for housing, education and employment between 2022-2023. What emerged from these interviews is that intergenerational transfers depend on whether their parent’s financial portfolios can fund both the parent’s livelihoods now and in retirement, alongside support for their adult children.
Inequality in the 21st century
Hosted by the Department of Sociology and International Inequalities Institute
Speakers:
Professor Gurminder K Bhambra, Professor of Historical Sociology, University of Sussex
Professor Michèle Lamont, Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies, Harvard University
Professor Mike Savage, Professorial Research Fellow, International Inequalities Institute
Chair:
Dr Kristin Surak, Associate Professor of Political Sociology, LSE
We live in societies fractured from top to bottom by corrosive and scarring inequalities.
These cover multiple axes: notably including race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and geography – but this list is far from exhaustive. From its founding moments, the discipline of sociology has prized its capacity to dissect and analyse social divisions, and to understand how inequality is not just some peripheral social phenomenon but lies at the heart of social life itself. This keynote panel brings together three eminent sociologists to reflect on how we can use the sociological imagination to make sense of contemporary challenges and illuminate our current lives.
Democracy and the right to protest in the UK
Hosted by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and the International Inequalities Institute
Speakers:
Richard Martin, Assistant Professor of Law, LSE Law School
Sam Nadel, PhD candidate, Department of Social Policy, LSE
Pascale Frazer-Carroll, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, campaigner and social impact director
Chair:
George Kunnath, Associate Professor (Education) and Lifelong Engagement Lead, AFSEE
Throughout history, protests have been a key tactic for activists and movements to express discontent and push for change.
Today, however, the democratic space for protests and collective mobilisation is rapidly shrinking. From more forceful and frequent crackdowns on protesting to introducing new legislation to restrict protest and prosecute individuals, governments across the world, including the UK, are increasingly finding new ways to suppress protest and silence critical voices.
This panel will discuss why protests matter, what the shrinking of democratic space means for social movements and activists, and what can be done to protect freedom of speech and the right to protest.
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Where do we draw the line: exploring an extreme wealth line
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Thursday 6 March 2025, 6.30 - 8.00pm. In-person and online event. LSE Old Theatre, Old Building.
Speakers:
Fernanda Balata, Political Economist, New Economics Foundation
Professor Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and Professor of Law, UCLouvain and SciencesPo (Paris);
Professor Ingrid Robeyns, Author and Chair in Ethics of Institutions, Ethics Institute, Utrecht University;
Gary Stevenson, Writer and Economist
Chair:
Dr Tania Burchardt, Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) and Deputy Director of STICERD
Extreme wealth concentration is under the microscope as societies around the world grapple with the challenges of inequality, climate breakdown and democratic backsliding. Yet wealth concentration continues to deepen, with some predictions that we will see the world’s first trillionaires within a decade. Is now the time to draw a line and ask: when does wealth become extreme wealth? And what risks does extreme wealth pose?
And even if we accept the moral intuition behind an “extreme wealth line”, where exactly would that line be set? Should we draw the line based on the social and environmental harms caused, or community expectations? Can we have just one line or do we need multiple lines depending on harms and contexts?
Our panel draws together leading thinkers and practitioners on the ideas to discuss the viability of an “extreme wealth line” and what it can contribute to addressing the pressing issues of our time.
Peak Injustice: solving Britain's inequality crisis
Co-hosted with LSE Department of Sociology
Monday 24 February 2025 6.30pm - 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Old Theatre, Old Building.
Speakers:
Professor Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford
Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation and Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE III
Professor Kitty Stewart, Professor of Social Policy and Associate Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE)
Polly Toynbee, Journalist and writer
Chair:
Professor Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology, LSE
Why has absolute deprivation continued to grow in the UK? What role does high inequality play in understanding how we have got to the point of peak injustice?
With child mortality rising in the UK and a majority of parents with three or more children going to bed hungry, Danny Dorling looks to the future, highlighting the challenges ahead and identifying solutions for change.
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Wealth, poverty and enduring inequality: let's talk wealtherty
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 19 February 2025 6.00pm - 7.30pm. In-person and online event. Room 1.08, Marshall Building.
Speakers:
Dr Sarah Kerr, Research Fellow in Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice Research Programme, LSE III
Professor Armine Ishkanian, Executive Director, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and Professor, Department of Social Policy, LSE
Dr Rajiv Prabhakar, Senior Lecturer in Personal Finance at the Open University
Frank Soodeen, Director of Communications and Public Engagement, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice Research Programme Leader, LSE III and Martin White Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Join us for the launch of Sarah Kerr's new book, in which she undertakes an experiment. Starting from the premise that continuing to centre poverty encourages researchers and policymakers alike to 'look down' she contributes to a strand of social policy and sociological literature that asks: what happens if we 'look up'?
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Does class inequality still matter?
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Tuesday 04 February 2025 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Old Theatre, Old Building.
Speakers:
Zarah Sultana, Independent MP for Coventry South
Professor Mike Savage, Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice Research Programme Leader, LSE III and Martin White Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior Economics Commentator, The Guardian
Clare MacGillivray, Director, Making Rights Real and Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity
Chair:
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE III
It is ten years since the seminal Social Class in the 21st Century was published. We will revisit the findings, ask if the trends have changed, why class seems to have fallen off the agenda, and what we can do to build solidarity in this new political era.
The research was undertaken by a team of sociologists from across the country over several years and reignited the conversation about the British class system amongst academics, the media, politicians and most importantly the great British public. It composed seven classes that reflected the unequal distribution of three kinds of capital: economic (inequalities in income and wealth); social (the different kinds of people we know) and cultural (the ways in which our leisure and cultural preferences are exclusive).
Ten years on, this free public event will be held at LSE, where Social Class in the 21st Century was first launched in November 2015. This event will again question and open the continued difficult debate about the British Class system. Our panel will ask - does social class still matter in Britain in the 21st century?
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Power to the people
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Monday 27 January 2025 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House.
Speakers:
Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation and Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE III
Jo Swinson, Director, Partners for a New Economy (P4NE) and Visiting Professor, Cranfield University
Lysa John, Executive Director, Atlantic Institute
Chair: Professor Armine Ishkanian, Executive Director, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and Professor, Department of Social Policy, LSE
In 2024, two billion people headed to the polls in some 50 countries around the world. But the drama of these elections risks obscuring just how fragile the foundations of democracy have become. A political system that is geared towards short-term wins, run by politicians that few of us trust, is failing to address complex global problems. Many of us feel disempowered, disillusioned and distrustful.
In this talk Danny Sriskandarajah discusses his new book Power to the People. Drawing on his extensive experience in leading civil society organisations around the globe, he sets out his radical blueprint for change. From giving democracy a participatory makeover to public ownership of social media spaces, and from re-energising co-operatives to creating a people’s chamber at the United Nations, he presents a range of inspiring ideas for how we can reclaim our power and change the world.
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