III Research Themes

This research theme will run from 2019 to 2022.

Find out more about the theme here

This research theme will run from April 2019 to September 2022.

The inequalities problem this theme addresses is the global crisis in care. Without care the global economy could not function, yet care is rarely recognised as a key economic driver of value. Without care, workers would not be born, fed, educated and replenished. But care is not just a labour issue, not just caring for but also caring about. Care is about how we relate to others, the fundamental social relations that underpin our lives and survival. Caring is also intimately connected to the politics we get. We are currently experiencing a cruel, brutal age where children can be ripped from their mothers and caged. The care theme will examine different scales, spaces and experiences of care. From the increased financialisation of care provision by national states, to the increasing privatisations of welfare states, to distributions of care worker across the globe as a result of structural adjustment policies, to the conditions for formal and informal care, to family structures and moral duties. Care is the crisis of our times and this theme will insist that we pay close attention to its significance.

The theme involves LSE colleagues from the Departments of International Development, Law, Anthropology, Gender Studies and Social Policy.  

Find out more about the theme here

The Politics of Inequality theme, which had its formal launch in January 2021, explores the practices of resistance, mobilisation, and contestation which constitute a politics of inequalities from a bottom-up perspective.  Research within this theme will have an international and comparative focus, and it will adopt an intersectional lens, in order to explore collective action and everyday resistance against a wide range of social, cultural, economic and political inequalities.

This theme draws together the expertise of LSE academics from different Departments and is committed to a cross-disciplinary approach.  We also aim to work with international partners, including those in the global south. The theme will support research collaborations, funding bids, as well as knowledge exchange activities.

This theme is linked to the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) programme, which is based in the International Inequalities Institute (III).   Given that the AFSEE programme is committed to building a community of people who are “committed to using collective leadership to work towards social and economic justice for all”, it is intended that research within this theme will inform the teaching on AFSEE modules, the AFSEE Fellows’ projects and MSc dissertations, and that it will seek to engage with and to include the expertise of Fellows.

Find out more about the theme here

The Global Inequalities Observatory (GIO), soon to be launched as a cross-cutting program within the International Inequalities Institute, aims to monitor the evolution of income and wealth inequality around the world. Headed by Professor Stephen Jenkins - working with Professor Francisco H.G. Ferreira (III Director) - the Observatory seeks to promote rigorous research methods from a wide range of social sciences, so as to foster a greater understanding of the levels, trends, causes, and consequences of economic inequality in multiple countries and regions.

Find out more about the GIO here

This new research theme - The Public Economics of Inequality - aims to bring the classic approach in Public Economics and its most recent advances to the study of inequality. This approach will be tested and embedded in the interdisciplinary environment that the III provides. The research theme will be organised around three central themes in Public Economics.

The first theme is the measurement of the relevant dimensions of inequality, following the spirit of the late Sir Tony Atkinson. Our research will focus on new data opportunities and methodological advances to go beyond the measurement of income and wealth inequality and provide a more comprehensive account of the distribution of welfare. This includes the measurement of consumption, un-reported income and wealth, and health outcomes and wellbeing.

The second theme is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying inequality. Starting from the measurement of different dimensions of inequality, we hope to uncover the underlying mechanisms, ranging from economic forces to behavioural biases, and from gender frictions to intrahousehold insurance.

The final theme is to support the design of policy to tackle inequality more effectively. This research theme builds on a rich tradition in public economics to develop general frameworks and common methodologies, tightly integrating theory and empirics, intended to inform and improve policy design. 

This theme draws together the expertise of LSE academics from different Departments and will be promoted by the Public Economics group at STICERD in the Department of Economics. The theme will support research collaborations as well as knowledge exchange activities.

Find out more about the theme here

LACIR brings together high-level scholars to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of the inequality problem in Latin America, through a mix of in-depth critical reviews of the literature, new data, and new analyses. The  Review will go beyond a description of the region’s high inequality levels and seek an understanding of why despite major structural economic and social change, Latin America’s inequality exceptionalism has persisted for probably the last 70 years.

The Review is independently overseen by a Panel of researchers led by Orazio Attanasio, Francisco Ferreira, Sonya Krutikova and Julian Messina. It is co-hosted and co-sponsored by the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics; the Inter-American Development Bank; the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Yale University. 

Watch the launch event

Go to LACIR website for more information

Art, inequality and social change|
Supported by the LSE Marshall Institute

This three-month project will consider the challenges to the art world, including public and private galleries, and museums, posed by intensifying social and economic inequalities. Contemporary art practices have sought to democratise artistic display over the past two decades, to limit the association with 'highbrow' culture to encourage diversity in artistic form, and to encourage a wider range of audiences to engage with art.

However, although democratising moves have been effective in several respects, there has been less attention to the way that the rise of the super-rich and the accumulation of wealth and capital might be an issue for artistic exploration and curation. Indeed, there is evidence that the contemporary art market is in fact dominated by the investment potential of art works for the super-rich, and hence becomes hooked into the arena of super-rich cultures which may affect the capacity of art to act as a critical public good. This is a matter of great public concern, especially as it could be associated with the renewal of cultural elitism to go alongside growing economic inequality.

To address this issue, the project will explore how the practices of curators and artists in a series of leading London galleries are aware of these challenges, and to bring to light their repertoires for relating to the challenge of accumulating inequality. A series of interviews will be conducted with curators of public and private art galleries, as well as with a number of artists exploring current social issues. This pilot project will take an important initial step which will prepare the way for a larger project, whilst also performing a much needed function in its own right.

Research Team

Professor Nicola Lacey

Kristina Kolbe

Professor Mike Savage

Populism, Inequality and Institutions
Teams from LSE, CReAM and SOFI 

By contrast to the politically-dominant view that populism is primarily a consequence of immigration, Populism, Inequality and Institutions (PII) investigates the argument that the underlying driver is lifetime shifts in economic inequality, caused by on-going economic transformation through technological change and import competition. The fundamental hypotheses are that the underlying dynamics of long-term economic structural transformation display similar patterns of change across advanced European countries. However, the pattern of populist attitudes may differ across countries, depending on how such long-term change can be mediated through institutions, education, retraining and upgrading; and how the effect of populist attitudes on politics is magnified via the configuration of electoral and party institutions. The researchers address these hypotheses in comparative analysis combining theory with unique administrative and life-course data, combining insights from economics and political science. Research examining these hypotheses should have a major impact on rethinking education and training strategies and on how labour markets work.

Teams and affiliations 

Professor David Soskice is leading the LSE team, Professor Uta Schönberg leads the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), UCL team and Professor  Anders Björklun  leads the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University team. 

Read more about the project here