Racial justice and wealth inequality: a call for action
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Tuesday 10 June, 6.30pm - 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building, 2.08.
Speakers:
Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust
Dr Kojo Koram, Reader in Law, Birkbeck School of Law
Professor Mike Savage, Professorial Research Fellow, LSE III
Mina Mahmoudzadeh, PhD candidate, LSE Department of Sociology
Esiri Bukata, MSc Inequalities and Social Sciences alumna
Chair:
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute
Important research over the past decade has exposed stark racial inequalities in wealth ownership, pushing the racial wealth gap to the forefront of today’s inequality debates.
This event marks the launch of ‘Why the UK Racial Wealth Divide Matters: a call for action’, a major new report written by the LSE International Inequalities Institute for the Runnymede Trust. Mike Savage, Mina Mahmoudzadeh, and Esiri Bukata will share key findings from the report, highlighting the vast scale of the racial wealth divide and how it has changed in the context of the booming of wealth assets in recent decades. They will also examine the lasting influence of imperial history, the importance of viewing the UK in a global context, and how the remittance economy both reflects global inequalities and perpetuates the racial wealth divide in the UK. The event will be joined by Runnymede CEO Dr Shabna Begum and Dr Kojo Koram (Birkbeck College), who will reflect on the findings and explore their wider implications for racial justice campaigning.
Together, the speakers will open up a vital conversation on how we confront racialised wealth inequality, and what action is needed to build a fairer future.
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.
Strategies for using AI and digital methods to conduct secondary analysis of qualitative interview data
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 4 June 2025, 1.00pm – 5.00pm, MAR 1.07.
This closed workshop is co-organised by the LSE based UK Voices project which is considering how to enhance qualitative methods in the UK data infrastructure and by the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures based at the University of Bristol.
This workshops draws together experts who are practically exploring the use of AI and computational methods in qualitative research strategies of differing kinds. We are interested in exploring how such interventions challenge purely technical and engineering-based renderings that might otherwise be given a free hand to dominate this field.
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.
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'?
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?
From rage to riches: how fixing wealth inequality defeats populism
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 27 November 2024, 6:30pm – 8:00pm. In-person and online event. Old Theatre, Old Building.
Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill & Solihull North
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE III
Professor Jonathan Hopkin, Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE
There is no doubt that there is a gaping wealth gap between the super-rich and the rest of us. This gap is growing – and growing fast. Both the long years of austerity and the COVID pandemic were wealth accelerators for the super-wealthy - while the rest of the world simply fell behind. These economic disparities fuel discontent that shows up on polling day, with a vote share for populist leaders who promise to disrupt the status quo. Populist movements have harnessed frustrations over wealth concentration, wage stagnation, and declining economic mobility to gain political traction.
Yet it doesn’t need to be like this. There are policies and ideas that can grow but decarbonise the economy, decentralise power – and democratise opportunity and wealth. So what are the big choices needed to assuage voters’ anger with bold measures that spread ownership of wealth? What does this mean for the choices we make, or the promises that politicians make to us?
Born to rule: the making and remaking of the British elite
Hosted by LSE Department of Sociology and the International Inequalities Institute
Thursday 3 October 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building.
Speaker:
Professor Sam Friedman, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE
Hashi Mohamed, Barrister, Landmark Chambers
Professor Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology, LSE Department of Sociology
Professor Lauren Rivera, Peter G. Peterson Chair of Corporate Ethics, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Economist, Writer and Commentator
Chair:
Professor Suzanne Hall, Professor of Sociology and Head of Department, LSE Department of Sociology
Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts? Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who’s Who, but the authors also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.
How do we campaign around wealth inequality?
Co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Monday 13 May 2024, 6.00pm - 7.30pm. In-person event. Marshall Building, Room 2.04 (MAR.2.04).
Watch the recording here.
Speakers:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, LSE; Faiza Shaheen, Visiting Professor in Practice, International Inequalities Institute; Shabna Begum, Interim CEO of the Runnymede Trust
In the shadow of a UK general election, this public event takes stock of the politics of wealth inequality and reflects on how to build political awareness and expand campaigning action. Mindful that divisive ‘culture war’ agendas are being used to fragment and distract campaigning which centres fundamental socio-economic inequality, panelists will consider how to shift political debate to more progressive directions. The recent abolition of the non-dom status, informed by III research and campaigning, shows that change is possible.
Why wealth inequality matters: an expert roundtable
Workshop co-hosted by International Inequalities Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Monday 13 May 2024, 2.00pm - 5.30pm. In-person and online event. Marshall Building, Room 2.04 (MAR.2.04).
Watch the recording here.
This closed roundtable event presents new and cutting-edge research from the LSE International Inequalities Institute demonstrating the systemic problems that wealth inequality is generating in the UK. The aim to equip policymakers, journalists and civil society groups with key insights that can be used for campaigning work and in spreading awareness so that the issues can inform campaigning in the run up to the General Election.
Researchers at the III have a powerful impact on policy developments, marked for instance in the recent abolition of the ‘non-dom' tax clause which drew on underpinning research by Dr Advani and Dr Summers. We want our new research to also inform emerging policy agendas.
Five panels will introduce new findings on (i) the extent and nature of wealth inequality in the UK, focusing especially on the rich; (ii) how wealth inequalities is shaping the social mobility prospects of Britons; (iii) the entrenched nature of gendered wealth divides; (iv) the scale and significance of the racial wealth divide and (v) how political perceptions amongst the disadvantaged are being shaped by fundamental wealth divides.
The trading game
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Watch the recording here.
Speakers:
Gary Stevenson, economist and author
Join us at this event where Gary Stevenson will talk about his new book, The Trading Game: A Confession.
Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of east London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'. The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it?
The Inequality of Wealth: Why it matters and how to fix it
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 28 February 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Auditorium, Centre Building.
Watch the recording here.
Speakers:
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE
Katie Schmuecker, Principal Policy Adviser, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Chair:
Dr Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor, Distinguished Policy Fellow, and Acting Director at the International Inequalities Institute
The super-rich have never had it so good. But millions of us can’t afford a home, an education or a pension. And unless we change course soon, the future will be worse. Much worse. Yet, it doesn’t have to be like this. In his new book The Inequality of Wealth: why it matters and how to fix it, former Treasury Minister, Liam Byrne, explains the fast-accelerating inequality of wealth; warns how it threatens our society, economy, and politics; shows where economics got it wrong – and lays out a path back to common sense, with five practical new ways to rebuild an old ideal: the wealth-owning democracy. Liam Byrne draws on conversations and debates with former prime ministers, presidents and policymakers around the world together with experts at the OECD, World Bank, and IMF to argue that, after twenty years of statistics and slogans, it's time for solutions that aren’t just radical but plausible and achievable as well. Liam will discuss the themes of his new book with LSE's Mike Savage.
The Seaside: England's love affair
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 7 February 2024, 6.30pm to 8.00pm. In-person and online event. Old Buillding (OLD) Theatre.
Watch the recording here.
Speaker:
Madeleine Bunting, writer, journalist, Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE International Inequalities Institute
Discussants:
Sheela Agarwal, Associate Head of School of Research and Innovation for Plymouth Business School and Co-Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities
Lord Steve Bassam, British Labour and Co-operative politician and a member of the House of Lords
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE
England invented the seaside resort as a place of pleasure and these towns became iconic in the nation's sense of identity for over a century, but for over four decades the rise of package holidays and cheap flights have eroded their economies. This has resulted in a 'salt fringe' of deprivation, low pay, poor health and low educational achievement and the worst social mobility in the country.
Despite persistent affection for many of these resorts which still attract millions of visitors, their chronic plight has failed to capture political engagement and investment. How can these resorts, with their wealth of cultural heritage, forge a new future?
Why the racial wealth divide matters
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Wednesday 22 November 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Online and in-person public event. Auditorium, Centre Building.
Speakers:
Dr Shabna Begum, Interim Co-CEO, The Runnymede Trust
Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, Assistant Professorial Research Fellow, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE and Faculty Associate, LSE III
Professor Vimal Ranchhod, Professor, School of Economics and Deputy Director, SALDRU, University of Cape Town
Faeza Meyer, Founding Member, African Water Commons Collective
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE and 'Wealth Elites and Tax Justice' Research Programme Leader, LSE III
There is increasing evidence that wealth assets play a significant role in allowing social mobility advantages to the children of wealthy households. However, it is not widely appreciated that these developments underscore the intensification of racial wealth divides. Although the historical study of the racialised elements of wealth inequality is widely known, with widely appreciated studies of slavery and imperialism, the contemporary racialisation of wealth inequality needs to be much better known. This event will feature original research reporting on their findings from the UK, South Africa, and elsewhere.
The golden passport: global mobility for millionaires
Co-hosted with the Department of Sociology
Tuesday 24 October 2023 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Online and in-person public event. Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building.
Speakers:
Dr Kristin Surak, Associate Professor of Political Sociology at LSE
Thomas Anthony, Chief Executive Officer of the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Unit
Oliver Bullough, author of the Butler to the World: how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals
Professor Jason Sharman, Sir Patrick Sheehy Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE
This event marks the publication of Kristin Surak’s new book, The Golden Passport: global mobility for millionaires, which offers the first on-the-ground investigation of the global market for citizenship by investment.
Drawing on fieldwork in sixteen countries, Kristin Surak exposes the world of the wealthy elites who buy passports, the states and brokers who sell them, and the normalisation of a once shadowy practice. It’s a business that thrives on uncertainty and imbalances of power between big, globalised economies and tiny states desperate for investment. In between are fascinating stories of buyers, brokers, and sellers, all ready to profit from the citizenship trade. Joining Kristin will be three experts who offer different angles into this world. Thomas Anthony, CEO of Citizenship Investment Unit of the country of Grenada, brings a Caribbean perspective on the programs. Oliver Bullough, author and journalist, has examined issues around financial crimes. Jason Sharman of Cambridge University will share his extensive knowledge of the political economy of offshore.
Know Your Place: how society sets us up to fail – and what we can do about it
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Monday 19 June 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Online and in-person public event. Auditorium, Centre Building.
Watch the event recording
Speakers:
Dr Faiza Shaheen, Visiting Professor in Practice, LSE III and Program Lead on Inequality and Exclusion, NYU Center on International Cooperation
Kimberly McIntosh, Writer and Researcher
Gary Stevenson, Inequality Economist and former Trader
Professor Gary Younge, Author and Professor of Sociology, University of Manchester
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, LSE Department of Sociology and Research Programme Leader, LSE III
This event marks the launch of Know Your Place: how society sets us up to fail – and what we can do about it, the new book by Faiza Shaheen – part memoir, part polemic, this is a personal and statistical look at how society is built, the people it leaves behind, and what we can do about it. Our panel of speakers will discuss the prospects for social mobility in Britain today, and how we can create opportunities for all.
This is Not America: why black lives in Britain matter
Hosted by LSE Festival: People and Change
Saturday 17 June 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Online and in-person public event. Marshall Building.
Watch the event recording
Speakers:
Tomiwa Owolade, Writer and Critic
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology LSE Department of Sociology and Research Programme Leader, LSE III
In This is Not America, Tomiwa Owolade argues that too much of the conversation around race in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that don't reflect the history, challenges and achievements of increasingly diverse black populations at home. If we want to build a long-lasting and more effective anti-racist agenda - one that truly values black British communities - we must acknowledge that crucial differences exist between Britain and America; that we are talking about distinct communities and cultures, distinguished by language, history, class, religion and national origin.
The Gender of Capital: How families perpetuate wealth inequality
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Thursday 29 September 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Online and in-person public event. The Auditorium, LSE Centre Building.
Speakers:
Professor Céline Bessière, Professor of Sociology, Paris Dauphine University
Dr Sibylle Gollac, Research Fellow in Sociology, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, CRESPPA-CSU)
Dr Sarah Trotter, Assistant Professor, LSE Law School
Chair:
Professor Sam Friedman, Director of the MSc in Inequalities and Social Science and Professor, Department of Sociology, LSE
Why do women in different social classes accumulate less wealth than men? Why do marital separations impoverish women while they do not prevent men from staying or becoming wealthy? To answer these questions, Céline Bessière and Sibylle Gollac draw on their book ‘The Gender of Capital’, which brings attention to the economic relations in families. They reconsider the effectiveness of legal changes that profess formal equality between men and women, while condoning inequality in practice.
Drawing on research spanning twenty years, our speakers analyse what they call ‘family wealth arrangements’. They break with the common understanding of the family as an emotional haven of peace in a brutal capitalist world, showing how men and women do not reap the same benefits from family wealth arrangements. From the single mothers of the French ‘Yellow Vest’ movement to the divorce of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, the mechanisms of control and distribution of capital vary according to social class, yet they always result in the dispossession of women.
Capital is gendered. This event discusses how class society is perpetuated through the masculine appropriation of capital.
Watch the video
Oligarch Sanctions: policies, evasion strategies and side effects
Part of the Inequalities Seminar Series
Tuesday 2 May 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Online and in-person public event. The Marshall Building - MAR 1.09.
Watch the event recording
Speaker:
Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Aston University and Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE III
Chair:
Dr Armine Ishkanian, Executive Director of AFSEE programme and Associate Professor, Department of Social Policy
Individual sanction policies have yet to deliver. In the EU and the UK in particular, legal loopholes and gentle sanction designs have given sanctioned oligarchs ample opportunities and time rearrange and evacuate their assets and non-sanctioned, and lesser-known rich to reinvent themselves as longtime Kremlin critics. Compared to the EU and the UK, where a year into the war more than half a dozen of the 20 richest Russians were missing, the US list is less patchy, but it too skipped the name ranked no 1 by Forbes Russia from April 2022. Once it was clear that the war would drag on, Western wealth industries changed tune and declared oligarch boycotts to a core corporate principle. This seminar attempts to take stock of responses to international individual sanction policies since February 2022.
Are the rich getting richer? The challenge of wealth inequality
Hosted by LSE Festival: How Do We Get to a Post-COVID World?
Speakers: Aroop Chatterjee, Research Manager on Wealth Inequality, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of Witwatersrand; Dr Neil Cummins, Associate Professor of Economic History, LSE; Dr Kristin Surak, Associate Professor of Political Sociology, LSE
Chair:
Professor Mike Savage, Martin White Professor of Sociology, and Convenor, Wealth, Elites and Tax Justice Research Programme, LSE III
Families and Money: Exploring Gender Inequality in Elite Families
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute and the Department of Sociology
Watch the video. Listen to the podcast.
Speaker: Professor Annette Lareau, Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania)
Discussants: Dr Aliya Rao, Faculty Associate, LSE III and Assistant Professor in Qualitative Research Methodology; Sibylle Gollac, Research Fellow in Sociology, French National Center for Scientific Research
Chair: Dr Luna Glucksberg, Research Affliliate, LSE III
Are Countries Building Back Better?
Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute
Tuesday 08 February 2022, 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Online public event.
Watch the video. Listen to the podcast.
Speakers: Professor Ha-Joon Chang, Professor of Political Economy of Development, University of Cambridge; Dr Francis Mustapha Kai-Kai, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Sierra Leone); Dr Faiza Shaheen, Visiting Professor in Practice LSE, III and Program Head for the Inequality and Exclusion Grand Challenge of the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, New York University; Waleed Shahid, Spokesperson and Communications Director, Justice Democrats)
Chair: Professor Francisco Ferreira, Director, LSE III and Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies
Global Tax Justice in the 21st Century: promises and challenges
Hosted by the Ralph Miliband Programme and the International Inequalities Institute
Tuesday 01 February 2022, 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Online public event.
Watch the video. Listen to the podcast.
Speakers: Dr Arun Advani, Visiting Fellow, LSE III and Assistant Professor of Economics, Univeristy of Warwick; Alex Cobham, Chief Executive, Tax Justice Network; Professor Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts
Chair: Dr Robin Archer, Director, Ralph Miliband Programme, LSE)