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Narratives of inequality

This project examines global and country specific narratives of inequality. We analyse narratives across different dimensions of inequality, such as income, wealth, and health, with a special focus on gendered discourse.

By tracking online search interest in terms related to inequality across different countries and scraping data from news articles, social media, and forums, we seek to better understand how inequality is perceived, discussed, and framed worldwide. Utilising natural language processing (NLP), we identify dominant themes, egalitarian and anti-egalitarian frames and narratives, and assess sentiment variations, and compare regional differences in public discourse. We also examine patterns in global inequality discussions, such as those linked to macroeconomic performance and demographic composition, providing a data-driven perspective on evolving inequality narratives worldwide. In addition, we can analyse evidence on how such narratives are being internalised and reciprocally interact with perceptions of inequality and fairness views as evident from large-scale international household surveys.

Graphs showing popularity of inequality-related Google topics worldwide

  • Professor Joan Costa-Font, Professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Policy, LSE
  • Professor Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSE
  • Jakob Dirksen, Analysing and Challenging Inequalities Scholar, International Inequalities Institute, Department of Social Policy and CASE/STICERD, LSE & Research and Policy Officer, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, Department of International Development, University of Oxford
  • Aaron Bermejo, Research Assistant, Perceptions of Inequality research programme, LSE III
  • Cecilia Saavedra, Research Assistant, Perceptions of Inequality research programme, LSE III
  • Sara Alassaf, Research Assistant, Perceptions of Inequality research programme, LSE III

Narratives of inequality
Part of the Inequalities Seminar Series

13 May 2025

Speakers: Professor Joan Costa-i-Font, Professor of Health Economics, LSE Department of Health Policy and co-leader of the Perceptions of Inequality research programme, LSE III; Professor Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics, LSE Department of Economics and co-leader of the Perceptions of Inequality research programme; Jakob Dirksen, PhD candidate, LSE Department of Social Policy

This seminar examines global and country specific narratives of inequality. We focus on three key dimensions of inequality: income, wealth, and health, and zoom in on inequalities by gender. By tracking online search interest in terms related to inequality across different countries and scraping data from news articles, social media, and forums, we seek to better understand how inequality is perceived, discussed, and framed worldwide.