Ce Débat de l’égalité aura lieu le 12 septembre 2019 de 18h à 19h30, et sera dédié à la présentation de The Inner Level, de Richard Wilkinson et Kate Pickett. La conférence se tiendra en anglais.

The_Inner_Level_Wilkinson_PickettWhy are people more relaxed and at ease with each other in some countries than others? Why do we worry so much about what others think of us and often feel social life is a stressful performance? Why is mental illness three times as common in the USA as in Germany? Why is the American dream more of a reality in Denmark than the USA? What makes child well-being so much worse in some countries than others? As The Inner Level demonstrates, the answer to all these is inequality.

In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the center of public debate by showing conclusively that less equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everything from education to life expectancy. The Inner Level now explains how inequality affects us individually, altering how we think, feel and behave. It sets out the overwhelming evidence that material inequities have powerful psychological effects: when the gap between rich and poor increases, so does the tendency to define and value ourselves and others in terms of superiority and inferiority. A deep well of data and analysis is drawn upon to empirically show, for example, that low social status leads to elevated levels of stress hormones, and how rates of anxiety, depression and addictions are intimately related to the inequality which makes that status paramount.Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are inescapably competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of “natural” differences in individual ability. This book draws together many of the most urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities, sharing and reciprocity generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them.

Informations pratiques

A propos des auteur.es
  • Kate Pickett est professeure d’épidémiologie, Research Champion for Justice and Equality et directrice adjointe du Center for Future Health de l’Université de York. Elle a étudié l’anthropologie physique à Cambridge, les sciences de la nutrition à Cornell et l’épidémiologie à l’Université de Californie à Berkeley.
  • Richard Wilkinson a joué un rôle déterminant dans la recherche internationale sur les déterminants sociaux de la santé. Il a étudié l’histoire économique à la London School of Economics avant de suivre une formation en épidémiologie et est professeur émérite à la faculté de médecine de l’Université de Nottingham et professeur honoraire à l’University College London. Ensemble, ils ont fondé le Fonds pour l’égalité, qui vise à sensibiliser le public aux effets de l’inégalité.

A propos du livre

Kate Pickett, Richard Wilkinson, The Inner Level, Penguin Random House, Juin 2019.

 

Le débat se tiendra à la Paris School of Economics : 48 boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris