How to Fight Inequality

(and Why That Fight Needs You)

Ben Phillips

• Publisher: Polity
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781509543090
  9781509543083
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781509543106
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Policy
• Index: Economics

Inequality is the crisis of our time. The growing gap between a few at the top and the rest of society damages us all. No longer able to deny the crisis, every government in the world is now pledged to fix it – and yet it keeps on getting worse. 

In this book, international anti-inequality campaigner Ben Phillips shows why winning the debate is not enough: we have to win the fight. Drawing on his insider experience, and his personal exchanges with the real-life heroes of successful movements, he shows how the battle against inequality has been won before, and he shares a practical plan for defeating inequality again. He sets a route map for us to overcome deference, build our collective power, and create a new story. 

Most books on inequality are about what other people ought to do about it – this book is about why winning the fight needs you. Tired of feeling helpless in the face of spiralling inequality? Want to know what you can do about it? This is the book for you.

Index

• ActionAid 9, 81, 117
• Adam Smith Institute 33
• Affluenza 130
• Africa 14, 16, 23–6
  • see also individual countries
• African National Congress (ANC) 7, 15, 93, 108
• African Union (AU) 25, 32
• Alphin, Charles 99, 104, 110
• American Dream 17
• Angola 15–16
• Anthony, Susan B. 89
• anti-colonial movements 62, 103
• anti-slavery movements 103
• apartheid 7, 15, 27, 71, 72, 84, 93
• Association for Women’s Rights in Development 117
• austerity 35, 103, 116

• Bangladesh 123
• Barber, William 105
• Bear Stearns 16
• Biko, Steve 72
• Black Death 41
• Black Lives Matter 89, 103
• Blankfein, Lloyd 31
• Bolivia 42, 43
• Bragg, Billy 98–9
• Brazil 42, 43, 44–8, 80–1, 82
• Brexit 20
• Britain 16–17, 20, 32, 59–60, 67, 68, 73–4, 137
• broad-based coalitions see intersectional and interconnected platforms
• Burke, Tarana 39, 99
• Burrow, Sharan 120–1
• Byanyima, Winnie 84

• Cambodia 100, 103
• campaign donors 74
• Campolina, Adriano 105
• Césaire, Aimé 37
• Chavez, Cesar 55, 57
• Chenoweth, Erica 61
• Chomsky, Noam 41
• Churchill, Winston 59–60
• Citizens UK 137
• Civicus 117
• civil rights activism 51, 52, 53–4, 55, 68, 89, 110
• climate change and climate justice 2, 19, 80, 81, 82–3, 101, 117, 123, 137
• Cobham, Alex 93
• Collins, Chuck 26
• Colloff, Nicholas 106
• Colombia 21
• commitment, long-term 57–8, 75, 110–11
• Commitment to Reduce Inequality Index 82
• ‘concessions’ by the powerful 69, 117
• confrontation and insubordination imperative 5, 27–8, 52, 57, 68, 77–8, 88, 89–91, 93, 132
• cooperatives 45, ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Praise
• About the Author
• Dedication
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Why we need to win the fight against inequality
• How we won the fight against inequality before
• How we’ll win the fight against inequality again
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Who can you link up with to fight inequality
• Index
• End User License Agreement