Economic Reforms and Social Exclusion is an analytical study that focuses on the socially marginalized and excluded groups in India since the onset of liberalization. It examines how the liberal economic reforms have impacted socio-economic categories—caste, tribe and religious minorities—subjecting them to further deprivation. Case studies of handloom weavers, VRS workers and the temperance movement have awarded this study empirical reality. The book also offers a refreshing approach to the study of economic reforms through philosophical and theoretical arguments on issues like civil society, religion, caste and alienation. Since most of the scholarly works on social exclusion are based on Western notions of 'deprivation' and 'exclusion', this work's unique focus on India lends the reader a context-specific understanding of the subject.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people live, their consequent chance of illness, and their risk of premature death. We watch in wonder as life expectancy and good health continue to increase in parts of the world and in alarm as they fail to improve in others.

This open access book investigates the link between income inequality and socio-economic residential segregation in 24 large urban regions in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. It offers a unique global overview of segregation trends based on case studies by local author teams. The book shows important global trends in segregation, and proposes a Global Segregation Thesis. Rising inequalities lead to rising levels of socio-economic segregation almost everywhere in the world. Levels of inequality and segregation are higher in cities in lower income countries, but the growth in inequality and segregation is faster in cities in high-income countries. This is causing convergence of segregation trends. Professionalisation of the workforce is leading to changing residential patterns. High-income workers are moving to city centres or to attractive coastal areas and gated communities, while poverty is increasingly suburbanising. As a result, the urban geography of inequality changes faster and is more pronounced than changes in segregation levels. Rising levels of inequality and segregation pose huge challenges for the future social sustainability of cities, as cities are no longer places of opportunities for all.

This paper analyzes the extent of income inequality from a global perspective, its drivers, and what to do about it. The drivers of inequality vary widely amongst countries, with some common drivers being the skill premium associated with technical change and globalization, weakening protection for labor, and lack of financial inclusion in developing countries. We find that increasing the income share of the poor and the middle class actually increases growth while a rising income share of the top 20 percent results in lower growth—that is, when the rich get richer, benefits do not trickle down. This suggests that policies need to be country specific but should focus on raising the income share of the poor, and ensuring there is no hollowing out of the middle class. To tackle inequality, financial inclusion is imperative in emerging and developing countries while in advanced economies, policies should focus on raising human capital and skills and making tax systems more progressive.

This book is a detailed account of how hierarchy has been maintained historically by the Nepali state, affirming the uniqueness of a caste-based social order by bringing outsiders, especially ethnic groups and religious minorities, into the caste fold. Focusing on the contemporary state of Dalits, the community that was and is put at the bottom of a very hierarchical social order in Nepal, the author argues that the traditional caste-based social order is still prevalent in the “new” Nepal even after the recent socio-political and constitutional changes. Illustrated by scientifically employed and interpreted data mainly in the three sectors of education, politics and employment, the book postulates that people who were and are born into the “high caste” still have more access to the resources and opportunities available in society in comparison with those born into the “lower” caste. It further argues that although reservation policies are in place to address social exclusion, these could not bring expected outcomes mainly due to the lack of engagement, if not ignorance, of both dominant groups and the community in the margin. The absence of clarity among political actors on the positive discrimination and affirmative actions has contributed to backtracking the recently created space in line with “inclusive Nepal”.

Despite India’s record of rapid economic growth and poverty reduction over recent decades, rising inequality in the country has been a subject of concern among policy makers, academics, and activists alike. Poverty and Social Exclusion in India focuses on social exclusion, which has its roots in India’s historical divisions along lines of caste, tribe, and the excluded sex, that is, women. These inequalities are more structural in nature and have kept entire groups trapped, unable to take advantage of opportunities that economic growth offers. Culturally rooted systems perpetuate inequality, and, rather than a culture of poverty that afflicts disadvantaged groups, it is, in fact, these inequality traps that prevent these groups from breaking out. Combining rigorous quantitative research with a discussion of these underlying processes, this book finds that exclusion can be explained by inequality in opportunities, inequality in access to markets, and inequality in voice and agency. This report will be of interest to policy makers, development practitioners, social scientists, and academics working to foster equality in India.