CHAPTER SIX

SOCIAL INCLUTION
Chapter Outline
The Ethics of Wealth,
Poverty and Inequality
United Nations
Declarations, Covenants
and The MDGs
Divided Societies
Forces of of Widening
Inequalities
Gender Inequality
 The Ethics of Wealth, Poverty and Inequality

Background
• Sustainable development targets three broad goals for society: economic
development, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
• In most of the world, countries struggle with all three of these goals. Even the
high income countries, struggle with high and rising inequalities of income,
wealth, and power.
• Even a country that is taking every measure on its own to protect the
environment, will face global environmental crises, from climate change to the
loss of biodiversity to ocean acidification.
 The Ethics of Wealth, Poverty and
Inequality

Social Inclusion
• The goal of social inclusion is unfinished business in almost all parts
of the world.
• Indigenous populations have faced shocking discrimination,
sometimes verging on attempts at genocide.
• Native Americans in the United States, First Nations in Canada,
Aboriginals in Australia, the Maori in New Zealand, the Orang Asli
in Malaysia, the Scheduled Tribes in India, all share the distinction of
combining indigenous status and massive poverty and exclusion.
The Ethics of Wealth, Poverty and
Inequality

Social Inclusion
• Discrimination may be based on characteristics of
ethnicity, religion, race, gender, caste.
• In modern economies, class is another possible barrier
to social inclusion.
• There are reasons why kids who grow up in poor
families can easily find themselves stuck in poverty, in
an intergenerational poverty trap.
The Ethics of Equality and Rights

• When we think about the questions of social exclusion,

there are multiple dimensions of moral and ethical
choices to face.
One set of issues addresses income and wealth inequality.
• Should society as a whole, through government and
social institutions, work to narrow income and wealth
inequalities? Are there trade-offs between income
redistribution and growth?
The Ethics of Equality and Rights

A second related issue is the question of economic discrimination, both through

legal and cultural channels.
• Laws in many parts of the world continue to discriminate against some
groups in society: women, religious minorities, indigenous groups, and
others.
• In most of human history until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the
legal framework even allowed for slavery.
• It took a bloody civil war in the United States to break the back of slavery,
and apartheid in South Africa did not end until 130 years after the U.S. Civil
War.
The Ethics of Equality and Rights

• A third dimension of social inclusion involves cultural

norms.
• Sometimes practices are not strictly illegal, but the
attitudes in society, such as discrimination against
minority groups, are prolonged by cultural and social
attitudes.
• What can and should be done about that? How should
we think about the relationship of ethics, culture, and
law?
The Ethics of Equality and Rights

There are many different It is particularly insightful

aspects of values and to understand the many There are six important
value systems to explore schools of thought about ethical approaches to
in order to investigate and these deep questions social inclusion to
promote social inclusion. that have existed highlight
throughout history.
 The Ethics of
Equality and Rights
• The first of these is virtue ethics. The
Buddha, Confucius, and Aristotle are
three important exemplars of virtue
ethics.
• The Buddha’s influence extends
throughout South and East Asia.
• Confucius has a huge and lasting
influence on this day on ethics in China
and other parts of northeast Asia.
• Aristotle has a long and deep legacy of
influence on Western thinking about
values, with major influence in
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
 The Ethics of Equality
and Rights
• A second philosophical view arises from
the great religions.
• The three great monotheistic religions—
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—all
champion the Golden Rule: “Do not do to
others what you would not want them to
do to you.”
• The underpinning of this doctrine is a
principle of equality, in which all humanity
is viewed as equal servant of Allah.
• Unlike secular ethics, religious ethics are
often infused with the promise of eternal
happiness and salvation in return for good
behavior on Earth.
 The Ethics of Equality
and Rights
• A third approach to ethics is called
deontological ethics, or “duty ethics.”
• This approach, epitomized by philosopher
Immanuel Kant, holds that ethics is a
matter of duty to rational principles.
• Kant argued that ethics means adopting a
universal standard of behavior. He
described: that individuals should behave
according to rules that can serve as
universal laws.
• This is a secularized version of the
Golden Rule, that individuals should act
according to general principles.
 The Ethics of
Equality and Rights
• A fourth approach to ethics, utilitarianism, is
secular rather than religious.
• The founder of utilitarianism is philosopher
Jeremy Bentham.
• Bentham wrote that the goal of society is
happiness, and the goal of an ethical system,
moral philosophy, and indeed practical politics
should be the greatest happiness for the greatest
number of people
• In utilitarian doctrine, legislators are to
investigate how proposed policies will affect the
psychological wellbeing of the public and then to
adopt those policies conducive to the greatest
good for the greatest number.
The Ethics of
Equality and Rights
• A fifth philosophical approach is
libertarianism.
• This philosophical approach has since become
a favorite of part of the right wing of
American and British politics.
• The libertarian position holds that the greatest
moral precept is liberty.
• The meaning of life, in the libertarian view, is
the freedom to choose one’s own life course.
• The greatest harm, in this view, is when the
state takes away the liberties of individuals.
“He who governs least governs best.”
The Ethics of Equality and
Rights
• A sixth philosophical approach, is
the human rights philosophy.
• Human rights offer another
justification for social inclusion.
• The human rights approach, which
also has its roots in some religious
traditions, holds that every human
being on the planet has basic
human rights that must be
protected by the society, including
by government.
• There are five basic categories of
such rights: political, civil,
economic, social, and cultural
rights.
The Ethics of Equality and Rights

Note the fundamental difference, for example, compared with the

libertarian idea.

The libertarian says that government’s only responsibility is to

create a framework of law, order, and security; it should not
redistribute income or property for the benefit of the poor.

By contrast, the human rights approach says a poor person has

basic rights to health, to education, to means of livelihood; and so
society must be organized, perhaps through taxation and provision
of public services, to help meet those basic needs.
 United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

When the United Nations was formed at the end of World

War II, one of the first great steps it took was the adoption of
the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (UDHR; UN
General Assembly [UNGA] 1948).

The prevalent idea of the UDHR was that by meeting the

basic rights of all people in the world, one could not only
ensure their dignity and improve their economic wellbeing
but also help to prevent another global war.

The UDHR is, in essence, the moral charter of the United

Nations.
United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

• In 1948, the governments of the world agreed to

the following in the UDHR:
“THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN
RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement
for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every
individual and every organ of society, keeping this
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by
teaching and education to promote respect for
these rights and freedoms and by progressive
measures, national and international, to secure
their universal and effective recognition and
observance, both among the peoples of Member
States themselves and among the peoples of
territories under their jurisdiction”. (UNGA 1948)
 United Nations Declarations,
Covenants and The MDGs

There are many rights in the document, and

these demand serious study, but a few are
worth highlighting.
• Article 22 calls for the right to social
security; in other words, to a guaranteed
income base that maintains human dignity
and that allows individuals to meet the most
basic human needs of water, shelter,
clothing, and so on.
• Article 23 of the UDHR calls for the right
to work and to a livelihood that enables
individuals to support themselves and their
families.
• Article 24 calls for the right to rest and
leisure, so that one’s employer cannot
demand work around the clock or in
burdensome and crushing conditions.
 United Nations Declarations,
Covenants and The MDGs

• Article 25 states that there is a

universal right to a standard of living
that is adequate for the health and
wellbeing of the individual and of
their family.
• The elements of the standard of living
include the right to security in the
event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age, or any
other lack of livelihood in
uncontrollable circumstances.
• Additionally, mothers and children
are entitled to special care and
assistance.
 United Nations Declarations,
Covenants and The MDGs
• Article 26 holds that everyone has a
right to education, which shall be free, at
least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory, a merit good, and should
apply to everyone in the world.
• Article 28 holds that “everyone is
entitled to a social and international
order in which the rights and freedoms
set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.”
• In other words, the UDHR is not meant
to be merely a statement of wishes but
also a call for a political and social order
in which the enumerated rights can be
progressively realized.
 United Nations Declarations,
Covenants and The MDGs

Covenants:
• Coming out of the UDHR were two more
detailed international covenants that also
helped to implement it.
One is the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and
the other is the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR).
• These two covenants, adopted in 1966,
cover the five main areas of human rights.
United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

The International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR)
• The ICCPR focuses on the rights of citizenship and protection
from abuses of the state. Here are a few key points of the
civil and political rights defined in the ICCPR (UNGA 1966a).
• Article 6, for example, holds that the law protects the right
to life. Government cannot willfully and without due process
take a life.
• Of course, in many countries of the world, capital
punishment is illegal. Yet many governments tragically
continue to kill their own people.
United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

• Article 7 holds that no one can be subjected to

torture. Yet governments have also violated this
willfully, and torture still remains a terrible scourge.
• Article 8 holds that no person can be held in slavery.
While slavery is illegal throughout the world, there
is still human trafficking and people are illegally
held in slavery.
• Governments have the responsibility to fight this and
to free people who are being held against their will.
United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

Article 9 recognizes the Article 16 recognizes

right to liberty and the right of citizenship,
Article 18 declares the
security of individuals defined as the
freedom of thought.
that governments must recognition of all
not violate. persons before the law.

Article 26 emphasizes
This is a start upon
Article 24 underscores the equal protection of
which the full
the protection of the law from
realization of rights can
children. discriminatory
be built.
application.
 United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
• Companion to the civil and political rights are economic, social, and
cultural rights, adopted in (UNGA 1966b).
• As in the UDHR, article 6 of the ICESCR recognizes for the right to
work.
• Article 7 recognizes the right to just and favorable conditions of work,
decent remuneration, and a safe working environment.
• Article 8 declares the right of individuals to form and join trade unions.
 The International
Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights
Declarations, Covenants

(ICESCR).
• Article 9 of the ICESCR calls for
and The MDGs
United Nations

the right to social security.

• Article 11 calls for the right to an
adequate standard of living, in
which basic needs are met.
• Article 12 recognizes the right to
“the highest attainable standard
of physical and mental health.”
United Nations Declarations, Covenants and The MDGs

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

(ICESCR).
• Article 13 calls for the right to education.
• Article 15 calls for the right to take part in cultural life.
• As with the original UDHR, the ICESCR realizes that the economic,
social, and cultural rights will only be realized over time, in part as
countries achieve economic growth and sustainable development.
• The standard is not the immediate realization of all rights but the
progressive realization of the rights. goal.
Divided Societies

• Social inclusion aims for broad-based prosperity, for

eliminating discrimination, for equal protection under the
laws, for enabling everybody to meet basic needs, and for
high social mobility (meaning that a child born into poverty
has a reasonable chance to escape from poverty).
• Of course, no society achieves uniform equality, and nobody
would want that.
Divided Societies

• People differ by luck, tastes, and work effort, so

naturally these differences show up in variations in
economic outcomes as well, such as in income,
wealth, and job status.
• People expect these differences to a reasonable
extent.
• And when people are not able to look after
themselves by dint of nature we also expect that
they will be helped by society to meet their needs
with dignity.
Forces of Widening Inequalities

• During the past twenty years, income inequality has

risen markedly in the United States and many other
countries.
• Income per capita has been rising, but most of the
gains have accrued to those at the top of the income
distribution.
• The U.S. Gini coefficient has risen from around
0.40 to 0.48 between 1970 and 2013, a very sizable
increase.
Forces of Widening Inequalities

• There are at least three fundamental forces playing

a role in the widening economic inequalities in the
United States, several European countries, and
many of the emerging economies around the world.
• One key factor is the rising gap in earnings
between high-skilled and low-skilled workers. The
returns to education have increased markedly,
leaving those with less education behind.
Forces of Widening
Inequalities
• A second phenomenon has been the increased use of robotics,
advanced data management systems, and other information
technologies, which seem to be shifting income from labor to
capital.
• The third force has been the political system, which in the
United States has amplified the widening inequalities caused by
market forces.
• For example, wealthy campaign contributors have been able to
use their political influence to get special privileges in the form
of tax breaks, subsidies, or advantageous regulatory changes.
 Gender Inequality

• Gender inequality has been a long-standing feature of most

societies around the world.
• Men have been in the paid labor force while women have
traditionally carried out farm labor and home-based production
while also raising the children.
• Laws and social customs bolstered this traditional division of labor,
often making it impossible for women to own businesses or control
their own incomes.
Gender Inequality

Gender Inequality Index

• In 2010, the United Nations Development Programme introduced a Gender
Inequality Index (GII), shown in figure 7.8 (UNDP 2013a).
• Notice the especially high gender inequality in tropical Africa and South
Asia. In these two regions, women still lack political power and social
standing.
• Like the Human Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index combines
several indicators on a weighted basis to offer a quantified assessment of
gender inequality in each country.
Gender Inequality

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

• This GII includes three categories.
• The first is reproductive health, including the maternal
mortality rate and the adolescent fertility rate. The the extent
to which girls are being forced out of their education and into
early marriage and childbearing.
• The second category is female empowerment, measured by
the share of total parliamentary seats held by women and by
the enrollment rate of women in higher education.
• The third category is the labor force participation of women.
Gender Inequality

Questions To Be Asked
• What can and should be done to close the remaining gender gap
• Some of the remaining gender barriers are legal, others are cultural, and still
others are a matter of tradition. Can women own and run businesses? Can
they own and inherit property? What about the delivery of public services?
Are girls and women receiving the public services they need?
• For example, are hygienic facilities for girls at secondary level available?
 Finally, around the world women face
unspoken burden of violence, whether it is
rape, husbands beating wives, or other
violent acts.

Gender UNICEF and other UN agencies have

undertaken major efforts to bring public
Inequality awareness to this kind of violence.

This inhumane approach is a fundamental

denial of human rights and should come
quickly to an end.