Regimes of Inequality: the political economy of health and wealth

Contributor(s): Professor Julia Lynch | Inequality has become an intractable feature of the rich industrialised democracies, despite consensus among mass publics and experts that more social and economic equality is desirable. In this lecture, Julia Lynch will examine the political dynamics underlying the “new normal” of high and rising inequality since 1980.

To do so, she'll trace the largely unsuccessful attempts of west European governments during this period to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in health and argue that inequality persists despite growing awareness of the harms it creates because of the way political leaders choose to talk about it — and not only because of economic necessity or demands from the electorate.

Meet our speaker and chair

Julia Lynch is Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the politics of inequality, public health, and social policy in the rich democracies, particularly the countries of western Europe. Her latest book is Regimes of Inequality: The Political Economy of Health and Wealth.

Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) is Professor of Comparative Politics, in the Department of Government at LSE.

You can order the book, Regimes of Inequality: The Political Economy of Health and Wealth, (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

More about this event

The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) is a world-leading centre for study and research in politics and government.

This event forms part of LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, a series of debates about the direction the world could and should be taking after the crisis.