Richard G. Wilkinson Libri

Why do we mistrust people more in the UK than in Japan? Why do Americans have higher rates of teenage pregnancy than the French? What makes the Swedish thinner than the Greeks? The answer: inequality.This groundbreaking book, based on years of research, provides hard evidence to show:- How almost everything - from life expectancy to depression levels, violence to illiteracy - is affected not by how wealthy a society is, but how equal it is- That societies with a bigger gap between rich and poor are bad for everyone in them - including the well-off- How we can find positive solutions and move towards a happier, fairer futureUrgent, provocative and genuinely uplifting, The Spirit Level has been heralded as providing a new way of thinking about ourselves and our communities, and could change the way you see the world.

In this book, pioneering social epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson, shows how inequality affects social relations and well-being. In wealthy countries, health is not simply a matter of material circumstances and access to health care; it is also how your relationships and social standing make you feel about life. Using detailed evidence from rich market democracies, the book addresses people's experience of inequality and presents a radical theory of the psychosocial impact of class stratification. The book demonstrates how poor health, high rates of violence and low levels of social capital all reflect the stresses of inequality and explains the pervasive sense that, despite material success, our societies are sometimes social failures. What emerges is a new conception of what it means to say that we are social beings and of how the social structure penetrates our personal lives and relationships.

The book critically examines societal development, questioning the reasons behind the disparity between primitive and advanced societies. Through a thought-provoking analysis, it offers insights that challenge conventional beliefs about societal progress. The reissue includes a new Preface, enhancing its relevance and encouraging readers to reconsider their understanding of civilization's evolution.

Among the developed countries it is not the richest societies which have the best health, but those which have the smallest income differences between rich and poor. Inequality and relative poverty have absolute effects: they increase death rates. But why? How can smaller income differences raise average life expectancy?Using examples from the USA, Britain, Japan and Eastern Europe, and bringing together evidence from the social and medical sciences, Unhealthy Socities provides the explanation. Healthy, egalitarian societies are more socially cohesive. They have a stronger community life and suffer fewer of the corrosive effects of inequality. As well as inequality weakening the social fabric, damaging health and increasing crime rates, Unhealthy Societies shows that social cohesion is crucial to the quality of life.The contrast between the material success and social failure of modern societies marks an imbalance which needs attention. The relationship between health and equality suggests that important social needs will go unmet without a larger measure of social and distributive justice. This path-breaking book is essential reading for health psychologists, sociologists, welfare economists, social policy analysts and all those concerned with the future of developed societies.

Warum sind manche der „modernen“ Gesellschaften gesünder als andere? Wilkinson zeigt, dass nicht die Länder mit dem höchsten absoluten Einkommen die besten Gesundheitsdaten aufweisen, sondern die mit den geringsten Einkommensunterschieden. Zahlreiche Beispiele verdeutlichen, wie sich soziales Gleichgewicht auf die Lebenserwartung auswirkt. Wilkinson enthüllt das Ungleichgewicht zwischen materiellem Erfolg und sozialem Misserfolg der „modernen“ Gesellschaften und richtet sich damit an alle, die sich über die zukünftige Entwicklung unserer Gesellschaft Gedanken machen.