I was at an event last year where I was asked to list three books that have most influenced my thinking. One of those was The Spirit Level (2009) by Professor Richard Wilkinson and Professor Kate Pickett.
The Spirit Level sounded the alarm on the corrosive effects of economic injustice. At a time when only a few academics were exploring this issue, it provided a comprehensive analysis linking the negative effects of inequality to a wide range of social ills. It revolutionised the way we looked at, measured and understood the impacts of inequality. Fifteen years on, its warnings ring truer than ever, exacerbated by years of austerity. The authors have published a report, "The Spirit Level at 15, " which highlights many of these issues.
Kate Pickett has also written a new book, The Good Society, which takes her analysis to the present day.
She starts with a (long) definition of a good society. Essentially, a society where everyone's physical and mental health is as good as it could be, by focusing on levelling inequality. Prevention before cure and ensuring the wellbeing of future generations. If those are not your priorities, you will struggle with this book. She argues that society is not improving because a few people are becoming fabulously rich. Tackling poverty and inequality benefits our society as a whole.
This is a book of two halves, not just because I read it on a long train journey to a football match! The first half outlines the blueprints for a good society, focusing on health, care, education, the environment, and justice. The second half explains how to build a good society.
As you would expect, almost every argument is referenced with evidence, and often illustrated with real-world examples. For example, in the city I was born in, Liverpool, half of the children born in 2009 and 2010 had been referred to children’s services by the time they were five. Many of her facts come from well-resourced, government-commissioned reports, with comprehensive recommendations that are repeatedly scuppered by another election, and put on a shelf to gather dust. A story we know only too well in Scotland, with the Christie Commission being just one pertinent example of this theme. Like The Spirit Level, it draws on international examples to show that another world is possible.
Her solutions are not simply about income, vital though that is, but about engagement. She suggests participatory budgeting, citizen assemblies and the strengthening of trade unions, alongside a National Institute for Social Change, for “ongoing proper assessment of the effectiveness of proposed social policies, their cost effectiveness”, so that the “then government could act on those things”. Where I part company with her is on the establishment of 'National' services for everything, unless they are limited to frameworks.
In interviews, Pickett has been critical of the incoming Labour government, "Given their mandate for change, I think they could and should have been bolder and faster.” New reviews are fine "unless they sit on the shelf, gathering dust, like so many other government reviews." It would be hard to disagree with that. Jonathan Portes has
criticised the book as a "whistle-stop tour of the greatest hits of progressive social policy." Yes, there could be more depth, but that would make the book unreadable and just another report gathering dust on the shelf. The purpose of a book like this is to educate and inspire. On some of his specific criticisms, such as the evidence on Universal Basic Income, he has a point.
It is inevitable that a follow-up book will not be as influential as the original. However, it is important that the case for tackling inequality is refreshed. And this book does just that.
