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Can income inequality fuel social unrest?

Published : Thursday, 29 September, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 633

Can income inequality fuel social unrest?

Can income inequality fuel social unrest?

It goes without saying that the world has been full of inequalities from its beginning, and in the era of globalization this issue has augmented expeditiously. We can see the issue of inequality between and among the peoples and nations. Therefore, the countries are divided into different terms such as underdeveloped, developed or developing countries.

Beginning with the cultivation of crops, contemporary advances in equipment, information technology, and enrichment science have brought about unparalleled levels of success in practically every industry. Bangladesh is not an exception to this trend; rather, it is going forward with unstoppable progress. The transition that Bangladesh has made from a less developed country to a developing country has garnered the nation and its leadership a great deal of praise and admiration from people all over the world.

Fifty years after the nation gained its independence, it has become one of the economies with the most remarkable growth. Still, at the same time, the economic and social disparity has been steadily increasing.

In 2021, 1% of Bangladesh's population owned 18.7% of the country's income. "World Inequality Report 2022" states that 50% of lower-class people have 16.1% of their total income. In addition, 40% of the total national income is in the hands of 10% of people. Reportedly, 11.8% of wealth belonged to 1% of the people in 1971. In recent years, despite stability, the number of impoverished people has risen while the number of wealthy people has also risen.

Social and economic inequality, however, can fuel social unrest in a country. Augmenting inequality is crucial to understanding social stratification. If we look at the situation in Sri Lanka we can easily get the picture of the impact of inequality in a society. In the midst of the economic crisis and social protest, the former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled from his country. What are the reasons behind the destitute condition of Sri Lanka? Yes, it's an absolute failure of the governance process as well as poor public policy.

The government of Sri Lanka failed to make an interest payment on its foreign debt, and the soaring price of essential commodities and heavy corruption of the ruling parties' members lead to rising inequality. Although income poverty has decreased, income disparity has not altered. The wealthiest 20% of households in Sri Lanka get more than half of the nation's total household income, compared to the bottom decile's (poorest 20%) share of just 5% and the poorest 10%'s share of just 1.6%, according to a study of the centre for poverty analysis.

The Gini coefficient for household income in Sri Lanka in 2016 was 0.45, indicating that inequality remains a problem. The income inequality in Sri Lanka is a result of a number of reasons, including an absence of access to high-quality higher education, fewer work prospects, inadequate infrastructure, a lack of accessibility to healthcare, and others. A research shows that this widening gap in wealth can, in fact, bring about social unrest and instability, and in some instances, it can even help pave the way for the development of future military conflicts. It happens in Sri Lanka, and if we observe the other parts of the world where the massive demonstration is occurring, we may see that inequality is the core factor behind it.


People are struggling to meet their basic needs. A few days ago, Bangladesh's government announced a surprise increase in fuel prices, causing public uproar. Even the government had to take the initiative to schedule load shedding due to its energy crisis. Citizens are dissatisfied now. Rich people are not in problem, yet middle class and poor people are suffering a lot with the load shedding, higher fuel price and rising prices of daily commodities.

On 13th August, businessman Sharif Ullah was killed by a robber at an ATM booth in Uttara of the capital. The murderer admitted to carrying out the crime. As a means of earning a living, he has, at various times, engaged in a variety of activities. Recently, he fell behind on his payments since he couldn't find a job. This is the reason why he makes the decision to rob. Police saidthat guy is not a professional robber, and no previous record of him had been found. So, what does it mean? Social inequality makes him poor and leads him to commit a heinous crime.

Tea workers are protesting in Bangladesh are protesting over wages of late. They only got 120 TK in a day for their hard work. It was beyond my imagination; they cannot buy a dozen of egg or more than 2 KG of rice with their daily remuneration. Isn't it ridiculous and pathetic? But why are they protesting now? Because of the rising inequality and soaring price of goods, which is currently out of their control, perhaps, those people cannot manage three meals in a day. Nevertheless, the number of rich people is rising; even in the midst of pandemic, we saw this number rising steadily.

The incident of tea workers' protest clearly depicts the Marxist theory of class struggle. Karl Marx observed that employees had no voice in the workplace. They had no alternative but to work for the wealthy people who founded the firm because they needed to make money to buy food, and employment was the only source of income. While the worker lifted, carried, and performed other physically demanding tasks that no one truly enjoyed, the wealthy got richer. Protests are initiated by the proletariat or working class, against the bourgeoisie, rich class, or landlords, in an effort to win their demand and narrow the income disparity.

It is unquestionable, income inequality or inequality in society helps to emerge social unrest. It is not possible to relinquish the disparity overnight. Robust inclusive development process is crucial for this, where citizens can participate in decision-making and development activities. The initiatives of government and NGOs should be monitored properly. Furthermore, international efforts are also essential to reduce the gap among the countries. It will be possible if rich nations want to do so, if elite classes want to do so and if the politicians want to do so.
The writer is research assistant
at the Centre for Advanced
Social Research, Dhaka.














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