DK Dynamics of Inequality and Difference in the Age of Globalization

Inequality and difference are social realities in all societies, however shaping coexistence to varying degrees. Inequality and difference, so the general assumption, are the results of social processes of negotiation through which access to and the right of disposal over material and immaterial resources are distributed.

Vertical and horizontal disparities here intersect: Vertical inequality encompasses economic differences in income wealth, and access to the means of production, the labor market, capital, credit, and welfare state services. Horizontal inequality includes diverging possibilities for social belonging and participation arising from nationality, gender, skin color, religion, age, or language. The two forms overlap and strengthen (or weaken) each other intersectionally in the axes of global mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion such as racism, gender, and class relations, as well as linguicism.