Tackling Inequality in Times of Crisis: Insights from the People vs Inequality Podcast

A longer version of this blog was published on the Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity website https://afsee.atlanticfellows.org/blog/2021/tackling-inequality-in-times-of-crisis-insights-from-the-people-vs-inequality-podcast.

 

Tackling Inequality in Times of Crisis: Insights from the People vs Inequality Podcast

Barbara van Paassen, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.” (Arundhati Roy, 2020)

So how can we use this opportunity to do things differently, at a time in which growing inequalities are destroying lives, threatening our societies and endangering our planet? This is one of the key questions of the People vs Inequality podcast, a space to reflect and learn with change-makers working to tackle inequalities and injustice. In order to start developing an answer to this question, our first series took a deep dive into the issue of women’s economic justice, asking what we can the question ‘how can we make covid the gamechanger we so desperately need’? I am happy to share with you four take aways for turning the tide on inequality and injustice.

Three women, three stories of change 

In this first season on women’s economic justice we heard from three inspiring women working tirelessly for justice: We started with Elizabeth Tang, a longstanding unionist building power with one of the groups hardest hit in the pandemic, sharing how the International Domestic Workers Federation are organizing for a caring economy. We also heard from Emilia Reyes, a feminist ‘technical activist’ that started the Campaign of Campaigns to address fundamental imbalances in global economic policies and decision-making. And we featured the story of Anuradha Rajan of SAWFIN, India’s only women’s fund, on how she supports local trans and women’s rights movements by providing direct flexible funds and is passionately advocating for reimagining social justice work.  

 Building on their stories we asked Naila Kabeer (London School of Economics), Njoki Njehu  (Fight Inequality Alliance) and Armine Ishkanian (Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity) what struck them and what insights they take away in the last episode of this series. 

1. The urgency of addressing women’s economic justice in a global pandemic

“Covid left in sharp relief the kinds of inequalities we are taking for granted. The ten richest people in the world are all male, all white and mostly live in the US. The poorest, well they are too many to count, but we can almost safely say that most of them are women from marginalized social groups who eke out a living on the very margins of the global economy. Is that a world we want to preserve?” (Naila Kabeer)

After hearing the stories, the phrase ‘Covid-19 exposed and exacerbated gender inequality’ seems like an abstraction that doesn’t do justice to the dire situation of many women and marginalized groups. Domestic workers being laid off without any social protection, women across the globe facing increased care burdens and threats of violence: these conversations clearly show the urgency of tackling this problem at its root. As Emilia said, women are the shock absorbers of crisis, stepping up where governments fail.

The pandemic put into sharp focus the work that needs to be done and the obstacles to overcome. The problems of austerity and women’s unpaid care burden are now more visible. So are the pervasive social norms, vested interests and the absence of women’s voices in decision-making. The podcast was a great reminder for me – and hopefully you – of the amazing work that so many women and trans people are doing, historically and since the pandemic, which needs to be amplified and supported.

2. The importance of intersectionality and participation

“If someone is not visible or legible to policymakers, their needs are not going to be addressed. And unless we involve people in conversation, agenda-setting and decision-making, we are going to end up reproducing some of the same problems we have seen. We say another world is possible, but how do we get there? One of the ways is to involve everyone in the conversation.” (Armine Ishkanian)

They say many roads lead to Rome, but I would add ‘and the best roads have some things in common’. From bottom-up organizing, advocacy (or ‘working on people at the top’), campaigning and local to global movement building: our guests clearly illustrate the importance of participation and collective action. Whilst some challenges are universal, women of colour and those in the Global South are hardest hit, reflecting not only gender, but global, racial, and other – often intersecting – inequalities. Taking an intersectional approach to understanding the issues and obstacles different constituencies face, and recognizing women’s diverse knowledge, needs, and agency is key. Elizabeth, Emilia, and Anuradha show examples of how to do that: from mobilizing, and facilitating domestic workers to share their stories and demands with governments, to taking a humble and listening approach as a funder towards those that are doing the work (and know their realities best). They also share how thinking about your own positionality and power is crucial.

3.     The need to remain focused on systems change whilst addressing urgent needs

“If you see someone is hungry, you cannot ignore that and say ‘well actually I am working to smash the patriarchy, just wait’. We need to find ways to meet immediate needs and balance that with the structural work that needs to happen to achieve real transformation.” (Armine Ishkanian)

We tend to focus on the short term, especially in times of crisis. It is clear that urgent needs are to be addressed. However, Emilia reminded us of the risk of “everyone tending their own fires” and not addressing structural causes on a local and global level, allowing problems to persist or shift from one place to another. Anuradha highlighted the need to balance short and long term, and that they can go hand in hand if you take a transformative approach when dealing with urgent practical needs. We need to create spaces to reflect and strategize for the long-term (an important aim of the People vs Inequality podcast!) and build caring communities for changemakers to sustain the work.

4. What gives hope: Coming together across movements

“We need to understand that all these issues are interconnected. That there is no separation of countries, genders, age when there is a challenge that impacts people. That debt, water, education, climate, dignity, these are not isolated issues. When we understand all these connections, we can start to build broader and more connected movements. To move from competition to actual solidarity.” (Njoki Njehu)

The pandemic has created a window of collective awareness of the need for change. So how can we capitalize on that? One thing came up again and again in the conversations: this is a time in which movements are coming together in ways they have never done before. From domestic workers uniting efforts with other worker’s unions and feminists to women’s funds coming together to transform philanthropy, there is much to learn from their work on how to use this momentum and get it right.  We have kicked off this journey to find new ways to tackle inequality and injustice. We invite you to join us for more!

Listen to the first season of the People vs Inequality Podcast and subscribe to stay updated.