Essay On Social Inequality And The Consequent Social Injustice

Social inequality is undoubtedly one of the major concerns for the modern global democracies which requires immediate intervention by the policymakers, governments, and intergovernmental bodies (Whiteford, 2017). Social justice is literally incomplete without the fulfilment of social equality and social inclusion goals for any society as diverse as Australia. Van krieken et al., mentioned that from the lens of social justice, social inequality is nothing more than a moral wrong practice that practically deprive people of their fundamental civil rights or fundamental human rights (Van Krieken et al., 2013). Concerning Australia, the society of the nation is very much pluralistic and diverse in terms of people of various race, ethnicity, religious communities, and people of varying origin or culture such as Anglicized, European, Non-Europeans, and Asian culture (Davidson et al., 2020). As major portion of the population of the country is imported and resettled from various people that entered into the country across the timeline to history after its independence from Britain, Australia has been mocked by various human rights watchdogs and media outlets concerning its social inequality aspects (Van Krieken et al., 2013). The paper aims to provide with a discussion of the status of social inequality of Australia and how these social inequalities catered towards various kinds of human rights violations based on relevant theories, evidences, and scenarios of the Australian society.

Social inequality refers to the fact withing a society where not all the population or population groups in the society of state or nation is in a position to avail and enjoy all resources equally compared to others in the same society (Van Krieken, 2010). Thus, in a broader sense, social inequality refers to the area of sociological studies that emphasizes on the distribution of burdens as well as goods in the society concerned (un.org. 2022). For example, social inequality is assessed or compared in terms of unequal access to distribution of the social determinants or factors such as employment, income, and education and absence of equal distribution or access of these factors lead to criminality, substance abuse, poverty, racial and caste-based discrimination that indirectly get impacted by the overall social status or position of a community in a country, and also the consequent marginalization of the community concerned (Perry, 2018). In any society of the world social inequality is quite common and it is often seen that a person out of poverty in begging in the streets and asking for some kind of help to feed themselves and their families or seeking temporary financial support (Van Krieken, 2012). No matter howsoever developed a country is as per the per capita GDP or income parity index, there always lies some handful of population or people that do not have equal access to education, housing, health and hygiene, and means of employment at large. These factors either individually or collectively caters to poverty, discrimination, and marginalization or institutionalized backwardness of a community or population group in various nations (amnesty.org.au, 2022). As far as Australia is concerned, the country even after being one of the most comprehensive democracies in the world suffers from marked social inequality in the country as per various national and international news agencies, media, scholarly publications, and reports published by civil societies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (aph.gov.au, 2022). Inequity in the society in itself is an injustice which slows social growth, economic and political order, and deprives an individual of their very fundamental human rights such as rights to a decent life which must include means and access to education, health, housing, government welfare benefits, and employment. Hence, social inequality is the precursor of the highest form of social injustice as per sociologists (Van Krieken, 2010). 

 

As per the Functionalist theory of sociology, inequality in a society is desirable and it inevitably plays a lead role in the very functioning of the society which is though odd in definition but plays a major role social functioning and governance of a nation (Western et al., 2020). However, as per the conflict theories, the powerful people in a society dominates on the less powerful people that gives rise to social inequality and the consequent social injustice (Davidson et al., 2020). Moreover, when social inequality is concerned, it essentially takes into coverage of vital factors such as class status, income, education, employment or income, and housing at large. Inequality in the Australian context refers to the fact of unequal distribution within its society which is perpetrated by inequal goods, services, availability and access to wealth and social facilities (Whiteford, 2017). However, in this context, sociologist have pointed out the role of income equality as well as wealth inequality together. Income inequality is based on the unequal distribution within any society as big and diverse as Australia’s (Peterson, 2020). The “Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)” refers income inequality to be pointed as the gap in income among people of varying communities, parts of the society, and age groups which caters to the widening of the existing gaps in payments and wages and the consequent changes and impact on other factors such as health, education, and living a decent life in all terms (treasury.gov.au, 2022). Wealth inequality on the other hand refers to the disparity and inequality in a society in terms of unequal distribution of wealth in the society concerned based on superannuation, financial assets and shares, stocks, investments, and non-financial assets such as land and cars (Davidson et al., 2020). It is found that most of the population of the Australian Indigenous community, asylum seekers, and refugees of the nation are subjects of marked social inequalities and discrimination in this direction and their human rights are violated that are evident form increasing hunger and poverty, malnutrition, lack of education and employment, and homeless accompanied with bleak health situations of the people concerned (Western et al., 2020). 

 

Social inequality is a pressing concern for the modern societies around the world and Australia in particular as excessive of inequality is mischievous for a functional democracy and a pluralistic society (Western & Tomaszewski, 2016). Any economy as big as Australia should bear in mind that the more is its social inequality gaps, the more challenging it will be for the government to manage its people and its economy formatively ensuring sustained and long-term growth (Van Krieken, 2012). Moreover, concentration of power on the hands of a few influential and commercially and political powerful people will disserve in the direction of federal administration of the country and disempower the people that are already very much deprived and backward (Perry, 2018). Reducing social inequality serves as an agent that facilitates enhancement of social justice and all-round growth and development of a nation (Van Krieken et al., 2013). Hence, in the case of Australian society, inclusion of the underprivileged, deprived, and socially excluded people such as the asylum seekers, refugees, and Indigenous communities should be taken seriously so as to bolster inclusive growth and development (pvertyandinequality.across.org.au, 2022). In terms of income inequality, Australia can be assessed in terms of the income of merely its Anglicized or European-origin citizens as the share or contribution of people of other communities or race, culture, or origin are trivial and so their share to the GDP or NDP is very less compares to the ‘Whites’ (amnesty.org, 2022). The income inequality is the nation as large which can be noted from the fact of highest 20% income of the households are six times more than the people or families in the bottom 20% of the income scale which is assessed from the data provided by the ABS and Survey of Income and Housing Confidentialised Unit Record Files (treasury.gov.au, 2022). Disparities in wages and salaries, superannuation and investments, and social security payments are the major factors that are to be thought of when bridging social inequalities are concerned in a broader sense (Saunders, 2017). Concerning wages disparity in the nation, ABS refers to the wide gaps in wages of the top 20% people to be three times more compared to the people at the bottom 20% in terms of monthly income scale in Australia (aph.gov.au, 2022). Moreover, another matter of concern in the direction is the low-income status of the bottom 20% people of the income scale where 24% of the people among them only have a full-time job, while others are partially employed (Whiteford, 2017). However, social security payments are also overrepresented in the country and the policymakers still believe that actually the really deprived people such as the Indigenous people do not enjoy timely benefits of various social security schemes and payments (Peterson, 2020). In place of the real beneficiaries that should have been empowered with the social security payments, corrupt local politicians, police officers, members of local communities, municipalities, ward members, and other influential that have nexus with the state and federal governments waste these funds which essentially are eroding the fiscal support to the needy people (Walter & Saggers, 2020). This is why, social inequality in the nation is gradually increasing and catering to the ever-widening gap of social exclusion, social inequality and discrimination, and the consequent massive social injustice (Le et al., 2018). 

 

The paper discussed social inequality of Australia and how these social inequalities catered towards various kinds of human rights violations based on relevant theories, evidences, and scenarios of the Australian society. It was found that social inequality refers to the fact withing a society where not all the population or population groups in the society of state or nation is in a position to avail and enjoy all resources equally compared to others in the same society. Moreover, it was discussed how inequity in the society in itself is an injustice to the society which slows social growth, economic and political order, and deprives an individual of their very fundamental human rights such as rights to a decent life which include access to education, health, housing, government welfare benefits, and employment. Hence, social inequality is the precursor of the highest form of social injustice as per sociologists, and the notion of Van krieken et al., (2010, 225) that “From a social justice perspective, social inequality is morally wrong because it violates fundamental human rights” stands valid to a great extent.

 

Australia Archives. (2022). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-east-asia-and-the-pacific/australia/report-australia/#:~:text=AUSTRALIA%202021,violence%20against%20women%20remained%20inadequate. 

 

 

Davidson, P., Bradbury, B., Wong, M., & Hill, T. (2020). Inequality in Australia 2020-part 2: who is affected and why. https://apo.org.au/node/310195 

 

 

Human Rights in Australia | Australian Human Rights Commission. (2022). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/human-rights-australia

 

 

Income inequality in Australia | Treasury.gov.au. (2013). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://treasury.gov.au/publication/economic-roundup-issue-2-2013-2/economic-roundup-issue-2-2013/income-inequality-in-australia 

 

 

Inequality and disadvantage. (2022). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook46p/Inequality#:~:text=Wealth%20tends%20to%20be%20much,year%20between%202006%20and%202015. 

 

 

Inequality in Australia. (2022). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/inequality/ 

 

 

Le, H., Jiang, Z., & Nielsen, I. (2018). Cognitive cultural intelligence and life satisfaction of migrant workers: The roles of career engagement and social injustice. Social indicators research, 139(1), 237-257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1393-3 

 

 

Perry, L. B. (2018). Educational inequality in Australia. Committee for economic development of Australia. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/41294/1/educational%20inequality.pdf 

 

 

Peterson, N. (2020). Pre-colonial inequality in Aboriginal Australia. Первобытная археология. Журнал междисциплинарных исследований, (1), 55-63. http://archeo.ru/izdaniya-1/pazhmi-pajis/issues/pdf/05Peterson.pdf 

 

 

Saunders, P. (2017). Housing costs, poverty and inequality in Australia. Housing studies, 32(6), 742-757. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2016.1229757 

 

 

Social Justice in an Open World (2022). Retrieved 8 July 2022, from https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/ifsd/SocialJustice.pdf 

 

 

Van Krieken, R. (2010). Childhood in Australian sociology and society. Current Sociology, 58(2), 232-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392109354243 

 

 

Van Krieken, R. (2012). Between assimilation and multiculturalism: models of integration in Australia. Patterns of Prejudice, 46(5), 500-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2012.718167

 

 

van Krieken, R. (2019). Menno ter braak on democracy, populism and fascism: Ressentiment and its vicissitudes. Theory, Culture & Society, 36(3), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276418806572 

 

 

Van Krieken, R., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G., & Maton, K. (2013). Sociology. Pearson Higher Education AU. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Zy_iBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Van+Krieken+et+al+(2010)+social+justice&ots=BDRaMu7yF0&sig=yVnRuMbxiGsXPc7MrPwx9enM0h4 

 

 

Walter, M., & Saggers, S. (2020). Poverty and social class. In Social determinants of Indigenous health (pp. 87-107). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003117247-5/poverty-social-class-maggie-walter-sherry-saggers 

 

 

Western, M., & Tomaszewski, W. (2016). Subjective wellbeing, objective wellbeing and inequality in Australia. PloS one, 11(10), e0163345. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163345 

 

 

Western, M., Baxter, J., & Germov, J. (2020). Class and inequality in Australia. In Public Socology (pp. 238-264). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003116974-14/class-inequality-australia-mark-western-janeen-baxter-john-germov 

 

 

Whiteford, P. (2017). Trends in income inequality in Australia. AQ-Australian Quarterly, 88(3), 30-36. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20190515010307