Horizontal Inequality and Data Challenges

Carla Canelas, Rachel M. Gisselquist*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Inequality and social exclusion receive considerable contemporary policy attention. In the field of international development, inequality—both vertical (between individuals and households) and horizontal (between groups)—is a core concern in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite considerable attention to horizontal inequality in both research and policy, there are notable gaps and weaknesses in our empirical knowledge about how it manifests within and across countries and over time. This has implications not only for the rigour with which we can build and test theories in this area, but also for informing policy, monitoring trends, and evaluating the impact of interventions. This article probes what more can be learned from existing survey and census data to address empirical gaps. It argues that key methodological, conceptual, and—in particular—political issues pose persistent challenges for such survey and census data on topics relating to ‘ethnicity’ broadly defined. These challenges imply not only real limits in the so-called data revolution for sustainable development, but also risks to ‘evidence-based’ policy making in this area when it relies too heavily on quantitative data. This article serves also as the introductory and framing paper for this special issue.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)157-172
Number of pages16
JournalSocial Indicators Research
Volume143
Issue number1
Early online date28 May 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 May 2019

Bibliographical note

Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Ethnic groups
  • Group-based inequality
  • Horizontal inequality
  • Inequality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • General Social Sciences

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