Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny: An even playing field

Abstract

Sociologist Mike Savage joins us to talk wealth, inequality and other issues in UK politics.

In the pursuit of a truly egalitarian society, what can we learn from the United Kingdom’s race and class wealth divides? Can politicians implement policies around wealth and taxation without being accused of attacking aspiration? And what impact does the uneven growth of wealth have on political engagement and democracy? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, inequality expert Professor Mike Savage joins Professor Mark Kenny to discuss the wealth divide and how to create a more even playing field.

Thank you also to Professor Mike Savage for his book recommendations: The Inequality of Wealth: Why it matters and how to fix it by Liam Byrne and The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson.

Mike Savage is the Martin White Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, a post traditionally awarded to the most senior professor in the department, and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Mark Kenny is a Professor at the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the University after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.

This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.