 EqualityKristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir and Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason Chapter 7 in The Elgar Companion to Creating a Regenerative Economy for Wellbeing, 2026, pp 142-172 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: This chapter showcases that inequality lies at the root of ecological degradation and social injustice. It critiques neoliberal economic policies, particularly those promoting deregulation, privatisation, austerity, and the retreat of the state from social provisioning. A shift towards market-based welfare reforms and reductions in public services is deepening inequality and placing disproportionate burdens on women through unpaid care work. Feminist and ecological critiques are woven together to offer a diagnosis of how economic and gender inequality underpin broader systemic harm. This highlights how the undervaluation of care work and the concentration of wealth are not incidental, but products of policy based on market relationships. The chapter connects these trends to environmental degradation, showing how overconsumption and underinvestment in public goods contribute both to ecological overshoot and to the marginalisation of those least responsible for environmental harm. The chapter argues for a structural transformation of economic systems towards equity, care, and social sustainability. Keywords: Equality; Gender Equality; Financial Equality; Cooperatives; Not-for-Profit; Fair Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:20650_7 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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