Paper submitted to Second World Inequality Conference

I have submitted my published paper "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries" for consideration for an oral presentation at the Second World Inequality Conference, to be held at the Paris School of Economics December 7-8th.

ISQOLS 2021 presentation scheduled for August 26th at 4 pm.

My paper "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries" has been scheduled for live online presentation at the 2021 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), to be held August 25-27th (cf. conference program), on Thursday August 26th at 4 - 5.40 pm CEST, as part of the session “Well-Being in the World III”. My presentation, which will be held 4 - 4.25, will also be recorded and accessible for later viewing by conference participants.

Welfare paper on Latin-America and the Nordic Countries to be presented at ISQOLS 2021

My paper "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries" (see also the full article - Open Access) has been accepted for oral presentation at the  2021 ISQOLS Annual Conference: Quality-of-life and adaptation in a virulent world, to be held digitally August 23rd-27th

Abstract for ISQOLS 2021: "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries"

I have just submitted the abstract "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries" for the 2021, virtual conference of the International society for quality-of-live studies (ISQOLS 2021).

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Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries

This presentation is based on a published article, Tønnessen (2019), which provides an overview and analysis of human development, inequality and people´s perception of social and economic risks in Latin America and the Nordic countries. While Nordic countries rank very highly on the UN´s Human Development Index (HDI) and are known for their ‘Nordic welfare model’, Latin American countries have been making significant progress economically, and with regard to health and education. However, inequality levels remain high throughout Latin America, representing an obstacle to further human development in the region. This is evidenced by the UN´s inequality-adjusted HDI data, among other sources. High levels of inequality translate to a poorer-than-average social welfare for significant portions of the populations in Latin American countries. To a large extent, actual living conditions are reflected in what people perceive as social risks when looking ahead and thinking about their own prospects, as well as those of their families. Improved and more equal living conditions are therefore likely to change people´s life satisfaction, in addition to what they are the most concerned about. In this article, people´s perception of social risks in selected Latin American and Nordic countries is analysed based on data from the OECD´s Cross-National Survey on Social and Economic Risks.   

Reference  

Tønnessen, Morten 2019. Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin America and the Nordic countries. Journal of Comparative Social Work 14(1). 28 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v14i1.231

Welfare article accepted for publication inJournal of comparative social work

My article "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin America and the Nordic countries" has been accepted for publication in Journal of comparative social work. I twill appear in a special issue I´m co-editing on "Welfare in Latin America and the Nordic countries".

Autumn´s third writing day

Today I had the third writing day this autumn (out of four planned so far), with 5 hours off-email time devoted to focused academic writing. I wrote a little bit on "The case for minimizing anthropogenic mortality in wildlife management" and more on "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin America and the Nordic countries". Altogether I wrote close to 1.000 words. 

Abstract for JCSW special issue: "Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries"

I have just finished and submitted the abstract below for our forthcoming special issue of Journal of Comparative Social Work "Welfare in Latin-America and the Nordic countries" (abstracts are due June 25th).

Human development, inequality and social risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries

Morten Tønnessen

Associate professor of philosophy, Department of social studies, University of Stavanger (Norway)

This article will provide an overview and analysis of human development, inequality and people´s perception of social and economic risks in Latin-America and the Nordic countries. The study will cover the period from 1990 to current times.

With Nordic countries ranking very highly on the UN´s Human Development Index (HDI), comparison with the development of HDI values of the Latin-American countries should be of interest. In addition to analyzing regular HDI data, which details increasing life expectancy and other measures of what is taken to be a good life, I will also review Inequality-adjusted HDI data. Such data have been calculated by the UN since 2010. The original Human Development Index does not take account of inequality, and unadjusted HDI values are therefore best understood as measures of the potential for human development in a country if it had no inequality.

For several Latin-American countries, high inequality levels translate to poorer social welfare than desired. The fight against inequality, and for social inclusion, is a necessary component of the fight for better lives for the entire population of the world´s countries. In my investigation of inequality trends, I will also review data from the World Inequality Report 2018 and other data from the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics.

After reviewing and comparing human development and inequality data for Latin-American and Nordic countries, I will discuss some indications of people´s perception of economic and social risks in selected countries. This discussion will be based on data from the OECD´s Cross-National Survey on Social and Economic Risks, where surveyed countries include Chile, Mexico, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The OECD survey investigates how concerned people are about e.g. becoming ill or disabled, job-security, income, having adequate housing and access to child care, education, and care services for elderly and disabled family members.

In conclusion I will summarize findings and tentatively identify the main challenges facing the advancement of human development in Latin-America and the Nordic countries.