• Inequality
• Gender poverty reduction strategies

Inequality

Although studies on inequality increasingly take into account the inequalities that exist between groups, there has been little analysis so far of these kinds of inequalities – also known as horizontal inequalities (HIs) - at the global level. In this context, a new report brought out by the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) at the University of Oxford looks at socioeconomic, political and cultural inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslim communities in the world today and draws out the policy implications of its findings.

It is now well-established that people's well-being is affected not only by their individual circumstances, but also by how well the ethnic, religious, racial or regional group with which they identify themselves, is doing. HIs also matter for three instrumental reasons:

• it may not be possible to improve the position of individuals without tackling the position of the group as a whole
• correcting HIs should have a positive effect on efficiency
• above all, group inequality can be a source of violent conflict
  

The report points out that although Muslims are not homogenous, they nonetheless comprise one of most dominant contemporary global identity groups in the world today. Muslim/other inequalities in the Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, the Philippines, Thailand and parts of West Africa, as well as inequalities between Muslim and non-Muslim countries, are then reviewed to find that:

• HIs adverse to Muslims are very widespread – within countries in the North and South, between non-Muslim countries and Muslim countries and between Israel and Palestine
• in countries where Muslims form a minority, there are generally political and cultural status inequalities too which in many cases have led to violent unrest
• in countries where Muslims form a majority, economic inequalities are compensated for by political power and cultural status favouring the Muslim group which tends to reduce the propensity for socioeconomic HIs to lead to political mobilisation
• internationally, socioeconomic HIs are accompanied by political inequalities as indicated by such data as membership of the UN Security Council (and especially permanent membership), voting rights at the IMF and the distribution of military expenditure

The report also finds that Muslims share a sense of identity and perceptions of grievance among Muslims despite the considerable heterogeneity of Muslim populations and their geographical spread. This is based on family connections, education and training, financial connections, the Hajj pilgrimage, global civil (including religious) and political institutions and, most recently, media and internet connections.

It concludes that HIs between Muslims and non-Muslims need to be reduced both within and between countries. Between countries, this is likely to require:

• rectifying growing global political power imbalances, including between Palestine and Israel
• revisiting the prevalent foreign policy approach of the West towards the Middle East based on military power
• incorporating to a much greater extent representatives of Muslims states into global decision-making processes
  

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