Conference Agenda

How (un)fair is Europe?

Jule Adriaans (2024 Jowell-Kaase Early Career Researcher, Bielefeld University)

Social inequalities are ubiquitous in European societies. They are frequently at the center of public debate and social science research. Both in academic and non-academic discourse, the need to address social inequality is often motivated by the assumption that large inequalities harm societies by reducing their members' well-being and threatening social cohesion.

However, empirical findings show that lay people are neither particularly good at assessing the extent of inequality nor do they prefer strict equality. Instead, it seems that people strive for justice - demanding equal treatment as well the consideration of individual contributions and needs - and react negatively to injustice.

Against this backdrop, I will use comparative survey data - with a particular focus on ESS Round 9 data - to take stock of the state of justice and fairness in Europe, asking: How unfair is Europe? And how do Europeans respond to the unfairness they identify?