Group Dynamics and Redistributive Policy Preferences in the Global South

Although social inequality is rising globally, increases in economic inequality and the unequal impact of poverty on diverse populations are most acute in the ‘Global South’. Research on this topic is heavily biased toward the 'Global North'. Therefore, social science has far less to offer as a body of knowledge concerning the causes and consequences of attitudes toward inequality and preferences for redistributive social policies in the Global South. This gap in social science includes attitudes regarding inequality and redistribution within countries and across countries, for example from North to South or across regions.

In addition to developing knowledge about the Global South, this article collection seeks to understand a wider trend of increasing global social, economic and political inequality. Historical lessons suggest that when socioeconomic inequalities reach very high levels, civil or transnational wars often follow. Presumably, these wars or domestic unrest are caused by public preferences, opinion and eventually actions.

The aim of this Research Topic is to collect papers that address public opinion or individual preferences for redistribution and government intervention into the economy, and perceptions of inequality. It aims to collect studies of group dynamics, for example many countries in the Global South face in-group/out-group divisions that attach to authoritarian rule, others face refugee crises, and others have deep seated religious, ethnic or nationalist divisions; and all of these groups dynamics may impact preferences for redistribution in some way given that resources and political capital are unequally distributed across groups.

Comparative studies are particularly encouraged for submission, but single country studies are also welcome when a comparison is made within the country, for example comparisons across time or social groups or both, e.g., ethnicity, race, class, religion, urban/rural, etc.