The age of extremes: Concentrated affluence and poverty in the twenty-first century

DS Massey - Demography, 1996 - Springer
Demography, 1996Springer
Urbanization, rising income inequality, and increasing class segregation have produced a
geographic concentration of affluence and poverty throughout the world, creating a radical
change in the geographic basis of human society. As the density of poverty rises in the
environment of the world's poor, so will their exposure to crime, disease, violence. and family
disruption. Meanwhile the spatial concentration of affluence will enhance the benefits and
privileges of the rich. In the twenty-first century the advantages and disadvantages of one's …
Abstract
Urbanization, rising income inequality, and increasing class segregation have produced a geographic concentration of affluence and poverty throughout the world, creating a radical change in the geographic basis of human society. As the density of poverty rises in the environment of the world’s poor, so will their exposure to crime, disease, violence. and family disruption. Meanwhile the spatial concentration of affluence will enhance the benefits and privileges of the rich. In the twenty-first century the advantages and disadvantages of one’s class position will be compounded and reinforced through ecological mechanisms made possible by the geographic concentration of affluence and poverty, creating a deeply divided and increasingly violent social world.
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