Systemic Inequality in Our World

One of the most prominent and irrefutable issues in global development is systemic inequality. It originates from a mélange of motivating factors, and continues to exist in a number of socioeconomic and political contexts. This form of inequality causes a multitude of adverse effects on the ever prevalent problem of development, which include economic disadvantages that curb commercial growth, political quelling that limit complete participation of all the inhabitants of a country in development, and societal classes and divides limiting access to equal rights. Putting an end to systemic inequality can be rather challenging since the aforementioned disadvantages could occur directly as a result of the actions of the elected government, and it is easier to invest resources in goals that treat the symptoms of this problem rather than try to change the mindset of the influential social or political entity surrounding the convention of systemic inequality. Many a time, this inequality is rooted in the colonial history of a nation, and is as a result permanently imprinted in the culture of a society (Banerjee et al.).

In particular, this inequality is visible in the context of indigenous discrimination and marginalization, and also in the case of political oppression and ethnically driven violence. The aforementioned problems are an example of how principles and institutions can play a direct role in the alienation of certain groups of people, which can eventually impede development and broader growth. Systemic inequality with regards to indigenous discrimination may consist of a legal lack of autonomous recognition within a given state, social perpetuation of racial stereotypes, and a general deficit of economic opportunities for indigenous peoples are just a few features. These issues surrounding indigenous rights and equality and visible to a great extent in Canadian First Nations communities, and Australian aboriginal societies too. As far as ethnic subjugation goes, systemic inequality is observable in the endorsement and social acceptance of violence against minority ethnic groups and political policymaking whose goal is to prioritize the dominance and prosperity of only one ethnic group. The violent conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi is perhaps the most prominent and well known circumstance of such ethnic inequality. The groups in question above are rendered politically, socially, and economically disadvantaged because of colonial legacies left behind by the Europeans that eventually influenced the establishment and longevity of institutions of systemic inequality. In order to move forward and ensure a better community and environment for all individuals, we must challenge ourselves to see and understand the effects of systemic inequality among those that unfortunately fall victim to those institutions.

Living as second class citizens, indigenous peoples have struggled for even basic rights for a while now, and today the conflict between aboriginals and non-aboriginals is an agonizing battle. Natives are still battling with poverty and face appalling conditions even in the most economically developed countries like the United States and Canada. Indigenous peoples constitute 5 percent of the world’s population, count for 15 percent of the world’s poor, and about a third of the world’s extremely poor. They are often forced to adopt inferior and menial social, economic, and political positions in society. Their traditions ridiculed, and basic rights deprived of, infringed upon, and flagrantly violated by nation states, and in some cases international organizations as well. Furthermore, despite extensive legal framework that recognizes indigenous peoples’ right to enjoy equal opportunities and the full range of human rights.

This framework includes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – a declaration that was a significant achievement and set new standards from which indigenous nations can seek their political, cultural, and economic goals going forward. It did not however address any of the fundamental questions of indigenous rights. By reducing indigenous peoples’ claims to rights of citizens, collective groups of citizens, and ethnic groups, the UNDRIP ignores indigenous rights in favor of national citizenship. As a result, most nations do not recognize the UNDRIP and it gives them no incentives to do so. Nation states wish to maintain preexisting categories that delegitimize indigeneity and compartmentalize it in the same way one would an ethnic minority, which ultimately undermines any uniqueness in how indigenous groups are regarded by national governments. Thus, there is a lack of security of traditional land rights and an overall lack of special regard given to aboriginal societies, through which systemic inequality is manifested, since these groups can get relegated to second class citizen status, and their traditional rights are eventually not pursued.