Relative Deprivation and Social Justice

Originally published in 1966, Relative Deprivation and Social Justice is a study of attitudes to social inequality in twentieth-century England. It was an important contribution both to the social history and psychology of contemporary England and to political theory at the time. Using ideas drawn from social psychology, the author shows the extent to which attitudes to social inequality in the years since 1918 had failed to correspond with the facts of inequality, whether economic, social or political. This analysis is tested and amplified by the use of a national sample survey conducted in 1962 in which a wide range of questions were asked about people’s picture of their own and others’ place in the social structure. What do they mean by the “class” to which they assign themselves? What more do they think that the Government should be doing for people like themselves? Do they disapprove of those other sorts of people whom they see as doing better?

In the final section of the book, the conclusions which emerged are related to a theory of social justice. The author argues that it is possible to assess in principle the justice or injustice of social inequalities, and therefore to show how far the attitudes of inequality which people have, or don’t have constitute a legitimate claim. Today it can be read in its historical context.