Sending the elevator back down: a mutual constitution between vertical and horizontal inequality

What is it about?

This paper explores inequality through a lens of mutual constitution between context and behaviour. It combines the concept of group-based, horizontal inequality with within-group, vertical inequality, and thus between individual in-group members, to assess how both shape certain behavioural dynamics.

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Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

Why is it important?

My results propose that economic distance in the support relationships of black Namibians tends to increase for those who hold higher socioeconomic positions. I hereby provide the first empirical evidence for the Black Tax narrative in the Namibian context. I further demonstrate a mutual constitution of horizontal and vertical inequality whereby former economic constraint seems to have shaped the support practices of black and white Namibian families in different ways.