Economic Inequality and Austerity Motivator for Revolution Essay

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Economic inequality occurs when there is a gap in the economic well beings of a group of individuals in a given country. In the Arab world, the economic inequality is one of the major factors that leads to the political violence because a discontent generated from a gap has been the major determinant of violent behavior. Typically, income inequality has a strong correlation with mass violence, and the higher the level of income inequality, the higher the probability of mass violence and political revolution. In 2010, a 26-year-old grocery vendor set himself ablaze in Tunisia because the police confiscated his goods. The event took place in a depressed area of Tunisia where the youth unemployment was more than 40%. The uprising occurred on the following day making a large proportion of the population to protest violently. The issue had the traits of a revolution with the aim of obtaining greater economic and civil rights. Afterward, revolts spread like a wide fire in the Arab North Africa, and the uprising was so forceful, which led to the overthrow of the autocrats and well-established leaders. In Tunisia, there was a revolution that made Zine Ben Ali, who had been in power since 1987, to flee the country. Moreover, Hosni Mubarak, who had been the president of Egypt since 1981, was forced to resign and flee. The uprising in Libya put an end to the 40-year regime of Muammar Gaddafi. In 2011, the uprising spread across the Arab countries that include Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Iran and Jordan. There is an evidence that political riots that spread across these countries have been associated with adverse economic inequality and austerity that lead to a rise in poverty, unemployment and slowing growth.



The objective of this study is to investigate how economic inequality and austerity have been the main driver and motivator for revolutions.

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The study tests the following hypothesis to establish that lack of political representation is not as strong of a motivator of a revolution compared with economic inequality.

Hypothesis



Economic inequality and austerity has been motivator and is the main driver for revolutions and lack of political representation has not been a strong major driver for revolutions.

Dependent and Independent Variables



The independent variables are the variables that do not depend on other variables. However, dependent variables depend on other variables and change in values. In this study, the independent variables are the economic inequality and austerity and political representation. However, the dependent variable is a revolution. An increase in income inequality leads to a rise in a revolution in a given country.

Economic Inequality and Austerity Motivator Main Driver for Revolutions



The Arab country is not homogenous, and globalization has made the economy of the Arab world be interwoven with the world economy. For example, the economic crisis of the U.S. affected the economy of the Arab country, and the global economic crisis in 2008/2009 led to a drop in oil prices and tourism. Consequently, a significant decline in oil prices had a direct impact on the economy of the exporting countries such as Libya and Algeria. There was also a decline of the capital flow in the petroleum producing countries. For example, there was a fall in export by 14% in Morocco and Egypt in 2009, 3% in Tunisia, and Algeria leading to a decline in the revenue of the affected countries. The highest decline was recorded in Libya with 28% reduction in export and Algeria by 21%. Since the economy of the European countries had been affected by the 2008/2009 global economic crisis, there was a….....

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Reference


Breisinger C., Ecker O., Al-Riffai P. and Yu B. (2012) Beyond the Arab awakening. Policies and investments for poverty reduction and food security. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C.

Brinkman H. J. and Hendrix C. S. (2011) Food insecurity and violent conflict: causes, consequences, and addressing the challenges. World Food Programme, Occasional paper n. 24.

Muller, E.N. (1985). Income Inequality, Regime Repressiveness, and Political Violence. American Sociological Review. 50 (1): 47-61

Skocpol, T. (1976). France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social Revolutions. Comparative Studies in Society and History. 18 (2): 175-210.

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https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/economic-inequality-and-austerity-motivator-for-revolution-essay