Regimes of Inequality

Julia Lynch

"A spectacular thirty-meter high viaduct spans the Ouseburn river as it makes its way through Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the northeast corner of England. Modern, bright-yellow and black tram cars ply the viaduct, bringing passengers from working-class Byker to more affluent South Gosforth station in a journey that takes roughly ten minutes. But while the Byker viaduct allows riders to traverse the physical chasm carved out by the Ouseburn with ease, the social differences that separate residents of Byker from their better-off neighbors are much harder to bridge. Twice as many children in Byker (two in five) live in poverty as in Gosforth. And while a fifty-five-year-old man from Gosforth can expect to live another seventeen years in good health, the average fifty-five-year-old in Byker has only another nine years of healthy life expectancy ahead of him (Bambra 2016, 92)"--