In Defoe’s book, the great plague, he refers to an inequality faced by the less well-off in an epidemic. The cities are the places most infected by the disease because people are in very small spaces, and the disease can move from person to person much faster than in the countryside.
In Defoe’s book, he emphasizes the fact that the more affluent people have the possibility to leave and take refuge in their second home while the epidemic passes. He also shows how the poorest are much more exposed to the disease because their job are much more in contact with others. The main character, Henry Defoe himself has the choice (even if he decides to stay in London). This blog will focus on the inequalities caused by the various plague crises in the post-medieval years.
Depending on the indicators, some studies may prove that the plague has reduced inequalities, but this is due to the significant demographic consequences that the plague has engendered.
Alfani’s study seems to prove the 4 main factors that have led to a significant increase in inequalities: economic growth or urbanization, proletarianization and the creation of a political elite. The study focuses on economic, political and wealth factors(Alfani, 2015). Another study emphasizes the fact that demographic factors are central when explaining the rise of inequalities (Brea-Martínez, G, Pujadas-Mora, 2019).
The first graph, which focuses on Italy, shows that from the first
episode of the plague, inequalities began to decrease until 1450, and then, along the numerous episodes of the plague, the inequalities became more and more pronounced. The last episode of the plague took place in 1665 and after this one we can see that the inequalities continue to increase even more rapidly
We can also see for instance in this graph that inequalities have increased enormously between before the first plague crisis and a century after the last one.
Taking England as an example, it had a Gini coefficient of 0.35 in 1300 (the closer the figure is to 0, the better the equality in the country), reaching 0.6 in 1800, a phenomenal gap.
Another idea evoked in the book and in this article in the guardian, shows the evolutions that the most deadly pandemic, the plague, has brought about. During the pandemic, people hoped for a world with less inequality. A pandemic, as we have also seen since the covid pandemic,19 is a time when society can rethink its system in a profound way, because the flaws are more apparent at that time, it is a time of hope for a better world tomorrow.
Although it took time for changes to occur, scholars have often said that medieval European society would have continued being medieval for longer had it not been for the Black Death. Also that it sowed the seeds that led to the Reformation and the Renaissance
In the last year, the covid has opened many debates on a more equal world, more concrete actions about sustainable development and global warming. We will see whether these ideas will remain hypothetical or whether real action will be taken once the health emergency is over
Alfani, G., 2015. Economic inequality in preindustrial times: Europe and beyond. [online] Aeaweb.org. Available at: <https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=11151> [Accessed 4 February 2021].
Brea-Martínez, G, Pujadas-Mora J,B. 2019 Estimating long-term socioeconomic inequality in southern Europe: The Barcelona area, 1481–1880, European Review of Economic History, Volume 23, Issue 4, November 2019, Pages 397–420, Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hey017>