Introduction - The Globalisation of Social Polarisation Within Nations

The growth and sharpening of social inequality at both a global and national level is a key theme of the current public and academic debate. This rise in inequality, one of the most significant social facts of the contemporary world, extends beyond the neoliberal era as its permanent legacy: it is also found in the chaotic transition to a historical phase marked first by a return to protectionism and then by the eruption of conflicts in various parts of the world.