Poverty, Inequality and Human Wellbeing: A New False Consciousness

The paper begins by exploring the current state of play in global initiatives to operationalise human wellbeing for public policy. It argues that in some, but not all of its conceptualisations, a human wellbeing framework can provide critical insights into the dynamics that relate poverty and inequality. This promise hinges around how the subjective dimension of wellbeing is conceived and how subjective perceptions of wellbeing relate to material conditions of wellbeing. This suggests that possible contradictions between material conditions and subjective assessments of wellbeing provide a new take on the notion of false consciousness. Time permitting we might then discuss what this has to say about current public attitudes towards the political establishment and illustrative events such as the Brexit vote.