Description

Wealth is an important and unique dimension of social inequality and social mobility. This talk presents three basic but nonetheless striking descriptive facts that together emphasize the urgency of increased scientific and political attention to wealth: First, wealth is different from other, more widely used indicators of economic well-being and inequality. Second, wealth is drastically more unequally distributed that any other economic resource. And, third, wealth inequality is transmitted across generations and reproduces other social divides. The talk ends with a provocative proposal for direct political intervention towards the redistribution of wealth.

Speaker

Fabian T. Pfeffer is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Research Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He directs the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID). His research investigates social inequality and its maintenance across time and generations. Current projects focus on wealth inequality and its consequences for the next generation, social mobility across multiple generations, the maintenance of inequality through education, and the effects of experiencing social mobility.

Practical information

Languages: English
Organisers: Joint Research Centre