Return of Inequality: Social Change and the Weight of the Past

Inequality is returning us to a past dominated by empires, dynastic elites, and ethnic divisions, according to Mike Savage's pioneering book "The Return of Inequality." He argues that economic inequality has profound deleterious effects on societies, aggravating cultural, social, and political conflicts and challenging the coherence of liberal democratic nation-states. Savage guides us through the ideas of leading theorists of inequality, revealing how it reimposes the burdens of the past.

Format: Hardback
Length: 448 pages
Publication date: 18 May 2021
Publisher: Harvard University Press

The economic facts of inequality are undeniable. For years, the rich have been distancing themselves from the rest of us, and the super-rich have been further separating themselves from the rich. More and more assets are becoming concentrated in the hands of a few. Mainstream economists argue that we should not be concerned with distribution, as long as growth is sustained. However, acclaimed sociologist Mike Savage challenges this notion in his book, "The Return of Inequality." Savage argues that economic inequality has profound detrimental effects on the structure of societies. He demonstrates how it exacerbates cultural, social, and political conflicts, undermining the coherence of liberal democratic nation-states. In essence, severe inequality brings us back to a past characterized by empires, dynastic elites, explosive ethnic division, and metropolitan dominance that relegates most cities to irrelevance.

Inequality poses a significant threat to the very history that we have been striving to escape since the Age of Revolution. Westerners have been slow to recognize that inequality undermines the very foundations of liberal democracy: faith in progress and trust in the political community's care for all its members. Savage provides a comprehensive guide through the ideas of leading theorists of inequality, including Marx, Bourdieu, and Piketty, revealing how inequality reimposes the burdens of the past. The book is both analytically rigorous and passionately argued, making it a vital addition to our understanding of inequality and its consequences.

Weight: 836g
Dimension: 167 x 243 x 42 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674988071