Social Sciences and the Problem of Inequality Book Review: Piketty T. (2014) Capital in the 21 st Century, N.Y.: Belknap Press. Third Edition.

Abstract

Мikhail Chernysh – Doctor of Sociology, Deputy Director, Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: bld. 5, 24/35, Krzhizhanovskogo St., Moscow, 117218, Russian Federation. E-mail: che@isras.ru

Contemporary social science brings the problem of inequality to the forefront of the debate on tendencies in modern societies. This debate became even more lively after the economic crisis of 2008. It became clear that in modern societies, including most developed countries, the divide between capital owners (who are getting even more prosperous) and the rest of the population (whose opportunities are shrinking) is constantly growing. Piketty’s book “Capital in the 21 st Century” marks a turning point in this debate. Piketty presents the results of fundamental research showing how the egalitarian tendencies of the 1930s–1970s have been replaced by a tendency for increasing inequality. The populations of developed countries and the populations of counties undergoing market transitions face the problem of decreasing living standards and quality of life, and are facing lower rates of social mobility. This new social and economic reality increasingly looks like the “belle époque”—the period that preceded the First World War, other social catastrophes and revolutions. Piketty argues for the return of strong social policies and progressive taxation.