Inequality in Capitalist Societies

160 Pages·2017·0.782 MB·English

by  Surinder S. Jodhka, Boike Rehbein, Jessé Souza

Inequality in Capitalist
Societies
Inequality is one of the most discussed topics of our time. Yet, we still do not
know how to tackle the issue effectively. The book argues that this is due to
the lack of understanding of the structures responsible for the persistence of
social inequality. It inquires into the mechanisms that produce and reproduce
invisible dividing lines in society. Based on original case studies of Brazil, Ger-
many, India and Laos comprising thousands of interviews, the authors argue
that invisible classes emerge in capitalist societies, both reproducing and trans-
forming precapitalist hierarchies. At the same time, locally particular forms of
inequality persist. Social inequality in the contemporary world has to be under-
stood as a specifi c combination of precapitalist inequalities, capitalist transforma-
tion and a particular class structure that seems to emerge in all capitalist societies.
The book links the confi gurations to an interpretation of global domination as
well as to symbolic classifi cation.
Surinder S. Jodhka is professor of Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, and an affi liate Senior Fellow at the Centre de Sciences Humaines,
New Delhi. He was visiting professor at various universities in Europe, North
America and South Asia and is winner of the Amartya Sen Award. He special-
izes in inequality, caste and development and has published twelve books in
these fi elds.
Boike Rehbein is professor for Society and Transformation in Asia and Africa
at Humboldt University, Germany. He was visiting professor in Latin America,
India, Laos, South Africa and Switzerland. He specializes in inequality, social
theory and globalization and has published twenty-fi ve books in these fi elds.
Jessé Souza is professor of Sociology at the Universidade Federal de Fluminense,
Brazil. Previously, he was professor at various universities of Brazil and President
of IPEA. He specializes on social theory and inequality and has published
twenty-three books in these fi elds.
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Surinder S. Jodhka, Boike Rehbein and Jessé Souza
Inequality in Capitalist
Societies
Surinder S. Jodhka, Boike Rehbein
and Jessé Souza
First published 2018
by Routledge
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© 2018 Surinder S. Jodhka, Boike Rehbein and Jessé Souza
The right of Surinder S. Jodhka, Boike Rehbein and Jessé Souza
to be identifi ed as authors of this work has been asserted by them
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jodhka, Surinder S., author | Rehbein, Boike, author. |
Souza, Jessé, author.
Title: Inequality in capitalist societies / by Surinder S. Jodhka,
Boike Rehbein and Jessé Souza.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Series: Routledge studies in the modern world economy ; 168 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017004151 | ISBN 9781138683754 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315544366 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Equality. | Equality—Economic aspects. |
Capitalism—Social aspects.
Classifi cation: LCC HM821 .J63 2018 | DDC 306.3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017004151
ISBN: 978-1-138-68375-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-54436-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of fi gures vi
List of tables vii
Introduction 1
1 Understanding social inequality 9
2 Classes and habitus in Germany 28
3 The capitalist transformation in Laos 54
4 Understanding the class struggle in Brazil 82
5 The Indian story of inequality 108
6 Capitalism and inequality on a global scale 126
Conclusion 139
References 143
Index 149
Figures
2.1 Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of classes
in Germany 33
2.2 Vectors of habitus traits in Germany 41
2.3 Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of habitus types
in Germany 41
3.1 Baan-muang structure 58
3.2 Capitalist transformation 62
3.3 Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of sociocultures
in Laos 64
3.4 Proximity and distance of habitus traits 73
Tables
2.1 Correlation of own with father’s highest educational degree 29
2.2 Operationalizing capital 37
2.3 Wealth and class: property worth more than € 500,000 37
2.4 Social class and professional class 37
2.5 Class and highest educational degree 38
2.6 Class and social capital: which class did the parents of
your childhood friends belong to? 38
2.7 Class and social capital: are you a member of an organization? 39
2.8 List of relevant habitus traits 40
2.9 Habitus types 42
2.10 Class and ethos 46
3.1 Milieus in contemporary Laos 66
4.1 Classes and their characteristics 86
4.2 Class and wealth 87
4.3 Class and networks 88
4.4 Class and education 89

Introduction
In his deservedly acclaimed and widely read book, C apital in the Twenty-First
Century (2014), Thomas Piketty argues that inequality has been increasing on
a global scale from the 1970s until today. According to him, since the 1970s
capital returns have surpassed economic growth, which privileges inherited capital
over salaries. In the preceding period, wars and political interventions had
gradually reduced inequality until reaching the highest level of equality around
1950. Piketty adds that his book explains the phenomenon from the perspective
of economics. He regrets that it uncovers only part of the story as it does not
include the social structures beneath economic inequality. We agree: most
research on inequality focuses on economic indicators but does not explain who
is rich and who is poor and why this is the case.
The present book seeks to contribute to this explanation. It agrees with
Piketty’s diagnosis of global economic inequality and with his call for a better
sociological understanding of it. We claim that this lack of understanding is not
a coincidence but part of an agenda – partly conscious, partly subconscious – to
make the structures and mechanisms producing inequality invisible. Inequality
has become an industry in itself with thousands of highly paid experts managing
the problem in international organizations, think tanks, government bodies,
NGOs and universities. The emphasis is on the management of inequality, not
on a serious struggle against it. The result is a host of data, which fi lls any brain
with numbers and graphs and little understanding of the subject. Such data is
sometimes used for isolated political interventions.
A couple of years ago, we witnessed the speech by a senior offi cial of one
such agency, who claimed to have solved the problem of defi ning the middle
class – based on ownership of a car. Because the speech was given in Vietnam,
a Vietnamese in the audience stood up after the lecture and pointed to the fact
that he would not buy a car due to congestion of the streets in Ho Chi Minh
City and therefore traveled by motorcycle. He asked whether he did not belong
to the middle class even though he owned a consulting fi rm. The senior offi cer,
who had traveled business class just to deliver this talk, replied, “Oh, maybe
my theory is wrong.” This casual approach to inequality demonstrates the dis-
interest in solving the problem of inequality and in the actual suffering of billions
of people it affects. Inequality is a game, a riddle at best – and not the reason