Everyday Conversations About Economic Inequality: A Research Agenda

ABSTRACT High and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant to confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted to explain this paradox, pointing to how it is driven by individuals' misperceptions of the extent of ineq...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociology compass 2024-09, Vol.18 (9), p.n/a
Main Authors: Schieferdecker, David, Reinhardt, Susanne, Mijs, Jonathan, Silva, Graziella Moraes, Teeger, Chana, Carvalhaes, Flavio, Seekings, Jeremy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
communication
conversation
cross‐national comparison
Debates
economic inequality
Economic research
everyday talk
Inequality
Legislatures
Literature reviews
redistribution
State intervention
wealth
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:ABSTRACT High and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant to confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted to explain this paradox, pointing to how it is driven by individuals' misperceptions of the extent of inequality, broader narratives that justify inequality, and distrust in government intervention and redistribution. These beliefs and attitudes are not simply a reflection of individual predispositions; they are also a product of societal debates. The limited scholarship on such debates has focused on elite discourse, examining how discussions about inequality unfold among people in positions of power in formalized contexts such as parliaments or the media. Most of this research has been conducted in the Global North. We know very little about how ordinary people talk about economic inequality, especially in the Global South. Everyday conversations about economic inequality deserve more scholarly attention because of their distinct form and extensive range, covering diverse voices and social situations. They reflect how societies struggle with economic inequality and how some groups are silenced, while others have their voices amplified. Finally, conversations may affect opinion formation differently than unidirectional exposure to information. This article reviews the literature and sets out a research agenda to comprehensively study how ordinary people talk about economic inequality in various contexts.
ISSN:1751-9020
1751-9020
DOI:10.1111/soc4.70001