NATURE, CULTURE, AND INEQUALITY

A review of global inequalities of income and wealth and the factors that might reduce them.

In this slim volume, based on a 2022 lecture at the Musée du Quai Branly—Jacques Chirac in Paris, the acclaimed French economist Piketty, best known for Capital in the Twenty-First Century, draws on previous research and writings to sketch his understanding of the political underpinnings of social and economic inequality and its variations historically and across countries. Although the data show a “tendency toward greater social equality” since the late 18th century, a slowing of that trend has occurred since the late 20th century. These movements are neither inevitable nor simply a matter of personal talents or economics. Rather, reductions in inequality directly relate to political culture and, specifically, collective political mobilizations that pressure national governments to institute progressive taxation, fund education open to all social groups, and encourage both participatory governance and worker involvement in corporate governance. In presenting his argument, Piketty includes historical material from France, Sweden, other parts of Western Europe, and the U.S., and he briefly comments on gender inequality, colonial and war debt, the rise of the welfare state, and climate change. Readers familiar with the author’s earlier work will find little that is new. The book is a synthesis, as Piketty meanders from topic to topic while only briefly digging into each. Moreover, contrary to the title, the author writes little about nature and culture. Regarding nature, Piketty points to the unequal global and class responsibility for carbon emissions and suggests, equivocally, that the problems of climate change eventually “may lead to a greater demand for equality than we’ve recently seen.” As for culture, it surfaces only as a way to differentiate political systems that harbor different clusters of individualistic and collective values.

A readable introduction to Piketty’s worldview.