Toward a cultural sociology of taxation

Bibliographic Data

ID4237689
AuthorsR Braunstein (0000-0002-9080-4234, University of Connecticut, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume22
Issue2
Pages931-952
Publication date2024-06-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocio-Economic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ser/mwae017
OpenAlexW4393118121
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited46

This article advances calls for a cultural sociology of taxation by arguing that Zelizer's theory of how monetary exchanges perform 'relational work' can be applied to taxpaying. Based on a review of research on taxpaying in the USA, I show this approach offers insight into a disparate set of puzzles about taxation including: why the USA continues to require income tax returns; why anti-tax sentiment persists even at low tax rates; why anti-government conservatives support some social spending; and whether linking taxpaying to citizenship promotes solidarity or racialized hierarchies. Recognizing that taxpaying involves relational work also reveals continuities with other forms of monetary exchange; and supplies evidence that relational work is performed at higher levels of relational abstraction than previously understood. While this article only gestures toward these possibilities, I hope it stimulates future research that fulfills the new fiscal sociology's aspirations for a cultural sociology of taxation

Social science · Sociology · Sociology of culture · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Taxation and Compliance Studies

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