Property, wealth, and social change
Piketty as a social science engineer
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5614923 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Savage (0000-0003-4563-9564, Department of Sociology London School of Economics London UK, corresponding author), Nora Waitkus (0000-0001-6905-3360, International Inequalities Institute London School of Economics London UK) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 39-51 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-4446.12817 |
| PMID | 33764518 |
| OpenAlex | W3135930631 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 19 |
This paper applauds the vision and originality of Piketty's Capital and Ideology. We draw attention to the distinctive methodological perspective which he adopts, which we liken to call "social science engineering." This allows a problem oriented perspective on long-term global social change which sidesteps siloed disciplinary debates in social science and history about the meaning of modernity, the rise of capitalism, the formation of social groups, and the primacy of nations. We bring out how his theory of property permits him to take forward his overarching insight that economic growth leads to wealth accumulation. This, therefore, challenges long standing sociological perspectives by insisting that modernity is a conservative, rather than a revolutionary and transformative process. We build on this essential contribution by noting some areas where his work can push forward even further, notably that his focus on shifting relativities obscures qualitative historical changes, and more particularly means his analysis of the 20th century is not as provocative as that of the 19th century
Capitalism · Discipline · Economics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ideology · Meaning (existential · Modernity · Neoclassical economics · Originality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Property (philosophy · Qualitative research · Social capital · Social change · Social science · Sociology · Transformative learning · Economic Theory and Institutions · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Political Economy and Marxism
The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870–2015
No Price Like Home
Futures Past
Varieties of Capitalism
Varieties of Capitalism
Durable Inequality
The Transformation of the World
Varieties of Residential Capitalism in the International Political Economy
The origins of national housing finance systems
Rethinking Modernity
The History Manifesto
Piketty's challenge for sociology
What is Zeitgeist? Examining period-specific cultural patterns
The Political Economy of Ownership
Against Epochalism
The refeudalization of modern capitalism
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |