Piketty comes to South Africa.
Africa
South Africa
inequality
policy making
Journal
The British journal of sociology
ISSN: 1468-4446
Titre abrégé: Br J Sociol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0373126
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Jan 2021
Jan 2021
Historique:
revised:
02
11
2020
received:
28
08
2020
accepted:
07
12
2020
entrez:
25
3
2021
pubmed:
26
3
2021
medline:
26
10
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
One of the most valuable features of Capital and Ideology is its concern to take history seriously and consider how the emergence of different political and economic regimes relate to discourses about fairness and justice across time. This paper pushes this agenda further by acknowledging that the experience of a few developed nations should not be taken as the template for the generalized study of inequality dynamics across time and space. In this paper, we interrogate Piketty's analysis and policy proposals against specificities that are central to understanding the production and reproduction of inequalities within South Africa. We reflect on the South African case, the structure of inequality and its changes since 1994. We review a battery of policy interventions that have been implemented to address inequality in the last 25 years. We emphasize that the long shadow cast by centuries of colonialism and various forms of apartheid strongly affirm Piketty's emphasis on understanding history. But this is both affirmation and critique given the foundational, imbedded impact that this specific legacy has had on post-apartheid society and its policies. Piketty is aware that the levels of inequality in South Africa are so high that this is "unknown territory." We map out some of this territory to reveal how these extreme initial wealth and racial inequities inform the reproduction of inequalities in all dimensions and undermine well intentioned policies. We claim that understanding extractive histories, imbedded wealth inequalities, and complex social and political institutions allows us to understand and confront some of the reasons why even in light of progressive policies, many of which are in line with the proposals from Piketty, government interventions have thus far failed to reduce inequality.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33764517
doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12808
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
106-124Subventions
Organisme : Economic and Social Research Council
ID : ES/T004215/1
Organisme : Agence Française de Développement
Informations de copyright
© 2021 London School of Economics and Political Science.
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