The Asset Society

Jens Beckert

Sociologists have long held the view that income, education, and occupation should be the primary focus of any examination of social inequality. That view has begun to falter, however, as the growing importance of private wealth for the distribution of life chances, and in simultaneously fueling processes of social closure, becomes ever more apparent. These changes in society are also reflected in the increased interest among sociologists and economists in questions surrounding wealth distribution, such as the growing significance of inheritances and of “supplementing” income with private wealth, for example to buy property or provide for older age. If life chances are increasingly distributed by (inherited) wealth rather than income earned from working, what kind of society emerges as a result? The project explores this development towards an asset society and what it means for democracy, social relations, and the economy.