A Brief History of Equality.

• Author: Ozoflu, Melek Aylin

A Brief History of Equality

Thomas PIKETTY

Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, Harvard University Press, 2022, 274 pages, ISBN: 9780674273559

Is neoliberalism in a deep crisis or not? If yes, what are the dynamics of this crisis? Does this crisis promise social, political, and economic transformations? If it does, what are the prerequisites? Will global levels of inequality continue to be dispersed? If one desperately searches for an answer to these questions, Thomas Piketty's latest book, A Brief History of Equality, might offer a possible starting point.

Piketty is known for his valuable r>g theory. He explains that return to capital exceeds the rate of economic growth, and it, in return, increases the concentration of wealth. This time, he does not put forward a new theoretical frame. Instead, building upon his r>g theory, he elaborates on his argument for the deepening of inequality in a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted way within a large time frame between 1780 and 2020. As for the primary source of data, he utilises the World Inequality Database (WID.world), which contains evidence about the distribution of income and wealth over the years. It provides the author with a multidisciplinary approach, while interpreting the progress in economic, political, and social developments.

The book is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the explanation of human progress throughout history. As a continuation of the first chapter, the second chapter tackles the historical deconcentration of private property and its redistribution. In the third chapter, the colonial legacy and slavery are described as the main players in the rise of western capitalism that led to the 'great divergence' between the West and the rest of the world. The fourth chapter raises the question of financial compensation to former slaves, while the fifth chapter explains how worldwide status and class discrepancies have been transformed since the eighteenth century. The sixth chapter overviews the rise of the welfare state and equality in income and wealth between 1918 and 1980.

In fact, the first part of the book sketches out the historical context and gradual development of inequality and directs its attention to how discrepancies in income distribution were minimised thanks to the welfare state regime between 1918 and 1980, and yet how the neo-liberal wave has unavoidably risen since then. Piketty provides the reader with a groundwork in his findings...