Tag Archives: Economics

The Political Disconnect: Working-Class And Low-Income People On What Politics Means To Them And How They Might Be Mobilized

Posted on by

Daniel Laurison, Kelly Diaz, Monica Guzman, Zachary Kreines, Kaj Tug Lee, Lydia Orr, and Sahiba Tandon. (2026). The Political Disconnect: Working-Class And Low-Income People On What Politics Means To Them And How They Might Be Mobilized. HEARD Initiative, Swarthmore College. 10.24968/2476-2458.soan.215.

A functioning democratic society must involve all kinds of people in deciding who will hold the power to enact laws and allocate tax dollars. However, working-class and low-income people vote at significantly lower rates than the more privileged in the US, and their participation has been declining in recent elections. In order to understand why those with fewer resources are less likely to vote and how this might change, a diverse group of researchers interviewed 232 low-income and working-class people (in every major racial group) from across Pennsylvania – 144 of whom either did not vote, or voted only occasionally. Our researchers spoke with each interviewee about their lives and communities, the issues they cared about, and their views on politics and voting. This report describes some of the key results of those interviews, and makes recommendations for increasing political participation among low-income and working-class people in the U.S. Almost every nonvoter or irregular voter we spoke with told us that politics seems disconnected from their lives in at least one of two ways. First, many feel like politics are by, for, and about people unlike themselves, people who are wealthier or more educated. Second, many see politics as corrupt and unable to create meaningful change, and believe that politicians are not interested in helping them or their communities. We make three recommendations based both on our interviews and on a broader body of research. 1) People want to believe that politics can meaningfully improve their lives – so they need to see clear connections between the real problems they face and potential and actual solutions in politics and policy. 2) People want to see themselves reflected in politics – so they need more people from low-income and working-class backgrounds working in every aspect of politics and government, at every level. 3) People want to feel genuinely listened to by those who have, or seek, political power – so they need politicians and other political groups to spend more time in low-income and working-class communities.

The Social Acceptance of Inequality: On the Logics of a More Unequal World

Posted on by

Duina, Francesco and Luca Storti, eds. 2025. The Social Acceptance of Inequality: On the Logics of a More Unequal World: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 12/12/2025 (https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197814499.001.0001).

The world has staggering levels of inequality. Most people worry about this. Some, however, accept or even approve of those inequalities. Why? The Social Acceptance of Inequality offers the first comprehensive analysis of the logics people use in support of economic inequalities. Turning to case studies from across the globe, it examines four primary logics. Market and economic logics see people accept and even approve of economic inequalities because of the positive material outcomes for societies with which they are purportedly associated. Moral logics see people thinking of inequalities as fair according to “higher” or ethical principles, such as meritocracy. When relying on cultural and institutional logics, people view economic inequalities as consistent with established or emerging outlooks, policies, or organizational arrangements. Using group and ethnic logics, people justify inequalities on the basis of hierarchical distinctions between “superior” and “inferior” collectivities. These logics do not exist in isolation: They often interact with each other and inevitably function in particular political, economic, and cultural contexts. With contributors from across the world and the social sciences, evidence comes from North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Attention goes not only to those in positions of privilege but also to those in vulnerable positions who, despite their conditions, look favorably on inequalities. With original analyses employing a wealth of methodological approaches, The Social Acceptance of Inequality offers a compelling investigation of the logics of acceptance, their variations and intersections, and how we may move toward a less unequal world.

Managing Corporate Virtue: The Politics of Workplace Diversity

Posted on by

Bereni, Laure. 2025. Managing Corporate Virtue: The Politics of Workplace Diversity in New
York and Paris: Oxford University Press.

A major tenet of contemporary capitalism holds that what is good for
business can align with what is good for society. Efforts toward more
diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces epitomize this rising
ideology, termed responsible capitalism. An increasingly common
managerial mantra is “diversity means business.” But how does it play
out in the daily life of organizations? Drawing on interviews with
diversity managers, a historical review of practitioner literature, and
observations from organizations in New York City and Paris,
Managing Corporate Virtue goes beyond the rhetoric of diversity
initiatives to uncover the concrete challenges faced by those tasked
with implementing them. This book reveals the persistent fragility of
diversity efforts, which are often sidelined; subject to the variations of the legal, social, and
political environment; and require constant efforts to sustain managerial support. Practitioners
must prove their programs are neither merely virtue signaling nor the Trojan horse of political,
legal, or moral pressures that would unsettle the corporate order. Ultimately, by exploring the
day-to-day work of diversity managers in the United States and France, the book exposes the
contradictions lurking beneath the neoliberal promise of harmony between profit and virtue.

Class, the welfare state, and redistributive attitudes: A methodological Intervention

Posted on by

Melcher, C. R., van der Naald, J., Torres, C., & Lindsay, S. C. (2025). Class, the welfare state, and redistributive attitudes: A methodological Intervention. The Social Science Journal, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2025.2582481

Prior research has found that measures of welfare state generosity and social class are, at best, unevenly related to individual redistributive attitudes. We suggest that these uneven relationships are at least partially due to a methodological misspecification prevalent in much of the existing literature, as well as a theoretical shortcoming of the rational choice assumptions undergirding the supposed link between economic self-interest and redistributive attitudes. Using a cross-national sample and multi-level modeling, we illustrate that the effect of income on subjective perceptions of economic well-being differs greatly depending on the generosity of the welfare state. Individuals perceive their class position differently depending on the welfare state context. Thus, we argue that the welfare state moderates the effect of class on redistributive attitudes, not just mediates it, as much of the existing literature assumes. We illustrate this moderating effect systematically using a battery of redistributive attitudes.

Pages: 1 2

From Equality to Economic Development: Culture, Intersectionality, and Justifications for Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy in the United States, 1973–1988

Posted on by

Gracia J Lee, From Equality to Economic Development: Culture, Intersectionality, and Justifications for Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy in the United States, 1973–1988, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2025;, jxaf012, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaf012

This article examines the discursive strategies underpinning advocacy for women’s entrepreneurship policy in the United States between 1973 and 1988. It demonstrates a shift in policy justifications from equality to economic development leading up to the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act in 1988. This discursive shift shows how women evoked the cultural ideas of gender sameness and equal opportunity, yet their claims were further shaped by the masculine logics of small business, policy changes, and pushback against affirmative action in the 1980s. Bridging ideas from the civil rights, anti-poverty, and women’s movements in the United States and abroad, advocates also addressed the problems and interests of intersectionally marginalized poor mothers and Black women, alongside middle-class White women. The case of women entrepreneurs thus highlights the need for attention to the interplay between cultural ideas, the sociopolitical context, and intersectional dynamics when analyzing gender as a political category.