The Push and Pull of Inequality and Identity

Amitava Dutt discusses how group identity is key to addressing inequality and how inequality can disrupt group identity. Dutt explains the difference in measuring inequality vertically—which observes rankings of individuals households—or horizontally—which looks at inequality between groups. Dutt then demonstrates how the concepts of “uncertainty,” “power,” and’ “institutions” can replace the concepts of “individual” and “rationality” to explain inequality.

Uncertainty, power, institutions, and crisis: implications for economic analysis and thefuture of capitalism